. The organ works of Bach. tion of bars 20and 21, on the ground that they are missing in oneof the manuscripts. The Grave is a problem. Clearly Bach doesnot write in seven parts unless he wants plenty oftone. If we begin the passage loudly the changefrom the delicate ending of the Adagio is tooabrupt, as the brief recitative is not long enoughto serve as a buffer. If we begin quietly there isnot room in eight bars for a well-graded crescendoto the full power demanded by the cadence. Mosteditors suggest full Swell for the two bars ofrecitative. Perhaps a better plan would be tobegin the Grave w
. The organ works of Bach. tion of bars 20and 21, on the ground that they are missing in oneof the manuscripts. The Grave is a problem. Clearly Bach doesnot write in seven parts unless he wants plenty oftone. If we begin the passage loudly the changefrom the delicate ending of the Adagio is tooabrupt, as the brief recitative is not long enoughto serve as a buffer. If we begin quietly there isnot room in eight bars for a well-graded crescendoto the full power demanded by the cadence. Mosteditors suggest full Swell for the two bars ofrecitative. Perhaps a better plan would be tobegin the Grave with a few mf Swell stops, andadd a good deal for the B flat, increasing the TOCCATA AND FUGUE IN C 6g power as the scale descends, coming on to the fullGreat with the chord, thus : I Grave. At^S Full Gt. \^^bTT^ ^¥i ?Bl \jnf Sw. \_Add. \~Full SwI ? m am ?> p Fed. The fugue is a good deal in the Northern style,not only as to its subject, but also in the ratherfidgety writing in such passages as:. As a whole the movement is * singularly gayand genial, as Parry says, but it is a long wayfrom showing Bach at his best. The threefolddelivery of the opening figure of the subject leadsto monotony, and the two bars of arpeggio thatfollow are weak and fidgety. The strong point ofthe work is the flowing use of the first bar ofthe counter-subject i ^^ 70 THE ORGAN WORKS OF BACH for episodical purposes. The movement ends,curiously, without pedals, a fact which leads mostplayers to decide that the close must therefore bequiet. The Schirmer edition sup^gests keeping upthe power and holding on the pedal CC to the if this is done, the lower notes of the manualpart are likely to be drowned. An alternative tliatappears to have been overlooked is the conversionof the passage into a pedal solo, beginning withthe second semiquaver (G) in bar 139—that is,two bars from the end—playing the chord fullorgan and (dare one suggest it ?) making it into agood double handful
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