Inventio PDF
Inventio PDF
Inventio PDF
BACH: A PERFORMING
by
A DISSERTATION
IN
FINE ARTS
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Approved
Accepted
August, 2002
;C) 2002, Delano K. Kahlstorf
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ill
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT vi
LIST OF EXAMPLES viii
CHAPTER
I. THE INVENTIONS OF J.S. BACH: PEDAGOGICAL
SIGNIFICANCE AND THE DESIRABILITY OF
INCREASED HISTORICAL AWARENESS 1
Pedagogical Significance 1
The Desirability of Historical
Awareness 2
Scope and Methodology of the
Present Study 3
Prioritization of Eighteenth-Century
Sources 7
II. BAROQUE EMPHASIS UPON RHETORIC
AND AFFECT 11
Baroque Emphasis Upon Rhetoric 11
Affect 19
III. ARTICULATION AND THE IMPACT OF
METRICAL PLACEMENT 23
Articulation 23
The Impact of Metrical Placement
Upon Articulation 36
IV- BAROQUE FINGERING PRACTICES,
HAND AND BODY POSITION 62
Baroque Fingering Practices 62
Hand and Body Position 70
IV
V- TEMPO CONSIDERATIONS AND APPLICABLE
DANCE FORMS 74
Tempo Considerations 74
Applicable Dance Forms 78
VI. DYNAMICS AND ORNAMENTS 105
Introduction 105
Dynamics and Ornaments 105
VII. EXPRESSIVE RESOURCES OF THE
VARIOUS KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS 122
Introduction 122
The Clavichord 123
The Harpsichord 126
The Piano 126
VIII.RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS STUDY FOR
PERFORMANCE PRACTICE 132
A Review of the Information 132
Specific Application of the
Collected Evidence to the Inventions ... 138
BIBLIOGRAPHY 173
APPENDIX
A. A PERFORMING EDITION OF FIFTEEN
TWO-PART INVENTIONS BY
J.S. BACH 178
B. FORMAL CONSIDERATIONS, LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY,
AND CONSEQUENT PLACEMENT IN THE
17 20 AUTOGRAPH 254
V
ABSTRACT
Vll
LIST OF EXAMPLES
and F minor 30
in the Inventions 49
measures 1-3 56
IX
CHAPTER I
THE INVENTIONS OF J.S. BACH: PEDAGOGICAL
SIGNIFICANCE AND THE DESIRABILITY OF
INCREASED HISTORICAL AWARENESS
Pedagogical Significance
The fifteen Inventions of Johann Sebastian Bach form one
of the most widely acknowledged bodies of literature deemed
useful for the training of young pianists and other keyboard
players. Pianists from the eighteenth century to the present
have valued these pieces for several reasons. First, the
study of the Bach Inventions helps performers develop the
ability to simultaneously play two well-developed independent
melodic lines. As a result, the Inventions serve as a primer
in the study and performance of tonal contrapuntal keyboard
music. Second, these works comprise an effective introduction
to several key elements of Baroque style, elements which
include compositional use of melodic units which are
organized around recurring motoric rhythmic motives, Baroque
articulative practices, unity of affect, and Baroque trill,
mordent, and other ornamentation. These elements are
contained within a compact formal structure. Third, the
Inventions provide the advancing pianist with an accessible
window which opens onto the musical world of J.S. Bach, who
is one of the most revered icons in the hagiography of the
Western cultural canon.
The Desirability of Historical Awareness
This corpus, assembled in 1720 along with approximately
forty-five other pieces, was intended to instruct Bach's
eldest son in keyboard technique, composition, and
"cantabile" performance style.' In the intervening years
between Bach's era and the present, countless pianists have
benefited from the pedagogical and artistic influence which
Bach exerted upon his son(s) through this set of pieces,
entitled Clavier-Biichlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. During
this time, musical styles have, naturally enough, evolved in
a variety of ways. In particular, several nineteenth-century
performance practices have become entrenched. These include a
seamless legato as the normal mode of articulation (aided by
the piano's sensitive damper pedal), tempos which range from
extremely slow to extremely fast, use of the widest possible
range of dynamics, and liberal use of rubato.' In addition,
music conceived after Bach's era tends to emphasize flow
between widely differing emotional states expressed through
technical virtuosity, through tonal and formal ambiguity and
complexity, and predominantly, though not exclusively,
through homophonic textures.'
