On 22 January 1720 Bach began writing an instruction manual for the keyboard. This work, known as the Clavierbüchlein (Little Clavier Book), was writen for the express purpose of teaching his nine-year-old son, Wilhelm Friedemann, and thus is an extremely valuable record of Bach's teaching method. It begins with musical fundamentals such as the nemes of notes, the different clefs, and "applicatio" (fingering), and also contains a valuable explanation of the execution of various ornaments. The bulk of the Clavierbüchlein, however, comprises an assortment of little pieces among wich are the first versions of the works now known as the Two- and Three-part Inventions. Bach originally entitled the Inventions in two parts "Praeambula" and those in threee parts "Fantasias". No more than four sharps or flats are used on the fifteen keys chosen, and in the original ordering of the Clavierbüchlein a palindrome was formed by positioning the Inventions in parallel major and minor keys. In 1722 Bach began revising the Iventions, and a year later, after his arrival at the court in Cöthen, he grouped them together in an independent collection. In this 1723 manuscript the pieces in the 1720 Clavierbüchlein entitled Praeambula became "Inventions" and those called Fantasias were renamed "Sinfonias" (the term "invention" had a precedent in a set of duos for violin and bass by Bonporti entitled "Invenzioni", published in 1712, and the present-day tradition of referring to the Sinfonias as Three-part Inventions was initiated by Forkel, Bach's first biographer). ...
Eric Wen
Bach
Two-part Inventions, BWV 772a-786
Three-part Inventions, BWV 787-801
Andras Schiff, piano
Quality: mp3, varied kbps
Size: 76 MB
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