Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565

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. The piece opens with a toccata section, followed by a fugue that ends in a coda. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire.

"Toccata and Fugue in D minor" redirects here. For the Toccata and Fugue in D minor known as "Dorian", see Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538.
Beginning of BWV 565 in Johannes Ringk's manuscript, the only extant 18th-century copy of the work

Scholars differ as to when it was composed. It could have been as early as c.1704 (when the presumed composer was still in his teens), which would be one explanation for the unusual features; alternatively, a date as late as the 1750s has been suggested (Bach died in 1750). To a large extent, the piece conforms to the characteristics deemed typical for the north German organ school of the Baroque era with divergent stylistic influences, such as south German characteristics.

Despite a profusion of educated guesswork, there is not much that can be said with certainty about the first century of the composition's existence other than that it survived that period in a manuscript written by Johannes Ringk. The first publication of the piece, in the Bach Revival era, was in 1833, through the efforts of Felix Mendelssohn, who also performed the piece in an acclaimed concert in 1840. Familiarity with the piece was enhanced in the second half of the 19th century by a fairly successful piano version by Carl Tausig, but it was not until the 20th century that its popularity rose above that of other organ compositions by Bach. That popularity further increased, due for example to its inclusion in Walt Disney's Fantasia (in Stokowski's orchestral transcription), until this composition came to be considered the most famous work in the organ repertoire.

A wide, and often conflicting, variety of analyses has been published about the piece: for instance, in literature on organ music, it is often described as some sort of program music depicting a storm, while in the context of Disney's Fantasia, it was promoted as absolute music, nothing like program music depicting a storm. In the last quarter of the 20th century, scholars such as Peter Williams and Rolf-Dietrich Claus published their studies on the piece and argued against its authenticity. Bach scholars like Christoph Wolff defended the attribution to Bach. Other commentators ignored the authenticity doubts or considered the attribution issue undecided. No edition of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis listed the Toccata and Fugue among the doubtful works, nor does its entry on the website of the Bach Archiv Leipzig even mention alternative views on the attribution issue.

History
Title page of Ringk's manuscript

The only extant near-contemporary source for BWV 565 is an undated copy by Johannes Ringk.[1][2] A broad estimate is that the manuscript was written somewhere in the period from ten years before Bach's death in 1750 to ten years after it.[3] Ringk produced his first copy of a Bach score in 1730 when he was 12.[1] Taking into consideration the evolution of Ringk's handwriting, one can infer that his copy of BWV 565 was written soon after his first copy of a Bach composition, which would narrow the date of his BWV 565 manuscript to between 1730 and 1735, when Ringk was around 15.[1] At the time Ringk was a student of Bach's former student[4] Johann Peter Kellner at Gräfenroda, and probably faithfully copied what his teacher put before him.[1] There are some errors in the score such as note values not adding up to fill a measure correctly. Such defects show a carelessness deemed typical of Kellner, who left over 60 copies of works by Bach.[1][5]

The title page of Ringk's manuscript writes the title of the work in Italian as Toccata con Fuga, names Johann Sebastian Bach as the composer of the piece, and indicates its tonality as "ex. d. #.", which is usually seen as the key signature being D minor. However, in Ringk's manuscript the staves have no ♭ accidental at the key (which would be the usual way to write down a piece in D minor). In this sense, in Ringk's manuscript, the piece is written down in D Dorian mode. Another piece listed as Bach's was also known as Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and was equally entitled to the "Dorian" qualification. It was that piece, BWV 538, that received the "Dorian" nickname, that qualifier being effectively used to distinguish it from BWV 565. Most score editions of BWV 565 use the D minor key signature, unlike Ringk's manuscript.[3][6]

Ringk's manuscript does not use a separate stave for the pedal part, which was common in the 18th century (notes to be played on the pedal were indicated by "p." being written at the start of the sequence). Printed editions of the BWV 565 organ score invariably write the pedal line on a separate stave. In Ringk's manuscript the upper stave is written down using the soprano clef (as was common in the time when the manuscript originated), where printed editions use the treble clef.[3][6]

Beginning, Ringk's "Dorian" notation – layout like Ringk's manuscript apart from position of fermatas and the clef for the upper stave
"D Dorian" mode notation used by Ringk for BWV 565

All other extant manuscript copies of the score date from at least several decades later: some of these, written in the 19th century, are related with each other in that they have similar solutions to the defects in the Ringk manuscript. Whether these derive from an earlier manuscript independent from Ringk's (possibly in the C. P. E. Bach/Johann Friedrich Agricola/Johann Kirnberger circle) is debated by scholars. These near-identical 19th-century copies, the version Felix Mendelssohn knew, use the treble clef and a separate stave for the pedal. In general, the later copies show a less excessive use of fermatas in the opening measures and are more correct in making the note values fit the measures, but that may as well be from polishing a defective source as from deriving from a cleaner earlier source. In the later copies the work is named for instance "Adagio" and "Fuga" (for the respective parts of the work), or "Toccata" for the work as a whole.[1][7]

Beginning, D minor notation, with the pedal part on a separate stave (also, arpeggio in second half of second measure converted to modern notation)
D minor: usual notation with a ♭ at the key

The name "Toccata" is most probably a later addition, similar to the title of Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, BWV 564, because in the Baroque era such organ pieces would most commonly be called simply Prelude (Praeludium, etc.) or Prelude and Fugue.[8] Ringk's copy abounds in Italian tempo markings, fermatas (a characteristic feature of Ringk's copies) and staccato dots, all very unusual features for pre–1740 German music.[7]

German organ schools are distinguished into north German (e.g. Dieterich Buxtehude) and south German (e.g. Johann Pachelbel). The composition has stylistic characteristics from both schools: the stylus phantasticus,[9] and other north German characteristics are most apparent.[10][11] However, the numerous recitative stretches are rarely found in the works of northern composers and may have been inspired by Johann Heinrich Buttstett,[7] a pupil of Pachelbel, whose few surviving free works, particularly his Prelude and Capriccio in D minor, exhibit similar features. A passage in the fugue of BWV 565 is an exact copy of a phrase in one of Johann Pachelbel's D minor fantasias, and the first half of the subject is based on this Pachelbel passage as well. At the time it was however common practice to create fugues on other composers' themes.[12]

Structure

BWV 565 exhibits a typical simplified north German structure with a free opening (toccata), a fugal section (fugue), and a short free closing section.[7]

Toccata

The Toccata begins with a single-voice flourish in the upper ranges of the keyboard, doubled at the octave. It then spirals toward the bottom, where a diminished seventh chord appears (which actually implies a dominant chord with a minor 9th against a tonic pedal), built one note at a time. This resolves into a D major chord:[7]

Three short passages follow, each reiterating a short motif and doubled at the octave. The section ends with a diminished seventh chord which resolved into the tonic, D minor, through a flourish. The second section of the Toccata is a number of loosely connected figurations and flourishes; the pedal switches to the dominant key, A minor. This section segues into the third and final section of the Toccata, which consists almost entirely of a passage doubled at the sixth and comprising reiterations of the same three-note figure, similar to doubled passages in the first section. After a brief pedal flourish, the piece ends with a D minor chord.[7]

