Eight Short Preludes and Fugues

The Eight Short Preludes and Fugues (also Eight Little Preludes and Fugues), BWV 553–560, are a collection of works for keyboard and pedal formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. They are now believed to have been composed by one of Bach's pupils, possibly Johann Tobias Krebs or his son Johann Ludwig Krebs, or by the Bohemian composer Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer.

History and attribution

While originally attributed to Bach, scientific examination of the extant manuscripts by Alfred Dürr in 1987 and subsequent stylistic analysis of the score by Peter Williams have suggested that the eight preludes and fugues might have been composed by one of his pupils, Johann Ludwig Krebs. As Williams explains, whoever the composer was, the works show an ability to compose in diverse ways—the toccata, the Italian concerto, the galant style, the fughetta and the durezze style with slow suspensions, favoured by Girolamo Frescobaldi. It has not yet been possible to date the compositions, but Williams writes: "Though frequently charming and melodious, they could hardly have been written by J. S. Bach for his pupils since their 'standard of counterpoint and general musicianship' does not fit the period in question, nor does the scarcity of copies suggest they were much used, [...] even as part of a bigger compendium. Nevertheless, the pieces do amount to a fine book for learners, teaching whether or how to add pedal, use a second manual, and register according to so-called key characteristics."

Various possible composers have been suggested for these little preludes and fugues, including Johann Ludwig Krebs, Johann Tobias Krebs, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Franz Anton Maichelbeck and Johann Caspar Simon. Prior to Dürr's scientific research on manuscripts, the 19th-century scholar Philipp Spitta had judged that the works bore the "stamp of commanding mastery"; and Sir George Grove, another 19th-century scholar, declared that "on stylistic grounds neither [Johann Tobias nor Johann Ludwig] seems likely." Even though in 1952 the Bach scholar Walter Emery wrote about the works that "there seems no reason why they should not have been written about 1730–50 by some minor composer in central Germany, whether or not he was a pupil of Bach's," Williams thinks that the likely composer—the "eminence grise" as he puts it—is most probably the composer Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer from Bohemia. As justification Williams describes the form of the preludes and fugues:

Such modest and single-minded preludes, modest fugues with exposition, episode and final entries, a charming and coherent handling of the keys and cadences: these are closer to Fischer's idiom than to any northern repertories, and could reflect his wide and lasting influence on organists of the time. Even in the longest Fugue, No. 3, there is little modulation beyond what one finds in Fischer's succinct little essays, and any 'updating' of his idiom discerned in BWV 553–560 – binary form, post-Vivaldian patterns, post-Bach melodies, further episodes in some fugues, sometimes unclear handling of part-writing – could be that of an admirer of his in 1750 or so.