Chamber Music Harpsichord
SKU: PR.110418390
Composed by Eric Ewazen.
Full score. 11 pages.
Duration 10 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#110-41839. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.110418390).
ISBN
9781491134603. UPC:
680160685158.
Eric
Ewazen’s THREE
INVENTIONS were inspired
by Bach’s Two-part
Inventions, yet they
sound thoroughly like
Ewazen. Composed for
harpsichord (with a piano
adaptation following
later), Ewazen’s
inventions maintain a
pure “one note per
hand” texture until
their final chord, with
strong-but-free imitative
counterpoint between the
two voices. While Ewazen
may be best known for his
wind music, he is a
pianist himself, and
composers’ works for
their own instrument are
a direct insight into how
they write for their own
performances. The piano
adaptation of THREE
INVENTIONS is also
available as a separate
publication.
THREE
INVENTIONS was written
for my dear friend Maria
Rojas, who premiered the
work on a faculty recital
at Juilliard. Maria is
both a pianist and a
harpsichordist, and I
first met her when she
gave a demonstration of
the harpsichord for the
students in my theory
classes.I’ve always
been captivated by
Bach’s series of
Two-Part and Three-Part
Inventions. With the
Two-Part Inventions,
I’m amazed how Bach
could create such
wonderful intricacy and
counterpoint with only
two voices. I
consequently modeled my
inventions after the
counterpoint of Bach,
involving the traditional
contrapuntal devices he
used: imitation,
development, harmonic and
modal shifts,
fragmentation, and
sequence, essentially
creating a dialog between
two completely equal
voices conversing with
each other!Bach wrote 15
Two-Part Inventions (as
well as 15 Three-Part
Inventions, not to
mention the 48 preludes
and fugues in The
Well-Tempered Clavier!),
and that’s just the
start of his voluminous
repertoire for the
keyboard! I was happy
just to write
three!!!Each of my
inventions has a
distinctive mood. The
first is in a relaxed,
yet cheerful C Major
tonality (as a nod to
Bach’s Invention No. 1
in C Major); the second
is heartfelt and lyrical;
and the third invention
(involving a Gigue rhythm
in the compound meter of
12/8) is energetic, and
full of life and
spontaneity. The third is
primarily in a minor
tonality, resulting in a
feeling of drama,
bringing the THREE
INVENTIONS to an exciting
finale.
