Bach: Inventions a 2 & 3 voix ( 2 and 3 Part Inventions)

Featuring

Mireille Lagacé
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Critical Reception

Philipp Spitta, a German musicologist and friend of Brahms, described Bach's Sinfonias as 'a vase of sumptuous crystal brimming with the purest and most precious substance' in his 1873-80 study of Bach.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bach intended his Inventions to provide 'straightforward instruction' for keyboard players, teaching them to play distinctly in two or three parts, develop original ideas, and acquire a cantabile (singing) style.

Composition History

Johann Sebastian Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias for keyboard were published in a calligraphic version in 1723.

Cultural Impact

The high esteem in which Bach's Inventions are held by performers today is evident from their frequent inclusion in concerts and recordings.

Compositional Technique

Bach's Inventions are considered 'masterpieces calling for the education of the mind, the ear and the fingers', despite being 'small, well-written studies'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bach's choice of the term 'invention' for these pieces was consistent with his artistic conception, linking it to rhetoric and the need to impose rigorous rules of composition and structure.