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 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.^{[citation needed]}

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?]}

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

Inventions, Sinfonias: 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
Graphical Motif Extraction of the Inventions and Sinfonias

v t e 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 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. 10 in E minor No. 16 in G minor No. 21 in B♭ major No. 22 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 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 Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother
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

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