Inventions and Sinfonias (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 musical exercises for 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.

Media

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
	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 Sinfonia performances above were played by Randolph Hokanson. Additionally, here is another version of Sinfonia No. 8 (BWV 794), for clarinet, violin and cello: and, another version of Sinfonia No. 15 (BWV 801) is  here.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inventions and Sinfonias.

• Inventions, Sinfonias: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Mutopia's editions of Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias
• History and analysis of Bach's inventions
• Bach – Inventions ( 43:26 minutes) at BBC's Discovering Music: Listening Library
• Graphical Motif Extraction of the Inventions and Sinfonias