J. S. Bach’s B-minor Flute Sonata (BWV 1030) and Johann Gottlieb Goldberg: the identification of his hand and its implications

Until very recently, the scribe of the flute part (D-B, Mus.ms. Bach P 975, Faszikel 2) that accompanies the autograph score of the Sonata in B Minor for Obbligato Harpsichord and Transverse Flute, BWV 1030 (D-B, Mus.ms. Bach P 975, Faszikel 1) was unknown. From the study of handwriting and watermarks, Kobayashi dates the latter at around 1736/37, and the former between 31 May 1740 and 1742 (BJ 1988), which strongly hints that this flute part was the integral part of the original manuscript of the work. Thus the identification of scribe is an urgent task for our better understanding of Bach’s life and works around that time.While working on the forthcoming facsimile edition of the work for Henle Verlag, I have identified the scribe as Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727–56), one of Bach’s students in his late years. Despite the prominence of his name today through the last instalment of Bach’s Clavier Übung series—the so-called “Goldberg” Variations— published in 1741, we do not know much about Goldberg’s activities as composer and performer, let alone his associations with his teacher, J. S. Bach, and other students.

This paper seeks new knowledge that can be drawn from studying this original source itself as well as other surviving manuscripts in his hand, and discuss various issues that have emerged from it.