The Long Sufferings of Anna Magdalena Bach is a set of variations on a recently discovered theme by Johann Sebastian Bach's second wife: mother of 13 children, hard-working housewife and composer. Colorful, intense and irreverent, this work presents Anna Magdalena in her own voice, commenting on her husband, their life together and on her times. It is an abridged version of a 45 minute commission of the ABC Australia's Listening Room series, 1996.