Inventions and Sinfonias

30 keyboard compositions by J. S. Bach

The Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801, also known as the Two- and Three-Part Inventions, are a collection of thirty short keyboard compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): 15 inventions, which are two-part contrapuntal pieces, and 15 sinfonias, which are three-part contrapuntal pieces. They were originally written as Praeambula and Fantasiae in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, a clavier-booklet for his eldest son, and later rewritten as musical exercises for his students.

Bach titled the collection:

> 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.[1]

This section includes inline links to audio files. If you have trouble playing the files, see Wikipedia Media help.

The two groups of pieces are both arranged in order of ascending key, each group covering eight major and seven minor keys.

The inventions were composed in Köthen; the sinfonias, on the other hand, were probably not finished until the beginning of the Leipzig period.[original research?] The autograph fair copy is dated 1723.[2]

## Media

[edit]

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♭ 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♭ major |  |

No. 14, BWV 785

|  |

No. 14, BWV 800

B minor |  |

No. 15, BWV 786

|  |

No. 15, BWV 801

| These (Inventions) are MIDI representations of Bach's music,
and do not convey how a human pianist would perform them. | All Sinfonia performances above were played by Randolph Hokanson.

* * *

Sinfonia No. 8

A version of Sinfonia No. 8 (BWV 794)
for clarinet, oboe and cello

Sinfonia No. 15

and another version of
Sinfonia No. 15 (BWV 801).

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Goodfriend, James (2015). in Glenn Gould Remastered: The Complete Columbia Album Collection. New York: Sony Classical. p. 136.
2. ^ 30 Inventions RISM 467300919

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inventions and Sinfonias.

* Inventions, Sinfonias: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
* Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias, Mutopia Project
* Yo Tomita (1999). "The Inventions and Sinfonias – History and analysis of Bach's inventions". Archived from the original on 2012-01-20.
* Graphical motif extraction of the Inventions and Sinfonias Archived 2012-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

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Compositions for organ, keyboard and lute by Johann Sebastian Bach

Organ|

* Fugue in G minor, BWV 131a (doubtful)
* Sonatas, BWV 525–530
* Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 531
* Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532
* Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537
* Toccata and Fugue in D minor ("Dorian"), BWV 538
* Toccata and Fugue in F major, BWV 540
* Fantasia and Fugue in G minor ("Great"), BWV 542
* Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
* Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544
* Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546
* Prelude and Fugue in E minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548
* Eight Short Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553–560 (doubtful)
* Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 562
* Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564
* Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (doubtful)
* Prelude (Toccata) and Fugue in E major, BWV 566
* Fantasia ("Pièce d'Orgue") in G major, BWV 572
* Fugue in G minor ("Little"), BWV 578
* Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
* Concertos, BWV 592–597
* Pedal-Exercitium, BWV 598
* Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599–644
* Schübler Chorales, BWV 645–650
* Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668
* Chorale partita Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig, BWV 768
* Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her", BWV 769
* Neumeister chorales, BWV 1090–1120
* Chorale fantasia Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV 1128

Keyboard|

* Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801
* English Suites, BWV 806–811
* French Suites, BWV 812–817
* Partitas, BWV 825–830
* No. 2
* No. 4
* No. 6
* Overture in the French style, BWV 831
* Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893
* Book 1
* No. 1 in C major
* No. 2 in C minor
* No. 3 in C♯ major
* No. 4 in C♯ minor
* No. 7 in E♭ major
* No. 8 in E♭ minor/D♯ minor
* No. 10 in E minor
* No. 11 in F major
* No. 16 in G minor
* No. 21 in B♭ major
* No. 22 in B♭ minor
* No. 24 in B minor
* Book 2
* No. 1 in C major
* No. 2 in C minor
* No. 3 in C♯ major
* No. 4 in C♯ minor
* No. 5 in D major
* No. 6 in D minor
* No. 12 in F minor
* No. 13 in F♯ major
* No. 18 in G♯ minor
* No. 22 in B♭ minor
* No. 24 in B minor
* Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903
* Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 906
* Toccatas, BWV 910–916
* Six Little Preludes, BWV 933–938
* Italian Concerto
* Harpsichord solo concertos
* Goldberg Variations
* discography
* Gould recording
* Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV 989
* Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother, BWV 992

Lute|

* Suite in G minor, BWV 995
* Suite in E minor, BWV 996
* Bourrée
* Suite in C minor, BWV 997
* Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E♭ major, BWV 998
* Prelude in C minor, BWV 999
* Fugue in G minor, BWV 1000

Mixed
collections|

* Clavier-Übung III: Prelude and Fugue in E♭ major ("St. Anne"), BWV 552, Chorale preludes, BWV 669–689, Duets, BWV 802–805
* Concerto transcriptions, BWV 592–596 and 972–987
* Klavierbüchlein W. F. Bach
* Notebook A. M. Bach
* Twelve Little Preludes

* List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
* List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach
* List of concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach

Portal:

* Classical music

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Australia
* Israel

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