Arranging BWV 527 for piano (part I)

In my last post, I mentioned that I will be arranging the third movement from Bach’s Organ Trio Sonata III for solo piano. Here is a sneak peak of my progress so far:

Fig. 1. First 8 bars of my piano arrangement of BWV 527.

Fig. 1. First 14 bars of BWV 527, Johann Sebastian Bach.

There isn’t much to see yet, but there are some interesting issues I would like to address. The first thing you might notice is that the bass line has been transposed down an octave. At first, it seemed like an arbitrary decision, but upon repeated listenings, I realize the pedalboard notes sound an octave lower than written anyway, so it appears to be a reasonable choice.

Interestingly, at a few points later on in the piece, the upper two voices diverge such that they are unplayable using the right hand alone. Sometimes, I overcome this by transposing the left hand an octave up (or it finds its way to that register some how) and then it is able to play both the pedalboard notes and some of the middle voice. There are times when the playability of the arrangement “hangs on by a thread” but in general, I would say it is playable.

The organ and the trio sonata form

Vid. 1. Music animation video constructed and produced by Stephen Malinowski.

I came across this piece of music earlier this year. Up until that point I had not heard much organ music. But this particular movement from Bach’s Organ Trio Sonata III caught my attention immediately. The harmonic progression of its principal theme is very resolute, starting off fairly stable, and then changing more frequently in its second half. The minor tonality gives it a very sophisticated air, and at the same time, the upper melodic lines work together to bring across a justified tone.

The trio sonata form, I discovered, is a piece written with three distinct parts: they are often comprised of two melodic lines and a continuo part. It then became clear to me that pedalboard notes could take over the continuo part, thereby freeing up the hands to take on very intricate melodic parts.

Incidentally, I have been working on and off on a piano arrangement of this piece. The process has been an interesting one, as it challenges me to think outside the box and in terms of a different keyboard instrument. I plan to present this arrangement at the SFU Recital Society workshops and performing it at the semester-end concert. I will also post the PDF on my website when the arrangement is complete, so you can too download it, should you wish.