Did Bach’s wife write his best-loved works?

GERMANY MUSIC: BACH SCRIPTS RECOVERED: Documents written by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) are pictured in the eastern German city of Weimar August 31, 2006. These are the earliest handwritten originals by Bach found during restorations in Weimar and shows his transcriptions of organ works by Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) and Johann Adam Reinken (1643-1722). REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz (GERMANY)

GERMANY MUSIC: BACH SCRIPTS RECOVERED: Documents written by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) are pictured in the eastern German city of Weimar August 31, 2006. These are the earliest handwritten originals by Bach found during restorations in Weimar and shows his transcriptions of organ works by Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) and Johann Adam Reinken (1643-1722). REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz (GERMANY)

Published Oct 29, 2014

Share

London - More than 260 years after his death, his music is still known and adored by millions.

According to a new analysis, however, some of Johann Sebastian Bach’s best-loved works may have actually been written by his wife.

An expert claims that Anna Magdalena, Bach’s second wife, was the composer of some of his major pieces, including the cello suites.

Martin Jarvis, professor of music at Charles Darwin University in Australia, has spent years compiling evidence, with a comprehensive study of handwriting and manuscripts.

He will present his findings in a documentary entitled Written By Mrs Bach, due to be screened at Bafta in London next week.

The film will detail his analysis of ink and writing style, which he says suggests Mrs Bach did far more work on the pieces than previously thought.

He argues that Anna also wrote the aria from the Goldberg Variations and the first prelude of The Well-Tempered Clavier: Book I.

Presented by British composer Sally Beamish, the film will include evidence from an American scientist who analysed Bach’s signature and his scores.

Heidi Harralson, a forensic document examiner, said she believed the composer was more likely to be Anna than Bach himself, saying she was as sure as possible “within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty”.

Anna is already known to have transcribed for Bach in his later years, but researchers found the handwriting did not have the “slowness or heaviness” of someone who is merely copying.

They concluded that the handwriting suggested she had composed the scores herself.

The experts also pointed to numerous corrections to music written in her hand, signalling she is likely to have been composing it as she went along.

Anna, an accomplished singer, married Bach in 1721 when she was 20 and he was 36. Many of her papers are said to have been destroyed after her death, leaving little trace of her legacy.

Miss Beamish told the Sunday Telegraph: “What I found fascinating is the questions it raises about the assumptions we make: that music is always written by one person and all the great masters were male by definition.” - Daily Mail

Related Topics: