Bach J. S. | Invention 2 BWV 773
Channel: PlentyMusic
Date: 11/10/2023

J.S.#Bach’s #Invention 2 BWV 772 is an intermediate level movement in the key of C minor.  It needs to be played with a legato touch. The playback tempo of the #sheetmusicvideo is 52 quarter note (crotchet) beats per minute (bpm) #sheetmusic link: https://plentymusic.uk/short/?c=6mTJ3MS

When learning the invention in the first instance it might be a good idea to omit the ornaments. This recording is quite ambient and not really in the music editors comfort zone, preferring a dry acoustic but the choice made does allow the space for the rather slow tempo. Tempo and acoustic have such close connections.

In the sheet music video the ornaments are written out in full to clarify how they should be played. What you hear in the playback is exactly what is notated in the sheet music video.
The inventions composed in two parts or voices are concentrated and demanding movements to play. It is important to keep to the length of the written note values when playing these movements.

Keyboard players will need to their fingers close to the keys and play with a lightness in the hands. Pianists will perhaps recognise that the weaker fingers need some extra practice and to solve this issue the music editor suggests practising thirds.

There is opportunity to explore right hand over left playing (bar 18) and changing fingering on a repeated note.

The opening shape or motif is quite long and the mood of this invention is quite melancholy with a characteristic minor 7th interval. The movement needs to played evenly and consistently with a legato touch and keyboard players will need to play with a lightness in the hands. Ornaments are in place but possibly can be omitted in the early stages of learning the piece. The inventions were originally intended to be played on the harpsichord and there is more than one reference of a two manual instrument in this invention.

Composed in the key of C minor the harmonic journey is confined to the closely related keys of the dominant (bar 7), relative minor (bar 15) and sub-dominant (bar 20).  Keys, understand, are not always established as such but are described as passing modulations in the baroque era.  A key or change of key is generally thought of being established when there is a cadence which tends to be more the case in music from the classical era.

J. S. Bach composed 15 Inventions in a collection dating from 1723 intended to introduce keyboard players to composition techniques of the baroque. They are excellent pieces for developing a sound and secure keyboard technique.

A plain score is attached to the edited music score available as a pdf download from the PlentyMusic website.

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