Prelude in C minor, BWV 999
Introduction D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 804, Fascicle 19, Johann Peter Kellner's manuscript copy of the ''Prælude in C mol: pour La Lute''.The Prelude in C Minor, BWV 999, is, according to its only extant 18th-century manuscript, a composition for lute by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the manuscript, conserved as Fascicle 19 of Mus.ms. Bach P 804 at the Berlin State Library, Johann Peter Kellner wrote the piece down in keyboard notation. The time of origin of the work is not known: possibly Bach composed it in his Köthen period, that is, between 1717 and 1723, or the early years of his ensuing Leipzig period. Kellner's copy was produced after 1727, but before Bach's death in 1750.The Prelude can be performed as well on a lute as on a keyboard. In the 19th century, it was adopted as No. 3 in the keyboard collection ''Twelve Little Preludes''. It was grouped with Bach's lute compositions in 20th-century scholarship such as the ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' of 1931, the ''Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis'' and the New Bach Edition. It has been recorded in performances on lute, on guitar, and on keyboard instruments such as piano or harpsichord. In the 21st century, digital facsimiles of Kellner's copy became available on-line, for instance at the Bach Digital website.
History According to the Bach Digital website, the time of origin of Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude in C minor, BWV 999, is unknown. Based on , the 1998 edition of the ''Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis'' indicates that the piece likely originated in Bach's Köthen period, that is, between 1717 and 1723.Christoph Wolff and Walter Emery estimated that the composition may have originated from Bach's Köthen period to the early years of his Leipzig period, which began in 1723, based on similarities with the Preludes and Fugues in ''The Well-Tempered Clavier''.According to Kohlhase, Johann Peter Kellner's copy of the Prelude dates from around the middle of the 1720s. A more comprehensive research into the time of origin of all 57 fascicles of the Berlin State Library's Mus.ms. Bach P 804 convolute, by Russell Stinson, showed that its 19th fascicle, Kellner's copy of the BWV 999 Prelude, originated after 1727.All fascicles of the P 804 manuscript were written before Bach's death in 1750.Kellner's manuscript is the only source for the composition.The title page of Kellner's copy of BWV 999, page 101 in the D-B Mus.ms. Bach P 804 convolute, reads:The composition is written on the next two pages, on systems of two staffs, with a soprano clef for the upper staff, and a bass clef for the lower staff. Although, in the first half of the 18th century, a tablature notation was common for lute compositions, Kellner thus wrote the Prelude down in a notation which at the time was customary for keyboard compositions. The Prelude can be performed as well on a keyboard instrument as on a lute. Kellner is known as organist and keyboard performer: his copy of BWV 999 is the only extant instance of him taking an interest in a composition for lute.A concluding section, which could follow after the Prelude as written down by Kellner, seems to be missing. The Prelude opens in C minor but instead of returning to that key (i.e., the tonic), it ends on the dominant, in fact the parallel key of the dominant, G major, while the closing chord contains a Picardy third. compares this to the Prelude BWV 872a/1: after a section with arpeggios ending on the dominant, it continues with a fugato returning to the tonic. Also, the last bar of the piece only has the duration of a quarter note: it is uncommon for a piece in  to end on a bar with a different duration than three quarter notes. Whether Bach never composed such continuation of the piece, or whether Kellner didn't copy it, is not known.
Music BWV 999's brief, introductory nature (43 measures), improvisatory feel and reiteration of a defining motif fits squarely within the prelude genre of the 1710s and 1720s. Additionally, the shortness of the motif itself follows the conventions of early sixteenth-century prelude. It also served a teaching purpose characteristic of the genre, widely using arpeggiations and technical demands that served students well as an étude. Barbara Russano Hanning describes prelude features and goals: "The typical prelude assigns the player a specific task, so that the piece functions as an etude. In addition, the preludes illustrate different types of keyboard performance conventions and compositional practices." Such pedagogical traits contribute to the work's longevity; it is still an oft-used educational tool.=== Motif ===Measures 1–7 of BWV 999The Prelude's central motif consists of intersecting rhythms between the upper and lower voice (what originally would have been the left and right hand). In the right hand, this is a sixteenth rest, followed by a seven-note sixteenth passage that typically arpeggiates an inversion of a triad (ascending and descending from and back to the root), and an alternating sixteenth rest–sixteenth note pattern in the third beat. The left participates by having a pedal tone quarter in the first beat, a rest, then two eighth notes. The ascending and descending triad in Bach's prelude BWV 999 seem to have been the true inspiration and chord structure for the arpeggios in the Beatles song Because, because when the prelude is played at half-speed and on harpsichord, the similarity is striking, especially at measures 8–9–11, about 15 seconds into the prelude, with the repeating notes at the end of the interval being eliminated in the Beatles version.=== Harmony ===Measures 8–14 (modulation occurring in mm. 11–14 is highlighted).Contrary to its title and key signature, less than a third of BWV 999 is actually written in C minor. In measure 11, a Secondary leading-tone chord is employed (namely, a diminished F seventh chord) to modulate and lead the ear to G minor, the dominant of the original key. Aside from a turn to G major (mm. 34–38 and 42–43), and the reemergence of C minor (mm. 39–41), G minor tonality dominates the piece. Early on, the upper voice is repeated over several measures, with the left hand providing the only shifting harmonic background. For example, measures 8–10 are exactly the same in the right hand, but descending tones in the left hand create an expansion of tonic harmony.
