Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio

For over 100 years, Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio lay in archives. The sheets were rediscovered around 1850. Music historians were amazed and excited, then bemused and dismayed: Johann Sebastian Bach had composed important parts of the work before. At places he plagiarized earlier compositions into the oratorio. The originals, however, had had very different texts, and they hadn't been intended for Christmas recitals.

Johann Sebastian Bach

The Widely Ignored Parts of Le Corbusier's Biography

Le Corbusier is hailed as a great architect. He is depicted on the Swiss 10 Franc note. At his funeral in 1965, tributes from all over the world poured into Paris. It is time to have a look at the real Le Corbusier and what he stood for.

Must Read Classic: Wilhelm Lamszus

Wilhelm Lamszus was the visionary who wrote the most realistic description of World War I two years before it started. He also managed to do this without any hero clap trap and emotional arms selling. He stuck to the bloody, gory details he foresaw so correctly. It's no wonder Hollywood never wanted to do the movie.

Wilhelm Lamszus

Prime Minister Well Cooked

Johan de Witt was Grand Pensionary of Holland, an office with powers similar to that of a Prime Minister cum Foreign Secretary all rolled into one. He led the country during the first stadtholder-less time from 1650 to 1672 when Republicans saw their chance to get more power for themselves and their families at the expense of the hereditary House of Orange.