How can one mourn a parent whose harsh judgments frame childhood? This question haunts Philip Kennicott's Counterpoint: A Memoir of Bach and Mourning. Kennicott is the Washington Post's senior art and ...

Philip Kennicott is the chief art critic for The Washington Post. This article was adapted from his new book, “Counterpoint: A Memoir of Bach and Mourning” (Norton, February 2020). For children, the ...

“Study Bach,” Johannes Brahms wrote. “There you will find everything.” This advice has endured for good reason. When listening to Johann Sebastian Bach’s astonishing creativity, which appears to be ...

The Washington Post's Philip Kennicott suffered his mother's harsh words and actions throughout childhood. His book is partly a need to... How can one mourn a parent whose harsh judgments frame ...