'J.S Bach, Two and Three Part Inventions, facsimile edition (New
York: Dover, 1968), v. The preface to the fair copy of the Inventions
which Bach made in 1723 makes explicit these intentions.
' Sandra Rosenblum, Performances Practices in Classic Piano Music
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), 106, 120-21, 435n., 312,
334-5, 382.
'Leonard G Ratner, Romantic Music (New York: Schirmer Books,
1992), 3-10.
2
compositional practice, possess an ingrained tendency to view
Baroque music through a conceptual framework which distorts
and refashions it into something more in line with Romantic
ideals. On the other hand, scholars in the current century,
as inheritors of the Romantic passion for things historical,
have uncovered an iitmiense deposit of information regarding
the keyboard performance practices of J.S. Bach and his
predecessors, contemporaries, and students. Harpsichordist
David Schulenberg comments that "no one would purposely
ignore the tempo or dynamic markings in a Debussy piece. Yet
one still hears (and teachers still teach) Bach's keyboard
pieces played as if well-understood conventions regarding
ornaments, rhythm, and other matters could be disregarded."'
While an explicit reconstruction of Bach's particular style
of performance for each piece of his oeuvre remains out of
reach, it is now possible to utilize many of the basic
stylistic parameters with which he and his circle were
concerned. It is this drawing together of information from
various interrelated endeavors and the specific application
of it to the fifteen Inventions which forms the focus of the
present study.
10
CHAPTER II
BAROQUE EMPHASIS UPON RHETORIC AND AFFECT
' Willi Apel, The Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1972), 313.
^ See ibid., 313; Claude V. Palisca, Baroque Music, 2nd
ed.(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 107-112; Piero Weiss
and Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World: A History in
Documents (New York: Schirmer Books, 1984), 187-189.
11
found in ancient Greek and Roman poetry.' j.N. Forkel
provides information about the attitude eighteenth-century
musicians held in regard to the importance of a rhetorical
understanding of musical material:
If we hear the same piece played by ten equally
skillful and practiced performers, it will produce,
under the hand of each, effect. Each will draw from
the instrument a different kind of tone, and also
give to these tones a greater or less degree of
distinctness. Whence can this difference arise, if
otherwise all ten performers have sufficient
readiness and practice? Merely from the mode of
touching the instrument, which, in playing on the
clavier, is the same thing as the pronunciation in
speech. In order to make the delivery perfect in
playing as well as in declaiming,the greatest
distinctness is required in the production of the
tones as in the pronunciation of the words. But this
distinctness is susceptible of very various degrees.
Even in the lowest degrees we can understand what is
played or said; but it excites no pleasure in the
hearer because this degree of distinctness compels
him to some exertion of his attention. But attention
to single notes or words ought to be rendered
unnecessary that the hearer may direct it to the
ideas and their connection, and for this we require
the highest degree of distinctness in the production
of single tones as in the pronunciation of single
words.'
Schulenberg, 16.
14
Example 2.1: Examples of articulative patterns from Quantz's treati<
On Playing the Flute.
lH#t&=Ut^psil^^^^
i ^1"^ t.^m^^n-^
f^fa^^Wffiii ' i^Til^^i .
10
n
f-^ r^ n f^-F-
m^
13 14
3 3 3 3
r^tnxi
22 23 24 25
f:^ ~zz
^a
15
W^mW-
ffl
Example 2 . 1 . Continued.
27 28.
mm 3 3
^f.Mifl:^^r
34
i-P-T m-W_m^^m_^_^W m
P
3 3 ^ 3 3
^^^^,-j^^^6p
40
42
f
^
E wmm
i^fc^ g
48 49 50
iff ^ ^
?4
^
51
3 3
^ ; I ItacS^^j-^ffgf^^
ffi
3 3 16
Example 2 . 1 . Continued.
