Last night I have noticed that the number of visits at the Bach Cantatas
Website has just crossed the line of 100,000 visits since it was launched
in its current form and address on December 30, 2000.

The Bach Cantatas Website (BCW) is located at: http://www.bach-cantatas.com
This a comprehensive site covering all aspects of J.S. Bach's cantatas
and his other vocal works. It contains discussions and detailed discographies
of each cantata and other vocal works, performers and general topics.
The site also includes texts and translations, scores, music examples,
articles and interviews, and short biographies of more than 1,300
performers of Bach vocal works (singers, conductors, vocal and instrumental
groups). There are also other relevant resources such as a discussion
of the Lutheran church year, reviews and discussions of Bach's non-vocal
works, terms and abbreviations, hundreds of links to other relevant
resources. The site is an international collective project, being compiled
from various postings about the subject, most of which have been sent
to the Bach Cantatas Mailing List (BCML).

I would like to use this opportunity to thank the numerous contributors
to the discussions in the BCML, BRML, Bach_Cantatas ML and some other
lists, whose messages are compiled into the pages of the Bach Cantatas
Website.  Their names are mentioned accordingly above each quoted message.
I would also like to thank the many Bach lovers who have sent me material
to be included in the BCW, such as articles, translation of the cantatas'
texts, details of recordings, short biographies, photos, links to other
sites, etc.  Their names are mentioned accordingly in the relevant pages.

Three of them deserve special gratitude

A. Armagan Ekici: Only a short while ago I found out who put the seed
from which the Bach Cantatas Website has been developed. In the discussion
of Harnoncourt I found the following message from him, sent to the BCML
on April 12, 2000: "Let's get on with real business: I wish that Aryeh's
reviews of cantata recordings --most passionate and informed analysis I
have ever seen, professional or amateur-- get published in an organized
way rather than disappearing into the ether. Would Aryeh be interested
in such a project?...Any ideas on cross-referencing, indexing these
etc.?"

B. Simon Crouch (of the valuable Website Listener's Guide to the Bach
Cantatas): Who was very kind to host the Bach Cantatas Website in its
initial phase.

C. Kirk McElhearn: Who formed and manages the BCML and the BRML.

I am encouraged by the positive feedback the BCW is getting from all over
the world. Many of the feedback messages can be read in the following pages:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/About-2000.htm
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/About-2001.htm
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/About-2002.htm
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/About-2003.htm

I continue to look forward to receiving your comments (corrections,
suggestions, improvements, etc.) about the Website. The instructions how
to send me comments, appear in the following page:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/How.htm

I wish you all another Great and Happy Bach Year,

Aryeh Oron
Bach and Jazz Music Fan