21/03/2000 I'm spending this evening of JSBs birthday enjoying, rather awestruck, McCreesh's big JSB, et. al., Epiphany Mass, and the 6+1 harpsichord Partitas and new Goldberg Variations, as performed by Blandine Verlet, all of which arrived today. As always, I marvel at such a talent who could compose at Sebastian Bach's, or anyone elses', pace, with such unerringly consistent good taste. To those of us who in some sense 'belong' to JSB, as performers or as hearers only, even after 315 years, he is the great musical bard and architect of drama and beauty, whose themes, subjects, inventions, encyclopedic knowledge and stunning intelligence will remain our 'tuning fork' and promise of good things in the music that is yet to appear. His art and impeccably good taste are to us who love him a possession forever [ktema es aiei]. If, G-d willing we are granted to maintain decent performance resources, this corpus of excellence will also be with us and will never let us down. Quaerendo Invenietis! "Philip Collins" <[log in to unmask]>