Triosonata c moll, FWV N:c2 (BWV 585)

Johann Friedrich Fasch(1688 – 1758), a German violinist and composer, was born in Buttelstedt near Weimar. He was a pupil of Johann Kuhnau and worked as violinist in Bayreuth and Leipzig. Later he served as organist in various cities in Bohemia. From 1722 till his death he was capelmeister in Zerbst. Fasch was a prolific composer who wrote numerous cantatas, masses, almost 90 ouvertures, some 60 concertos and a large body of chamber music. A portion of Fasch’ music was lost in World War II. But there is still a lot left to be enjoyed in our time. Johann Sebastian Bach held Fasch in great esteem and copied out five orchestral suites of his.

The Triosonate presented today also atracted the attention of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach transcribed the first two part for organ. For many years BWV 585 was considered a genuine piece by Bach, which shows the quality of the work of Fasch. Perhaps Bach also transcribed the other two parts, but there is no written evidence of that. The manuscript of the original sonata by Fasch resides in the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB). It is a sonata for two violins and basso continuo. It is available as a digital copy online, and I decided to transcribe the other two parts as well, to create a full blown Triosonate for organ. It was only after I finished my version that I became aware Pierre Gouin had already done the same thing. So, now there are two versions.
Bach made some small alterations to the second part as compared to the manuscript in Dresden. Most of these alterations are understandable, because they seem like errors in the manuscript. But some are done for other, perhaps aesthetic, reasons. In my transcription I make the same alterations where the manuscript seems erraneous. But in other places I follow the manuscript, hence this version is somewhat different from the familiar version of BWV 585.

Score available here: http://partitura.org/index.php/johann-friedrich-fasch-triosonata-c-moll-fwv-nc2-bwv-585/