ABSTRACT
The initial impetus for this inquiry came from a question posed by Arthur Mendel during a coffee break in a Bach seminar some thirty years ago. Why, he asked, did Bach notate the last movement of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto in two-four time, with triplets (Ex. 1): Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050/3, original notation https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315078281/842e4cec-ec3d-462e-967d-801981a986cb/content/exa11_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
