Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 1
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 2
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 3
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 4
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 5
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 6
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 7
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - photo 8

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Lot 78
08.11.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 40 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1053192
Lot 78 | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Estimate value
£ 40 000 – 60 000
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Contemporary scribal manuscript of the Toccata in D minor for harpsichord, BWV 913, n.d. [probably first quarter 18th century]
A crucial new manuscript source for the Toccata in D minor, for which no autograph survives. Recently discovered and unrecorded in the thematic catalogues, this contemporary scribal manuscript preserves a unique variant of the work, diverging from both the ‘early’ and ‘revised’ versions.

Full score notated in dark brown ink on seven two-stave systems per page. 14 pages, 340 x 208mm, on three bifolia and a singleton, 14-stave hand-ruled paper, watermark: coat of arms containing three annulets (cf. Heawood 701-3), title on p.1 ‘Toccata di Joh: Sebast: Bach’. Modern card boards with ties.

Provenance:
(1) Reputedly in the collection of Hermann von Beckerath, Munich (1909-1964, cellist and musicologist), perhaps by descent from his grandfather, Rudolf von Beckerath (1833-1888; violinist, friend of Brahms, autograph collector).

(2) Sotheby's, 24 May 2016, lot 85.

(3) Schøyen Collection, MS 5571.

A provisional dating for the Toccata in D minor is given by Peter Wollny on stylistic grounds to Bach’s Arnstadt years, 1703-7 (see NBA V/9.1, critical report (1999), p.77). Bach served as organist at the Neue Kirche during this time, blessed with a relatively generous salary and light duties, which allowed plenty of time for composition. The Toccata exists in two versions: ‘early’, BWV 913.1, and ‘revised’, BWV 913.2 (for a full listing of the sources for each, see bach-digital.de, works 00001085 and -6); Wollny suggests the later, revised version could date to 1706-7. The present manuscript is closer to the early version, first published almost a century later by Hoffmeister & Kühnel in Leipzig in 1801, with a dedication to the composer’s elder brother, Johann Christian Bach (‘In honorem delectissimi fratris Joh.Christ. Bach Ohrdruffiensis’ [i.e. ‘of Ohrdruf’, the town in which Bach first studied under his brother]).

No autograph manuscript for either version of this harpsichord toccata survives – a common fate of many of the original manuscripts of the keyboard works. As such, the contemporary copies made in the circle of Bach’s pupils for his harpsichord and organ works are particularly important for the preservation of Bach’s canon. The present manuscript is the only contemporary copy given as a source for the early version of the Toccata on bach-digital.de but, as Wollny has indicated, the 1801 edition nevertheless deviates from our score.

Unpublished; not recorded in Schmieder’s entry in the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (1990), p.675, nor in the critical report to the Neue Bach Ausgabe (ibid.).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
02.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
03.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
04.11.2023 12:00 – 17:00
05.11.2023 12:00 – 17:00
06.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
07.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Bach,J.S.
Bach,J.S.
€150
Bach,J.S.
Bach,J.S.
€100
Bach,J.S.
Bach,J.S.
€150
Bach,J.S.
Bach,J.S.
€240
Portraitmaler des 18. Jh. ''Halbbildnis Johann Sebastian Bach'', vor dunklem Hintergrund an einem Holztisch auf einem Rokkokosessel sitzend und den Betrachter anblickend
Portraitmaler des 18. Jh. ''Halbbildnis Johann Sebastian Bach'', vor dunklem Hintergrund an einem Holztisch auf einem Rokkokosessel sitzend und den Betrachter anblickend
€200
Bach,J.S.
Bach,J.S.
€100
Bach,J.S.
Bach,J.S.
€150
Bach,J.S.
Bach,J.S.
€150

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>