Easter Music

I'm still studying Bach, on and off, for The Einstein Factor, and have enjoyed listening to Bach's mighty St John Passion, his Easter Oratorio, the early cantata BWV 4 Christ lay in the bonds of death and BWV 31 The Heavens laugh; the earth rejoices, all of which were written for Easter Sunday.

Although I'm trying to be an expert on Bach, as best I can, I have only listened to each of the more than 200 cantatas once, except for the really well-known ones. I appreciate having the Teldec Bach 2000 set [purchased in 2001], but there are certainly some better performances than in that set. The worst aspect is the boy sopranos, and the worst aspect of that is the out-of-tune boy sopranos.

Still musing about John Eliot Gardiner's Pilgrimage set. The recordings you hear from the Monteverdi Choir website sound terrific, as do the 3 cantatas on the Pilgrimage DVD.

If you would like to view my efforts in my episode on The Einstein Factor, it is supposed to be on ABC TV on Sunday, 17th June at 6.30 PM.