Fugue

The subject of the four-voice fugue is made up entirely of sixteenth notes, with an implied pedal point set against a brief melodic subject that first falls, then rises. Such violinistic figures are frequently encountered in Baroque music and that of Bach, both as fugue subjects and as material in non-imitative pieces. Unusually, the answer is in the subdominant key, rather than the traditional dominant. Although technically a four-part fugue, most of the time there are only three voices, and some of the interludes are in two, or even one voice (notated as two). Although only simple triadic harmony is employed throughout the fugue, there is an unexpected C minor subject entry, and furthermore, a solo pedal statement of the subject—a unique feature for a Baroque fugue.[13] Immediately after the final subject entry, the fugue resolves to a sustained B♭ major chord.[7][12]

Coda

A multi-sectional coda follows, marked Recitativo. Although only 17 bars long, it progresses through five tempo changes. The last bars are played Molto adagio, and the piece ends with a minor plagal cadence.[7]

Performance

The performance time of the piece is usually around nine minutes, but shorter performance times (e.g. 8:15)[14] and execution times of over 10:30[15] exist. The first section of the piece, the Toccata, takes somewhat less than a third of the total performance time.[16][17]

As was common practice for German music of the 17th century, the intended registration is not specified, and performers' choices vary from simple solutions such as organo pleno to exceedingly complex ones, like those described by Harvey Grace.[18]

Reception

In the first century of its existence the entire reception history of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor consists of being saved from oblivion by maybe not more than a single manuscript copy.[19] Then it took about a century from its first publication as a little known organ composition by Johann Sebastian Bach to becoming one of the signature pieces of the composer. The composition's third century took it from Bach's most often recorded organ piece to a composition with an unclear origin. Despite Mendelssohn's opinion that it was "at the same time learned and something for the people",[20] followed by a fairly successful piano transcription in the second half of the 19th century,[21] it was not until the 20th century that it rose above the average notability of an organ piece by Bach.[19][22] Leopold Stokowski's orchestration, featured in the 1940 Walt Disney film Fantasia, appears to have been instrumental in assuring its status as an evergreen by the 1980s,[23] around which time scholars started to seriously doubt its attribution to Bach.[24]

The composition has been deemed as both "particularly suited to the organ",[11] and as "strikingly unorganistic".[25] It has been seen as united by a single ground-thought,[26] but also as containing "passages which have no connection whatever with the chief idea".[11] It has been called "entirely a thing of virtuosity"[27] yet also described as being "not so difficult as it sounds".[18] It has been described as some sort of program music depicting a storm,[27] but also as abstract music, quite the opposite of program music depicting a storm.[28] It has been presented as an emanation of the galant style, yet too dramatic to be anything near that style.[19] Its period of origin has been assumed to have been as early as around 1704,[29] and as late as the 1750s.[7] Its defining characteristics have been associated with extant compositions by Bach (BWV 531, 549a, 578, 911, 914, 922 and several of the solo violin sonatas and partitas),[7][11][30][31][32] and by others (including Nicolaus Bruhns and Johann Heinrich Buttstett),[7] as well as with untraceable earlier versions for other instruments and/or by other composers.[7] It has been deemed too simplistic for it to have been written down by Bach,[7] and too much a stroke of genius to have been composed by anyone else but Bach.[33]

What remains is "the most famous organ work in existence",[34] that in its rise to fame was helped by various arrangements, including bombastic piano settings,[35] versions for full symphonic orchestra,[36] and alternative settings for more modest solo instruments.[7]

Score editions
Digital facsimiles of the Ringk manuscript became widely available in the 21st century

In 1833, BWV 565 was published for the first time, in the third of three bundles of "little known" organ compositions by Bach.[37] The edition was conceived and partly prepared by Felix Mendelssohn, who already had BWV 565 in his repertoire by 1830.[38] In 1846, C. F. Peters published the Toccata con Fuga as No. 4 in their fourth volume of organ compositions by Bach.[39] In 1867, the Bach Gesellschaft included it in Band 15 of its complete edition of Bach's works.[40] Novello published the work in 1886 as No. 1 in their sixth volume of Bach's organ works.[41]

In the early 1910s, Albert Schweitzer collaborated with Charles-Marie Widor to compile a complete edition of Bach's organ compositions, published by Schirmer.[42] In 1912, BWV 565 was published in the second volume, containing works of Bach's "first master period".[43] Around the start of the First World War, Augener republished William Thomas Best's late 19th-century edition of the work in volume 2 of their complete edition of Bach's organ works.[44]

After 1950, when the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis was published, it was no longer needed to indicate the Toccata and Fugue in D minor as "Peters Vol. IV, No. 4", as "BGA Volume XV p. 267", as "Novello VI, 1", or without "Dorian", to distinguish it from the Toccata and Fugue with the same key signature. From then on the work has been simply BWV 565, and the other, the so-called "Dorian", has been BWV 538. In 1964, the New Bach Edition included BWV 565 in Series IV, Volume 6,[45] with its critical commentary published in Volume 5 in 1979.[46] Dietrich Kilian, the editor of these volumes, explains in the introduction to Vol. 6 that the New Bach Edition prefers to stay close to authoritative early sources for their score presentations. For BWV 565 that means staying close to the Ringk manuscript. Consequently, the name of the piece was again given in Italian as Toccata con Fuga, and the piece was again written down in D Dorian (i.e. without ♭ at the key). However, more modern conventions were maintained with regard to using the treble clef in the upper stave and using a separate stave for the pedal.[3][6]

A facsimile of Ringk's manuscript was published in 2000.[2] In the 21st century, the facsimile became available on-line,[3] as well as various downloadable files of previously-printed editions.[47] In 2010, Breitkopf & Härtel initiated a new edition of Bach's organ works, with BWV 565 appearing in its fourth volume.[19]

Performances and recordings
Program of Mendelssohn's 1840 organ concert: BWV 565 is listed as last piece by Bach, before the "Freie Phantasie" which was an improvisation by Mendelssohn.

The first major public performance was by Mendelssohn, on 6 August 1840, in Leipzig. The concert was very well received by the critics, among them Robert Schumann, who admired the work's famous opening as an example of Bach's sense of humor.[48] Franz Liszt adopted the piece into his organ repertoire. He used the glockenspiel stop for the Prestissimo triplets in the opening section, and the quintadena stop for the repeated notes in bars 12–15.[49]

The work was first recorded (in abridged form as "Toccata and Finale") by John J. McClellan on the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ in Salt Lake City in late August or early September 1910 by the Columbia Graphophone Company, who released it in the U.S. in 1911 on Columbia 10-inch disc A945 and in the U.K. on Columbia-Rena disc 1704,[50] which is one of the first commercial pipe organ recordings. In 1926, the organ version of BWV 565 was recorded on 78 rpm discs.[51]. In a 1928 concert program, Schweitzer indicated BWV 565 as one of Bach's "best known" compositions, considering it to be a youth work.[52] Schweitzer's first recording of the piece was issued in 1935.[53] In 1951, he recorded the work again.[15]

