The Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801, also known as the Two and Three Part Inventions, are a collection of thirty short keyboard compositions composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), consisting of fifteen inventions (two-part contrapuntal pieces) and fifteen sinfonias (three-part contrapuntal pieces). They were originally written by Bach as exercises for the musical education of his students.
Bach titled the collection: "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."
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.
| Key | Invention | Sinfonia | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C major | No. 1, BWV 787 |
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| C minor | No. 2, BWV 788 |
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| D major | No. 3, BWV 789 |
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| D minor | No. 4, BWV 790 |
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| E-flat major | No. 5, BWV 791 |
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| E major | No. 6, BWV 792 |
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| E minor | No. 7, BWV 793 |
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| F major | No. 8, BWV 794 |
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| F minor | No. 9, BWV 795 |
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| G major | No. 10, BWV 796 |
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| G minor | No. 11, BWV 797 |
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| A major | No. 12, BWV 798 |
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| A minor | No. 13, BWV 799 |
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| B-flat major | No. 14, BWV 800 |
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| B minor | No. 15, BWV 801 |
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| To play the 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 | |||