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On-line Book ReviewYO TOMITA |
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On-line Book ReviewYO TOMITA |
Bach's Clavier-Übungen |
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The author has here given new proof that in this field of composition he is more practiced and more fortunate than many others. No one will surpass him in it, and few will be able to imitate him. This work is a powerful refutation of those who have made bold to criticize the composition of the Honorable Court Composer. (NBR, 333).The fact that it was the longest and most problematic of all printed works that appeared during his lifetime suggests Bach’s great effort and commitment towards it. As Gregory Butler demonstrates convincingly, the engraving of the work was initially pulled in Leipzig at Johann Gottfried Krügner’s workshop, but then the project was transferred to Nurenberg where Balthasar Schmid took it on to finish; Butler relates Krügner’s abandonment of the project with Bach’s change of mind as to the scope of the work, which was much expanded during the engraving process. For the fascinating sequences of Bach’s planning, engraving process and corrections, the interested readers should consult Butler’s excellent monograph, Bach’s Clavier-Übung III: The Making of a Print (Duke Univ. Press, 1990).
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In the original edition, four hands can be distinguished, whom Butler
identified as follows:
(a) Johann Gottfried Krügner (page 1)
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As regards Bach’s manuscripts, there survives no autograph of the work. The Stichvorlage (exemplar for the printer) is reported to have been possessed by C. P. E. Bach, but this was lost as well. All the surviving manuscript copies apparently derived from the printed edition of which only twenty of them survive today. Except two copies, all the surviving copies of the original edition contain corrections, which Manfred Tessmer, the editor of Neue Bach Ausgabe, distinguishes in three stages. Together with the two that do not contain the corrections (as they were proof copies produced at an intermediate stage of engraving), careful analysis reveals an interesting history of the work’s process of development and perfection by the composer.
The facsimile edition reviewed here is probably the only one that is
available today. There are other editions published in 1980–90s, such as
Edition Peters (1984) and Brescia (1985), but these were not made available
for my review and I cannot therefore comment at present.
| The Fuzeau edition is a reproduction
of the copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. This copy belonged
to Johann Jacob Pflaum, organist at St Peter’s, Heidelburg, which gives the date
‘25 May 1752’. It contains Bach’s corrections of Stage II and III. This
facsimile edition is designed for practical use; it gives perfectly legible
text. Using thick, high-quality paper and strong but flexible binding,
it sits well on the music stand on any music stand (see the picture on
the right). It also includes a very brief introduction in French, English
and German, covering some of the historical background of this work and
the liturgy in Leipzig, as well as all the chorale tunes with the text
in three languages.
Musicologists may find its clear and high-contrast, single-colour ink reproduction slightly problematic, as it does not help to distinguish either corrections on the plates or Bach’s later corrections from the printed symbols. |
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