Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
T
he Suite in E minor (BWV 996) by J. S. Bach has long been of
interest to instrumentalists because evidence suggests (see
below) that it may have been performed on a variety of
instruments, such as the lute, lute-harpsichord, or harpsichord.1
Additionally, as with all of Bach’s harpsichord and clavichord works,
today it is played on the modern piano; even more frequently,
however, it can be heard performed on the modern guitar.
2
“Ein Bach-Doppelfund: Verschollene Gerber-Abschrift (BWV 914 und 996) und
unbekannte Choralsammlung Christian Friedrich Penzels,” Bach-Jahrbuch 73 (1987):
29–73.
3
See the edition of the Toccata in E minor (BWV 914): J. S. Bach, Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher
Werke (in the following abbreviated as NBA for Neue Bach-Ausgabe), Ser. V, Vol. 9:1
Toccaten (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1976; hereafter NBA V/10), and the edition of the
chorale collection: Johann Sebastian Bach und seine Schule: Neu entdeckte Choral– und
Liedsätze (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1985).
4
This is documented in sources such as Uta Henning, “Zur Frage des Lautenklaviers
bei Johann Sebastian Bach,“Alte Musik als ästhetische Gegenwart: Bach–Händel–Schütz,”
convention report (Stuttgart, 1985): 465-69; Hans-Joachim Schulze, “Wer intavolierte
ous technical difficulties encountered when it is attempted on the
regular Baroque lute tuned in D minor (although today it is frequently
performed in transcriptions for modern bass lute, as well as for
guitar), and the affinity the setting has for the keyboard (e.g, in the
Gigue) have made it a welcome piece for harpsichordists since the
eighteenth century.5 These factors suggest convincingly that the suite
is eminently suitable for lute-harpsichord, an instrument that Bach
also owned (two lute-claviers were in his estate) and helped to
develop.6
8
NBA V/10.
9
J. S. Bachs Klavierwerke, vol. 7, ed. Hans Bischoff (Leipzig [1888]).
H. N. GERBER’S COPIES OF BACH’S COMPOSITIONS:
THEIR QUALITY AND DATES OF ORIGIN
16
Dürr , 14–15.
17
NBA, ser. 5, vol. 8, Kritischer Bericht : 72–74.
18
NBA, ser. 5, vol. 3, vi.
clearly as written by Bach, and are probably in Gerber’s handwriting19
(see facsimile below).
19
This may also be seen in Gerber’s manuscript copy of the English Suite BWV 806
(previously in the Landes- and Universitätsbibliothek Halle, now owned privately)
and the Partita BWV 830 (Bach-Archiv Leipzig, Sign. Go. S. 8). His appoggiaturas
are usually very similar in form, with stems (going in different directions) that are
usually rather long (but sometimes short), and always with particularly small note
heads and very short beams, making them look somewhat like snail horns.
Facsimile 1. Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite in E minor (BWV 996), Praeludio.
Facsimile excerpt of the manuscript copy by Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber:
added ornaments in red chalk (visibly lighter), page turn marking prestissimo
volti instead of Presto marking, different handwriting style of a trill on the note
G-sharp in measure 9 (the measure in the upper right corner of the excerpt).
Original in private possession, facsimile printed with permission of the
owner.
Facsimile 2. A closer view of measure 9 (see description above).
COMPARISON
20
Bischoff, introductory notes to the music score of the Suite in E minor (BWV 996)
in J. S. Bachs Klavierwerke, vol. 7, ed. Hans Bischoff (Leipzig, [1888]), 54.
Example 2. Praeludio, measure 12, in the version of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe and
Walther.
21
For a further description of this problem in Walther’s copy, also see: NBA 5/10,
KB, 123 and following.
Example 4. Sarabande, measure 10, in the version of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe,
in which the note values have been changed (in Walther’s copy, the upper
voice is set as: quarter note g', eighth note f<', eighth note e', dotted half note
e', then five sixteenth notes: e', f<', g', a', b').
