Note 77 — Chapter VIII

The chorale was added in the first edition of the Kunst der Fuge, and its place there, though musically irrelevant, is surely justified by a fine sentiment. Forkel touchingly says, “The expression of pious resignation, and devotion in it, have always affected me whenever I have played it; so that I can hardly say which I would rather miss—this chorale, or the end of the last fugue,” p. 91. The rigour of criticism has of course relegated the piece to the category of organ-works (vii. 58).