Early Manuscript History

Because of the lack of original manuscripts, the chronology of Johann Sebastian Bach’s early works is problematic, but he probably composed the Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582, between 1708 and 1712 while he was living in Weimar. All the surviving manuscripts of the Bach Passacaglia probably stem from two autographs, both now lost; the first was most likely in tablature, and the second, probably in score notation. The manuscript version of the Passacaglia widely regarded as closest to the first autograph of the piece appears in the Andreas Bach Book. The surviving manuscripts record much ambiguity about the title of this piece, including many references to con pedale. A 1911 catalog lists what is probably a copy of the second autograph with the title Passacaglio con Pedale pro Organo pleno. But Forkel’s Nachlaßverzeichniss in 1819 records manuscripts with the titles Pastorale per l’Org. F Dur and Passacaglia con pedale c moll in the same line, preserving the distinction Forkel made in his Bach biography between the Pastorale as music for the organ and the Passacaglia as music “with pedal.”

Reactions to Forkel’s Statement

Forkel’s comment in his Bach biography that the Passacaglia was “more for the pedal clavichord than for the organ” has produced a long history of strong responses. A very early one can be read in markings in a copy of the 1802 first edition of Forkel’s Bach biography in the Library of Congress. The copy has only two penciled annotations, one of which is an addition to Forkel’s repertoire list of Bach’s music. On page 57, a Concerto in A for harpsichord, flute, and violin is added to the ensemble works, and the annotator cites an edition “bei Schott in Mainz 1850.” The two parts of this annotation are signed “M.” The second annotation, on page 60, is in the same hand, a more emotional than bibliographical note. “Passacaglia, which is more for pedal clavichord than for the organ,” is crossed out twice, in pencil, and after it, written in the margin, in the same hand as the other annotation: