UK film crew in NT to make documentary from ground-breaking research

A British film crew is in Darwin to shoot footage for a documentary on the pioneering research of a Charles Darwin University academic that shocked the classical music world in 2006.

BAFTA winning Director Alex McCall said the documentary entitled “Written by Mrs Bach” was based on the book of the same name written by Professor Martin Jarvis.

“His breakthrough came while applying forensic science to determine the true origin and authorship of some of the most famous music attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach,” Mr McCall said. “With startling accuracy, much-loved pieces like the ‘Cello Suites’ can now be said to have been penned by his second wife Anna Magdalena - previously written out of this musical history.”

Mr McCall said the first filming stop in the Northern Territory was Charles Darwin University in Darwin, which “courageously encouraged Professor Jarvis to take on the establishment of classical music”.

“We have already filmed extensively around the university, where he conducted his research, at work as a conductor and at his home. We also conducted interviews with CDU Historian Professor Alan Powell, Music Librarian Glendale Snyder and PhD candidate Penny Reiss, who will continue to research the Anna Magdalena story.”

The film crew also joined Professor Jarvis and harpsichordist Elizabeth Anderson for a unique performance in the Joan Sutherland Foyer of the Sydney Opera House.

“Next stop is Leipzig Germany, the home of JS Bach and where the Cello Suites are believed to have been composed,” he said. “There Professor Jarvis will take on the scholars and protagonists who defend the believed truth of Bach as composer. The journey will then continue through Bach's life to Cothen Germany and Karlsbad in the Czech Republic, and end in the UK at the Royal Academy of Music.”

The documentary is due to be released in late 2013.