54
Cni^^t: h r\
56
r_i_ll^^^^
'fy-
57 ^ 58 59
m^^-mX 0-4t
g^-^-4ffla^- ^ " g ^ ^ ^
60
17
improvisation was a considerable element of the
player's technique....'
Affect
A quotation from C.P.E. Bach's Essay serves as an
introduction to the topic of affect in Baroque music:
What comprises good performance? The ability
through singing or playing to make the ear conscious
of the true content and affect of a composition. Any
passage can be so radically changed by modifying its
performance that it will be scarcely recognizable....
Good performance, then, occurs when one hears all
19
notes and their embellishments played in correct time
with fitting volume produced by a touch which is
related to the true content of a piece. Herein lies
the rounded, pure, flowing manner of playing which
makes for clarity and expressiveness."
Affect, passion, or sentiment, were terms used by
seventeenth- and eighteenth-century authors when they
discussed human emotion. The philosopher Descartes, in
Passions of the Soul^ attempted to classify the various
emotions. Thus:
There are only six simple and primitive
passions, i.e., wonder, love, hatred, desire, joy,
and sadness. All the others are composed of some of
these six, or are species of them. That is why, in
order that their multitude may not embarrass my
readers, I shall here treat the six primitive
passions separately; and afterwards I shall show in
what way all the others derive from them their
origin.'^
Descartes described the emotions as objective phenomena, and
this description was very influential in the rational
intellectual climate of the Enlightenment. Johann Mattheson,
a German musician (1681-17 64) applied Descartes' theory to
music, giving an intellectual base to the idea of unified
affect within a piece of music, and frequently identifying
emotional states with particular dance forms."
What the passions are, how many there are, how
they may be moved, whether they should be eliminated
or admitted and cultivated, appear to be questions
belonging to the field of the philosopher rather than
the musician. The latter must know, however, that the
sentiments are the true material of virtue, and that
virtue is nought but a well-ordered and wisely
moderate sentiment. Those affects, on the other hand,
which are our strongest ones, are not the best and
" C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 148.
" Descartes, Passions of the Soul, in Piero Weiss and Richard
Taruskin, Music in the Western World, 212-217.
" Johann Mattheson, Der volkommene Capellmeister, in Piero Weiss
and Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World, 217.
20
should be clipped or held by the reins.... For it is
the true purpose of music to be, above all else, a
moral lesson.
Those who are learned in the natural sciences
know how our emotions function physically, as it
were. It would be advantageous to the composer to
have a little knowledge of this subject. Since, for
example, joy is an expansion of our vital spirits, it
follows sensibly and naturally that this affect is
best expressed by large and expanded intervals.
Sadness, on the other hand, is a contraction of those
same subtle parts of our bodies. It is, therefore,
easy to see that the narrowest intervals are the most
suitable. Love is a diffusion of the spirits. Thus,
to express this passion in composing, it is best to
use intervals of that nature. Hope is an elevation of
the spirit; despair, on the other hand, a casting
down of the same. These are the subjects that can
well be represented by sound, especially when other
circumstances (tempo in particular) contribute their
share.
Pride, haughtiness, arrogance, etc., all have
their respective proper musical color as well. Here
the composer relies primarily on boldness and
pompousness... [with] bombastic movement.... and
always ascending [figures]. The opposite of this
sentiment lies in humility, patience, etc., treated
in music by abject-sounding passages without anything
that might be elevating. The latter passions,
however, agree with the former in that none of them
allow for humor and playfulness.
Music, although its main purpose is to please
and to be graceful, must sometimes provide
dissonances and harsh-sounding passages.... The
spirit occasionally derives some peculiar pleasure
even from these."
That Mattheson's views were accepted in Bach's circle can
readily be demonstrated by a perusal of treatises by J.G.
Walther, C.P.E. Bach, and Kirnberger (who was even more
explicit in identifying particular intervals and textures
with specific emotional states than Mattheson was). It is
generally understood, as well, that in the conventions of
Ibid., 218.
21
opera seria this type of codification of emotion in music was
spread throughout Europe."
