Anna Magdalena Bach
“The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach” (German: Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach) is a 1968 film by the French filmmaking duo of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet. It was their first full-length feature film. The film stars renowned harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt as Johann Sebastian Bach and Christiane Lang as Anna Magdalena Bach. The orchestral music was performed by Concentus Musicus and conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. It is the first of several Straub-Huillet films to be based on works of classical music.
The film consists of excerpts from Johann Sebastian Bach’s works, presented in chronological order and linked by a fictional journal written by his second wife, Anna Magdalena Bach. Each work is typically presented in a single, often immobile take, with the musicians performing in the locations where many of the works were premiered, dressed in period costumes.
Included are performances of Bach’s works including the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Prelude 6 from the “Little Clavier Book for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Minuet 2 of the Suite in D Minor from the “Little Clavier Book for Anna Magdalena Bach, Sonata No. 2 in D Major for Viola and Harpsichord, Partita in E Minor from the “Little Clavier Book for Anna Magdalena Bach, Trio-sonata No. 2 in C Minor, Magnificat in D Major, “St. Matthew Passion, Prelude in B Minor for Organ, Mass in B Minor, Ascension Oratorio, Clavier-Uebung Italian Concerto, Goldberg Variations, Musical Offering, Art of the Fugue Corale for Organ, and Cantatas No. 205, 198, 244, 42, 215, 140, 82.
There also exist a condensed version of this movie (33 min), where the bulk of the music has been omitted, so you can focus on the story/biography of Bach and his wife, by the same producer…
The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (English speech & subs) – FULL MOVIE