List of transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
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Johann Sebastian Bach's music has often been transcribed for other instruments.


Bach's lifetime

Bach himself was an inveterate transcriber of his works for other musical forces. For example: * Sonatas and partitas for solo violin, BWV 1001–1006 * Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 * Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 * Double Violin Concerto (Bach), BWV 1043 *
Toccata and Fugue in D minor The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Schol ...
, BWV 565 (suspected to be a transcription of a violin original, by Bach himself or another composer).


Classical era

* Working at the behest of Gottfried van Swieten, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arranged some of the fugues from ''
The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...
'' for string quartet (
K. 405 K is the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet. K may also refer to: General uses * K (programming language), an array processing language developed by Arthur Whitney and commercialized by Kx Systems * K (cider), a British draft cider manufact ...
). His K. 404a contains transcriptions for string trio of a few more fugues from ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'' and of some other works by Bach. * Ludwig van Beethoven arranged Fugue No. 22 in B-flat minor, BWV 867/2, from the ''Well-Tempered Clavier'' book 1, for string quintet (). "Hess 38" is Beethoven's arrangement of "Book 1 – Fugue No. 22 in B flat minor" (BWV 867).


Romantic era

*
Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...
made a piano transcription of the chaconne from the Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, as did
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
and others. For more Bach transcriptions by Busoni, see: ** List of adaptations by Ferruccio Busoni#Transcriptions (BV B 20 to 115) ** Bach-Busoni Editions * Charles Gounod's '' Ave Maria'' is based on Prelude No. 1 of Book I of ''
The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...
''. *
Francisco Tárrega Francisco de Asís Tárrega Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and ''Recuerdos de la Alhambra''. He is often called ...
transcribed a variety of Bach works, including his
Fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
from Violin Sonata No. 1, BWV 1001 *
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
arranged
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543 is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime around his years as court organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1708–1713). Extended footnote 1, with references in German. Versions and ...
, Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544,
Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 545 Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form * Prelude (band), an English-based folk band * Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition fo ...
,
Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546 Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546 is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach, with the prelude dating around his time in Leipzig (1723–1750), and the fugue dating around his time in Weimar (1708–1717).
, Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 547,
Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548 is a piece of organ music written by Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1727 and 1736, during his time in Leipzig. The work is sometimes called "The Wedge" due to the chromatic outward motion of the fugue ...
,
Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542 __NOTOC__ The Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, is an organ prelude and fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach. It acquired that name to distinguish it from the earlier Little Fugue in G minor, which is shorter. This piece is not to be co ...
, and Movement 2 of '' Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12'' (also the same as the ' from the
Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanctu ...
BWV 232) for piano, and Movement 3 of the
Violin Sonata in C minor, BWV 1017 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 regular ...
, the same music mentioned above from '' Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12'', the Introduction and Fugue from Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21, and the Andante from ''
Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV 38 (Out of deep anguish I call to You), 38, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1724 for the 21st Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 29 October 1724. The cantata is part of Bach' ...
'' for Organ or Harmonium. ** See Franz Liszt's treatments of the works of other composers#Johann Sebastian Bach * Edward MacDowell (1860–1908) produced "Six Little Pieces after sketches by J. S. Bach" (1890) for piano solo.


20th century

* Harrison Birtwistle arranged a number of Bach organ works as Bach Measures, for chamber orchestra (1996) *
Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
transcribed Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in C minor BWV 537 for orchestra *
Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
made a transcription of the Violin Partita in E major, BWV 1006, including the following movements: prelude, gavotte and gigue. *
Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...
and
Walter Morse Rummel Walter Morse Rummel (July 19, 1887May 2, 1953) was a prominent pianist, especially associated with Claude Debussy's works, as well as a composer and music editor. He was of German-English descent and active mainly in France. Rummel was born in Berl ...
both made many transcriptions of Bach works. * Leopold Stokowski made a large number of transcriptions for full orchestra, including the
Toccata and Fugue in D minor The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Schol ...
for organ, which appeared in the film ''
Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...
'' and the Little Fugue in G minor. *
Alexander Siloti Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti, russian: Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Зило́ти, ''Aleksandr Iljič Ziloti'', uk, Олександр Ілліч Зілоті; 9 October 1863 – 8 December 1945) was a Russian virtuoso pianist, ...
made many piano transcriptions of Bach, most famously his Prelude in B minor based on Bach's Prelude in E minor, BWV 855a. * Andrés Segovia was famous for his playing arrangements of Bach works transcribed for
classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
, such as his very difficult Chaconne from the Violin Partita in D minor. *
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
arranged for orchestra Bach's organ Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major ''St Anne'', BWV 552. *
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
made an arrangement of the
Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" The Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" ("From Heaven above to Earth I come"), BWV 769, are a set of five variations in canon for organ with two manuals and pedals by Johann Sebastian Bach on the Christmas hymn by Martin Luth ...
in 1956. *
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
's last work was a transcription of Four Preludes and Fugues from Das Wohltemperirte Clavier * William Walton's ballet
The Wise Virgins ''The Wise Virgins'' is a one-act ballet based on the biblical Parable of the Ten Virgins.Vaughan D. ''Frederick Ashton and his Ballets.'' A & C Black Ltd, London, 1977. It was created in 1940 with choreography by Frederick Ashton, to a score of mu ...
(1940) consists of orchestrations of movements from Bach's cantatas and chorale preludes. * Anton Webern arranged the ricercar from '' The Musical Offering'' for orchestra. *
Marcel Grandjany Marcel Georges Lucien Grandjany ( ) (3 September 1891 – 24 February 1975) was a French-American harpist and composer. Biography Early life Marcel Grandjany was born in Paris and began the study of the harp at the age of eight with Henriet ...
transcribed movements of the Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin for the harp in his book of Etudes. *The
Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), ...
frequently performed compositions of Bach as transcribed for the instruments of their ensemble. *Violinists interested in
historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...
, notably Andrew Manze, have created "anti-transcriptions"; that is, reconstructed hypothetical original versions for violin, of the
Toccata and Fugue in D minor The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music written, according to its oldest extant sources, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. Schol ...
for organ. *The Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582, has been arranged by a number of composers. *
Jacques Loussier Trio The Jacques Loussier Trio was a French Third Stream jazz piano trio, led by pianist Jacques Loussier, that became known for its jazz interpretations of European classical music. They were commonly known in France as "le trio Play Bach" after the tit ...
transcribed several Bach's compositions * The Swingle Singers devoted entire albums to transcriptions of Bach's work (''
Bach's Greatest Hits ''Jazz Sébastien Bach'' (released as ''Bach's Greatest Hits'' in North America) is the debut album released by the Paris-based Swingle Singers. The album was a 1964 Grammy award winner for " Best Performance by a Chorus" and the group also won ...
'' and ''
Back to Bach ''Back to Bach'' (released as ''Jazz Sébastien Bach, Vol. 2'' in France) is a 1968 album released by the Paris-based Swingle Singers. All tracks from this album are also included on the CD re-issue / compilation, ''Jazz Sebastian Bach'' (combine ...
'') * Wendy Carlos transcribed and performed many works by Bach on the
Moog Synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
on several albums including Switched-On Bach issued by Columbia Masterworks.


21st century

* Luciano Berio arranged Bach's Contrapunktus XIX from Die Kunst der Fuge for 23 players (2001).


References

{{Chamber music, Orchestral works and Transcriptions by Johann Sebastian Bach Transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, List of