J. S. Bach - The Art of Fugue

This is a keyboard score of J. S. Bach’s The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, edited and engraved by Dr. Dominic Florence. It is based on the autograph manuscript from the early 1740s and the first edition published in 1751.

The Art of Fugue is arguably the pinnacle of fugue in the history of music. It is comprised of fourteen fugues and four canons all based on a single theme, and it increases in complexity over its ninety minutes of music. It represents the culmination of Bach’s efforts in fugal writing, and it remains an ideal composition to study or perform. The ending of the fourteenth fugue was unfinished at the time of Bach’s death, and even in its unfinished state, it is one of the longest and most complex fugues he ever wrote.

There are two versions available here: a reference score and a performance score. The reference score is suitable for academic study and keyboardists who prefer unedited scores, and attempts to preserve the composer’s original intentions. The performance score adds fingering, hand assignment indicators, and presents the fugues and canons in a suggested performing order.

To view and download either score as a PDF, please click the images.