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Subject:
From:
Thomas Dent <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Harpsichords and Related Topics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 22 Jan 2017 23:47:57 +0100
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Hi again,

btw, I once wrote out the Bb minor P&F from 'Book 1' to play on a
double-fretted clavichord (chromatic from C in the bass) in G minor.  It
seems to work quite well - noting that the tessitura of both pieces is
pretty high - except for the one B natural in the bass (near the end of the
Fugue).
BUT then you notice that that note is part of a line which descends an
octave in the middle of a bar, then a couple of bars later jumps back up
the octave - so no contrapuntal content is lost by *not* descending the
octave, the low B natural is not at all necessary - if anything the
octave-down jump looks like an afterthought.

Almost as if Bach wrote the piece in a lower key, then transposed it up
into Bb minor, then noticed that this line could be given some extra
gravitas for free in the higher key ..

.. does this make any sense?  I suppose A minor is the other obvious
'original' key, but somehow G minor feels more logically related, and there
would not be any Ab/G clashes in an 'original' G minor version - i.e. it
would be completely 'fret-friendly'.



On 13 January 2017 at 14:16, Thomas Dent <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Ibo,
>
> My Tovey edition of 'WTCII' says, in a footnote to the C# minor fugue,
>
> ".. the C minor version recorded by Kellner .."
>
> indicating that Tovey knew of a version of that fugue in C minor, i.e.
>
> 04 F in c#  –>  c
>
> from a (near)-contemporary source.
>
> I'm not sure how this relates to Dürr's suggestion of the same C minor
> transposition with question mark, or your suggestion of D minor instead -
> what is that based on?
>
> Best, Tom
> --
>
>


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