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Total duration: 85'
The Art of Fugue was left incomplete by Bach and published posthumously in 1751. The ordering and selection of pieces intended to comprise the final collection is not known for certain. The likely intended form is a set of fourteen contrapuncti of increasing complexity (BWV 1080/1–13 and 1080/19) with four additional canons (BWV 1080/14–17, perhaps with the first played last), all presumably for keyboard.
The first edition includes additional movements: an earlier version (BWV 1080/10a) of the contrapunctus alla decima (BWV 1080/10), arrangements for two harpsichords (BWV 1080/18) of the second contrapunctus inversus (BWV 1080/13), and the organ chorale prelude Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein (BWV 668).
Some of the pieces are also found with minor differences in an autograph manuscript; the ordering of this manuscript is different to the first edition.
The BWV numbering used here is as given in BWV1,2,2a. In BWV3, the two versions are identified as BWV3 1080.1 (autograph) and BWV3 1080.2 (first edition), with the numbering of the sections (I–XV and 1–20 respectively) corresponding to the sources.
| BWV1,2,2a | title | first edition (BWV3 1080.2) | autograph (BWV3 1080.1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1080/1 | Contrapunctus 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1080/2 | Contrapunctus 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 1080/3 | Contrapunctus 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 1080/4 | Contrapunctus 4 | 4 | – |
| 1080/5 | Contrapunctus 5 | 5 | 4 |
| 1080/6 | Contrapunctus 6 in Stylo Francese | 6 | 7 |
| 1080/7 | Contrapunctus 7 per Augmentationem et Diminutionem | 7 | 8 |
| 1080/8 | Contrapunctus 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 1080/9 | Contrapunctus 9 alla Duodecima | 9 | 5 |
| 1080/10 | Contrapunctus 10 alla Decima | 10 | 6 |
| 1080/10a | Contrapunctus 10 alla Decima (earlier version) | 14 | 6 |
| 1080/11 | Contrapunctus 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 1080/12,1 | Contrapunctus inversus 12, forma recta | 12b | 13a |
| 1080/12,2 | Contrapunctus inversus 12, forma inversa | 12a | 13b |
| 1080/13,1 | Contrapunctus inversus 13, forma inversa | 13b | 14a |
| 1080/13,2 | Contrapunctus inversus 13, forma recta | 13a | 14b |
| 1080/14 | Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu | 15 | 12 15 supp. 1 |
| 1080/15 | Canon alla Ottava | 16 | 9 |
| 1080/16 | Canon alla Decima in Contrapunto alla Terza | 17 | – |
| 1080/17 | Canon alla Duodecima in Contrapunto alla Quinta | 18 | – |
| 1080/18,1 | Fuga inversa, forma inversa [for two keyboards] | 19a | supp. 2b |
| 1080/18,2 | Fuga inversa, forma recta [for two keyboards] | 19b | supp. 2a |
| 1080/19 | Fuga a 3 Soggetti [incomplete] | 20 | supp. 3 |
| 668 | Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein | 21 | – |
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 3.5
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 3.5
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 4'
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 6'
Difficulty: 3.5
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 5' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 7'
Difficulty: 4.5
The ordering of the recta and inversa versions given here matches that of the first edition; this is opposite to the ordering in the autograph manuscript and BWV1,2,2a.
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 3'
Difficulty: 4
The ordering of the recta and inversa versions given here matches that of the first edition; this is opposite to the ordering in the autograph manuscript and BWV1,2,2a.
Duration: 2' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 2' 30"
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 3
Duration: 2' 30"
Difficulty: 3.5
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 3
Duration: 2'
Difficulty: 3
This is an arrangement for two keyboards of contrapunctus inversus 13 (BWV 1080/13) in both the forma recta and forma inversa versions.
This fugue is incomplete.
Duration: 9' 30"
Difficulty: 4
The first edition concludes with the chorale prelude Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein (BWV1 668; BWV2,2a 668a; BWV3 668.1), which Bach purportedly dictated on his deathbed, but presumably did not intend to form part of the collection. Although intended for organ, it can be played on an instrument without pedals. There exists an alternative, incomplete version with only slight differences (BWV1,2,2a 668; BWV3 668.2) under the title Vor deinen Thron tret ich. Under the title Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein, Bach set the same melody in a different chorale prelude for organ (BWV 641), a possibly-spurious chorale with variations for organ (BWV1,2,2a Anh. 78; BWV3 App A 17), and two four-part chorales (BWV 431 and 432).
Duration: 4' 30"
Difficulty: 3
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