Organ Editions From Barenreiter.(Weimarer Orgeltabulatur: Die fruhesten Notenhandschriften Johann Sebastian Bachs sowie Abschriften seines Schulers Johann Martin Schubart; German Organ and Keyboard Music from Bach's Period: Collection of First Editions; The Large-scale Partitas; 3eme symphonie)(Book review)

Weimarer Orgeltabulatur: Die fruhesten Notenhandschriften Johann Sebastian Bachs sowie Abschriften seines Schulers Johann Martin Schubart. Mit Werken von Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Adam Reinken und Johann Pachelbel. Herausgegeben von Michael Maul und Peter Wollny. Kassel: Barenreiter, c2007. (Documenta musicologica, Reihe 2: Handschriften-Faksimiles, 39.) (Faksimile-Reihe Bachscher Werke und Schriftstucke, 3.) [Preface in Eng., Ger., p. vii--xxxv; transcription, score, p. 1-46; Krit. Bericht, p. 47-48; 4 facsims.: 8, 2, 4, 4 p. ISBN 3-7618-1958-9, 978-3-7618-1957-9; pub. no. BVK 1957. Paper in slipcase. [euro]89.]

Deutsche Orgel-und Claviermusik der Bach-Zeit: Werke in Erstausgaben = German Organ and Keyboard Music from Bach's Period: Collection of First Editions. Herausgegeben von Siegbert Rampe. Kassel: Barenreiter, 2007. [Preface in Eng., Ger., p. iii--xvii; facsims. (b&w); score, 98 p. ISBN 979-0-006-53707-5; ISMN M-006-53707-5; pub. no. BA9255. Paper. [euro]35.]

Louis Vierne. 3eme symphonie, op. 28 (1911). Edite par Helga Schauerte-Maubouet. Kassel: Barenreiter, c2008. (L'oeuvre d'orgue = Complete Organ Works, 3.) (Barenreiter Urtext.) [Preface (biographical overview, genesis of the editions, genesis of the Third Symphony, notation and interpretation), in Fre., Eng., Ger., p. ix--xxxiv; facsims., p. xxxv-xxxvii; score, p. 2-53; crit. report in Fre., Eng., Ger., p. 54-57. ISBN 979-0-006-53437-1; ISMN M-006-53437-1; pub. no. BA 9223. Paper. [euro]29.95.]

Hugo Distler. Die grossen Partiten = The Large-scale Partitas. Herausgegeben von Armin Schoof. Kassel: Barenreiter, c2008. (Neue Ausgabe samtlicher Orgelwerke: Jubilaumsedition zum 100. Geburtstag = New Edition of the Complete Organ Works: Centennial Jubilee Edition, 1.) (Barenreiter Urtext.) [Preface (overview of Distler and his organ works), in Eng., Ger., p. vi-xi; Distler's preface and concluding remarks for the Barenreiter edition of 1933, p. xiv-xv, xx-xxi; illus., p. xvii, xix; facsims., p. xxii-xxiii; score, p. 2-43; Krit. Bericht in Eng., Ger., p. 44-55; glossary of Distler's performance instructions, p. 56. ISBN 979-0-006-53444-9; ISMN M-006-53444-9; pub. no. BA 9231. Paper. [euro]26.95.] Contains: "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" ("Veni, redemptor gentium"), op. 8, no. 1; "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme," op. 8, no. 2.

Of these four new Barenreiter organ publications, perhaps the most significant is the Weimarer Orgeltabulatur. The disastrous fire at the Anna Amalia Library at Weimar in 2004 saw most of the music collection perish along with the library's superb rococo interior. The following year a systematic search was begun by scholars from the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig for any traces of Bach's activity amongst the Weimar-related items in the library. In May 2005 the autograph of an unknown aria, "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn," was discovered, and published that same year (in facsimile as Documenta musicologica, Reihe 2, vol. 33; and edited by Michael Maul as Barenreiter BA 5246). Then in the summer of that year an even more important find was made, preserved amongst the manuscripts in the theological section. In a modern box were four fascicles containing five organ works written in tablature: a Reincken chorale fantasia, a fragment of a Buxtehude chorale fantasia, and three works by Pachelbel. The handwriting in two of these fascicles turned out to be that of the young J. S. Bach, while the other two fascicles were in the hand of a very early Bach pupil, Johann Martin Schubart. The importance of this discovery lies not in the works themselves--they are all known from other sources--but in the valuable clues and information the manuscripts provide about Bach's early biography, and the fact that they include the earliest examples of Bach's musical hand. For as Michael Maul and Peter Wollny reveal in the excellent preliminary essays, close examination of the Bach pages shows them to have been written during his school days at Ohrdruf (1695-1700) and Luneburg (1700-1702?). Moreover, the Reincken fantasia on "An Wasserflussen Babylon" provides a direct link between Bach and Georg Bohm, organist of the Johanniskirche in Luneburg, for it was copied from the latter's own copy, and confirms their close association. Being written in tablature probably ensured the manuscripts' survival, for when they entered the Anna Amalia Library (probably in the early nineteenth century) they were evidently not recognized as music, and found their way into the theological section; otherwise they might well have ended up amongst the destroyed music manuscripts.

The introductory essays are presented in German and English, and precede transcriptions of the tablature into modern keyboard notation. The original manuscripts are excellently reproduced as four separate fascicles, and the whole is contained in a box. In an age when viol players and lutenists commonly play from tablature, it would be an interesting challenge for some modern-day organists to explore the art of playing from keyboard tablature. It now looks a formidably difficult task, but was obviously an everyday accomplishment for organists around 1700. Many libraries will probably have standing orders for the Documenta musicologica series, and thus will already have this volume on their shelves; but for others and for any individual with an interest in Bach studies, this will be an important and noteworthy acquisition.

By way of contrast, Deutsche Orgel- und Claviermusik der Bach-Zeit is a puzzling compilation, and it is not clear for whom it is intended. Anyone who acquires it expecting a useful practical anthology of organ and harpsichord pieces from Bach's time is likely to be disappointed. The problems stem in part from the subtitle, Werke in Erstausgaben. In truth, almost all the worthwhile German keyboard music of the period has long since already appeared in modern editions. What we have here is very much a scraping of the barrel. With one exception, the composers represented range from minor figures like Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, Christoph Graupner, and Johann Melchior Molter, to the totally obscure like Domenico Alberizi and Johann Theodor Roemhildt. The musical interest is almost uniformly minimal. Molter, for example--known as a respectable composer of symphonies and concertos, but with no particular keyboard skills--is represented by humdrum pieces apparently written for teaching purposes at the Karlsruhe court. The most interesting work is probably a harpsichord sonata by Johann Adolph Scheibe (best known for his criticism of J. S. Bach's music as old fashioned), which was originally published in 1760 (and so here a first modern edition rather than a first edition proper) and, with its abrupt changes of mood and dynamics, stylistically not unlike C. P. E. Bach. The one exception in terms of names is that of J. S. Bach himself, who has two works in this volume. Two first editions of Bach? Well, not exactly. The first is the organ Toccata in F Major (BWV 540), but printed apparently for the first time from an early source with notable variants from the familiar version. In contrast to the latter, whose pedal part extends up to f, this version was evidently designed for an organ whose pedal extended only to c. Siegbert Rampe, in contrast to most scholars, argues that this was the original form of the work, but though it may be the earliest source, it is difficult to accept that it corresponds wholly to Bach's original conception. The octave span of the imitative arpeggio figure, which forms the principal motif of the main section of the toccata and is always introduced by the pedals, is so integral to the piece that its frequent alteration in this early source to avoid pedal notes above c surely reflects an adaptation made out of ...