Compositions by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

printed during his lifetime (1685–1750) include works for keyboard instruments, such as his ''Clavier-Übung'' volumes for harpsichord and for organ, and to a lesser extent ensemble music, such as the

trio sonata The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic structure T ...

of ''

The Musical Offering ''The Musical Offering'' (German: or ), BWV 1079, is a collection of keyboard canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great (King Frederick II of Prus ...

'', and vocal music, such as a cantata published early in his career. Other works, such as several

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

s, were printed without an indication by which instruments they were to be performed. No more than a few works by Johann Sebastian Bach were printed during his lifetime. Extended works for choir and instrumentalists were not printed very often in his day. Bach selected mostly keyboard compositions for publication, which conformed to such contemporary practices, and was instrumental in establishing him as a keyboard composer. His works not only circulated in print: also manuscripts were copied and transmitted. Whether or not a work was selected for print was independent of the quality of the music.

Context

Whereas earlier composers such as

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considere ...

Praetorius Praetorius, Prätorius, Prætorius was the name of several musicians and scholars in Germany. In 16th and 17th century Germany it became a fashion for educated people named "Schulze," "Schultheiß," or "Richter (disambiguation), Richter" (which mea ...

and Schütz had their works printed to ensure that the entire range of their music became more widely known, this was not the case with Bach, who only had a small proportion of his works printed.

Christoph Wolff Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...

has suggested three reasons: firstly the financial support from municipal councils or noble patrons available to previous generations had diminished in Germany as a result of the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...

; secondly the expense of printing contrapuntal keyboard music which, at that time in Germany, was more often typeset than engraved; and lastly the low number of potential customers for works that were often technically difficult and unconventional. Counting by

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...

numbers, less than ten percent of the composer's output was printed during his lifetime. Especially the choral works, less than half a percent of over 400 BWV numbers, are under-represented. This was however not exceptional for Bach's time when larger works for chorus and orchestra were less often printed. Bach's own efforts to get his works printed concentrated mostly on his keyboard compositions, which contributed to the fact that, at least until the 19th-century

Bach Revival In the 18th century, the appreciation of Johann Sebastian Bach's music was mostly limited to distinguished connoisseurs. The 19th century started with publication of the first biography of the composer and ended with the completion of the publicat ...

, he was mainly regarded as a keyboard composer. Whether or not a work was selected for print was independent of the quality of the music. Most of the prints of Bach's music which appeared during his lifetime were commissioned by the composer. Bach's personal copies, often containing handwritten corrections or additions, have been recovered for several of his printed works. The German expression for personal copy, , also appears in English-language Bach-scholarship, and is used in the list below when referring to prints once contained in the personal library of Johann Sebastian Bach. During Bach's lifetime his compositions were mostly distributed amongst his immediate musical associates through manuscript copies. After his death in 1750, manuscript copies of keyboard and vocal works were made by professional copyists and distributed by musical publishing firms, especially Breitkopf (Leipzig), Traeg (

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) and Westphal (

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

). This in turn led to the appearance of printed editions of his works, beginning with the publication of Bach's four-part chorales in the second half of the eighteenth century. The fact that Bach had published representative samples of his music for keyboard instruments contributed to his fame, and to an increased demand for such works after his death. In his 1732 ,

Johann Gottfried Walther Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era. Life and work Walther was born at Erfurt. Not only was his life almost exactly contempor ...

listed all keyboard compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach which had been printed up to that point, that is, the six partitas of '' Clavier-Übung I''. In Bach's obituary, which was published four years after the composer's death, printed and unprinted works are listed separately: the list of engraved compositions contains eight items, all of them instrumental works, and concludes with ''

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fugue'' is the culmination of Bach's e ...

'', which had been printed shortly after the composer's death. A comparable list, starting with the same eight items, appeared half a century later in

Johann Nikolaus Forkel Johann Nikolaus Forkel (22 February 1749 – 20 March 1818) was a German musicologist and music theorist, generally regarded as among the founders of modern musicology. His publications include the two-volume ''Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik'' ...

's Bach-biography. In 1937 Georg Kinsky published an extensive study of Bach's original publications.

Printed music

The eight publications listed in Bach's obituary included ''

'' which was in fact published shortly after the composer's death. Further, two publications with vocal music and two canons are extant.

Mühlhausen council election cantatas

''Gott ist mein König'', BWV 71, Bach's council election (''Ratswahl'') cantata composed for

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a town in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's Central Germany (geography)#Geographical centre, geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen ...

in 1708, was printed that same year at the expense of the town council. Also in 1709 and 1710 Bach wrote the council election cantatas for Mühlhausen, which likewise would have been printed. These cantatas, BWV 1138.1 and 1138.2, are however lost: neither a print nor a manuscript survives. ; Publication : The Mühlhausen council commissioned the publication of the cantatas. The parts and libretto of the ''Gott ist mein König'' cantata, printed in Mühlhausen in 1708, are extant. ; : ''Mus. 11495'' of the

Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany, and a property of the German public cultural organization the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (). Founded in ...

