The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach

Straub's structural film combines dramatic and documentary techniques to present a portrait of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. The visuals, suggestive of Dutch painting, are juxtaposed with a spoken text attributed to Bach's wife but actually drawn from the letters and manuscripts of the composer. Anna Magdalena's narration reveals her love for the musical genius and the couple's life of sorrow punctuated by the deaths of several children as well as Bach's battles for recognition and the barest means of subsistence. Bach, a Protestant, wrote most of his music for Catholic patrons. He and his second wife, Anna, performed at the harpsichord to support their thirteen children. The choral and instrumental sections are performed on screen by Gustav Leonhardt and other musicians on period instruments. Musical excerpts include: Brandenberg Concerto no. 5, St Matthew Passion, B-Minor Mass, The Magnificat in D Major and The Art of the Fugue. (Circulates)