Prelude and Fugue in E minor ('Wedge'), BWV 548
by Johann Sebastian Bach
BWV 548, composed around 1727–31 during Bach's Leipzig years, is among the grandest and most structurally sophisticated of his organ works. The Prelude is a large-scale ritornello movement in the manner of a concerto, its sweeping toccata passages framed by a recurring orchestral refrain. The Fugue, nicknamed 'Wedge' for its subject — a theme that expands outward by step in contrary motion — is a double fugue of extraordinary formal ingenuity, combining the two subjects at the climax to stunning effect. Together they form one of the peaks of the organ repertoire.
Editions
Bärenreiter
Heinz-Harald Löhlein, 1970
Critical Urtext edition from the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (NBA) series. The standard scholarly text for all of Bach's organ works.
Edition Peters
Hermann Keller, 1948
Practical edition long used in German conservatoires; Keller's registration suggestions reflect mid-20th-century German organ practice.
Breitkopf & Härtel
Friedrich Griepenkerl, 1845
Historic edition from the first Bach complete works. A landmark publication, now primarily of scholarly and historical interest.