In the 1950s, a recording of Helmut Walcha playing BWV 565 on organ was released.[54] In that, and subsequent releases of Walcha's recordings of BWV 565 on Deutsche Grammophon (DG), there is an obvious evolution of the work from "one among many" organ compositions by Bach to a definite signature piece by the composer. In early Archiv Produktion releases, the list on the sleeve contained the organ compositions in the order they appeared on the recording without distinction,[54] in the 1960s BWV 565 became listed first;[55] but by the 1980s, the font size of BWV 565 was larger than that of the other compositions,[56] and in the 1990s Walcha's 1963 recording of the piece became the only piece by Bach included in DG's Classic Mania CD set with popular tunes by various classical composers.[17] Similarly, the album sleeves of Marie-Claire Alain's recordings of BWV 565 in the 1960s, listed the piece in the same font as the other recorded works, but by the 1980s, it was in a larger font.[57] US record companies seemed faster in putting BWV 565 forward as Bach's best known organ piece. In 1955, E. Power Biggs recorded the Toccata 14 times, played on different European organs, and Columbia issued those recordings on a single album.[58]

Hans-Joachim Schulze describes the force of the piece on a record sleeve:[59]

Here is elemental and unbounded power, in impatiently ascending and descending runs and rolling masses of chords, that only with difficulty abates sufficiently to give place to the logic and balance of the fugue. With the reprise of the initial Toccata, the dramatic idea reaches its culmination amidst flying scales and with an ending of great sonority.

Organists recording BWV 565 more than once include Jean Guillou,[60] Lionel Rogg[61] and Wolfgang Rübsam.[62] Some musicians, such as Karl Richter, who did not record organ performances very often, included BWV 565 in their anthologies.[63] By the end of the century, hundreds of organists had recorded BWV 565.[64] In the 21st century, several recordings of BWV 565 became available online, such as a recording included in James Kibbie's Bach Organ Works project.[65]

Piano arrangements
Edison Bell Velvet Face (VF) recording No. 676 (part 1): Marie Novello's performance of Tausig's arrangement of BWV 565. The VF series with a bright green label ran from 1925 to 1927.[66]

Bach's Toccata and Fugue was not performed on the organ exclusively. The title page of the first publication of the piece already indicated that performance on the piano by one or two players was possible.[37] From 1868 to 1881, Carl Tausig's piano transcription of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor was performed four times in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.[67][68] Many more piano transcriptions of BWV 565 were published, for instance by Louis Brassin,[69][70] Ferruccio Busoni's,[71] Alfred Cortot's, and by Max Reger, in transcriptions for both piano two hands and four hands.[72]

Tausig's version of the work was recorded on piano rolls several times in the first decades of the 20th century.[73][74] In the mid-1920s, Marie Novello recorded the Tausig piano version of BWV 565 on 78 rpm discs.[75] Percy Grainger's 1931 recording on the piano, based on the Tausig and Busoni transcriptions, was written out as a score by Leslie Howard, and then recorded by other artists.[76][77] Ignaz Friedman recorded the piano version he had published in 1944.[78][79] From the 1950s to the first decades of the 21st century, there were half a dozen recordings of Tausig's piano version,[80] and several dozen of Busoni's.[81]

In Bach's biographies

In Johann Nikolaus Forkel's early 19th century biography of Bach, the work is left unmentioned. Forkel probably did not even know of the composition.[82] In C. L. Hilgenfeldt's biography it is merely listed among the published works. Hilgenfeldt considers the Toccata and Fugue in F major the most accomplished of Bach's toccatas for organ.[83] In Karl Hermann Bitter's 1865 Bach-biography, BWV 565 is only listed in an appendix.[84]

In 1873, Philipp Spitta devoted somewhat less than a page to the work in the first volume of his Bach biography. He assumed the work was written in the first year of Bach's second Weimar period (1708–1717). He saw more north German characteristics (Buxtehude's restless style) in the form of the Toccata, rather than south German (Pachelbel's simple and quiet approach). Spitta considered the fugue "particularly suited to the organ, and more especially effective in the pedal part." His description of the piece refers to long sections that are surfeit: "rocking passages which have no connection whatever with the chief idea" and organ recitatives alternating with "ponderous, roaring masses of chords". Spitta likened some phrases of the Toccata and Fugue to another early work, the Fugue in G minor, BWV 578.[10][11]

Spitta also detects a rhythmic figure that appears briefly in the concluding part of the work (bar 137) which, extensively elaborated, reappears in the keyboard Prelude in A minor, BWV 922, a work he supposes to have been composed around 1710.[31][85] In Reginald Lane Poole's 1882 biography, the work is again merely listed.[86] In the 1905 first version of his Bach biography, Albert Schweitzer leaves BWV 565 unmentioned in the chapter on the organ works.[87] In André Pirro's 1906 biography, Bach's organ toccatas are only mentioned as a group. He considers none of them written before Bach's later Weimar years (so closer to 1717 than to 1708).[88]

Up to this point, none of the biographers seem to have given any special attention to BWV 565. If mentioned, it is listed or described along with other organ compositions, but is far from being considered the best or the most famous of Bach's organ compositions, or even of his toccatas. However, that was about to change. In 1908, Schweitzer reworked his biography for its first German edition. In that edition he indicates the work as "well-known".[89] After listing several organ works in which Bach showed himself a pupil of Buxtehude, Frescobaldi, and various contemporary Italian composers, Schweitzer describes the Toccata and Fugue in D minor as a work in which the composer rises to independent mastery:

In the D minor toccata and fugue, the strong and ardent spirit has finally realised the laws of form. A single dramatic ground-thought unites the daring passage work of the toccata, that seems to pile up like wave on wave; and in the fugue the intercalated passages in broken chords only serve to make the climax all the more powerful.[26]

In Hubert Parry's 1909 Bach biography, the work is qualified as "well known" and "one of the most effective of [Bach's] works in every way". He calls the Toccata "brilliantly rhapsodical", more or less follows Spitta in the description of the fugue, and is most impressed by the coda: "It would be hard to find a concluding passage more imposing or more absolutely adapted to the requirements of the instrument than this coda." Apart from seeing Buxtehude's influence, he likens the theme of the fugue to the theme of the fugue of Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544, which he considers a late work.[90]

In the 1979 first volume of his Bach biography, Alberto Basso calls BWV 565 "famosissimo" (most famous) and "celebratissima" (most celebrated), maintaining that the popularity of these works hinges entirely on this composition. He sees it as a youth work, composed before 1708, that with its underdeveloped fugue is stylistically eclectic but unified without breaking continuity. He links it to the northern school, and mentions Tausig, Busoni and Stokowki as influencing its trajectory. Basso warns against seeing too much in the composition. He feels it may be within reach of everyone but is neither an incantation, nor ridden with symbolism and even less a sum of whatever.[91]

In his 1999 Bach biography, Klaus Eidam devotes a few pages to the Toccata and Fugue. He considers it an early work, probably composed for testing the technical qualities of a new organ. He feels that the crescendo that develops through arpeggios, gradually building up to the use of hundreds of pipes at the same time, can show exactly at what point the wind system of the organ might become inadequate. In his view, some of the more unusual characteristics of the piece can be explained as resulting from Bach's capacity as an organ tester.[92]

