This is a very cool find. It’s a copy of the original manuscript that Bach gave to Christina Ludwig, the Markgrave of Brandenburg, in 1721. (there is an excellent write-up here) Looking at this I wonder how musicians back then were even able to play this. Did they transcribe their parts themselves? Or did they have suburb memorization abilities enabling them to commit the music to memory quickly? I wonder…

This is also a timely find as it just so happens that our String Project Orchestra is performing a version of the 5th Concerto in the spring! Ours is adapted for strings only. This full version is just gorgeous.

Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 5: I. Allegro