What application does an understanding of what is known
as the "Doctrine of the Affections" have for Bach's
Inventions? Perhaps some very basic illustrations will begin
to answer this question: One who understands the expanding
and ascending intervals used in the opening of the F-major
Invention to be indicative of joy and hope will hardly be
able to play this piece in a subdued fashion. Conversely, the
recurring "sigh" motifs in the counter-subject of the C-minor
Invention signal a loss of hope which does not seem
particularly compatible with a fast, driving tempo. Prominent
motifs which exemplify the principles set down by Mattheson
and others (many of which, like the "sigh" motif, are still
part of an assumed musical language in cultures influenced by
the Western artistic tradition) can thus become clues which,
when combined with other clues, guide the performer toward a
deeper understanding of the true affect of this repertoire."
Articulation
Before venturing into this topic it is necessary to
clarify a few of the terms which will be used. Rosalyn Tureck
states that "Only one kind of legato exists.... [But] there
are many kinds of staccato...."' She is right, of course.
Notes cannot be partially connected; they can only be
entirely connected or else they exhibit varying amounts of
disconnectedness. Nevertheless, the literature which deals
with the subject of articulation in Baroque music uses the
term "semi-detached" to denote the midpoint between pure
legato and sharp staccato with enough frequency that it would
be cumbersome to insist upon another term in the present
study (though non-legato, which seems less inaccurate, is
also found with some frequency in the literature). The reader
is therefore reminded that when the term "semi-detached" is
found in quotations in the following pages, the laws of
nature are not somehow intended to be broken so that two
sounds are separated from each other while, in some way,
remaining joined together!
Phrasing and articulation are two terms which must be
understood and differentiated, Robert Donington's remarks on
the subject are helpful here:
To inflect the line means to respond to its
implicit patterns. One way of making these patterns
audible is by phrasing and articulation. Phrasing
groups the notes into units of more or less
' Tureck, 6. See also Keller, 51, for a discussion of non-legato.
23
substantial extent. Articulation distinguishes
individual notes, or groups them into units of brief
extent. Both [of] these are aspects of the same
musical resource, which consists in breaking the flow
of the sound by separating it into units (ranging
from single notes, through pairs of notes or threes
or fours or more, to complete phrases), which in turn
are compounded into sections and movements.'
In this study, articulation will be understood to mean small
groups of notes which are slurred or detached. The term
"phrase", on the other hand, will be understood to indicate a
musical gesture or "sentence" which most likely will include
more than one articulative group.
Many modern pianists, as a result of the instruction
they receive and the stylistic traits of the majority of the
repertoire which they study, frequently make a blanket
assumption regarding the primacy of pure legato, using other
articulations for variety. Others, attempting to enter what
they believe to be the spirit of Baroque keyboard performance
practice, play nearly everything staccato. Neither was
typical in the first part of the eighteenth century, however.
C.P.E. Bach states
There are many who play stickily, as if they
had glue between their fingers. Their touch is
lethargic; they hold notes too long. Others, in an
attempt to correct this, leave the keys too soon, as
if they burned. Both are wrong. Midway between these
extremes is best. Here I speak in general, for every
kind of touch has its use....'
' Butt, 6.
25
painful is to hear playing which is both non-legato
and unmelodic!"
C.P.E. Bach notes that
^^Hl^^^
^0^^^^^^m &
30
point to a highly articulate keyboard technique which, in
performance, gave the impression of continuity, especially in
the acoustically "live" ecclesiastical environments which
were home to the organ, but also when other keyboard
instruments were used.
It should be noted that perception of smoothness varies
with the expectations of the hearer. An illustration of this
can be found in Beethoven's frequently quoted perception of
Mozart's style of performance at the piano: Mozart, in his
letters, emphasized the desirability of cantabile
performance, with phrases which "flow like oil." Yet, when
Beethoven heard Mozart play, he found the performance was
dry, choppy, and unsuited to the piano.'^ Beethoven's
expectations were shaped by the very legato piano playing
which became stylish at the end of the eighteenth century,
while Mozart's performance reflected his inheritance of pre-
Classic and Baroque practices. It is quite likely that, in
terms of articulation, Bach's mode of performance would be
closer to that of Mozart than that of Beethoven, with an
important difference: the perpetually flowing contrapuntal
texture, rhythmic structure, and unity of affect which were
typically present in the music of Bach would have lent an
atmosphere of continuity, while the very different aesthetic
ideals of Mozart's Classicist compositions would have
resulted in an aural effect which had become unfashionable by
the last years of the eighteenth century.
