Martin Jarvis OAM (born 17 September 1951, Ebbw Vale,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) is an Australian

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

player, founder of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, and professor and lecturer of music at

Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...

in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Personal and professional life

He won a scholarship to the Welsh College of Music, Cardiff, where he studied violin under Garfield Phillips,

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the

BBC Welsh Orchestra The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...

. He studied 197175 at the Royal Academy of Music, London, under Clarence Myerscough for violin and Winifred Copperwheat for viola. Jarvis founded the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, which gave its first concert in 1989 - he ended his term as its artistic director at the end of 2009. Jarvis is professor and lecturer of music at

(CDU) where he teaches viola, violin, and conducting, and is director of the CDU

Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...

Awards

Jarvis was a recipient of the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

(OAM) in the 2007

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

Honours.

Research into Anna Magdalena Bach

During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, his viola teacher Winifred Copperwheat made him aware of problems with the published editions of the six suites for unaccompanied cello commonly attributed to

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

. After research of his own, Jarvis has controversially postulated, using handwriting analysis heuristics, that the suites were composed by Bach's wife Anna Magdalena. Other academics such as Stephen Rose have responded that, while Anna Magdalena may have contributed to the labours on his manuscripts, "there is not enough evidence to show that she single-handedly composed the Cello Suites." Jarvis was awarded a PhD from Charles Darwin University based on his research, and presented his findings at an October 2008 meeting of the International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences in Melbourne. Regarding the generally-accepted portrayal of Anna Magdalena Bach's role in music history and his own differing views, Jarvis himself has acknowledged, "My conclusions may not be wholly accurate, but the way in which tradition has put Anna Magdalena into this pathetic role s merely the copyist... is rubbish." Jarvis published the book ''Written by Mrs Bach'' in 2011; it was made into a documentary film in 2014.

References

External links

*
"Bogus Bach Theory Gets Media Singing"
by

Tim Cavanaugh Tim Cavanaugh is a journalist and screenwriter based in Alexandria, Virginia. He is a news editor for ''The Washington Examiner''. Prior to that, he was News Editor for '' National Review Online'', Executive Editor for ''The Daily Caller'', Managi ...

, '' National Review Online'', 29 October 2014
"The Search for Mrs. Bach"
by Alex Ross, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', 31 October 2014
Ruth Tatlow: "A Missed Opportunity. Reflections on ''Written by Mrs Bach''"
in ''Understanding Bach'', Bach Network UK, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Martin 1951 births Living people People from Ebbw Vale Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Australian classical violinists Male classical violinists Australian classical violists Australian conductors (music) Australian musicologists Charles Darwin University faculty 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian musicians