Dear Anna,

Thank you for your interest in, and your help
with the proposed memorial concert for Margrit
on July 14, 2010. I am nagging my four grandchildren,
each of whom has agreed to come, to tell me what they
would like to play in memory of their great aunt,
whose central concern, when in Belmont, was to attend
all of their public performances. As soon as my
grandchildren respond to my nagging, I will let you
know. Meanwhile I should be grateful to you for any
suggestions, including pieces for voice or flute that
you would like to contribute yourself, as well as
hymns the singing which you would like to lead the
audience-congregation in singing.

Please do not consider prescriptive, the score and the CDs
of Bach's collection of Geistliche Lieder from Schemelli's
Gesangbuch which I mailed to you. When we spoke on the 
'phone I had the impression that these songs, which I consider
of musicological importance, were not familiar to you, and
that you would be interested. The score is a facsimile of
the original Bach Gesellschaft edition of 1851; the CDs I
transcribed from a Westminster label 33 rpm vinyl recording,
of which I bought two copies in about 1950, one for my
parents, the other for my own collection. I don't consider
the performances optimal, I find them somewhat mechanical
and for my taste, insufficiently lyrical. But I have never
encountered another complete recording. I remember that
when your father heard these songs, he liked them very much.
I remember also that Biship Skjard of Norway, who led the
visit to Konnarock of European church dignitaries in the
early 1950's, declared No. 34 to be his favorite. I myself
like them all, very much, but especially Nos. 1, 14, 18, 25,
29, 48, 58, and 61. Please don't construe my comments as a
request to you to sing any of them. You will notice that
Nos. 22, 23, and 24, are the same text and the same melody,
variations which progressively forego the baroque ornamentation,
as if the composer, as was his custom, took the text to heart.

I hope you and your family are well.

Jochen