Bach, Johann Sebastian

titled above the music ("Toccata di Joh: Sebast: Bach"), notated by a single early scribe in dark brown ink on seven two-stave systems per page, the right hand in the soprano (C) clef, comprising four movements: i) marked "ex D [flat-sign]", ii) [p.2] "presto" in 4/4 time, iii) [p.7] "Adagio" and iv) [p.8] a long final allegro in 3/4 notated without marking or a key signature  

14 pages, folio (c.34 x 20.5cm), on 3 bifolios & a single leaf of 14-stave paper (watermark: coat-of-arms containing 3 annulets, [cf Heawood nos 701-703]), possibly Thuringian or Saxon provenance, no place or date [probably first quarter of the eighteenth century], a little creasing at margins, some light foxing

We understand that this manuscript comes from the collection of the cellist Hermann von Beckerath (1909-1964). 

BWV 913 (p.675); NBA V/9.1 (Peter Wollny), pp.72ff.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A MAJOR BACH DISCOVERY; THIS IS A HITHERTO UNKNOWN MANUSCRIPT SOURCE FOR THE EARLY VERSION OF THE TOCCATA, FORMERLY KNOWN ONLY FROM THE 1801 HOFFMEISTER & KÜHNEL EDITION.

NO AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF EITHER EARLIER OR LATER VERSION OF THIS HARPSICHORD TOCCATA SURVIVES.

The manuscript is not recorded in Schmieder's Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (1990), nor in the critical report to the Neue Bach Ausgabe volume containing the toccata.

This Toccata, which is dedicated to his brother in the first edition of 1801 ["In honorem delectissimi fratris Joh.Christ. Bach Ohrdruffiensis"], probably predates the start of Bach's career at Weimar in 1708. Sebastian Bach is supposed to have received his first keyboard lessons from his brother in Ohrdruf.   Peter Wollny suggests that the work may have originated during Bach's Arnstadt period (1703-1707), a hypothesis possibly supported by the style of the piece. Bach's revision of the work, with its - in places - more intricate part-writing, is placed tentatively by Wollny in 1706/1707. This later version is transmitted crucially by two manuscript sources - an anonymous copy in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (Mus. ms. Bach P 281) and a copy in the hand of Johann Gottlieb Preller in the Stadtbibliothek, Leipzig (Ms. 8).