The fact that Bach had published representative samples of his music for keyboard instruments contributed to his fame, and to an increased demand for such works after his death. This in turn led to the appearance of printed editions of his works, beginning with the publication of Bach's four-part chorales in the second half of the eighteenth century. After his death in 1750, manuscript copies of keyboard and vocal works were made by professional copyists and distributed by musical publishing firms, especially Breitkopf (Leipzig), Traeg ( Vienna) and Westphal ( Hamburg). ĭuring Bach's lifetime his compositions were mostly distributed amongst his immediate musical associates through manuscript copies. The German expression for personal copy, Handexemplar, also appears in English-language Bach-scholarship, and is used in the list below when referring to prints once contained in the personal library of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach's personal copies, often containing handwritten corrections or additions, have been recovered for several of his printed works. Most of the prints of Bach's music which appeared during his lifetime were commissioned by the composer. The Musical Offering for diverse instrumentsĬouncil election cantata for Mühlhausen #2 ( lost) Ĭouncil election cantata for Mühlhausen #3 ( lost) Goldberg Variations for harpsichord ( Clavier-Übung IV) Italian Concerto for harpsichord in Clavier-Übung II Partitas for harpsichord in Clavier-Übung Iįrench Overture for harpsichord in Clavier-Übung II Prelude and Fugue in E ♭ for organ in Clavier-Übung IIIĬhorale preludes for organ ( Schübler Chorales)Ĭhorale preludes for organ in Clavier-Übung IIIĬanonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch" for organĭuets for keyboard instrument in Clavier-Übung III Compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetimeĬouncil election cantata Gott ist mein König Whether or not a work was selected for print was independent of the quality of the music. Bach's own efforts to get his works printed concentrated mostly on his keyboard compositions, which contributed to the fact that, at least until the 19th-century Bach Revival, he was mainly regarded as a keyboard composer. This was however not exceptional for Bach's time when larger works for chorus and orchestra were less often printed. Especially the choral works, less than half a percent of over 400 BWV numbers, are under-represented. Ĭounting by BWV numbers, less than ten percent of the composer's output was printed during his lifetime. Christoph Wolff has suggested three reasons: firstly the financial support from municipal councils or noble patrons available to previous generations had diminished in Germany as a result of the Thirty Years War secondly the expense of printing contrapuntal keyboard music which, at that time in Germany, was more often typeset than engraved and lastly the low number of potential customers for works that were often technically difficult and unconventional. Whereas earlier composers such as Palestrina, Monteverdi, Praetorius and Schütz had their works printed to ensure that the entire range of their music became more widely known, this was not the case with Bach, who only had a small proportion of his works printed. His works not only circulated in print: also manuscripts were copied and transmitted. Bach selected mostly keyboard compositions for publication, which conformed to such contemporary practices, and was instrumental in establishing him as a keyboard composer. Extended works for choir and instrumentalists were not printed very often in his day. No more than a few works by Johann Sebastian Bach were printed during his lifetime. Other works, such as several canons, were printed without an indication by which instruments they were to be performed. Compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime (1685–1750) include works for keyboard instruments, such as his Clavier-Übung volumes for harpsichord and for organ, and to a lesser extent ensemble music, such as the trio sonata of The Musical Offering, and vocal music, such as a cantata published early in his career.
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