Although the 'fantasia' was already considered as old-fashioned around 1700, this genre exerted a particular fascination on the very young Bach - he had since relocated to Köthen - and the experienced composer as well.

Volume 3, the latest installment in the Complete Organ Works, gathers together all transmitted organ fantasias by Bach, the fragments of the fugues belonging to them and all individual fugues as well. They include, for instance, the Fantasia in C BWV 570, undoubtedly the master's oldest free organ work.

The most notable works in this edition are the celebrated Fantasia in g minor BWV 542/1 and the Fuga in g BWV 542/2. Did Bach actually intend a combination of the two pieces as a joint composition? This and other intriguing questions concerning versions, sources and genre history are examined by editor Pieter Dirksen in the introduction and comments, which contain a synopsis and a wealth of transposed and ornamented versions of the works which supplement the edition on the enclosed CD-ROM.