Bach's famous violin fugue BWV1001 on the harpsichord

General
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As I have written elsewhere, back in 1986, when I had the privilege of a long dinner with Gustav Leonhardt, as I told him that I had transcribed this fugue (and played it in a harpsichord recital back in 1981), he responded “Oh! I also did exactly that!”.

Decades later, Leonhardt’s transcription has recently been published and even more recently a recording of it is available on YouTube.

Upon listening at the recording I was amazed at how incredibly different our two versions (both in d minor) are. Before dealing with the detail, let me remind us about the sources.

VIOLIN. This the widely-known original version by Bach.

ORGAN. This was also produced by Bach, with more filling and pedals, often in five voices, and the result sounds overloaded. Not surprisingly, organists rarely include it in their recitals.

LUTE. This version is anonymous. However, it is apparent that it was based on the violin version. Or was it vice versa? It is also apparent that this masterpiece sounds most satisfactorily on the lute, to the point that I strongly suspect this to be the original version.

Listening to GL’s version, I personally find it like something that somebody in Bach’s milieu would have produced, but arguably not Bach himself. GL not only introduces some of the less fortunate additions of Bach’s organ version, but sometimes these additions subtly depart from Bach’s original harmony.

But the main issue I have with GL’s version is the number of voices. As we all know, Bach (unlike Handel) was very punctilious with voices in his keyboard fugues. Indeed, in a handful of them at some point near to the end he added a further voice, and very, very occasionally a chord here and there had one or two more notes. This said, about 99% of the time, Bach’s keyboard fugues have a consistent number of voices.

My own transcription work took weeks, during which I painstakingly collated the three extant versions. Initially I collated the violin and lute scores (preferring the latter which, although very similar, has an idiom nearest to the harpsichord ) to produce a initial harpsichord version. Then, when I felt that a filling would be appropriated, I added some passages from the organ version.

Being a version with no pedalboard, to be consistent with the original versions, I followed two principles throughout:

  1. My additions never exceeded the four voices.
  2. Every single note in my version is taken from one of the 3 extant versions.

Needless to say, I personally find my own version more satisfactory.
GL lovers will surely differ.

In YouTube we can hear GL’s version played by Chiara Massini.

Back in 1981 (on my Hubbard instrument still in A=440) I recorded my transcription during practice for a recital. There are a few obvious wrong notes, but I am still fond of that recording. I just found it in an old Audio CD and have uploaded it here. It is played on the lower 8’ with its “singing buff”.

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Claudio, let me preface this by saying that I admire but do not worship GL. That said, what is the point of this post? You are better than GL? Any transcription is an individual’s point of view. There is no right or wrong about it. There is not necessarily good or bad about it. There is not necessarily better or worse about it. I am happy you find your version more satisfactory than GL’s. So what?

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Dongsok: I also admire but do not worship GL. And I posted here in Jackrail for our “private” group, not in a Facebook group. I am certainly not “better” than GL in any way. I just wanted to share my thoughts: I find that some things can be done, arguably satisfactorily or even better, than how GL did them and had them postumously published. And I am proud of the result of my hard work.

Edit: I disagree that there are not “right” or “wrong” transcriptions. In this particular case we are not just transcribing anything. We are reconstructing how Bach would have written a harpsichord version (if he did not actually wrote one that has not survived), and there are indeed, as I have shown, ways to do this with different degrees of agreement with Bach’s composition style.

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I remember as a modern pianist in high school how excited I was when I “discovered” the Brahms transcription of the Bach Chaconne for the left hand alone. I soon realized that if you took the original and played it down an octave, you essentially had the Brahms version. And thinking, “There has got to be more to transcription than this!”

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An idea, why don’t you publish your transcription for others Claudio?

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Good idea Bernard. I will scan my manuscript and post it here later.

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The 5 pages are now available for free download from this FTP webpage.

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I made a PDF of this. If Claudio grants permission I will upload it here.

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Many thanks for sharing your transcription with us, Claudio.

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And of course you are welcome to upload the PDF to The Jackrail, Andrew!