Christoph Wolff, in his 2000 Bach biography, sees BWV 565 as an early work.[93] In his view, it is "as refreshingly imaginative, varied, and ebullient as it is structurally undisciplined and unmastered".[94]

In books on Bach's organ works

Before his 1906 Bach biography, André Pirro had already written a book on Bach's organ works. In that book he devoted less than a page to BWV 565, and considers it some kind of program music depicting a tempest, including flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder. Pirro supposes Bach had success with this music in the smaller German courts he visited. All in all, he judges the music as superficial, not more than a stepping stone in Bach's development.[27][95]

In the early 1920s, Harvey Grace published a series of articles on Bach's organ works. He considers that the notes of the piece are not too difficult to play, but that an organist performing the work is primarily challenged by interpretation. He gives tips on how to perform the work so that it does not sound like a "meaningless scramble". He describes the fugue as slender and simple, but only a "very sketchy example of the form". In his description of the piece, Grace refers to Pirro, elaborating Pirro's "storm" analogy, and like Pirro, he seems convinced Bach went touring with the piece. His suggestions for the organ registration make comparisons with how the piece would be played by an orchestra.[18]

In 1948, Hermann Keller wrote that the Toccata and Fugue was uncharacteristic for Bach, but nonetheless bore some of his distinguishing marks.[96] His description of the piece echoes earlier storm analogies. Keller sees the opening bars' unison passages as "descending like a lightning flash, the long roll of thunder of the broken chords of the full organ, and the stormy undulation of the triplets".[33]

In 1980, Peter Williams wrote about BWV 565 in the first volume of his The Organ Music of J.S.Bach. The author warns against numerological over-interpretation like that of Volker Gwinner. Many parts of the composition are described as typical of Bach. Williams sees stylistic matches with Pachelbel, with the north German organ school, and with the Italian violin school, but sees various unusual features of the composition as well. Williams questions the authenticity of the piece, based on its various unusual features, and elaborates the idea that the piece may have a violin version ancestor.[97] The reworked edition of this book, in one volume, appeared in 2003, and devotes more pages to discussing the authenticity and possible prior versions of BWV 565. In the meantime, Williams had written a 1981 article on the authenticity of BWV 565, followed by numerous publications by other scholars on the same topic.[7][98]

J. S. Bach as Organist, a 1986 collection of essays edited by George Stauffer and Ernest May, discussed the registration Bach would have used for BWV 565.[99]

Arrangements for symphony orchestra

Around the same time as Grace made comparisons with an orchestral version in his performance suggestions, Edward Elgar was producing orchestrations of two organ pieces by Bach, which did not include BWV 565. Elgar did not particularly like the work, nor Schweitzer's glowing comments about it.[100]

In 1927, Leopold Stokowski recorded his orchestration of BWV 565 with the Philadelphia Orchestra.[36] Soon the idea was emulated by other musicians. An orchestration was performed in Carnegie Hall in 1928, Henry Wood (pseudonymously, as "Paul Klenovsky") arranged his orchestration before the end of the decade. By the mid 1930s, Leonidas Leonardi had published his orchestration, and Alois Melichar's orchestration was recorded in 1939.[101][102][22][103]

In 1947, Eugene Ormandy recorded his orchestration of the piece with the Philadelphia Orchestra.[104] The score of Stokowski's arrangement was published in 1952.[105][22] Other orchestrations of the piece were provided by Fabien Sevitzky,[106] René Leibowitz (1958),[107] Lucien Cailliet (1967)[108] and Stanisław Skrowaczewski (1968).[109]

In film

BWV 565 was used as film music well before the sound film era, becoming a cliché to illustrate horror and villainy. Its first uses in sound film included the 1931 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the 1934 film The Black Cat.[110][111][112][113]

After 1936, another approach to using BWV 565 in film was under consideration. Oskar Fischinger suggested to Stokowski that abstract animations could be combined with his orchestral version of BWV 565, but the Disney studios were slow to accept the idea. By the time Disney's Fantasia was released in 1940, the animations accompanying BWV 565 had been made semi-abstract, although Fischinger's original idea that the performance of the music start with showing Stokowski directing his orchestra was preserved. Narrator Deems Taylor introduced the piece as belonging in the category of absolute music. In the 1942 cinema release of the film by RKO, the Toccata and Fugue was cut entirely, only to return in a 1946 re-release. Fantasia contributed significantly to the fame of the Toccata and Fugue.[19][114]

The 1950 film Sunset Boulevard used BWV 565 as a joking reference to the horror genre.[110] The piece has appeared in many more films, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), in which it is played by Captain Nemo on the organ of the Nautilus, before the submarine's pitiless and apparently unmotivated attack on a ship[113]. BWV 565 also appeared in Fellini's 1960 La Dolce Vita.[115] The 1962 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera used BWV 565 in the suspense and horror sense.[112] It is used "without irony and in an apocalyptic spirit updated from its earlier Gothic implications" at the beginning and end of the 1975 dystopian science fiction film Rollerball.[116] Shortened to two minutes in length, BWV 565 was used as the introductory theme for the French animation Once Upon a Time... Man, in 26 episodes between 1978 and 1981.

Authenticity research and reconstructions

A certain uneasiness regarding the authorship of BWV 565 had been around long before the 1980s. From Hilgenfeldt in 1850, to Elgar in the 1920s, to Basso in the late 1970s, the extraordinary popularity of the piece seems to have taken scholars and musicians by surprise. Of Mendelssohn's prophecy that it was something for both the erudite and the masses, only the latter part had been fulfilled. Some scholars who analysed the composition's counterpoint felt it was substandard.[18][97][117][118] They said it was stylistically too close to the galant style of the later 18th century to be an early 18th century composition.[19] Its presumed time of composition shifted around. Some felt the composition was too modern to have been composed by a young Bach,[88][97] or too simplistic to have been composed by a middle-aged Bach.[91][118] Although many commentators have invoked Bach's genius to explain the dislocated modernity in an immature composition,[25][33][92] an increasing number of scholars felt unsatisfied with such an intangible explanation.[24]

In a 1981 article, Peter Williams reiterated the speculations, from which he saw a way out of the conundrum, already featured in his 1980 book on Bach's organ compositions:[24]

  • The piece was originally composed for violin, not necessarily by Bach (that would explain its "simplicity");
  • It was later transcribed for the organ, not necessarily by Bach (that would explain its "modernity").

The analysis of the material sources for the piece, its oldest surviving manuscripts, although insufficiently pursued according to some scholars,[119] was seen as too limited to give a conclusive answer to these questions. What was available from that branch of the research could be explained in opposite ways.[120] Likewise, whether the more elaborate stylistic evidence was considered conclusive or merely circumstantial, depended on who was trying to prove what.[19]

In 1982, David Humphreys suggested that BWV 565 may have been composed and/or arranged by Kellner, or by someone from the circle around Kellner.[24][121] Despite many stylistic similarities,[122] However, Kellner was ruled out a quarter of a century later: "in comparison with the style of Kellner, BWV 565 more resembles the style of J. S. Bach";[123] "many of Kellner's keyboard pieces revealed that his style boasts pronounced galant elements ... this clearly stands in strong contrast to the dramatic style of the Toccata BWV 565".[19]

A violin composition by Bach's eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann, transcribed for the organ by Ringk, was named as another possible source.[25] However, according to 21st century statistical analysis, Wilhelm Friedemann was even less likely to have been the composer of the Fugue than Kellner.[123] The same research indicated that large portions of the Fugue were consistent with the style of Johann Ludwig Krebs, but with more than half of the Fugue more likely composed by J. S. Bach.[123] After initially confirming Williams' doubts about the authorship of BWV 565,[124] by the second decade of the 21st century, statistical analysis left the attribution issue undecided. No-one had found a composer more compatible with the style of its fugue than Bach himself.[34] In the words of Jean-Claude Zehnder, who was sympathetic towards the violin version reconstruction: "The matter still remains open, despite the scholarly discourse that began in 1981. Until proof of the contrary, BWV 565 should be considered as a work by Johann Sebastian Bach."[19] No edition of the Bach Werke Verzeichnis has listed BWV 565 among the works seen as spurious or doubtful,[125] nor does the work's entry on the website of the Bach Archiv Leipzig mention any doubts.[126]

Attribution question

In 1961, Antony Davies remarked that the Toccata was void of counterpoint.[117] Half a decade later, BWV 565 was further questioned. Walter Emery advocated that scepticism was a necessary condition to approaching the history of Bach's organ compositions,[127] and Friedrich Blume saw problems with the traditional historiography of Bach's youth.[128] Roger Bullivant thought the fugue too simple for Bach and saw characteristics that were incompatible with his style:[118]

  • Conclusion of the piece on a minor plagal cadence
  • A pedal statement of the subject, unaccompanied by other voices
  • Trill in bars 86 to 90

These doubts about the authorship of BWV 565 were elaborated by Peter Williams in a 1981 article. Hypotheses proposed by Williams in that article included that BWV 565 may have been composed after 1750 and may have been based on an earlier composition for another instrument, supposedly violin. Williams added more stylistic problems to the ones already mentioned by Bullivant, among others the parallel octaves throughout the opening of the toccata, the true subdominant answers in the fugue, and the primitive harmonies throughout the piece, with countersubjects in the fugue frequently moving through thirds and sixths only. All of these characteristics are either unique or extremely rare in organ music of the first half of the 18th century.[24]

In 1995, Rolf-Dietrich Claus decided against the authenticity of BWV 565, mainly based on the stylistic characteristics of the piece.[119] He named another problem − in its first measure the composition contains a C♯, a note organs in Bach's time rarely had, and which Bach almost never used in his organ compositions.[4] In his book on BWV 565, which he expanded in 1998 to counter some of the criticisms it received, Claus also dismisses the prior version options suggested by Williams, noting that the toccata was an unknown genre for violin solo compositions of the time).[129] Several essays in John Butt's Cambridge Companion on Bach discuss the attribution problems of BWV 565.[130] Other biographers and scholars have left these attribution and prior version theories unmentioned,[92] or explained the atypical characteristics of the composition by indicating it was a very early composition by Bach, probably written during his stay in Arnstadt (1703–1706).[93]

At the end of the 20th century, Hans Fagius wrote:

... the fact remains that the Toccata is strikingly unorganistic and modern to have been written by Bach around 1705, even if the form is that of North German toccata. There are, however, few organ pieces with so much spirit and drive, and why should not a genius like Bach, in youthful high spirits, have produced this unique work, which is in some respects half a century before its time and which could achieve a place as one of the most beloved compositions in all of music history?[25]

The authorship debate has continued in the 21st century. Wolff calls it a pseudo-problem.[131] Williams suggested that the piece may have been created by another composer who must have been born in the beginning of the 18th century, since details of style (such as triadic harmony, spread chords, and the use of solo pedal) may indicate post–1730, or even post–1750 idioms.[7] Statistical analysis conducted by Peter van Kranenburg, in the second half of the first decade of the 21st century, confirmed the Fugue was atypical for Bach,[124] but failed to find a composer more likely to have composed it than Bach.[34] David Schulenberg feels that the attribution of BWV 565 to Bach is doubtful.[132] Richard Douglas Jones takes no position with regard to the composition's authenticity.[133] In 2009, Reinmar Emans wrote that Claus and Wolff had diametrically opposed views on the reliability of Ringk as a copyist, inspired by their respective positions in the authenticity debate, and thinks that sort of speculation unhelpful.[120]

Anterior version hypothesis and reconstructions
Transposed to A minor and adapted for the violin, the opening offers an opportunity to drop down through all four strings of the instrument.[134]
Quadruple stops, not uncommon for 18th century solo violin music, could have been used in passages such as this, taken from the ending.

The other hypothesis elaborated by Williams is that BWV 565 may have been a transcription of a lost solo violin piece. Parallel octaves and the preponderance of thirds and sixths may be explained by a transcriber's attempt to fill in harmony which, if preserved as is, would be inadequately thin on a pipe organ. This is corroborated by the fact that the subject of the fugue, and certain passages (such as bars 12–15), are evidently inspired by string music. Bach is known to have transcribed solo violin works for organ at least twice: the first movement of the Partita in E major for solo violin, BWV 1006, was converted by Bach into the solo organ part of the opening movement of the cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29. Bach also transcribed the Fugue movement of Sonata in G minor for solo violin, BWV 1001, as the second half of Prelude and Fugue in D minor for organ, BWV 539.

This notion inspired a new theory of adaptation: the reconstruction. Reconstructions have been applied to several other works by Bach, with variable success.[135] A reconstruction for violin has been played by Jaap Schröder[136] and Simon Standage.[137] The violinist Andrew Manze produced his own reconstruction, also in A minor, which he has performed and recorded.[138] In 2000, Mark Argent proposed a scordatura five-stringed cello instead.[32] Williams proposed a violoncello piccolo or a five-stringed cello as alternative possibilities in 2003.[7] A new violin version was created by scholar Bruce Fox-Lefriche in 2004.[139] In 2005, Eric Lewin Altschuler wrote that if the first version of BWV 565 was written for a stringed instrument the most likely candidate would have been a lute.[140]

In 1997, Bernhard Billeter proposed a harpsichord toccata original,[4] which was deemed unlikely by Williams.[7] However, Billeter's argument makes authorship by Bach more likely. Bach's harpsichord toccatas (most of them early works) have simplistic elements and quirks similar to BWV 565.[4] Bach's early keyboard works, especially the free ones like Preludes and Toccatas, cannot always be clearly separated into organ pieces and harpsichord pieces. Spitta had already remarked on the similarity between a passage in BWV 565 and one in the harpsichord Prelude BWV 921, Robert Marshall compares the continuation patterns and sequences of the harpsichord Toccata BWV 911, and the Fugue theme of the harpsichord Toccata BWV 914, with the same of BWV 565.[30][31]

