BWV 533 "Cathedral" ending?

[Mgbauer]

The last chord in the prelude and fugue in E minor (BWV 533) seems to be a weird point of contention, and I'm looking to see if any of any of you have insight on it.
Dorien Schouten claims that it ends minor in this video: https://youtu.be/7iI3SOcrpKg
Marie-Claire Alain plays it minor as well.
However, Simon Preston plays an E Major, and it looks like all of the public domain publications have the E Major too.
Any ideas why? What do you do or what would you do?

[Nutball]

I prefer minor, but it doesn't sound much different either way to me. Minor just seemed more natural sounding to me.

[Philip Powell]

Yes, I agree that minor sounds more natural but normally Bach's fugues, it ends on a major chord. I guess it just depends on what you think sounds best and what mood you're in;-)

[voet]

Very few of Bach's Fugues in minor keys end with a minor chord, which could be why some performers and editors end this piece on a major chord. However, this is one instance where Bach ends on a minor chord. While the public domain scores for 533 on IMSLP all have a major chord at the end, the score at 533a ends in minor.

There is an excellent discussion of this piece by Dorien Schouten for the Netherlands Bach Society. She makes a point of the minor ending to the fugue. It is in Dutch with English subtitles. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iI3SOcrpKg

The notes to the Breitkopf edition also corroborate the minor chord at the end of the fugue. Here is a link to the notes: https://www.breitkopf.com/assets/pdf...B8802_Comm.pdf

Good luck in your exploration of this beautiful work.

[myorgan]

I have to agree with Bill-keep it minor. I know a Picardy third (sometimes known under another name I can't remember right now), is common in many Baroque pieces written in a minor key, but Bach would rarely have made the final chord minor if it was not intended to be so. The fact that it is written out in most reputable editions confirms the choice.

Michael

[Mgbauer]

Very few of Bach's Fugues in minor keys end with a minor chord, which could be why some performers and editors end of this piece on a major chord. However, this is one instance where Bach ends on a minor chord. While the public domain scores for 533 on IMSLP all have a major chord at the end, the score at 533a ends in minor.

There is an excellent discussion of this piece by Dorien Schouten for the Netherlands Bach Society. She makes a point of the minor ending to the fugue. It is in Dutch with English subtitles. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iI3SOcrpKg

The notes to the Breitkopf edition also corroborate the minor chord at the end of the fugue. Here is a link to the notes: https://www.breitkopf.com/assets/pdf...B8802_Comm.pdf

Good luck in your exploration of this beautiful work.

Appreciate the info, voet! Yeah, it's weird see one that ends in minor, but I like it.
The Breitkopf notes are great to have and definitely clear some of that up.

[Peterboroughdiapason]

There is no autograph score and 3 of the 5 copies that we do have end with a major chord. As there is no definitive autograph score I think you can take your choice!

I have always played a major chord, only having the Novello edition which has that. It also seems much more likely to me (and, it seems, most editors).

Dorien Schouten talks definitively about the minor ending, and how unusual it is, but doesn't seem to be aware that most of the early manuscripts do, in fact, have the major chord.