, one of the surviving prints of the BWV 71 cantata, has a handwritten note by Bach on the front page.

''Clavier-Übung I''

Bach's Six Partitas, BWV 825–830, for

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

, were published in instalments from 1726 to 1730: #Autumn 1726: Partita No. 1 in

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: Changes needed for ...

, BWV 825. #Easter 1727: Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826. #Michaelmas 1727: Partita No. 3 in

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and ...

, BWV 827. #1728: Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828. #1730: Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829. #1730: Partita No. 6 in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: Changes ...

, BWV 830. In 1731 these partitas were collectively published as Clavier-Übung ("Keyboard Exercise"). ;Publication : According to an announcement published in May 1730, it was originally planned to publish seven suites. ; : In 1774

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...

, son of Johann Sebastian, sold a print of from his father's personal library to

. In 2008 Andrew Talle identified of the

Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (, ) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Hofburg#Neue Burg, Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in Innere Stadt, center of Vienna. Sin ...

as the that changed hands in 1774. Previously, Bach scholars had (tentatively) identified Bach's of as either of the Music Division of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

(e.g.

Peter Wollny Peter Wollny (born 29 June 1961) is a German musicologist, a Bach scholar who has served the Bach Archive Leipzig beginning in 1993, and as its director from 2014. Wollny has contributed to the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, and has been an editor of '' Ca ...

in 1996) or of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

(e.g. Walter Emery in 1952, and Richard D. P. Jones in 1978, 1988 and 1997).

Canon a 4

Bach's "Canon mit 4" (

for four

voices Voices or The Voices may refer to: Film and television * ''Voices'' (1920 film), by Chester M. De Vonde, with Diana Allen * ''Voices'' (1973 film), a British horror film * ''Voices'' (1979 film), a film by Robert Markowitz * ''Voices'' (1 ...

), BWV 1074, was published in

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the most prolific composers in history, at least in terms of surviving works. Telemann was considered by his contemporaries to b ...

's in 1728. This canon was also published with two solutions in

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, critic, lexicographer and music theorist. His writings on the late Baroque and early Classical period were highly influential, specifically, "his biographical and the ...

's ''Der vollkommene Capellmeister'' in 1739, and with three solutions in Volume 3 of

Lorenz Christoph Mizler Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (also known as Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof and Mitzler de Koloff; 26 July 1711 – 8 May 1778) was a German physician, historian, printer, mathematician, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enlighten ...

's in 1747.

''Clavier-Übung II''

The second volume of the ''Clavier-Übung'' was first published in 1735, soon followed by a reprint with several corrections. It contained two compositions, specified for performance on a two-manual harpsichord: * '' Concerto nach Italienischen Gusto'' (''Italian Concerto''), BWV 971 * '' Ouvertüre nach Französischer Art'' (''French Overture''), BWV 831 ; Publication : ''Clavier-Übung II'' was printed in

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

by Christoph Weigel. In the second printing pages 20 to 22 were replaced by new engravings. ; : ''K.8.g.7'' from the British Library was Bach's : it is a copy from the first print run with more than hundred corrections in Bach's hand.

Spiritual songs and arias from Schemelli's ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch''

Georg Christian Schemelli Georg Christian Schemelli (born 1676 or 1678 or 1680 – 5 March 1762) was a German Protestant church musician. He is known for the publication ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch'', a collection of sacred songs to which Johann Sebastian Bach contributed ...

's ''

Musicalisches Gesang-Buch Schemellis Gesangbuch (Schemelli's hymnal) is the common name of a collection of sacred songs titled ''Musicalisches Gesang-Buch'' (Musical song book) published in Leipzig in 1736 by Georg Christian Schemelli, to which Johann Sebastian Bach contr ...

'' (musical songbook), commonly known as '' Schemellis Gesangbuch'', contains 954 song texts, 69 of which, BWV 439–507, are printed with a setting for singing voice and

thoroughbass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidentals) indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones that a musician playing piano, harpsic ...

. Not all 69 melodies were composed by Bach, but he provided (or "improved") an accompaniment for all of them. ''Schemellis Gesangbuch'' was published in 1736, and contains some of Bach's probably least known compositions.

''Clavier-Übung III''

For

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, containing: * Prelude in

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

, BWV 552/i * German Kyrie and Gloria settings, BWV 669–677 * Catechism chorales, BWV 678–689 * Four duets, BWV 802–805 * Fugue E-flat major, BWV 552/ii The Prelude and Fugue were published separately as a pair by C. F. Peters in 1845 in Volume III of the Organ Works of J. S. Bach, with the fugue listed in the contents as the "St Annen-Fuge".

''Clavier-Übung IV''

In 1741 or 1742 another ''Clavier-Übung'' volume was published, the ''Aria with diverse variations'' for double manual harpsichord, later known as the ''

Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'' (), BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of thirty variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may ...

