Johann Sebastian Bach

The Inventions and Sinfonias is a collection of short pieces J.S. Bach wrote for the musical education of his young pupils. These are among the finest examples of artistic gems ever written for this purpose, and probably because of this, they became very popular among Bach's pupils and others ever since they were written.

The work comprises fifteen two-part, each named 'inventio', and fifteen three-part pieces, named 'sinfonia'. These two groups of pieces are arranged in an identical fashion—in ascending order by key—so that there is little doubt that Bach's intention was to bring them together as a single work. This is also confirmed by the way they are carefully written in his autograph fair copy penned in 1723. On every facing page of an open volume each piece demonstrates the contrapuntal technique, while, at the same time, explores a wide range of musical expressions using various styles and developing the motives in a logical fashion.

Although originally composed for Harpshicord, I created this arrangement for B-Flat 7 Bass Clarinet.