Inventions and Sinfonias (Bach)

Bach in 1715

The Inventions and Sinfonias (1720; revised 1723) are 30 pieces of keyboard music (15 each in sinfonia and invention) composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. They are sometimes known as the Two and Three Part Inventions. Bach arranged the two groups of pieces in order of ascending key. Each group covers the eight major and seven minor keys. Bach wrote them as exercises and study pieces for his 12 year old son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. The 1720 versions are found in the boy's Little Keyboard Book of 1722. The invention and sinfonias are often used as preparation for two volumes of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Bach wrote in the preface to the printed edition of the Inventions and Sinfonias: "Honest method, by which the amateurs of the keyboard – especially, however, those desirous of learning – are shown a clear way not only (1) to learn to play cleanly in two parts, but also, after further progress, (2) to handle three obligate parts correctly and well; and along with this not only to obtain good inventions (ideas) but to develop the same well; above all, however, to achieve a cantabile style in playing and at the same time acquire a strong foretaste of composition."

Media

All of these sinfonias are played by Randolph Hokanson.

Key	Invention		Sinfonia
C major		No. 1, BWV 772		No. 1, BWV 787
C minor		No. 2, BWV 773		No. 2, BWV 788
D major		No. 3, BWV 774		No. 3, BWV 789
D minor		No. 4, BWV 775		No. 4, BWV 790
E-flat major		No. 5, BWV 776		No. 5, BWV 791
E major		No. 6, BWV 777		No. 6, BWV 792
E minor		No. 7, BWV 778		No. 7, BWV 793
F major		No. 8, BWV 779		No. 8, BWV 794
F minor		No. 9, BWV 780		No. 9, BWV 795
G major		No. 10, BWV 781		No. 10, BWV 796
G minor		No. 11, BWV 782		No. 11, BWV 797
A major		No. 12, BWV 783		No. 12, BWV 798
A minor		No. 13, BWV 784		No. 13, BWV 799
B-flat major		No. 14, BWV 785		No. 14, BWV 800
B minor		No. 15, BWV 786		No. 15, BWV 801
	To play the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) files (Inventions), click their titles. For information on the MIDI files, click the speaker icon. These are computer-generated representations of Bach's music, and do not convey how a human pianist would perform them.		All Sinfonias played by Randolph Hokanson

References

• Woodstra, Chris (Ed.) and others. 2005. Blair Johnston in All music guide to classical music. All Media Guide. ISBN 0-87930-865-6.

Other websites

• Mutopia's editions of Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias
• History and analysis of Bach's inventions Archived 2010-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Bach – Inventions ( 43:26 minutes) at BBC's Discovering Music: Listening Library
• Overview of Inventions from Tim Smith's Website Archived 2004-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Graphical Motif Extraction of the Inventions and Sinfonias Archived 2012-03-03 at the Wayback Machine