The renowned Bach-Gesellschaft — founded in 1850 to collect, edit, and publish all the known works of J. S. Bach — devoted 50 years to its monumental task. It succeeded so well in tracking down Bach's heritage, establishing authenticity, and transcribing accurate texts that it still remains the primary source for Bach's music. Unfortunately, it has always been a fantastically expensive publication, accessible only in the largest libraries.

This volume reprints in full, directly from the Bach-...