10 August—Today is the feast day of Saint Lawrence. Because on 10 August 258 (AD, of course) the relatively liberal Lawrence was martyred at the behest of conservative anti-Christian Roman emperor Valerian. (Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, a convert to the religion, didn’t come for another half century.)

While the customary method of execution in the day was good old-fashioned decapitation, legend has it that Lawrence was grilled to death on a gridiron. Thus he’s the patron saint of gridirons and cooks. He was instrumental in hiding church records, including all-important membership rosters, from Valerian’s weaponized department of justice, so Lawrence also is patron saint of librarians and archivists.

It’s also said that as Lawrence was being roasted, he quipped, “I’m done on this side, you can flip me over.” So he’s also the patron saint of comedians. No kidding. But there are no witnesses to any of it. Still, that’s the traditional story.

To celebrate whatever it may be, then, here’s a delightful concerto for three keyboards by J.S. Bach. It’s BWV 1063: