Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter -- to all these music gives voice, but in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to a world of peace, and see reality in a new way, as if we were sitting by a mountain lake and contemplating hills and woods and clouds in the tranquil and fathomless water.

He also studied piano at that time with Marie Jaëll. Schweitzer also studied piano under Isidor Philipp head of the piano department at the Paris Conservatory. Schweitzer's interpretative approach greatly influenced the modern understanding of Bach's music.

Schweitzer a Lutheran challenged both the secular view of Jesus as depicted by historical-critical methodology current at his time in certain academic circles as well as the traditional Christian view. As a music scholar and organist he studied the music of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and influenced the Organ reform movement (Orgelbewegung). He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine at that time part of the German Empire.