J. S. Bach — The Art of Fugue, where it breaks off (autograph)

Bach’s own hand — the last leaf of the final fugue of The Art of Fugue, where the music stops in the middle of a bar. Nothing redrawn.

The document

A faithful facsimile of the fifth leaf of the autograph, held at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Mus.ms. Bach P 200/1). In the tenor, Bach writes his own name in notes: B flat, A, C, B natural. Beside the break, a later hand noted that the author died while at work on the fugue; the note is usually attributed to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel. The library’s gray backdrop is removed; the torn corner is the leaf’s own.

About the artist

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). By Yoshitake Kobayashi’s chronology, these leaves were written between August 1748 and October 1749; Bach died in July 1750. No one knows for certain why the fugue stops.

The print

Printed to order and made to last. Choose Museum Matte (heavyweight matte art paper) or Fine Art Giclée (Hahnemühle cotton paper — the archival standard). The Métrica museum caption — artist, title, date and source — is printed as part of the piece, set in our house type. Free US shipping on two or more pieces.

J. S. Bach · The Art of Fugue, the final fugue, BWV 1080/19, autograph · 1748–49 · Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin · Mus.ms. Bach P 200/1 · Public Domain Mark.

Theme: Music manuscript — Johann Sebastian Bach’s handwritten score of the final fugue of The Art of Fugue.