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I made a PDF of Claudio’s score. More convenient than the separate image files. Also rendered to grayscale, thus clearer.

BWV 1001 transcription.pdf (3.0 MB)

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Now how about the rest of the sonata Claudio? :slight_smile:

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Le 04/08/2023 13:00, Claudio Di Veroli via The Jackrail écrit :

We are reconstructing how Bach would have written a harpsichord version (if he did not actually wrote one that has not survived), and there are indeed, as I have shown, ways to do this with different degrees of agreement with Bach’s composition style.

Would Bach have written a final chord with a major 10th D-F#? I don’t
recall any such extensions anywhere in the WTC fugues, let alone in a
final chord (though I haven’t played through them recently). Are there
many in his music?

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For what it’s worth, Davitt Moroney wrote that in his reconstruction of
the end of the final fugue in the KdF. Obviously not by Bach, but it’s a
very good effect.

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According to the score I learned from, and all the other editions in my collection, Bach did exactly that when he transcribed it for organ as BWV539.

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Le 05/08/2023 19:47, Stuart Frankel via The Jackrail écrit :

For what it’s worth, Davitt Moroney wrote that in his reconstruction of
the end of the final fugue in the KdF. Obviously not by Bach, but it’s a
very good effect.

That’s precisly my point - not something Bach would write. And I recall
commenting on Davitt’s ending years ago for the same reason (though I
realize that this isn’t a problem for people with large hands or small
keyboards). Claudio’s point was that his transcription was closer than
GL’s to Bach’s style. But as far as extensions are concerned, I think
it’s the reverse. At least two or three of Claudio’s extensions are
avoided by GL.

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Le 05/08/2023 20:34, Walter Greenwood via The Jackrail écrit :

According to the score I learned from, and all the other editions in my collection, Bach did exactly that when he transcribed it for organ as BWV539.

Of course - but it’s not to be played with the left hand.

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Hi Dennis, very interesting your points, but I disagree on some conclusions. Bach did wrIte for non-pedalboard instruments pieces where a tenth is unavoidable. In the WTC book I, as I have noted on the introduction to my edition, sometimes it is easier to play a tenth with the left hand than to make matters awkward for the right hand, as in some bars of Prelude 7 in E flat major BWV 852, or else in the Fugue 16 in G minor BWV 861, in different bars. In the first beat of bar 18, either you play the tenth eb’-g" with the r.h., or you play the tenth c-eb’ with the left hand. On the 2nd beat you have another equally challenging, although different, large-interval hurdle. In the Fugue 20 in A minor BWV 865, bar 22, 1st beat, you have a tenth for the left hand, and the r.h. cannot be of any help. In the Fugue 24 in B minor BWV 869, bar 52,1st beat, the only way to avoid an eleventh for the left hand is to either not keep the b flat quaver as written, or to play a tenth with the r.h. I should also check one of the youth Bach Capriccios where I remember having played tenths as well.

Anyway, I have preferred in my transcription to be faithful to the sources than to JSBach’s other examples.

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Hi Andrew again. Thanks for your interest in this matter.
Two reasons prompted me to make the BWV1001 Fugue arrangement: one was the existence of a contemporary (whether or not by Bach) lute version showing how good was the writing for a plucked string instrument. The other reason was the existence of the organ version by Bach, which includes quite a few passages that provide good (and Bach-own) ideas to produce a 4-voice harpsichord version, yet preserving most of the “verve” and many solo-voice passages of the original lute and violin versions. We do not have this for the other movements of the sonata, neither do I believe (but I concede that I may be wrong in this last matter) that they are particularly fit for the harpsichord either.

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Hi Dennis again. As for the difficulty of left hand tenths, I am certainly not left-handed at all, yet I find tenths easier with the left hand. And when I was in my teens, my piano teacher observed that the left hand of pianists is often more adept for large intervals than the right hand. The reason is because the right hand plays more, and has therefore the muscles more contracted. She prescribed massages to keep the right hand more relaxed. Of course, your mileage may vary. :slight_smile: