Lyrebird by Arrangement: For Two To Play Bach

Arranged by Olivier Vernet and Cédric Meckler

Bach was a great transcriber not only of his own works but also of others, manifesting in several organ arrangements that include the fugue from his Violin Sonata (BWV 1001) and concertos by, among others, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Teleman and Alessandro Marcello. The arrangements in this book go one step further in that they are for two organists at the same instrument. The Chaconne from the Partita for Solo Violin (BWV 1004) takes Bach’s model as a uniquely expressive starting point that finds inspiration in the piano accompaniments composed by Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn and the transcription of Carl Reinecke. Brandenburg Concerto No. III needs no introduction to music lovers, though few will have heard it as an arrangement for four hands and four feet at the same instrument. The final duet is an arrangement of Bach’s second Orchestral Suite in B minor, arranged for keyboards alone. This makes it equally playable on any keyboard or a combination of two instruments.

The Vernet-Meckler Organ Duet

Since 2006, the Vernet-Meckler Organ Duet has dazzled audiences worldwide, promoting a novel repertoire of organ music for four hands that has achieved numerous awards and acclamations. In addition to concert activities, the Vernet-Meckler Organ Duet devotes much time to researching and developing organ duet repertoire and playing new music written especially for them. Together, they have recorded over a dozen CDs. Olivier Vernet was a student of Gaston Litaize, Marie-Claire Alain and Michel Chapuis and received many prizes and distinctions. To date, Vernet has recorded over 120 CDs, which have been critically acclaimed. Among these are the complete organ works of J. S. Bach and the concertos for two, three and four keyboards, which were recorded with Marie-Claire Alain. Vernet is Artistic Director for the Monaco International Organ Festival, organist of the Cathedral of Monaco and holds the accolade of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de l’Ordre monégasque du Mérite Culturel. Cédric Meckler is a Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Neurosciences (PhD) and was a medical officer with the rank of colonel. In his work, he specialised in mental illnesses and cerebral activity related to controlling musical motor activities. A researcher and hypnotherapist until 2017, he has used his findings and publications to offer a new reading grid of reference methods for piano technique. He has since explored the field of non-ordinary states of consciousness (hypnosis, meditation, lucid dreaming), which he uses to help artists prepare for the stage performance.