The Baroque approach to slurring is directly related
to the Baroque understanding of the word "cantabile," used by
Butt, 15.
Badura-Skoda, 131
Schulenberg, 151.
32
and the notes that require individual articulation (non-
legato and staccato)."'"
As the eighteenth-century sources make clear, an
understanding of the issues related to articulation in this
repertoire is of the greatest importance. Yet this is not a
task without obstacles, since many of the Bach sources
contain a fair amount of articulative ambiguity:
[Georg von Dadelsen and Alfred Durr] readily
admit that considerable problems arise in
interpreting Bach's articulation markings and... no
edition can reflect the original merely by means of
diplomatic transcription, so incomplete and hastily
drawn are many of Bach's slurrings.... [Yet Dadelsen
has observed that] most instances of inconsistent
articulation are related to minor matters of
performance technique... [while] markings which
relate more to the principal character of the music
and its motifs show more sign of regularity and
order.^"^ [emphasis added]
Schulenberg agrees:
Slurs pose editorial problems, and therefore
questions of interpretation, in Inventions Nos. 3 (D)
and 9 (F-minor). Bach added the slurs only when
making the fair copies.... But precisely because he
did not take care to place them over well-defined
groups of two or three notes, the slurs are likely
to have been meant to apply to long[er] groups
They do not, however signify a continuous or unbroken
legato, for articulations must still fall before and
after each slur. Even in these cases the notes
beneath each slur represent but a single harmony
(except in bar 4 of Invention No. 9). Each slurred
figure should presumably receive a single rhythmic
impetus or, to put it another way, be played as a
single graceful gesture. This will mean playing the
D-major Invention "in one," since the slurred groups
of six sixteenths fill the bars of 3/8 time and will
each constitute a single long beat.'' [emphasis added]
" Butt, 166. For example, a long slur of this type would not
obscure the regular pattern of metrical accentuation, even though it
would indicate a smoother-than-normal performance.
" Schulenberg, 155-56.
35
which needs to be considered in keyboard music of the Baroque
era.
Butt, 209-210.
Schulenberg, 407.
36
generally been made explicit by the use of slurs, crescendo
or diminuendo, and appropriate beaming. During the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, articulative
accentuation was primarily indicated by placement within the
meter, usually regardless of whether the beginning or end of
the melodic gesture was elsewhere. Houle states that
The use of the term 'accent' so simplified
explanations of the measure that it began to be
defined by accent...."
" Houle, 5.
" Ibid., 201.
"' Jean-Claude Zehnder,Part II, 17, No. 12: 42
" Faulkner, 43.
37
Example 3.2: Typical Baroque scale-fingering pattern.
^
1 2
4
3 4
3 2
3 4
3
um
3 4
2 3 2
5 4 3 2 3 2 3 2 1
^
1
1 2 3 4 3 4 3 4 5
38
One should note that this strong/weak alternation (or
good/bad, heavy/light, or tension/relaxation) was not the
most obvious feature of Baroque performance: rather, it was
the rhythmic subtext which propelled the musical material in
a particular manner, comparable to the rhythmic nuances
present in poetic speech. Notes on strong beats were
emphasized by three means: A tiny break in sound before the
beat, and especially before a downbeat;"' assigning a longer
duration to a stressed note, than was customary for normal
semi-detached articulation while remaining within its
rhythmic parameters (i.e., instead of sounding for one-half
or three-quarters of its allotted time, the note would be
allowed to sound for its full duration); and greater dynamic
emphasis on the stressed note in string-like fashion
(possible only on the clavichord and piano)."" The following
sources represent early eighteenth-century perspectives
regarding meter and phrasing which reflect the practices of
J.S. Bach in this regard. When the terms "light" and "heavy"
occur, they indicate the following:
Heavy performance requires that each note be
played firmly [emphatically] and held until its value
has completely elapsed. Light performance means that
in which every note is played with less strength
[emphasis], and the finger is removed from the key
somewhat earlier than indicated by the value of the
note."'
