Bach - Prelude and fugue in C minor BWV 546 - Koopman | Netherlands Bach Society 

The most important manuscript of this Prelude and fugue in C minor, performed by Ton Koopman for All of Bach, was written by Johan Peter Kellner (1705-1754). He grew up and worked his whole life in central Germany, where he got to know Bach, whom he greatly admired. It is thanks to pupils and admirers like Kellner that much of Bach’s music has survived at all. The most important manuscript of this Prelude and fugue in C minor was written by Kellner.
However, this also leads to questions, as is often the case with music we do not have in Bach’s own hand. Everyone agrees that the monumental prelude is 100% Bach. It forms a stylistic and thematic entity. But opinions are somewhat divided about the fugue. That central section where the theme disappears (and where all the counterpoint even evaporates briefly) - is it really by Bach? Could Kellner have tinkered with the fugue? Or could the fugue be his composition entirely? In any case, we know he did have Bachian improvisation skills. Once, Kellner was sitting at the organ when Bach happened to enter the church and he improvised a fugue on the spot, on the German note names B A C H (B-flat, A, C, B).
Recorded for the project All of Bach on September 13th 2020 at Stadtkirche St Wenzel, Naumburg, Germany. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating bit.ly/2uZuMj5.
This recording was made with support of dr. Edgar von Hinüber, St. Ingbert, Germany.
For the interview with Ton Koopman on the Hildebrandt organ in Naumburg go to • Ton Koopman on the Hil...
For more information on the Hildebrandt organ please visit www.hildebrandt-orgel.de
For more information on BWV 546 and this production go to allofbach.com/e...
All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society / Nederlandse Bachvereniging, offering high-quality film recordings of the works by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society and its guest musicians. Visit our free online treasury for more videos and background material www.bachvereni.... For concert dates and further information go to www.bachvereni....
Ton Koopman, organist
Organ: Zacharias Hildebrandt, 1746