Musk calls Bach music's Shakespeare
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The gist
Elon Musk posted on X that Johann Sebastian Bach is "the Shakespeare of music. Best there ever was."
The comparison set off replies praising Bach and teasing Musk as an art critic.
Background
Elon Musk is the owner of X, the platform where he posted the comparison; one source describes him as "an engineer, not a critic." Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, and William Shakespeare the English playwright Musk compares him to. The post drew a long reply from X user Krzysztof Szczawinski, who argued Bach and Shakespeare are "the ground the others stand on" and tied the point to what he says Musk keeps warning about: civilizations "don't fall in one blow. They forget."
How it unfolded
- Oct 20, 2026Elon Musk posts on X: "Johann Sebastian Bach is the Shakespeare of music. Best there ever was."
- Oct 20, 2026X user Krzysztof Szczawinski agrees and expands, calling Bach and Shakespeare "the ground the others stand on" and Bach "the engineer's composer."
- Oct 20, 2026X user Coinvo shares Musk's quote, drawing replies that call Bach "a master of his craft" and Musk "the art critic."
- Oct 20, 2026X user Mambo Italiano thanks Musk for appreciating Bach and shares Bach's Air on the G String; X user Edmund replies with an Emil Cioran quote on Bach's music.
Who’s saying what
- Support
- Krzysztof Szczawinski says Musk is right, arguing Bach is "everything the West believed about order, freedom and work, put into sound" and that "Shakespeare shaped the language; Bach shaped harmony."
- Public
- Replying to Coinvo's repost, Jayden Jameson says "Bach was definitely a master of his craft," while 8lends jokes that "elon the art critic my man never switches off."
- Public
- Mambo Italiano thanks Musk for appreciating Bach, adding "We're so tired of seeing batons and smashed windows all over our timeline."