Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, Piano Transcription

I noticed that in the fugue an extremely uncomfortable fingering is reported... don't use it!

Of course, those huge mistakes at the bottom of page 3 ... I don't have the original on hand right now, but was Bach so shameless in these pieces?

...here is the original

http://imslp.org/wiki/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_minor,_BWV_565_%28Bach,_Johann_Sebastian%29

Why rely on a transcription when there is the original?

Organista94 wrote:

Why rely on a transcription when there is the original?

Perhaps because one is not an organist?

Zecchi wrote:

I propose the attached transcription that I found lying around, how do you evaluate it?

A me sembra buona

Organista94 wrote:

...here is the original

The original seems easier ...but I need to look at it more closely. I didn't even think it could be found...that site is awesome

Marta23 wrote:

I noticed that in the fugue an extremely uncomfortable fingering is reported... don't use it!

I had sketched it out... ideas?

AbateFaria wrote:

quintazze

?

ttw wrote:

It seems good to me

Thank you, but for me it is too difficult

Zecchi wrote:

It seems easier than the original

...if you know how to use the pedal....

AbateFaria wrote:

Of course, the fifths at the bottom of page 3 ... I don't have the original on hand right now, but was Bach so shameless in these pieces?

Perhaps it lies in the functioning of the stops; the twelfth, precisely the duodecima, is one of the basic constructions

But also see

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27arte_della_fuga

"Contrapunctus IX a 4 alla Duodecima [Double fugue (2 themes and 4 voices) with double counterpoint at the twelfth]"

A procedure used by the great master of Eisenach

It will be famous, everyone will want to play it, but I was thinking that this fugue doesn't really have much of the great Bachian fugues... is it just my impression or am I wrong?

Interesting plagal response

Maybe it's not even by Bach..

Zedef wrote:

Maybe it's not even by Bach..

Are there studies to this effect?

There are some strong analogies to Buxtehude, but attributing it to him seems excessive to me.

There are studies, certainly. Williams, Humphreys, Claus, Emele (just to mention the most well-known ones).

This one too, if you find it in a library, is interesting: Eric Lewin Altschuler, "Were Bach's Toccata and Fugue BWV 565 and Ciaconna from BWV 1004 lute pieces?" Musical Times 146 (Winter 2005): pp. 78-86

See Zedef, that piece was lucky because someone put the Bach label on it... if it hadn't been there, nobody would have wanted to play or listen to it....

Zecchi wrote:

I propose the attached transcription that I found lying around, how do you evaluate it?

The transcription you attached is Tausig's, certainly the most "difficult" (practically a technical exercise) among the many that have been made for pf (you can find many on Petrucci at the link indicated by organista 94).

If we want to stay on the subject of technical virtuosity, I prefer Busoni's, especially for how it renders the central part (and more "pathetic" part of the piece) where the theme intertwines with the trills of the right hand.

I also knew about the doubts regarding attribution to Bach and indeed the piece does not really seem in the Bachian style.

Anyway, whoever the author is, they certainly knew their stuff...

pestatasti wrote:

The transcription you attached is Tausig's, certainly the most "difficult"

...ah!