Other media

In 1935 Hermann Hesse wrote a poem about the piece, "Zu einer Toccata von Bach" (On a toccata by Bach), which contributed to its fame.[19][141]

Recordings of BWV 565 that have appeared on popular music charts include Sky's 1980 rock-inspired recording (#83 on Billboard Hot 100, #5 on UK Singles Chart)[142] and Vanessa-Mae's 1996 violin recording (#24 on the Billboard charts).[143] In 1993, Salvatore Sciarrino made an arrangement for solo flute,[144] recorded by Mario Caroli.[145] A version for solo horn was arranged by Zsolt Nagy[146] and has been performed by Frank Lloyd. In the mid-1990s, Fred Mills, then trumpet player for Canadian Brass, created an adaptation for brass quintet that became a worldwide standard for brass ensembles.[147][148]

References

References consisting of a last name and date refer to an entry in the Sources section below:

  • when followed by "(score)" → see Score subsection
  • when followed by "(recording)" → see Recordings subsection
  • all others, unless the full citation is given in the reference, see Writings subsection
  1. Zehnder 2011, Commentary pp. 4–5 (score)
  2. Rolf-Dietrich Claus, editor (2000). Toccata und Fuge d-Moll BWV 565: Faksimile der ältesten überlieferten Abschrift von Johannes Ringk. Cologne: Dohr. ISBN 978-3-925366-78-9
  3. Ringk (score)
  4. Billeter 1997, pp. 77–80 (pp. 159–164 in Billeter 2004)
  5. Kellner's copies of works in the BWV catalogue at www.bach-digital.de
  6. Kilian 1964 (score), p. VI
  7. Williams 2003, p. 155 ff.
  8. Williams 1981, p. 331
  9. Krummacher, Friedhelm. "Bach's Free Organ Works and the 'stylus Phantasticus'" pp. 157–171 in Stauffer/May 1986
  10. Spitta 1873, Vol. I pp. 402–403
  11. Spitta 1899, Vol. I pp. 403–404
  12. Newman 1995, 181.
  13. Yearsley 2012, p. 93
  14. Alain 1982 (recording)
  15. Schweitzer 1951 (recording)
  16. Biggs 1960 (recording)
  17. Walcha 1963 (recording)
  18. Grace 1922, pp. 60–65
  19. Zehnder 2011, Introduction p. 20 (score)
  20. Stinson 2006, pp. 18–19
  21. Joseph Moog – Scarlatti Illuminated at onyxclassics.com
  22. Rollin Smith. Stokowski and the Organ. Pendragon Press, 2004 ISBN 978-1-57647-103-6 p. 161 ff.
  23. Stephen A. Crist. "The early works and the heritage of the seventeenth century" in Butt 1997, p. 76
  24. Williams 1981
  25. Liner notes of Fagius 1988 (recording)
  26. Schweitzer 1935, Vol. I p. 269.
  27. Pirro 1902, p. 35
  28. Theodore Gracyk (2013). On Music, pp. 39–40. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-50656-7
  29. Stauffer 1978
  30. Marshall, Robert Lewis (2003). "Johann Sebastian Bach" p. 61 ff. in Eighteenth-Century Keyboard Music, edited by Robert Lewis Marshall. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-96642-9
  31. Spitta 1899, Vol. I pp. 434–435
  32. Argent 2000
  33. Keller 1948, p. 64 ff.
  34. Kranenburg 2010, p. 88
  35. Stinson 2006, p. 120
  36. Stokowski 1927 (recording)
  37. Marx, Adolf Bernhard (1795-1866), 1833 (score) (can't find this print source on OPAC-RISM catalog)
  38. Stinson 2006, pp. 31–32
  39. Griepenkerl and Roitzsch 1846 (score)
  40. Rust 1867 (score)
  41. Bridge 1886 (score)
  42. Schweitzer 1995
  43. Widor and Schweitzer 1912 (score)
  44. Best 1914 (score)
  45. Kilian 1964 (scores)
  46. Kilian 1979
  47. Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
  48. Stinson 2006, pp. 55–60
  49. Stinson 2006, p. 118
  50. https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000140449/4892-Toccata
  51. Cunningham 1926 (recording)
  52. Quoted in Glaus 2013, pp. 297–298
  53. Schweitzer 1935 (recording)
  54. Walcha 1947 (recording)
  55. Walcha 1964 at the Internet Archive website
  56. Walcha 1987 at the Internet Archive website
  57. Alain (recordings)
  58. Biggs 1955 (recording)
  59. Biggs 1960 (recording), liner notes
  60. Jean Guillou – Recordings at bach-cantatas.com
  61. Lionel Rogg – Recordings at bach-cantatas.com
  62. Wolfgang Rübsam – Recordings at bach-cantatas.com
  63. Richter 1964
  64. Organ Works BWV 525–771: Recorded Sets of Bach's Complete (or near complete) Organ Works at bach-cantatas.com
  65. Kibbie (recording)
  66. Rust, Brian A. (1984). The American Record Label Book. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-306-76211-0.
  67. "Statistik der Concerte im Saale des Gewandhauses zu Leipzig", p. 3 (in Dörffel 1884)
  68. Tausig (score)
  69. Bach-Brassin: Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Louis Brassin at bach-cantatas.com
  70. Louis Brassin. Toccata (D moll) für Orgel von Joh. Seb. Bach: Für Pianoforte zum Concertvortrag bearbeitet. Hamburg: D. Rahter
  71. Busoni 1899 (score)
  72. Reger (score)
  73. The Aeolian Company (recording)
  74. Bloomfield Zeisler 1912 (recording)
  75. Novello 1926 (recording)
  76. Piers Lane, Liner notes to Bach Piano Transcriptions – 3: Ignaz Friedman / Percy Grainger / William Mudoch. Hyperion, 2003, p. 5.
  77. Bach-Grainger: Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Percy Grainger Discography at bach-cantatas.com
  78. Bach-Friedman: Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Ignaz Friedman Discography at bach-cantatas.com
  79. Friedman 1944 (score)
  80. Bach-Tausig: Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Carl Tausig – Discography at bach-cantatas.com
  81. Bach-Busoni: Piano Transcriptions of Bach's Works & Works inspired by Bach, by Ferruccio Busoni – Recordings, Part 2 ff. at bach-cantatas.com