SOURCES
22
According to the dating system for Walther’s writing styles applied by Hermann
Zietz, Quellenkritische Untersuchungen an den Bach- Handschriften P 801, P 802 und P 803
aus dem, “Krebs’schen Nachlaß” unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Choralbearbeitungen des
jungen J. S. Bach, Hamburger Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft, ed. Georg von Dadelsen
(Hamburg: Wagner, 1969), 1:210.
C: Manuscript copy in a compilation volume (written probably during
the second half of the eighteenth century) that contains early
compositions by J. S. Bach for keyboard instruments. In 1836 it was
sold by Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, to the musicologist Fétis. From
his estate it came to the Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels. Location:
Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels, Signature: II. 4093.
Note that since all differences listed below are not contained in
the edition of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (in the following abbreviated as
NBA), this fact is not continuously mentioned. Some of the
ornaments mentioned below from Source B were first described in
the article by Wolfgang Wiemer.23
Praeludio
4/I/13–14 In Source B the short trill sign is placed visibly after the
dotted eighth note, between the note and the
following sixteenth note, possibly suggesting a trill
starting from the main note and therefore emphasizing
the main note and the fifth in the cadence (since most
other ornaments in this manuscript are placed very
neatly).
6/I/1 The short trill sign also appears in Source B (in red
chalk).
14/I/17 In Source B there is a short trill sign (in red chalk), but
in a different handwriting style (also see measure 9 and
measure 15); 14/I/17 must be read as 14/I/16
according to Gerber’s copy because of the different
note values in it, resulting in different numbering of
the rhythmic signs (14/I/17 is just the place of this
note according to the version in NBA).
15/I/4 In Source B, the mordent trill (which is also contained
in Source A!) appears in red chalk (in the other hand-
writing style—likely written by Gerber under time
pressure; see also measures 9 and 14), suggesting that
the corrections and additions in red chalk were made
with a knowledge of Bach’s autograph (which
obviously still contained many details of the earlier
version that Walther copied) or under Bach’s
supervision.
SUMMARY
24
Bach’s revisions of the Suite in E minor (BWV 996) (for example, the adding of
appoggiaturas) happened during the very months of 1725 when Bach entered two
similarly ornamented partitas (BWV 827 and BWV 830) into the second music
collection for his wife Anna Magdalena. The Partita in E minor (BWV 830) especially
displays enormous similarities in its Sarabande to the French Overture-like Praeludio
of BWV 996. The comparison of these two compositions might have influenced the
revision of BWV 996.
The accuracy and high quality of Gerber’s other known copies of
Bach’s compositions is generally known (as stated above). It is very
unlikely that Gerber, as a young and admiring student of Bach, would
have changed the music score himself manner without the approval
or direction of Bach himself. The very accurate copy of the
Inventions and Sinfonias that Gerber made just prior to copying
BWV 996, suggests a similar quality in the case at hand.
25
Dart, 236 and following..
26
Wolfgang Dömling and Thomas Kohlhase, “Kein Bach-Autograph: Die
Handschrift Brüssel, Bibliothèque Royale, II 4093 (Fétis 2960),” Acta Musicologica
(1971): 108-09.
27
NBA V/10, KB, 120.
Several identical details in Source C and Source A (Walther)28
further support the theory that Source C is an autograph or a copy of
an early collection autograph, for these similarities are not found in
Source B (Gerber). This fact also suggests that Source C is not a copy
of B (Gerber). Although the differences between A and C are much
more numerous than the similarities (because the composition had
been revised), it is likely that Bach’s revised autograph still contained
the details shared by A and C, especially if the corrections were just
added to the original autograph score (which is almost certain, since
more substantive revisions, such as added measures, do not appear in
Gerber’s copy). Another reason why Source C could not be a copy of
Source B is that all corrections of Source B in red chalk (such as in the
Sarabande) are missing in Source C.
28
Among these similarities is the following: Courante, measure 11 (arpeggio sign
before first chord of the upper system—although it is missing in the score of the
NBA).