Jarvis and Bach

 Australian author Martin 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 attributed to Bach as well.  He expects us to go along with him with basically no real evidence. The much ballyhooed handwriting analysis is a joke, and it 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.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! We are celebrating Christ Immanuel, the Word who became Flesh for our sakes. The incarnation is such an awesome event. God humbled Himself and came to earth as the God-Man to pay the price for our sins so that we could be redeemed. Such amazing love!

Please enjoy this performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Weihnachtsoratorium), BWV 248. Nikolaus Harnoncourt is conducting. Performers include Concentus Musicus Wien and soloists of the outstanding Tölzer Knabenchor. Soloists Peter Schreier (tenor) and Robert Holl (bass) really stand out. This performance is from 1982. You can purchase it here.

 

The Mystical Nativity (1501) by Sandro Botticelli

Cantatas No. 1 - 3


Cantatas No. 4 - 6

new poem

"One Winter's Evening"

Footsteps crunch
In new fallen snow

Frozen architecture
Left behind

Cold air
Stings my lungs

Feeling alive
I exhale frosty vapors

Evening comes
Streetlights aglow

Casting shadows
Of yellow and gray

Silence comes
Time seems to slow

I admire
Snowflakes hung in space

Wondrous design
Speaks to a Creator

Hills covered
In blankets of snow

Pure white
Reminds me of grace

Mind wanders
Bach's Art of the Fugue

Happiness comes
With the shimmering snow

Music dances
Across the sky

Sacred geometry
Revealed in crystalline forms

Feeling warmth
I listen

And realize
Everything will be ok

   -- Zachary Uram (c) 2013