  82. Johann Nikolaus Forkel (1802), translated by Charles Sanford Terry (1920). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe; London: Constable. p. 134
  83. C. L. Hilgenfeldt (1850). Johann Sebastian Bach's Leben, Wirken und Werke: ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts. Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister. pp. 130–131
  84. Karl Hermann Bitter (1865). Johann Sebastian Bach. Berlin: Schneider. Vol. 2, Anh. II, p. CXII
  85. Spitta 1873, Vol. I pp. 429–431
  86. Reginald Lane Poole (1882). Sebastian Bach. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. p. 40
  87. Schweitzer 1905, pp. 174–183
  88. André Pirro (1906). J.-S. Bach. Paris: Félix Alcan. (in third edition:) p. 216; pp. 219–220
  89. Schweitzer 1908, p. 248
  90. Parry 1909, pp. 64–65 and p. 512
  91. Alberto Basso (1979). Frau Musika: La vita e le opere di J. S. Bach, Volume 1 (of 2): Le origini familiari, l'ambiente luterano, gli anni giovanili, Weimar e Köthen (1685–1723). Turin, EDT. ISBN 88-7063-011-0 p. 491 and p. 493 ff.
  92. Eidam 2001, chapter IV
  93. Wolff 2000, p. 72
  94. Wolff 2000 p. 169
  95. Pirro 1895, p. 66
  96. Emans 2004, p. 26
  97. Williams 1980, pp. 214–221
  98. Gwinner 1968
  99. Stauffer, George B. "Bach's Organ Registration Reconsidered" pp. 193–211 in Stauffer/May 1986
  100. Stinson 2012, p. 99 ff.
  101. Carnegie Hall: concert program for 15 December 1928 at archives.nyphil.org
  102. Bach-Leonardi: Orchestral Arrangements/Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Leonidas Leonardi at bach-cantatas.com
  103. BACH, J. S. (arr. Melichar) at www.charm.kcl.ac.uk
  104. Ormandy Conducts Bach Orchestral Transcriptions – PASC211 Archived 2016-03-02 at the Wayback Machine at www.pristineclassical.com
  105. Stokowski 1952 (score)
  106. Bach-Sevitzky: Arrangements/Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Fabien Sevitzky at bach-cantatas.com
  107. J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor orchestrated by René Leibowitz at www.schott-france.com
  108. Bach-Cailliet: Arrangements/Transcriptions of Bach's Works by Lucien Cailliet at bach-cantatas.com
  109. New York Philharmonic: concert program for 5, 6 and 9 December 1968 at archives.nyphil.org
  110. David P. Neumeyer (2015). Meaning and Interpretation of Music in Cinema, p. 186. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-01651-5
  111. Lerner, Neil (2010). Music in the Horror Film: Listening to Fear.
  112. Huckvale, David (2010). Touchstones of Gothic Horror: A Film Genealogy of Eleven Motifs and Images.
  113. Brown, Julie (2009). "Carnival of Souls and the Organs of Horror", pp. 1–20 in Music in the Horror Film: Listening to Fear edited by Neil Lerner. Routledge. ISBN 1135280444
  114. Clark Farmer (2008). "'Every Beautiful Sound Also Creates an Equally Beautiful Picture': Color Music and Walt Disney's Fantasia" p. 183 ff. in Lowering the Boom: Critical Studies in Film Sound edited by Jay Beck and Tony Grajeda. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07532-2 pp. 192–193
  115. Suzanne van Kempen (2009). Bach – musikpädagogisch betrachtet, p. 335. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-59325-7
  116. Jeremy Barham (Fall-Winter 2008). "Scoring Incredible Futures: Science-Fiction Screen Music, and "Postmodernism" as Romantic Epiphany". The Musical Quarterly 91:3/4 pp. 240–274, JSTOR 20534533.
  117. Davies, Antony (1961). "New light on Bach" in Musical Opinion Vol. 84, pp. 755–759
  118. Bullivant 1971, p. 14 and elsewhere
  119. Emans 2009, p. 103 ff.
  120. Emans 2009, p. 109
  121. Humphreys 1982, pp. 216–217
  122. Stephan Emele (2000). 4.6 "BWV 565 – ein Werk von Kellner?" in Ein Beispiel der mitteldeutschen Orgelkunst des 18. Jahrhunderts: Johann Peter Kellner (thesis). Jena. OCLC 553465573
  123. Kranenburg 2007/2008
  124. Kranenburg 2006
  125. Dürr, Alfred; Kobayashi, Yoshitake; Beißwenger, Kirsten (1998). Bach Werke Verzeichnis (version 2a). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0249-0 p. 324
  126. Toccata in d BWV 565 at www.bach-digital.de
  127. Emery 1966
  128. Blume 1968
  129. Claus 1998
  130. Butt 1997, p. 76 and elsewhere.
  131. Wolf 2002
  132. Schulenberg 2006, p. 434, p. 458 and p. 516
  133. Jones 2007 p. 160
  134. Williams 1981, p. 336
  135. Peter Wollny, "Harpsichord Concertos" pp. 6–7 in booklet notes for Andreas Staier's 2015 recording of the concertos, Harmonia mundi HMC 902181.82
  136. Williams 1981, p. 337
  137. Rockwell, John (September 13, 1984). "Concert: Academy of Ancient Music". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
  138. Johann Sebastian Bach / Andrew Manze, Richard Egarr, Jaap ter Linden – Four Violin Sonatas; Toccata and Fugue, BWV 565. BBC MM89, 1999.
  139. Fox-Lefriche 2004
  140. Altschuler 2005
  141. "Zu einer Toccata von Bach" at www.deutschelyrik.de
  142. "Sky | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  143. "Allmusic – Vanessa-Mae: Charts & Awards – Billboard Singles".
  144. Johann Sebastian Bach. Toccata e fuga in re minore BWV 565: elaborazione per flauto solo at www.salvatoresciarrino.eu
  145. Sciarrino: Toccata and Fugue by J S Bach arranged for solo flute at www.prestoclassical.co.uk
  146. "RM Williams Publishing – Bach/Nagy: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (in F Minor) for solo horn".
  147. Shearer, Daniel (December 1999). "Reviews: Where No Brass Has Gone Before". Canadian Brass. Archived from the original on 16 February 2005. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  148. Mills, (score).

