This is the only solo piece Beethoven wrote for organ. It is also one of his earliest surviving compositions, predated apparently only by the Nine Variations on a march by Dressler, for piano, WoO 63, and the three piano sonatas of WoO 47 (in E Flat, F minor, and D). It has been surmised that this organ fugue was composed to fulfill examination requirements for the position of second organist at the Bonn Court, in February 1784.

The work is short; it features a main theme and several minor subjects, which, for all their Baroque appeal, hardly divulge any hint of the composer's mature style. Yet the piece, almost as much a study as a serious composition, has a few noteworthy moments. The ending, for instance, features a busy and fairly compelling recapitulation of the themes over a pedal point. In the end, the work is interesting as a means to examine the youthful composer's development. It was published posthumously.

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