Zehnder quotes J.G. Walther's Musicalisches Lexicon of
1732, as follows:
^^ Schulenberg, 15.
" Ibid., 159, 244, 250.
" Ibid., 159. See also Newman, 59-71, for a discussion of
strong/weak pairs of notes, beats, and measures.
" Butt, 201-203.
42
Example 3 . 3 : "Double m e a s u r e s " i n t h e P a s s e p i e d from the
E-minor E n g l i s h S u i t e .
f
i ^
mM
M
Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.
43
two paired measures would receive more emphasis than the
first beat in the second measure of the pair).
J.P- Kirnberger, one of Bach's pupils, in his
retrospective treatise entitled Die Kunst_de^ Reinen Satzes
in der Musik (The Art of Strict Musical Composition) allots
over thirty pages to a thorough discussion of tempo, meter,
and rhythm, including several examples from the keyboard
works of J.S. Bach. Excerpts from Kirnberger's opening
remarks regarding tempo and meter are included here:
If melody is to become similar to speech and
adapted to the expression of various emotions and
sentiments, individual notes must be turned into
meaningful words and several words into comprehensible
phrases. This transformation of a mere stream of notes
into a melody resembling speech is accomplished in part
by accents that are given to a few notes, and partly by
the differences of their durations. It is just the same
as with common speech, where we distinguish words and
sentences only by means of the accents and durations of
syllables.
Meter actually consists of the precise uniformity
of accents that are given to a few notes and of the
completely regular distribution of long and short
syllables. That is, when these heavier or lighter accents
recur at regular intervals, the melody acquires a meter
or a measure. If these accents were not distributed
regularly, so that no precise recurrence occurred, the
melody would be similar only to common prosaic speech;
but with this periodic return it is comparable to poetic
speech, which has its precise meter....
A regular walk has steps of equal length, each of
which represents a measure of the melody. However, the
steps can consist of more or fewer little movements or
beats, and these movements or beats, all of which are the
same duration, can have smaller divisions or parts; they
can also be distinguished by other modificationsby
gradations of heavy and light, flowing or leaping, etc.
If a precise uniformity is observed in the steps and
small movements, this results in the measured walk which
we call dance, and this is precisely analogous to
measured melody. In just the same way as dance expresses
or portrays various sentiments merely by motion, melody
does it merely by notes. Whoever considers this closely
will easily understand how much the character of a melody
44
depends on tempo and meter...."
46
Example 3.4: Comparison between 12/8 and 12/16.
Invention in A major
fei^^di^^^ es
^mfff^^^^mm ^
47
tempos are possible, in the slower tempos (especially if 'i
8 meter also has three beats, but the eighth notes are
pressure on the last two notes, while the three eighth notes
Example 3.5)."
The foregoing summary of portions of Kirnberger's
treatise shows how typical Baroque articulation coincided
with the characteristic alternation of strong and weak beats
within a given meter, rather than with the motivic
construction of the piece. Modern research has established
and clarified many aspects of this subject, as follows:
[Ludger Lohmann's] greatest contribution is to
outline the grammar of articulation, independent of
the concept of 'phrasing,' and derived both from the
Ibid., 390-400.
48
Example 3.5: Normal accentuation for the various
meters found in the Inventions.
T r r -- - " - ^ r r
o In slower tempos Never
rTTr
5 "Lighter" than 3/4 Usually lively
t r l i f r rT~TT~f~Tr i^
Lively, usually incorporates
16th notes. Never
r LULL
Kirnberger, 390-400.
49
compositional style and the desire for clarity and
expression in Baroque performance. The hierarchies of
accent lie behind the principles of articulation and,
paraphrasing Rousseau, these accents can be viewed as
grammatical (the system of metrical stress),
oratorical or logical (derived from the sense and
formal structure of the discourse) and pathetic (the
emphasis of particularly expressive notes).... The
grammatical accent rules before 1750 and an extensive
study of keyboard fingering shows how the performance
technique reflects the standard strong-weak accents
within pairs of even notes ('good' and 'bad' notes)."