Sources

Score
Background color: green: on-line version of score available; red: introduction and/or commentary available
Version provided by Date Place Publisher Series Volume BWV 565
Ringk, Johannes c.1740–1760 Germany Berlin State Library (facsimile) D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 595[lower-alpha 1] Fascicle 8 (pp. 57–64)[lower-alpha 1] Toccata Con Fuga pedaliter ex d # di J. S. Bach[lower-alpha 2]
Marx, Adolph Bernhard 1833 Leipzig Breitkopf & Härtel Johann Sebastian Bach's noch wenig bekannte Orgelcompositionen: auch am Pianoforte von einem oder zwei Spielern ausführbar Vol. 3 (of 3) No. 9 Toccata (pp. 12–19)[lower-alpha 2]
Griepenkerl, Friedrich Konrad
Roitzsch, Ferdinand		 1846 Leipzig C. F. Peters Johann Sebastian Bach's Compositionen für die Orgel Vol. IV (plate 243) No. 4 (p. 24 ff.)
Tausig, Carl c.1860s Berlin Schlesinger Toccata und Fuge (D moll) für die Orgel (Pedal und Manual) von Johann Sebastian Bach für das Clavier zum Conzertvortrag frei bearbeitet Toccata (pp. 2–6) – Fuge (pp. 7–15)[lower-alpha 2]
Rust, Wilhelm 1867 Leipzig Breitkopf & Härtel Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe Band XV: Orgelwerke, Band 1 ("Vorwort")[lower-alpha 1] Toccata II (pp. 267–275)[lower-alpha 2]
Bridge, John Frederick
Higgs, James		 1886 London Novello & Co The Organ Works of John Sebastian Bach Book VI: Toccata, Preludes, and Fugues No. 1 (pp. 2–9)
Busoni, Ferruccio 1899 Leipzig Breitkopf & Härtel Zwei Orgeltoccaten = Two organ toccatas = Deux toccates d'orgue von Joh. Sebastian Bach auf das Pianoforte übertragen (BV B 29) No. 2: Toccata in D moll = D minor = ré mineur (Toccata e fuga) Toccata in D moll (pp. 2–17)[lower-alpha 2]
Reger, Max c.1911 London Augener Selection of Joh. Seb. Bach's Organ Works transcribed for Pianoforte Duet No. 2: Toccata & Fugue in D minor Toccata und Fuge (pp. 2–21)[lower-alpha 2]
Widor, Charles-Marie
Schweitzer, Albert		 1912 New-York G. Schirmer Johann Sebastian Bach. Complete Organ Works: a critico-practical edition in eight volumes provided with a preface containing general observations on the manner of performing the preludes and fugues and suggestions for the interpretation of the compositions contained in each volume Volume II: Preludes and fugues of the first master period No. 15
Best, William Thomas
Hull, Arthur Eaglefield		 1914 London Augener Johann Sebastian Bach's Organ Works Volume II: Preludes, Fugues, Fantasia and Toccatas p. 271 ff.
Friedman, Ignaz 1944 Melbourne Allans Publishing Toccata and Fugue (D minor)[lower-alpha 2]
Stokowski, Leopold 1952 New York Broude Brothers Symphonic transcription published from the library of Leopold Stokowski. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Duration: 9 minutes)
Kilian, Dietrich 1964 Kassel Bärenreiter New Bach Edition, Series IV: Organ Works Organ Works 6: Preludes, Toccatas, Fantasias and Fugues II – Early Versions and Variants of I and II[lower-alpha 1] Toccata con Fuga in d BWV 565
Mills, Fred
Canadian Brass		 1990s USA Hal Leonard Brass Ensemble Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
Zehnder, Jean-Claude 2011 Leipzig Breitkopf & Härtel Complete Organ Works – Breitkopf Urtext Vol. 4: Toccatas and Fugues / Individual Works – with CD-ROM[lower-alpha 1] No. 3 Toccata et Fuga in d BWV 565 (pp. 56–65)
Notes
  1. introduction and/or commentary available
  2. on-line version of score available

Recordings
Last column sortable by performance time; Background-color: green: audio file available
Performed by Date Place Issued by Series Volume BWV 565
between 1902 and 1915 New York The Aeolian Company Piano roll Toccata and fugue in D minor arranged for pianoforte solo by C. Tausig tempo 70; 28,5 cm
Bloomfield Zeisler, Fannie 1912 Welte-Mignon Piano roll Toccata & Fugue in D minor (Tausig transcription) (9:19)
Novello, Marie mid-
1920s		 London Edison Bell Velvet Face No. 676: Organ Toccata & Fugue: Pianoforte Solo (Bach, Tausig) Two 78 rpm disc sides: Pt. 1, Pt. 2
Cunningham, G. D. 1926 Kingsway Hall, London His Master's Voice No. C 1291: Toccata and fugue in D minor 78 rpm disc
Stokowski, Leopold
Philadelphia Orchestra		 April 6, 1927 Academy of Music, Philadelphia Victor Red Seal "Electric" recording Toccata and Fugue in D minor (Stokowski transcription) Two 78 rpm disc sides (8:53)
Schweitzer, Albert 1935 All Hallows-by-the-Tower, London Columbia Albert Schweitzer plays Bach[lower-alpha 1] No. 6 (9:04)
Stokowski, Leopold
Philadelphia Orchestra		 1940 Academy of Music, Philadelphia Disney Walt Disney's Fantasia – Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra: Remastered Original Soundtrack Edition (1990) CD 1 (of 2) Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (9:22)
Walcha, Helmut 24 August 1947 Church of St. Jacob, Lübeck Deutsche Grammophon Archiv Produktion; Research period IX: Works by Johann Sebastian Bach; Series F: Organ works Prelude and fugue, E minor, BWV 548; Prelude and fugue, A minor, BWV 551; Prelude and fugue, C major, BWV 547; Toccata and fugue, D minor, BWV 565 No. 4 (9:15)
Schweitzer, Albert 1951 Gunsbach, Alsace Columbia J. S. Bach: Organ Music Vol. IV[lower-alpha 1] No. 3 (10:31)
Biggs, E. Power 1955 Europe (14 different organs) Columbia Bach: Toccata in D minor (A Hi-Fi Adventure) e.g. London, Royal Festival Hall Side 2 No. 6
Biggs, E. Power 1960 Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard Columbia Bach: Organ Favorites Bach: Great Organ Favorites (Columbia 42644, re-issued as CD by CBS in 2011, with liner notes by Hans-Joachim Schulze) Toccata (2:28), Fugue (5:54)
Walcha, Helmut 1963 Grote Sint Laurenskerk, Alkmaar Deutsche Grammophon Classic Mania (issued 1991) CD 2, No. 4 (2:37, Toccata only – Fugue of that 1963 recording had been 6:52)
Alain, Marie-Claire 1959–1968 Sankta Maria kyrka, Helsingborg Erato J. S. Bach – L'Œuvre Pour Orgue – Intégrale en 24 disques Vol. 3: Toccatas & Fugues en ré mineur bwv 565 – en fa majeur bwv 540 / Préludes & Fugues en do majeur bwv 545 – en mi majeur bwv 533 – Fugue en sol mineur bwv 578 Toccata & Fugue en ré mineur bwv 565 (8:42)
Richter, Karl 1964 Jaegersborg Church, Copenhagen Deutsche Grammophon Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata & Fuge / Famous Organ Works Toccata & Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (8:56)
Alain, Marie-Claire 1982 Collégiale de Saint-Donat, Drôme Erato Toccata & Fugue / Passacaglia / Fugue / Concerto / Fantaisie & Fugue Toccata & Fugue en ré mineur D minor/D Moll BWV 565 (8:15)
Preston, Simon 1988 Kreuzbergkirche, Bonn Deutsche Grammophon Toccata & Fugue BVW 565 – Preludes & Fugues BVW 532 & 552 – Fantasia BWV 572 – Pastorale BVW 590 Toccata: Adagio (2:31)
Fugue (5:54)
Fagius, Hans 1988 Fredrik Church, Karlskrona Brilliant Classics Bach Edition CD 151 – Organ Works: Toccata & Fuga BWV 565/Concerto BWV 594/Praeludium & Fuga BWV 548/"Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr" BWV 711–715/717 (issued c.2000) Nos. 1–2 (8:54)
Kibbie, James 2007–2009 Stadtkirche, Waltershausen Block M Records (University of Michigan) Bach Organ Works BWV 565: Toccata con Fuga in d / Toccata and Fugue in D Minor AAC – MP3[lower-alpha 1] (9:16)
Notes
  1. audio file available

Writings

Further reading

Sheet music

  • Free sheet music of original and Busoni piano arrangement from Cantorion.org – Accessed: 08:14, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Recordings

Mixed media (sheet music and recordings)

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