Johann Sebastian Bach (?), Nun lob mein Seel den Herren, BWV Anh. II 60

The catalog of works by Bach (the Bach Werke Verzeichnis or BWV) has four appendices, Anhang I, Anhang II, Anhang III and Anhang N. The first lists the works that are known to have existed, but are either lost or survived only fragmentary. The second lists the works of which Bach’s authorship is uncertain. The third lists the works that once were attributed to Bach, but are now known to have been composed by other composers. And the fourth contains recent additions to the list.

The Anhang II of Schmieder's catalogue of Bach's composition contains the spurious works. Either because the manuscript source attributes Bach as composer to a piece that is highly unlikely to have been written by him. Or because a manuscript doest not indicate a composer, but the music is remiscent of Bach's style, or there is other circumstantial evidence to belive Bach was the compsoer.

In the case of Anh. II 60 the doubt is, in my opinion, justified. It is a nice piece, that aptly expresses the mood of the choral. However, it just does not feel like a genuine Bach work. The harmonic development is too plain and the motivic treatment of the left hand part too simplistic. It is probably not a composition by Bach at all.

[Update, 5 Oct 2019] It turns out I'm a bit behind in my research. In some places this composition is attributed to Johann Gottfried Walther. This attribution is in my opinion perhaps a bit more likely than the attribution to Bach, but still doubtful.

The recording was done with the Hauptwerk software and the sample set of the Silbermann organ of the Stadtkirche Zöblitz by Prospectum (http://www.prospectum.com/index.php?language=english&id1=2&id2=8).

Score available here: http://partitura.org/index.php/johann-sebastian-bach-nun-lob-mein-seel-den-herren-bwv-anh-ii-60

Score: http://partitura.org/index.php/david-abel-praeludium-2

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