Isolde Ahlgrimm (pedal harpsichord) Die Kunst der Fuge J.S. Bach BWV 1080 (1953 version)

Released 1956 by Philips, 2 LP-set A00242-3L recorded 1953
Isolde Ahlgrimm, harpsichord (Ammer harpsichord 1937 and Pedal harpsichord 1941)
Friederike Bretschneider, 2nd harpsichord
Edition Peters. re-edited by C. Czerny, corrected by I. Ahlgrimm according to the original setting
Sorry for the small hop at 42'39 due to the damaged vinyl.

Thanks to Daniël for the copies of the articles in The Harpsichord and Luister about Frau Ahlgrimm included.

From the slipcase of the 1956 release:
During the course of a lecture in 1950 we expressed the view incorporated in the subtitle to these programme notes. This opinion is shared by several other scholars whose reasoning we have found to be both convincing and logical. Meanwhile, we have succeeded in furnishing additional, extremely important evidence with regard to ' a particular aspect which has received comparatively little attention to date. To explain the relevant facts it will be necessary to retrace our steps and go back through the years.
The engraved score of "The art of fugue" issued a few months alter Bach's death, has long been regarded as the "original" edition, as one "of Bach's sons was believed to have engraved the greater part of this "excellent, unique work while the master was still alive" (Forkel) .
Basing his assumption on a correction index - erroneously regarded as an autograph - Rust endeavoured to prove that the corrections had been engraved by Bach himself. Later research by Kinsky, however, disproved Rust's conclusions. The term "original edition" has therefore been used ever since. It has proved impossible to date to ascertain where and by whom this score was engraved. The engraver was obviously not a master of his profession, nor did he possess an adequate knowledge of music, as can be seen from the "tasteless, plump and faulty work" (Spitta). The 14th counterpoint, for example, which is nothing more than an earlier form of the 10th, should perhaps be omitted; even though they are only mere versions of the 13th counterpoint, the two mirror fugues for two harpsichords, however, are hard to exclude from the work as a whole, as has been advocated by several musicologists. A factual analysis of the original edition (Rietsch) leaves no doubt that Graeser's description of it as "a complete failure, a chaos", is absolutely inaccurate. Since the greater part of this first edition was actually published while Bach was still alive, it may be assumed that there is a certain justification for regarding this edition in many respects as "the composer's final testament" (Steglich).
When Naegeli published the first reprint of "The art of fugue" in Zurich in 1802, strictly in accordance with the original edition, the annotation method formerly employed for harpsichord and organ music had not yet been discarded, only the older key signatures having gone out of general use. Naegeli therefore augmented the score with a transcription in modern notation and also abridged it to two systems for the benefit of pianists unfamiliar with score reading.
The Naegeli edition induced Graeser to make a grave mistake in the 1920's. Unfamiliar with performance practices and annotation methods current in the 18th century, Graeser mistook this edition for an orchestral score and the two-system arrangement for a pianoforte version. Actually the autograph of the last, unfinished fugue should have aroused Graeser's suspicions. This composition, unfinished and abruptly broken off when Bach was struck with blindness, is arranged in two systems. It is obvious that the other parts of the work, written in scored form, are lair copies of the piano arrangement, designed to permit pupils to appreciate the complicated construction of these fugues. Graeser was wide of the mark, however, and scored the work for an orchestra of the Romantic epoch. He thus initiated a series· of arrangements, all of which - without exception - may be likened to the "popular" piano versions formerly in vogue.
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