Weimarer Orgeltabulatur. Die frühesten Notenhandschriften
Johann Sebastian Bachs sowie Abschriften seines Schülers Johann Martin Schubart.
Mit Werken von Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Adam Reinken und Johann Pachelbel.
Faksimile und Übertragung hrsg. von Michael Maul und
Peter Wollny
PUBL. DETAILS
Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag (2007) 18, 85p. Price: Euro 89,00
Colour facsimile of the newly-rediscovered
manuscripts in 2006, attesting the earliest known handwriting of J. S.
Bach.
WORKS COVERED
It does not contain Bach's works.
READERSHIP
All serious Bach scholars and enthusiasts.
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION
The accompanying commentary discusses a range of issues that
prompt us to revise our previous understanding of Bach's early development.
n the summer of
2006, Michael Maul and Peter Wollny discovered four manuscripts of organ
tablature in the theological section of the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in
Weimar. They contain the following works:
Fascicle 1: Johann Adam Reinken -- An Wasserflüssen
Babylon
Fascicle 2: Dietrich Buxtehude -- Nun fruet euch, lieben
Christen g’mein (fragment)
Fascicle 3: Johann Pachelbel -- An Wasserflüssen Babylon
Fascicle 4: Johann Pachelbel -- Kyrie Gott Vater in
Ewigkeit
According to Maul and Wollny, the first two were copied by Bach c.1700
in Georg Böhm’s residence in Lüneburg and c.1697 in Bach's brother’s house in Ohrdruf
respectively. Reinken’s "An Wasserflüssen Babylon" is familiar in Bach’s
biography as the chorale upon which Bach extemporised in the presence of Reinken
in Hamburg in 1720. The second, a fragment of the chorale prelude by Buxtehude,
is often regarded as one of the most demanding organ chorales of the time. The
remaining two tablatures are in the hand of Bach's long-time pupil from both his Mühlhausen and Weimar years, Johann Martin Schubart (1690-1721). Although none
of these are Bach’s own composition, they present an important source in that
they attest to Bach’s early development as organist as well as teacher.
Weimarer Orgeltabulatur. Die frühesten Notenhandschriften
Johann Sebastian Bachs sowie Abschriften seines Schülers Johann Martin Schubart.
Mit Werken von Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Adam Reinken und Johann Pachelbel.
Faksimile und Übertragung hrsg. von Michael Maul und Peter Wollny.
Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag (2007) 18, 85p. Price: Euro 89,00
It comes in the form of a boxed set of five books
The facsimile is accompanied by a critical commentary
written by Maul and Wollny. It explores nearly every aspect of this source in
great depth, and is both very informative and extremely interesting. While it
confirms that Bach was already an earnest copyist as well as an ardent student
of organ at a tender age of thirteen, it also offers a much clearer idea than
ever before about the role Böhm played in Bach’s education in Lüneburg. More
importantly, it provides us with new information which helps us to comprehend
how Bach grew up with specific reference to how his handwriting was formed and
changed gradually as he studied under different teachers. The rediscovery of
these manuscripts also has significant repercussions in our understanding of how
this compositional genre was transmitted in Germany. It is astonishing to read
that this young man was probably solely responsible for introducing one of the
longest and most demanding chorale fantasias of the north-German organ school to
Thuringia. Doubtless there will be further discoveries of primary sources of
this magnitude in the future. But the information we acquired from the ‘Weimarer
Orgeltabulatur’ is so important that every Bach scholar needs to review their
knowledge about Bach’s early days.
The publication comes in the form of a boxed set of five
books, each fascicle of the manuscript reproduced in the original form of
gathering. The colour print is of such fine quality that it could almost be
mistaken for the original. Water stains and the librarian’s pencil annotations
appear as they are in the original. The fifth volume contains the scholarly
preface, followed by the transcription of the tablature in three staves.
