Bits of Mrs. Bach was begun in 2002 and completed in 2005. It was written entirely for fun, and out of a love of Bach’s second Anna Magdalena Notenbüchlein, which was compiled in 1725. None of the five pieces I have selected is thought to be by Bach himself: the G minor Polonaise and the concluding Marche are by his son C.P.E. Bach, while the opening Musette, the D minor Aria (a popular song about pipe-smoking) and the famous Menuet in G are of uncertain authorship.

My reworking of the five pieces is free (if not easy), and light-hearted. It takes full advantage of the modern piano and modern piano technique, and is designed as a flashy recital piece lasting about eight minutes. I have arranged the pieces in a sequence which creates unity of key, the first and last pieces being in D major. The pieces run into one another so as to play almost continuously. To round it off I have added a coda of absurd and virtuosic pianism, culminating in a meditation on the letters BACH which I feel Mrs. Bach’s other half would have rather enjoyed.

Giles Swayne 2009