As Claudio has explained in detail, there is no unequivocal proof, from Bach's own hand, that the Passacaglia is for pedal harpsichord or clavichord. Indeed there is no 18th-century work by any composer, to my knowledge, which can be proven to have been written for a pedal instrument with strings.
Nonetheless these instruments existed. There is no surviving 18th-century pedal harpsichord, but there are pedal clavichords, I believe in Leipzig and Vienna and perhaps elsewhere.
There is of course also the rather cryptic reference in the note dated 11 Nov 1750, about the distribution of Bach's possessions after his death: "Johann Christian Bach received 3 claviers with a set of pedals from the late departed during his lifetime". As this gift had occurred before the death, these instrument(s) or parts of instruments(s) were not listed in the actual inventory. What exactly was this? We shall never know.
My belief was that pedal harpsichords and clavichords were practice instruments for organists. From both a technical and practical point of view, they are excellent replacements for organs.
That is not to say that a musical performance on such an instrument is not possible or legitimate. We all know that 'practice instruments' are often used for entertainment and enjoyment, and not just hard work! Why shouldn't JSB entertain his family or friends on any of the instruments in his own house?
As people frequently point out, there is a great deal of keyboard literature pre-1800 for which the intended instrument is not made clear, or indeed where a variety of instruments may have been intended. This Passacaglia may fall into that category.
I used to own a pedal harpsichord by Colin Booth, and recorded the Passacaglia on it for Priory Records. The recording ("Pro Cembalo Pleno") is easily available online (Amazon, iTunes, Spotify etc).
In preparing the piece (which I have also performed on historic organs in the Netherlands), I felt that:
-- many parts of this composition do feel more idiomatic on the harpsichord than on the organ
-- it is easy to identify textures which are similar to sections of chaconnes by other German composers, such as Fischer and Pachelbel, which are commonly played on the harpsichord
-- at no point in this piece did I ever feel "oh, but this section works so much better on the organ"
-- some of the writing, with close intervals in the lower part of the keyboard, can be problematic on historic organs, where a good supply of wind to the bass and tenor cannot always be taken for granted. I don't think this rules out performance on the organ; I just feel that Bach was pushing the capability of the instrument to its limits - as he often did. These sections may sound better on the harpsichord; that is of course a matter of opinion.
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