Was Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565" originally a violin piece?

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Is Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565" someone else's work?

One of J.S. Bach's most famous pieces is "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565." The opening passage, "Charara-la, chararara-la-la," is famous for this piece.

This "masterpiece" "Toccata" is in fact a piece that has raised questions about whether it is really Bach since it was first published in 1833. There are several reasons for this.

There are no extant manuscripts of this work by Bach, and the oldest copies date back to the late 18th century, so the circumstances surrounding its creation are unclear.
The writing style of the fugue is unusual. In particular, the organ fugue in which the main theme is presented alone, and the organ fugue that ends with a minor key cadence, are unprecedented in Bach's entire career.
Fugal counterpoint is weak
Motivational thematic work (← this suggests that this is music of the next generation after JS Bach)
The piece requires a rare C#, which was rare on organs from JSBach's time, and cannot be played on standard organs of the time.
etc.

For this reason, it is said that this is not an authentic work by Bach. The most common theory is that

Description by Peter Kellner (1705 – 1772) (Claus, 1998)¹,
Written by Cornelius Heinrich Drätzel (1697-1775), a pupil of Bach (Hall, 2013) ²Or
Composition by Bach's second son, CPE Bach (1714 – 1788) (Gaiilit, 2022) ³

And so on.

Johann Peter Kellner theory

Johann Peter Kellner was an organist and composer active in North Germany who knew JS Bach well. It is possible that he was a student, but this is not certain. What is certain is that he was a person who contributed greatly to the dissemination of JS Bach's works. In particular, it is said that he made a great contribution to the fact that we can now enjoy Bach's six cello sonatas.

The Kerner theory seems to be based on the fact that the first manuscript of this piece was written by his student Johannes Ringk. However, from the viewpoint of comparison of compositional styles and handwriting analysis of the manuscript, it is clear that it was not written by Johannes Ringk.⁴However, I think we should listen to Kerner's music for now.

Cornelius Heinrich Dretzel theory

Cornelius Heinrich Drätzel was an organist and composer active in southern Germany, and a pupil of JS Bach. Due to the characteristics of the region in which he was active, his compositional style was markedly influenced by Italy.

He is also the first composer to be mentioned when there are works attributed to Bach that are known to be the genuine author of the BWV 897 prelude, and which are technically inconsistent with the composition. Musicologist Jonathan Hall wrote in his 2013 book The Diapason⁵ In his essay (Hall, 2013), he points out "high stylistic similarities" between Dretzel's keyboard works (especially "Divertimento Armonico") and BWV 565. Well, just give it a listen. They certainly sound similar.

By the way, very few songs by Dretzel are known, and only this one song appears in IMSLP (International Music Library Project), and it is not even listed in Naxos Music Library. It's a pity.

CPE Bach (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach) theory

In addition, popular works by Bach (Siciliano BWV 1031, orBWV 1020 The second son of J.S. Bach, who is believed to be the true author of the worksCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach (CPE Bach) is also a candidate.

The CPE Bach theory is a relatively new theory, published in 2022 by Michael Gailit in the music magazine The Diapazon, and gives the following reasons for it:

"There is little in common between the appearance of the scores of BWV565 and other keyboard works by JS Bach, but there are plenty to be found between them and keyboard works by CPE Bach" (Author's note: I actually think so).
"BWV565 ismotivational theme work⁶It is carried out” (This is apparently a new discovery in Gailit (2022)).
"Since CPE Bach discarded a large amount of his own scores, it is natural that there are works that are not included in his catalogue,"
The two organs commissioned by Princess Anna Amalia, the youngest sister of Frederick II, for whom CPE Bach served in 1755 and 1776, were equipped with full manuals and full compasses on the pedals.⁷, you can play this song as it is,

Here are some points he has mentioned. Let's listen to his Fantasy and Fugue for Organ in C minor, Wq 119/7.

However, there is no conclusive evidence for either of these. All we can say is that if it is an organ piece, it is probably a piece by the next generation of JS Bach. Personally, I think it sounds like Dretzel.

Is BWV 565 a violin piece?

On the other hand, there are of course voices that say, "No, it's JSBach," including the voice that says, "The reason why the contrapuntal writing is weak is because it was originally a piece for string instruments such as violins." It was in 2022 that I first came across the argument that this song was originally a piece for string instruments.

It has been pointed out that Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, was not originally an organ piece but an arrangement for a solo string instrument such as a violin, and I agree with that. If it was for an instrument like the organ, which is easy to write polyphony for, Bach would have written it more densely.
— Nat Sakimura (@_nat) January 20, 2022

This theory isMusicologist Peter Williams(Williams, 1981)⁸(However, Williams himself believes that the piece was not written by JS Bach) and Bruce Fox-Lefrish's paper (Fox-Lefrish, 2004)⁹This theory is based on the idea that "the composition, the tone and the passage work are unusual for an organ piece, and there are many parts that are more natural for a violin piece." The thin fugue writing would make sense if it were for a violin solo. The main violin-like characteristics are as follows:

Main violin characteristics

Frequent use of arpeggios and single-note patterns
　The arpeggio-like passages at the beginning and in each section of the piece were a technique often used in Baroque violin solo pieces. When played on an organ, the sound resonates heavily, but for the violin, the chords are quickly broken up and resonated, making them more natural as a technical requirement..
Wide range of tonal movement and single note flow
　The wide range of the violinist's range due to his/her position changes and the continuous single notes (legato lines and fast passages) are more suitable for solo strings than for organ..
Use of double notes and thin harmonic processing
　The double note progressions of thirds and sixths, and the thin harmonies that stand out in parts, are also characteristic of violin works. While it is common for the organ to have thick harmonies, BWV 565 has many parts that intentionally create a sense of "space.".
Variolage motif (interlacing open and finger strings)
　Starting with the fugue theme, variolage patterns appear throughout the piece. This is a technique in which open strings are played alternately and quickly, with other strings played at different speeds. This is a technique that is more skillfully and effectively performed on string instruments than on keyboards..

There is also a version that is actually played on the violin. There are some parts that make you think, "I see." So, please listen to the violin solo version of Toccata and Fugue.

Toccata and Fugue for solo violin

Acknowledgments

This article is based on the "Jusan-on SocietyA regular on the blog, yamauchi_toru, wrote an article on his note titled "Musicians, History, and Society - 42: The debate over whether JS Bach is genuine or forged" I was inspired by this article. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for providing me with this opportunity.

@_Nat Zone

Was Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565" originally a violin piece?