JS Bach, Prelude and Fugue in g minor, WTC bk I -- note question ?

[m19834]

I am looking at measure 18 of the fugue in the alto voice, first note of that measure, E(b).  This is the fourth note of a subject re-entry (the previous measure beginning it).  I have been entering this fugue into a four part notation so I can isolate the voices better, and as I was listening to just this voice on the Sibelius playback, my ear wanted for that Eb to be an E-natural.  I looked at the score I am using and it did not read E natural, so I looked into another edition of the music that I have here : "Kalmus" and in that edition there is a footnote indicating that in the "Gerber" edition, that note is in fact an E natural, not an Eb.  So, I looked on the remaining PS editions, all of which also have an Eb.  My ear badly wants an E natural and apparently in some other edition that I don't have, it is an E natural and not a flat. 

Does anybody happen to have any information on this ?

Thanks

[Petter]

You could play both just to make sure. 

[m19834]

haha ... well, somehow I don't think that would be any better  .  I am tempted to just go with the E natural that my ear wants ...

[pianogeek_cz]

No no no, on the last beat, resp. eighth of bar 17, there's B flat major 7th chord that needs resolution at beat 1 of bar 18. Which is an E flat major 6th chord. Plus, you'll be getting the right cadence from beat 4 of bar 17 to beat 3 of bar 18: beat by beat - tonic (B flat major), subdominant (E flat major), dominant (F major), tonic again with the high B on bar 3 wrapping it up nicely. There's no place for C major in there.
But, first of all, the resolution of the Bb7 has to be there. (At least in a baroque fugue like that. Well, maybe in a sequence you could do it. But that's not the case here.)

[m19834]

No no no, on the last beat, resp. eighth of bar 17, there's B flat major 7th chord that needs resolution at beat 1 of bar 18. Which is an E flat major 6th chord. Plus, you'll be getting the right cadence from beat 4 of bar 17 to beat 3 of bar 18: beat by beat - tonic (B flat major), subdominant (E flat major), dominant (F major), tonic again with the high B on bar 3 wrapping it up nicely. There's no place for C major in there.
But, first of all, the resolution of the Bb7 has to be there. (At least in a baroque fugue like that. Well, maybe in a sequence you could do it. But that's not the case here.)

Sorry to bump this thread, but I wanted to thank you for your response.  Very helpful .  I guess it's important to remember to consider the whole harmonic picture and not just the individual voice parts !