Waste not, want not …

… The Master Recycler. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Did Bach turn to parody because he was running out of ideas? Fully new works from the 1740s such as the “Goldberg” Variations, Musical Offering, and The Art of Fugue show that he could still draw on robust creative powers when necessary. But the parody process provided him the opportunity to revisit earlier music, distill and revise its contents, and lift it to an even higher level of refinement. It offered Bach the chance to give free rein to his relentless drive for self-improvement.