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Johann Sebastian Bach used his own organ compositions when teaching his students. Seeking to understand and learn from Bach's organ pedagogy, many scholars have sought to establish a list of Bach's organ works according to difficulty. These arranged lists are briefly summarized in chapter two of the present thesis, and it is shown that none of them have sufficiently explained the rationale for deciding difficulty. Chapter three establishes and describes criteria according to which Bach's organ works can be analyzed. Chapter four demonstrates how these criteria are to be applied within a selected corpus of J.S. Bach's organ works, the Leipzig versions of the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes. The criteria and resulting arrangement according to difficulty answer a problem within Bach scholarship by providing an objective standard by which teachers and students can select level-appropriate works for purposes of learning and performance.

The chorale Wie schðn leuchtet der Morgenstern was popular from its very outset in 1589. That it has retained its popularity down to the present day is evident by its continually appearing in hymnbooks and being used as a cantus in organ compositions as well as forming the basis for other media of musical composition. The treatment of organ compositions based on this single chorale not only exemplifies the curiously novel attraction that this tune has held for composers, but also supplies a common denominator by which the history of the organ chorale can be generally stated.

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Busoni's contribution to the art of the piano transcription is formidable. His chorale prelude transcriptions make him responsible for giving over to the piano repertoire a small portion of sacred literature. His special admiration of J. S. Bach, evidenced throughout his life, make Busoni's transcriptional practices all the more significant. Bach himself was a prolific transcriber of his own works and the works of others. This paper presents a brief history of keyboard transcriptional practices, emphasizing Busoni's methods by comparing the original works for organ with the transcriptions for piano. Four chorale preludes form the basis for this study: Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 639), Komm, Gott, Schopfer, Heiliger Geist (BWV 667), Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland (BWV 659), and In dir ist Freude (BWV 615).