Francis Knights offers much food for thought about Bach’s deft handling of thematic material in pedal parts. Many examples show us how the simplification of thematic and motivic ideas, in order to make them playable by the feet, was a well-honed and strategic skill. The alteration of musical content in the lowest part frequently raises questions as to what Bach expected of players, and adaptation methods can also help us to assess what may or may not be an actual pedal part.

An exploration of the authorship of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV565, in an engaging set of documentary films and performances.

A new volume from The Orgelbuchlein Project, a 21st-century completion of Bach’s Little Organ Book, has just been published, with a special offer on the price until the end of November 2024.

Historian Christoph Wolff and American organist George Ritchie discuss Bach’s Art of Fugue. They consider how it came to be written, and some of the issues around a performance of the piece.

Sietze de Vries explores Bach’s Orgelbuchlein on instruments of Bach’s time in a new CD/DVD boxset from Fugue State Films, filling in some of the missing pages in a masterclass of improvisation in the style of Bach.

The RCO was delighted to present Professor Suzuki Masaaki with the RCO Medal at a masterclass for Royal Academy of Music organ students in London this January.

Organists Daniel Moult and Martin Schmeding provide an introduction to the issues surrounding the nature, history and performance practice of Bach’s organ works. They discuss the philosophical as well as musical arguments around how we should play Bach today, demonstrating on organs in Central Germany of Bach’s time.

Bach’s Orgelbüchlein (or Little Organ Book) was left incomplete on his death. Now contemporary composers have been comissioned to fill in the 118 missing pieces, and the completed Orgelbüchlein Project will have its UK premiere this September.

Nicholas Cleobury gives an introduction to preparing one of Bach’s best known cantatas, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, for performance with an orchestra.