Any piano student will sooner or later get acquainted with the js bach inventions, twopart voiced. Piano students have commonly formed a dislike for bachs piano music because of an ungratifying initial experience. The eagerly awaited new bach by austrian pianist till fellner whose welltempered clavier i 2004 has won him many fans all over the world. The twopart inventions by j s bach began life as fifteen pieces, originally called praeambulum, composed for his son, wilhelm friedmann. Hewitts lyrical playing and rhythmic bounce are all well in evidence in these more sparing of bachs pieces, but with fellners playing having a more resonant acoustic and an even more languid legato his wins in terms of romantic. Ijb 846 key f major yeardate of composition yd of comp.
Any list of great bach recordings is, of course, going to be subjective, but we. Jeansebastien bach compositeur, till fellner piano format. Till fellner has recorded numerous cds, including j. He won first prize in the clara haskil international piano competition in vevey, switzerland in 1993, and was awarded the mozartinterpretationspreis of the mozartgemeinde wien in 1998. For more than four years, fans have been waiting for a new bach recording from the extraordinary austrian pianist till fellner. Includes thematic cataog of inventions, and preface in english and german cover title. I felt it might be appropriate to discuss the musical structure of bachs first twopart invention, because this work is played and studied by amateur and professional pianists and teachers. Till fellner piano short biography bach cantatas website. The lower voice then imitates the subject one octave lower 2. In this 2004 recording, the austrian pianist till fellner strikes. Till fellner born 9 march 1972 is an austrian pianist. Inventions and sinfonias 2 and 3 part inventions, bwv 772801 french suite no. Publication date 1903 topics piano music publisher. Austrian pianist till fellner s last recital at the national gallery of art was one of the high points of my listening last season.
Pdf file for fellner s concert at the nga on sunday night. Download and print top quality three part inventions sinfonias sheet music for piano solo or harpsichord by johann sebastian bach with mp3 and midi files. In this article we will analyze the c major invention bwv772. Since the nineteenth century the two part inventions have become standard repertoire for piano students. Are the bach two part inventions really this difficult. The e major and a major have longer themes that make use of the invertible counterpoint technique.
Thomas, analysis of motivic development bach s invention no. Although bach inventions may look rather simple, they offer excellent examples of counterpoint techniques. Johann sebastian bachs inventions and sinfonias, better known as two and threepart inventions, were an integral part of the teaching repertoire used in the composers piano lessons. Violin concerto in d minor lausanne chamber orchestra. Too often, i hear this contrapuntal jewel played through as though the pianist is not completely aware of the thematic lines that are going on all in. Two and threepart inventions for piano by bach, johann sebastian, 16851750. Fellner achieves all bach could ask from a sparkling finger staccato for the d minor invention to finely balanced partplaying in the d minor. Till fellner has premiered works by kit armstrong, harrison birtwistle, thomas larcher, alexander stankovski and hans zender. Twopart invention no 1 in c major, bwv 772 by johann sebastian bach performer. Till fellner piano fellner achieves all bach could ask from a sparkling fingerstaccato for the d minor invention to finely balanced partplaying in the d minor sinfonia, constantly guiding the ear from one line. With the twopart inventions and threepart sinfonias fellner now illuminates the magic of bachs allegedly just didactic piano pieces from. Get a free download from this performance in our my daily bach podcast.
Johann sebastian bach s inventions and sinfonias, better known as two and threepart inventions, were an integral part of the teaching repertoire used in the composers piano lessons. In 2011, in honour of the 200th anniversary of the birth of franz liszt, armstrong played a series of recitals featuring works by bach and liszt, including a concert on liszts 1862 bechstein piano in nike wagner. Hewitts lyrical playing and rhythmic bounce are all well in evidence in these more sparing of bachs pieces, but with fellners playing having a more resonant. Inventions and sinfonias as teaching pieces, till fellners intelligent.
Bach minuet in g minor from notebook for anna magdalena bach bwv anh. Cogent examples of this include the e major inventions subtle. The inventions and sinfonias, bwv 772801, also known as the two and threepart inventions, are a collection of thirty short keyboard compositions by johann sebastian bach 16851750. Johann sebastian bach and the 32 piano sonatas of ludwig van beethoven. They first appear along with the twopart inventions in the 1722 clavierbuchlein for wilhelm friedemann, bachs then preteen son, and then reappear, slightly revised, in an 1723 volume which bach prefaces with a detailed description of the 30. Johann sebastian bachs twopart inventions are a collection of fifteen short keyboard compositions, originally written as musical exercises for his students. In the original title to these works, the composer called them a faithful guide, whereby admirers of the harpsichord are shown a plain method of learning not only to play clean in two parts, but likewise in further progress to manage three obbligato parts well and correctly, and at the same time not merely how to get good inventions, but also how to develop. His unflinching legato playing is never overbearing. Fellner achieves all bach could ask from a sparkling fingerstaccato for the d minor invention to finely balanced partplaying in the d minor. Bach composed his 15 threepart inventions he actually called them sinfonias for keyboard at the same time as their 15 twopart counterparts. Thirty two and three part inventions cat byu copy has fingerings for harp performance, for inventions i, xiii and xiv, studied with alfred kastnercover.
Bach three part inventions sinfonias sheet music for. Among his recital projects in 2010 was a programme including etudes by chopin and ligeti, and j. The bach inventions are exercises, but they became masterpieces because of the way bach composed them with richness in harmony and counterpoint. While waiting to follow up on fellners answers to the questions i had emailed, i spent several hours listening to his ecm bach recordings of the welltempered clavier book i and twopart inventions, sinfonias and french suite no. Piano students have commonly formed a dislike for bach s piano music because of an ungratifying initial experience. Xvth clara haskil competition 1993 till fellner winner wa. Aug 28, 2006 i felt it might be appropriate to discuss the musical structure of bach s first twopart invention, because this work is played and studied by amateur and professional pianists and teachers. They were originally written as musical exercises for his students. The complete solo bach recordings on hyperion angela hewitt. Piano teachers all over the world use the bach inventions and sinfonias as the first step on the way to playing more complex contrapuntal works, such as the well tempered clavier.
The 50 greatest js bach recordings 2019 update gramophone. Bach s twopart inventions, threepart sinfonia s and the french suite v was released ecm records. Other inventions like the c minor and f major use extensive use of the canon. The pieces were written not only as teaching pieces for promoting good twopart, cantabile playing, but also as examples of how to invent and develop musical ideas in composition. The finest recordings of bachs music, from the english suites to the goldberg variations. These are among the finest examples of artistic gems ever written for this purpose, and probably because of this, they became very popular among bachs pupils and others ever since they were written. Listening to hewitts two part inventions made me fetch out my till fellner favourite of these pieces.