Written By Mrs Bach

by Martin Jarvis

Did Mrs Bach write some of our greatest musical works?



It's not often that one of the world's greatest composers is accused of plagiarising his wife's work, but an Australian musical expert has cast doubt on whether Johann Sebastian Bach wrote all his own material. Conductor Martin Jarvis believes Bach's cello suites were composed by the German musician's second wife, Anna Magdalena Bach (1701-60). He takes us on an intriguing journey of speculation and discovery to uncover the truth and rewrite some musical wrongs. When ABC 'AM' broke the story, it was wired all around the world and created a sensation in music circles. Category: MUSIC / BIOGRAPHY

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Ruth Bonetti · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tantalizing title and premise - that second wife Anna Magdalena composed the Bach cello suites - is backed by extensive handwriting analysis. But there was scant research about either Bach and the few facts were (a mere few pages) repeated word for word a hundred pages later. In fact this is more Jarvis memoir than research about the central characters. Apparently letters are not extant: did he search for any? He admits to scant knowledge of the German language and we are asked to sympathise with his Blundering in German libraries as he expects others to speak English. One wonders if his thesis - for this is essentially what the book is- would be stronger if he had explored primary German sources rather than rely on translations of standard Spitta and Schweitzer. As it is he admits to difficulty with PhD examiners before another is called in to pass it. Positive supporters are quoted, pleasantries and all, to boost his case.

It is a pity that more attention was not paid to editing of 60 and 70 word sentences, whole page paragraphs and coy exclamation marks to hone a more gripping read. Jarvis is billed as a sleuth and many would be sympathetic to this who-dunnit if they didn't feel conned by an attractive title and cover into reading his PhD thesis. It struggles to find a genre and level: at first taking down to non musical readers then losing them in fine detail. I wish I had come to know the Bach couple better and then would have been only too happy to believe this proposition that Anna Magdalena was a composer capable of giving us these significant works. With much handwriting analysis but no new facts the jury is still out. I wanted to like this book more but found myself skim-reading.

[Zachary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jarvis starts with an astounding assertion, that Bach's second wife Anna Magdalena Bach wrote not only the Solo Cello Suites, but other major works as well. He expects us to go along with him with basically no real evidence. The much ballyhooed handwriting analysis has been debunked by real Bach experts. And make no mistake about it Jarvis is decidedly not a Bach expert. For a thoroughly devastating critique of Jarvis and his absurd thesis please read this article written by eminent Bach scholar Ruth Tatlow:
http://bachnetwork.co.uk/ub10/ub10-ta...

[Pix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, easy to understand. Broadened my mind.