The title page as a ‘letters and numbers game’ and the question of authorship

No Bach scholar has ever seen the title page of The Art of Fugue or, for that matter, even the name of the work written in Bach’s own hand. This is why it is still uncertain who, in fact, conceived of the title. The problem rst emerged when Philipp Spitta raised doubts, which later spread to other Bach studies,2 as to whether the title Kunst der Fuge came from Bach himself.3 We do know that the name Kunst der Fuge was altered throughout the formation process of the work as a whole. The reasons for these alterations, once revealed, might cast a light on the puzzle of the title’s authorship.