Reception In 1843, Friedrich Konrad Griepenkerl edited the Prelude as No. 3 of the "XII petits Préludes ou Exercises pour les Commençants" (), which was included in the 9th volume of Bach's complete keyboard works published by C. F. Peters. The next year, the publisher issued the ''Twelve Little Preludes'' set separately. Philipp Spitta described BWV 999 thus:Spitta, assuming that nearly none of Bach's compositions for lute survived, mentioned the third of the ''Twelve Little Preludes'' as composed for lute or keyboard. The Bach Gesellschaft retained the ''Twelve Little Preludes'' set for keyboard in the 36th volume, published in 1890, of their complete edition of Bach's works., writing in the ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' of 1931, had no doubt that Bach composed the Prelude for lute:Neemann identified five more compositions by Bach as intended for lute. In the ''Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis'', first published in 1950, these compositions were grouped in the BWV 995–1000 range, in a section for lute works. The same six compositions were published in Series V, Vol. 10, of the New Bach Edition, in 1976.The Prelude has been adapted for various instruments, including lute, piano and guitar. It is a pedagogical work much in the spirit of ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', with which it shares musical characteristics. In the second decade of the 21st century, digital facsimiles of Kellner's manuscript became available on the Berlin State Library and Bach Digital websites.
Recordings Some guitarists perform the Prelude BWV 999 in D minor instead of in its original key of C minor.+ Recordings of Prelude BWV 999 Recorded Instrument Performed by Time 1928–1930 guitar  1:23 25–26 September 1936 harpsichord  0:57 1942–1950 piano  0:59 ≤1954 guitar  1:16 1954 guitar  1:14 1956 lute  1:42 1965 guitar  1:34 1965 guitar  1:28 1964–1971 guitar  1:37 1965–1973 harpsichord  1:56 1970 lute  1:381973 guitar (ten-string)  2:06 1974–1975 guitar  1:33 1980 lute  2:04 1981 lute  1:50 1981 guitar  1:19 1983 lute  2:05 1984 guitar  1:56 1984 harpsichord  1:47 1984 guitar  1:51 1985 baroque lute  1:47 1986 lute  1:50 October 1986 harpsichord  1:35 1986–1987 organ  1:23 October 1987 guitar  1:35 September 1987 theorbo  1:59 June 1988 piano  1:22 23–25 July 1988 guitar (eight-string)  1:59 1988–1989 lute  1:39 1989 guitar  1:28 December 1989 baroque lute  1:44 ≤1990 guitar  1:57 1990 guitar  1:30 1990 harp  2:00 June 1990 guitar  1:49 19–21 June 1990 piano  1:09 21–22 June 1991 piano  1:11 1992 lute  1:58 1992 marimba  1:01 18 February 1994 guitar  1:33 ≤1995 piano  1:18 1995 harpsichord  1:25 28–30 August 1995 piano  1:26 1996 piano  1:32 1992–2000 guitar  1:36 April–May 1996 lute  1:21 1997 harpsichord  1:46 1997 harpsichord  1:42 June–September 1997 guitar  1:32 1998 lute-harpsichord  1:40 August–September 1998 piano  1:10 ≤1999 lute  1:34 1999 baroque lute  1:40 1999 harpsichord  2:03 1999–2000 guitar  1:53 1999–2000 guitar  1:37 July 1999 piano  1:13 November 1999 harpsichord  1:34 December 1999 piano  1:13 2000 lute  1:27 2000 guitar (ten-string)  1:54 2000 harpsichord  1:39 2002 guitar  2:10 2003 guitar  1:24 2003 harp  2:27 2003 marimba  1:29 2004 theorbo  1:41 2005 guitar  1:24 ≤2007 guitar  1:13 August 2007 lute-harpsichord  1:31 2008 clavichord  1:31 March 2008 piano  1:24 ≤15 November 2008 theorbo  2:04 1999–2017 guitar  1:43 2009–2010 guitar  1:43 2010 harpsichord  1:54 February 2010 baroque lute  1:23 2010–2012 guitar  1:25 2011 guitarguitar (ten-string) Mari Mäntylä 1:32 January–April 2012 baroque lute  1:38 2013 lute-harpsichord  1:30 2013 fortepiano  1:19 2015 harpsichord  1:24 January 2015 piano  1:02 13–17 July 2015 baroque lute  1:55 2017 clavichord  1:21 2017 marimba  1:33 2020 baroque lute  1:40
References
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Further reading *
External links * *  Prelude in C minor BWV999 – recordings at Primephonic website.