Instantly recognisable by its opening mordent, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV565 is firmly embedded in the public imagination as a highlight of the organ repertoire. Of all Bach’s music, this is the piece that is the most widely known – probably one of the most popular pieces of music ever written: a masterpiece purloined by all sorts of other musicians who want a share of its power and drama. But was it indeed Bach who wrote it?

Fugue State Films have just released Bach: The Great Toccata, a DVD-CD boxset of a documentary exploring the fascinating story of BWV565, plus benchmark performances by Daniel Moult across the whole range of Bach’s repertoire for the organ.

Daniel Moult is the engaging presenter and performer for The Great Toccata from Fugue State Films

Dan explores the questions around this piece of music along with experts including Leipzig Archivist Christine Blanken, and harpsichordist Terence Charlston, who moves between harpsichord, pedal harpsichord and pedal clavichord as he discusses the interchangability of the harpsichord and the organ in Bach’s time. Bach’s life and other music are explored to investigate the specific objections to Bach’s authorship of BWV565: the limited harmonic vocabulary, the atypical stylistic elements, fugal entries in the subdominant, the use of a low C sharp…… in fact, this documentary probably gets as far as anyone can in resolving this often heated argument.

For those still unconvinced about BWV565, the boxset also contains much else of great interest to any organist or lover of organ music: demonstrations and discussions of the history of the two celebrated historic organs (at the Martinikerk, Groningen, and Petruskerk, Leens), used for this project, and an hour of exhilarating and authoritative performances by Dan Moult of other Bach works including the Trio Sonata VI BWV530, the Toccata in C BWV566a, and the Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV543.

Will Fraser and his colleagues have mastered the art of creating elegant and engaging film of the organ and organ playing: no mean feat, given the static, awkward, and often gloom-ridden nature of our instrument. They bring their customary high production values to everything that has gone into this boxset, and we must also thank the many generous sponsors, listed in the booklet, who helped crowdfund this project.

If you would like to be part of the next Fugue State Films project, what about helping complete the funding for Messiaen and the Organ, which includes performances by Tom Bell at Blackburn Cathedral, and Thomas Lacôte, at La Trinité, Paris? You can either pre-buy the boxset, or give a larger donation: more here.

Alternatively, Lighten Our Darkness: Illuminating Choral Evensong is also crowdfunding: more on that project here.