Sechs Partiten

When Johann Sebastian Bach decided to have the six partitas, known as Clavier-Übung I, printed, he entered a form of self-representation that was simultaneously rare and unmistakably programmatic. The keyboard is transformed into a book that represents his reputation: on the title page, the dedication to the Liebhaber stands alongside the formula In Verlegung des Autoris (at the author's expense), together with the motto Denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths Ergoetzung (for the gratification of the spirit of music lovers), which proclaims a pleasure intended as the development of taste, not as frivolous entertainment. In a Leipzig where the circulation of manuscripts was still the norm, printing becomes an explicit political choice: establishing a personal canon and bringing it to market under the author's seal. The partitas appeared in Leipzig in separate bundles between 1726 and 1730; in 1731 they were brought together in a single complete edition, printed with the same plates, in oblong format, with standardized pagination and titles (Partita 1, Partita 2, etc.). The first version of the title page mentions sale under commission at the town hall, in the premises of the widow Boëthius's daughter; that reference disappears in a later edition, and a third version is recognizable by the engraved alphabetical pagination. This detail suggests a succession of versions reflecting distribution, corrections, and the restoration of market equilibrium, as happens when music becomes part of a real economy. Engravings in turn sketch a geographical dispersion of expertise. According to Gregory C. Butler, Partita 1 and 2 were engraved by Balthasar Schmid, then a student in Leipzig, while Partita 3 and 4 were engraved by Johann Gotthilf Ziegler, organist in Halle and already a student of Bach in Weimar. The completion of the 1731 edition, from the title page to the pagination, is attributed to the Leipzig copper engraver Johann Gottfried Krügner, whose family proved to be involved in the sale of the first printing. An intertwining of workshop practice, city life, and personal connections, far removed from the abstract image of the isolated genius. Within this practical modernity lies a strong sense of tradition. Bach based the external form of the publication on the Neue Clavier-Übung of his predecessor Johann Kuhnau, adopting both the general title and the designation Partita. The tonal structure, B-flat major, C minor, A minor, D major, G major, E minor, refers to a complete scale: an announcement of May 1, 1730 suggests that Bach planned to publish not only a sixth but also a seventh Partita at the Michaelmas Fair. Why the definitive Opus 1 contains six partitas is unknown. Yet the idea of a higher order remains present as a watermark, all the more eloquent because it is not explicitly stated. Moreover, not all material originated for the first time with printing in mind. Traces of early versions appear in a family manuscript of Kleine Clavier-Stücke; Partita 3 and 4 open the Clavierbüchlein of Anna Magdalena; and two movements of Partita 6, Corrente and Tempo di Gavotta, are derived from the original version of the Sonate BWV 1019a for violin and obligato harpsichord. At the time of the appearance of Partita 1, a copy was dedicated to Emanuel Ludwig, the newborn son of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen: the domestic suite becomes at once a gift and a reminder of a court period that still echoes under the stern Leipzig circumstances. The year 1731 does not coincide with a definitive pronouncement, but rather with the beginning of a new phase of control. For the collected edition, Bach had the plates corrected and numerous performance indications, ornaments, legato slurs, and staccato markings engraved; yet the printing remains full of inaccuracies. With the help of collaborators, various surviving copies were subsequently corrected by hand: the critical editions describe a group of annotated copies with varying purposes, ranging from legibility to the correction of errors, and further to the addition of articulations, tempi, and especially a rich ornamentation often concentrated in specific movements. The copies that have survived and been catalogued, and are now also digitally accessible, restore this work as an editorial artifact, as well as as repertoire: title, scope, script, and layout become part of cultural meaning, as they show how Bach wanted it to be read, even before it was played.