Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was a German
composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is
known for his orchestral music such as the Brandenburg
Concertos; instrumental compositions such as the Cello
Suites; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations
and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the
Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor;
and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the
Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he
has be...(+)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was a German
composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is
known for his orchestral music such as the Brandenburg
Concertos; instrumental compositions such as the Cello
Suites; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations
and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the
Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor;
and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the
Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he
has been generally regarded as one of the greatest
composers in the history of Western music.
In music, an invention is a short composition (usually
for a keyboard instrument) in two-part counterpoint.
(Compositions in the same style as an invention but
using three-part counterpoint are known as sinfonias.
Some modern publishers call them "three-part
inventions" to avoid confusion with symphonies.)
Well-known examples are the fifteen inventions that
make up the first half of Bach's Inventions and
Sinfonias. Inventions are usually not performed in
public, but serve as exercises for keyboard students,
and as pedagogical exercises for composition students.
The two-part Inventions BWV 772 a 786 (originally named
praeamblae) are short pieces written for harpsichord by
Johann Sebastian Bach in Köthen between 1717 and
1723.
According to Bach: "Forthright instruction, wherewith
lovers of the clavier, especially those desirous of
learning, are shown in a clear way not only 1) to learn
to play two voices clearly, but also after further
progress 2) to deal correctly and well with three
obbligato parts, moreover at the same time to obtain
not only good ideas, but also to carry them out well,
but most of all to achieve a cantabile style of
playing, and thereby to acquire a strong foretaste of
composition."
The inventions can be classified according to the
structure and compositional techniques used:
1. Single subject: Based on a single subject, the
structure is similar to a fugue with presentations of
the subject connected by episodes (Inventions 1, 3, 4,
7, 10, 13, 14, 15)
2. Double subject: Based on two subjects. Episodes
between subjects presentations modulate to several
closely related keys in a fugue-like way (Inventions 5,
6, 9, 11, 12)
3. Canonic: Make extensive use of the canon
contrapuntal technique (Inventions 2, 8)
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventions_and_Sinfonias
).
Although originally created for keyboard (harpsichord),
I created this Arrangement of the 15 Inventions (BWV
772-786) for Viola & Cello.
