In May 1747, Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, received an illustrious visit: Johann Sebastian Bach appeared at his court in Potsdam, where his son Carl Philipp Emanuel was working. During their meeting, the king proposed a musical theme for his visitor to improvise in his presence. On his return to Leipzig and only two months later, as a sign of gratitude, Bach published and sent to the monarch Regis Iussu Cantio Et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta (theme given by the king, with additions, resolved in canonical style). Taking the initials of the title results in the word ricercar, a name that at the time was given to instrumental pieces in which one or several themes are presented and imitated, such as, for example, the one that precisely begins the original work. Very quickly, the original title gave way to the name we know it by today: The Musical Offering.

The genesis and subsequent gestation of this work anecdotally illustrate a far-reaching phenomenon such as the importance of monarchs who, whether we like it or not, imprint their name on History. Its acts have inspired a large number of composers, painters, sculptors, writers, poets, playwrights, choreographers and artists in general. His influence is huge. And their power while they reign, too. So much so, that they were considered the figure of human connection with the divine: "God on Earth".

But it is one thing how we historically perceive the figure of the king, and the other is to try to imagine, beyond the easy judgment of the appearance of things, how they could feel; try to put ourselves in their shoes, for example, in the moment before making big decisions, the outcome of which could depend on an entire town or even their own life. And we find the answer in ourselves, as humans. Whoever we are, in the midst of silence, we face the crossroads of life from the same place: solitude.

Bach's music —and the rest of the works and texts we offer you— can evoke it for us and at the same time allow us to travel through it. A selection of canons from The Musical Offering will serve as a beacon, as the Eastern Star, along the path traced by György Ligeti, Sofia Gubaidulina, György Kurtág, Anton Webern, Robert Gerhard, Krzysztof Penderecki, Igor Stravinsky and John Cage, together with Samuel Beckett, Alexandre Blok, Kawai Kanjiro and Rainer Maria Rilke.