Date of this Version Despite two centuries of research into the
life and music of J.S. Bach, there is little that can be said
with certainty about his organ registration practices. Aside
from two short passages (quoted below) that merely assert Bach's
understanding of and skill at registration, there is only J.F.
Agricola's report that Bach liked reed stops. Up until now, it
has not been possible to identify sources, either from Bach
himself or from his immediate circle, that offer precise
instructions on organ registration. The source described and
translated here provides such information. The source is an
article found in Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg's Historisch-
Kritische Beytriige zur Aufnahme der Musik (Historical and
Critical Contributions to the Reception of Music), Volume 3,
Part 6 (Berlin: Gottlieb August Lange, 1758), pages 486 to 518.
Marpurg-an author, theorist, and critic closely associated with
the circle of Bach's students in Berlin-published the Historisch
Kritische Beytriige as a periodical fro