Inventions and Sinfonias

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, 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."

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The two groups of pieces are both arranged in order of ascending key, each group covering fifteen major and 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-flat 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-flat 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 title; For information on the MIDI files, click the speaker icon.		All Sinfonias played by Randolph Hokanson

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Inventions and Sinfonias

• Inventions, Sinfonias: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• 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
• Overview of Inventions from Tim Smith's Website
• Graphical Motif Extraction of the Inventions and Sinfonias