Due to its unclear transmission history, this work has often been treated as a doubtful composition in recent years. However, given the numerous similarities in structure and atmosphere with The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 870/2, and Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Fugue No. 31 in C major, BWV 953, and Fugue in C major, BWV 953, it is considered highly probable that it is a genuine work by J. S. Bach.

The piece as a whole divides into two sections from measure 5, where the three-voice subject exposition concludes. Central to this is the perfect cadence in E minor at measure 23. Up to this point, the interpolations revolve around minor keys such as D minor and A minor; after this central cadence, the music enters the realm of major keys, returning from F major to C major.

In terms of the frequent appearance of clear perfect cadences in the first half, it is closer to Fugue No. 1 in The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 870/2, than to Fugue BWV 953; however, the use of the E minor cadence as a central cadential point in the piece makes it appear almost like a sister work to Fugue BWV 953. In any case, it is a work that exemplifies one typical form of Bach's C major fugues.