J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 – arranged for piano duet by Eleonor Bindman (GPC042)
Sheet music edition
33 pages
for piano duet
Recording
Unlike the only published piano duet arrangement by Max Reger, which has serious performance limitations, Eleonor Bindman’s new transcription of the Brandenburg Concertos highlights their polyphony, imagining how Bach might have distributed the score if he had created four-part inventions for piano duet. With an equal partnership between the two instrumentalists, using the modern piano’s full potential to convey the unique scoring and character of each work, the concertos are ordered to create an engaging listening sequence.
Concerto No. 5 required the greatest skill in integrating the wide-ranging harpsichord solo part between two pianists while preserving the framework. The harpsichord had to be relegated down an octave for the tutti sections of the first movement and great precision is required of the partners as they share the virtuosic cadenza. The piano’s heavier action constrains the tempo, but not the spirit, of another brilliant closing fugue.
