The French Bach cult, which began in the early 19th century, reached an initial highpoint around 1850. Charles Gounod, still largely unknown at the time, also studied Bach’s works intensively – his chorales, motets, and the preludes and fugues of the 48. He is said to have improvised his expressive, cantabile melody over the famous broken chords of Bach’s C-major Prelude BWV 846 from the 48 at a private performance in 1852.

This arrangement would later became world famous when underlaid with...