Image: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (Johannes Ringk manuscript)

Description: First page of D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 595, Fascicle 8, oldest surviving manuscript of Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565. The source image has been restored by removing the modern extraneous marking which was written onto this document (this 'photoshop' edit was done using GIMP). To see the source image as it appeared originally, see the first uploaded version in the file history. This .jpg was converted using GIMP from the 5,474 KB .tif file available at the source link. Additional info from the article Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565: The title page of Ringk's manuscript writes the title of the work in Italian as Toccata con Fuga, names Johann Sebastian Bach as the composer of the piece, and indicates its tonality as "ex. d. #.", which is usually seen as the key signature being D minor. However, in Ringk's manuscript the staves have no ♭ symbol at the key (which would be the usual way to write down a piece in D minor). In this sense, in Ringk's manuscript, the piece is written down in D Dorian mode. Another piece listed as Bach's was also known as Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and was equally entitled to the "Dorian" qualification. It was that piece, BWV 538, that received the "Dorian" nickname, that qualifier being effectively used to distinguish it from BWV 565. Most score editions of BWV 565 use the D minor key signature, unlike Ringk's manuscript. (See article for references.)
Title: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (Johannes Ringk manuscript)
Credit: http://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht/?PPN=PPN818080469&PHYSID=PHYS_0064
Author: Manuscript by Johannes Ringk (26 June 1717 – 24 August 1778); composition attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750)
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No