A brief(er) episode for you today: Bach’s first published opus was his six partitas for keyboard. In some of the sources within Bach’s circle, copies retained as a ‘Handexemplar’ include revisions by a scribe we can almost say with certainty is Bach himself. The most consequential of these revisions appears at the end of the third partita, where the second half of the Gigue is re-written with what one might call ‘updated’ or ‘refined’ counterpoint.

Here we see the main source (G 25) in question:

Hard to see here, but if we zoom in, we see that this:

Is a correction of the original printings, which read:

This link here should allow you to download the original print of all six partitas.

N.B. As that link is the download of the original print, it will not contain any of the corrections mentioned in this episode. For a full list of the scholarship on these changes, see:

Wolff, C. (1999). Text-critical comments on the original print of the Partitas. In Bach: Essays on his life and music (pp. 214-222). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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Concepts Covered:

The 3rd Keyboard Partita, BWV 827, stands as a defining work in Bach’s Partitas for keyboard, marking his first published opus and showcasing his mastery of counterpoint. This episode examines the Handexemplar revisions, where Bach’s scribe corrections reveal musical updates that refined the Partita Gigue’s counterpoint. These manuscript corrections provide insight into Bach’s compositional process, highlighting his meticulous approach to keyboard music. As we explore Bach’s revised versions, we engage with the broader landscape of Baroque keyboard music, tracing his influence on counterpoint and the evolution of Bach music performance. Through this Bach partitas analysis, we uncover how his musical revisions continue to shape our understanding of his genius.

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