J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

FINE DISTINCTIONS (1):
MISATTRIBUTED WORKS IN THE BACH CIRCLE
Although the main burden of this chapter (p.60 ff.) is a comparison between the
fugal styles of J. S. Bach, W. F. Bach, and J. L. Krebs, we shall approach this topic by
something of an oblique route. In many of their works both Krebs and Friedemann
Bach modelled their style very closely on that of their teacher—so near is the
resemblance at times, so fine the distinctions, that the question often hovers at the back
of one’s mind: ‘would I think differently of this piece if it were by J. S. Bach?’ There
is no easy answer. It is, however, possible to tackle the problem from the other end, so
to speak. With pieces that were once ascribed to J. S. Bach but now regarded as
spurious we can have it both ways, comparing critical reception both before and after
their ‘unmasking’.
It should come as no surprise that works by several of his pupils and associates:
C. P. E. and W. F. Bach, J. L. Krebs, Walther, Homilius, Kirnberger, Goldberg, J. G.
Wagner, and J. C. Vogler should have been attributed to the teacher himself. And
unlike most of (say) Mozart’s apocrypha these are not obscure pieces which can be
quietly consigned to oblivion. A high proportion are organ works which have been
cherished by organists for generations. Some of them have lain near the heart of our
perception of Bach’s achievement as an organ composer. Alongside many relatively
unimportant pieces (the eight short preludes and fugues BWV 553-60, at least twenty
chorale preludes, several ‘trio’ movements, and a variety of miscellaneous fugues and
preludes) the authenticity of four major works, in whole or in part, has been called into
question: the Prelude and Fugue in A, BWV 536; 5 the Fantasia and Fugue in C minor
5 D. Humphreys, ‘A Bach polyglot: The A major prelude and fugue BWV 536’, Organ Yearbook 20
(1989), 72-87, and ‘J. S. Bach, J. P. Kellner and the Prelude and Fugue in A major, BWV 536’,
Organ Yearbook 29 (2000): Bach und die Orgel, 27-44.
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