This piece is not to be confused with the Prelude and Fugue in A minor, which is also for organ and also sometimes called "the Great".
[citation needed] Assuming this is correct, the theme or subject of the Fugue, a Dutch popular tune (called 'Ik ben gegroet van...'), would have been given to Bach for him to demonstrate his talents as an improviser.
It has been suggested that the choice of a Dutch tune was in homage to Johann Adam Reincken, the long-serving organist at St. Catherine's Church, Hamburg, who was born in the Netherlands.
[citation needed] During his 1720 trip to Hamburg Bach is believed to have met Reincken,[3] whose music he had known since his teens.
Modern arrangers such as Dimitri Mitropoulos,[9] and Karl Munchinger have orchestrated the work.