'', BWV 988. Not thus numbered in the print it was the fourth ''Clavier-Übung'' publication. This publication does not carry a reference to Johann Gottlieb Goldberg: the music was published over half a century before the perhaps exaggerated anecdote involving Goldberg was printed in Forkel's biography of Bach. ;Publication : The work was published by Balthasar Schmid in Nürnberg. ; : ''Ms. 17669'' is at the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

(BnF). It contains corrections by Bach as well as the autograph manuscript of the canons BWV 1087.

Canon triplex a 6

The Canon triplex a 6,

BWV 1076 Johann Sebastian Bach's vocal music includes cantatas, motets, masses, Magnificats, Passions, oratorios, four-part chorales, songs and arias. His instrumental music includes concertos, suites, sonatas, fugues, and other works for organ, ...

, which had appeared on Elias Gottlob Haussmann's portrait of Bach in 1746, was printed in 1747.

Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her"

The Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769, for organ, were published on the occasion of Bach's admission to Mizler's "Society of the Musical Sciences" in 1747.

''Musikalisches Opfer''

'', BWV 1079, was published in 1747, after Bach's visit to

Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...

in Potsdam. The work contains a

for

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, violin and continuo.Work at

Bach Digital Bach Digital (German: ), developed by the Bach Archive in Leipzig, is an online database which gives access to information on compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and members of his family. Early manuscripts of such compositions are a major foc ...

website.

''Schübler Chorales''

The ''

Schübler Chorales ' ( 'six chorales of diverse kinds, to be played on an organ with two manuals and pedal'), commonly known as the ''Schübler Chorales'' (), BWV 645–650, is a set of chorale preludes composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Georg Schü ...

'', BWV 645–650, is a set of

chorale prelude In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for pipe organ, organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque music, Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works ...

s for

, published around 1748 as ''Sechs Chorale von verschiedener Art'' (Six Chorales of Various Kinds) by Johann Georg Schübler. ;Publication : There is some doubt whether Bach commissioned the publication, which mainly, perhaps even exclusively, consists of arrangements of cantata movements which he had composed a few decades earlier. The work was published in Zella Melsi, and the engraver apparently prepared the print unsupervised by the composer. It is likely that Bach at least chose the six pieces, determined their sequence in the publication, and gave some instruction on the organ registration to be employed. ; : Bach's is part of the Scheide Library at

Princeton University Library Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...

. It contains several corrections by Bach, but misses the title page and the first page of music.

''Kunst der Fuge''

In preparation for print when the composer died (1750): ''

'', BWV 1080. The printed versions (1751 and 1752) contain BWV 668a, a variant of the chorale prelude "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein", BWV 668.

References

Sources

Music prints

* – facsimile
Mus. 11495 R
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D-B Mus. 11495
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website). * . * . * . * . * . * – facsimiles
D-LEb Peters PM 1402
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website
Kenny 2274
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Baldwin Wallace University Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace ...

2 B122p 1731
at

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

Mus.2405.T.46
at SLUB. * – facsimile (2nd printing, )
DMS 224676(2)
at

D-B DMS 224676 (2) Rara
at

website). * – facsimiles
D-LEb Peters PM 1403
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US-PRu M 3.1. B2 C5. 1739q (Ex.)
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website
SA.82.F.15
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A-Wn SA.82.F.15
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website). * – facsimiles
MS-17669
at Gallica (, )
D-LEb Peters PM 1400
at

website
Kenny 548
at

. * Facsimile
MS64460-4° R/XVIII/Bach/2
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A-Wn MS 64460
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website). * – facsimiles
Am.B. 80
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M3.3 .B118v
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University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

Kenny 1512
at

mu 6406.1830 H. & Fr. Rungs Musik-Arkiv No 1535, U 20
an
mu 6407.2832 Weyses Samling, U 20
at Royal Library, Denmark
Ohki N-7 (4)
at Nanki Music Library, Tokyo. * – facsimiles
Am.B 73
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(D-B Am.B 73
Fascicle 1
an
Fascicle 2
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website)
Am.B 74
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D-B Am.B 74
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website)
BWV 1079
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. * – facsimiles
D-LEb Peters PM 5694
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website
DMS O. 80758
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D-B DMS O. 80758 Rara
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website)
SH.J.S.Bach.40
at

A-Wn SH J. S. Bach 40
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website). * (first edition, 1751) and (second edition, with preface by Marpurg, 1752) – facsimiles
mu 6406.2030 H. & Fr. Rungs Musik-Arkiv No 226A, U 315
at Royal Library, Denmark (1751 edition
DK-Kk mu 6406.2030 H. & Fr. Rungs Musik-Arkiv No 226A, U 315
at

website)
Mus. O. 17364
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(1752 edition
D-B Mus. O. 17364 Rara
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website)
BWV 1080
at

(1752 edition
US-BER Kenney 1814, Vault: M 24.B2
at

website). * * * – facsimiles
1077430 Liturg. 1372 o
at

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research libra ...

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Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

; . * . – facsimiles
VM7-3878
at Gallica ()
Mus.2392.B.1
at SLUB
M B/4987
at .

Other

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Bach publications Printed during his lifetime, List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach