To Bach, notes were not just sounds but the very stuff of creation.
“Leonard Bernstein discusses material & structure in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion,” Bernstein Century - Bach: St. Matthew Passion / Nypo, Et Al (1999) (at 6:31)
Going through the pain barrier, that’s what makes the muscles grow. There’s this pain, this aching, and going on and on and on. That’s what divides a champion from a non-champion - having the guts to go through the pain barrier.Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Guardian (May 2009)