^^^^S
ss
r m
^ fe ==^ ^
52
Example 3.7: Courante (Corrente) from the A-minor Partita,
measures 1-3 .
^ V ^ ^ ^ m ^-^ipSp^ - - ^ f ^ ^
^ i-1
^^m^
-~)-^ J^ 7 -fi-^=d
i^=^x^ r r^f^ ^ ^
^5Pf= i
iach G e s e l l s c h a f t Edition, 1853, 1863.
53
Example 3.8: Courante from the E-minor^^artita, measures 1-9,
54
Example 3.9: Gique from the F-major English Suite, measures 1-3,
^ t m
^ r~^"^^^hTf=B
s ii^
r~r~t -\~r-^^^-
g?=^ ^m ^
55
Example 3,10: Prelude from the G-minor English Suite, measures 8-13.
xu
i
I
r=f
i 7 7 wm r 7 7
^gg^
f=
^
i ^
^
f
s
s^ I i=5
56
All but the last-named compositional device were utilized in
the Inventions.
Schulenberg, 16.
Ibid., 16-17.
Badura-Skoda, 17.
59
Finally, a subject which no eighteenth-century source
seems to deal with explicitly, yet which is implied in nearly
every source, is the fact that attention to articulative
detail can either cause rhythmic stasis or it can propel the
phrase forward. This is alluded to by Schulenberg (and was
quoted previously in a different context) as follows:
Motives or figures that cross the barline or
straddle more than one harmony need not be slurred in
order to retain their integrity; indeed many motives
are defined by a specific combination of slurred and
unslurred notes (e.g., groupings of sixteenths in
patterns of 1 + 3 or 3 + 1). In such a combination
the little articulations or silences preceding and
following the slur do not break up the gesture but
become part of i t . By the same token, slurring into a
beat is not the only way to join upbeat to downbeat
in a single gesture: indeed, detached upbeats are
clearly the rule in the music of Bach and probably
all Baroque composers." [emphasis added]
Several valuable pieces of information are presented here,
but the reader's attention is directed especially to the
italicized portions of the text. Material which uses a
mixture of detached and legato figures can be combined into a
single unit, but in order for musical subjects which are
composed of a variety of articulative groupings to avoid
stasis, it is necessary for the hand (and mind) of the
performer to use the minute accents and silences of this
style to "move ahead" or relax at appropriate points.
Movements such as the C-major Inventionwhich sounds rather
bland when performed with a continuous legatobecome
dancelike, joyous, and full of vigor when approached in this
fashion. This is surely much more in keeping with a Baroque
aesthetic than the aimlessly meandering or relentlessly
motoric interpretations of this piece one often hears. The
" Schulenberg, 15.
60
propulsion of the musical material in a varied and
interesting manner is, after all, the reason for paying
attention to the articulative details in the first place.
61
CHAPTER IV
BAROQUE FINGERING PRACTICES, HAND
AND BODY POSITION
the thumb, are the most common, but very few keyboard
Ibid., 45-46.
63
players hold the same opinion as he does."
In his essay, C.P.E. Bach explains his father's method
of fingering in great detail. One element which differs
greatly from what others state about the keyboard technique
of his father is the idea of stretching the fingers, rather
than shifting the entire hand laterally.' One could hardly
maintain a quiet hand with almost no visible motion (see
discussion under Hand and Body Position), while
simultaneously stretching the fingers as far as possible.'
Also, the motivic, rather than scalar, nature of much of J.S.
Bach's keyboard music, coupled with what is known about
Baroque fingering practices, makes it unlikely that turning
the thumb under would be used with great frequency in the
Inventions. Crossing over (see Example 4.1), on the other
hand, would happen frequently. Modern pianists will be likely
to find that it is easier to think of this process in terms
of minute lateral shifts of the hand, rather than imagining a
"stretch," with its implied disruption of a quiet hand
position. When one "crosses" the third finger over the fourth
or second finger while maintaining Bach's well-known quiet
hand position, the natural result is a series of small
lateral motions up or down the keyboard. This type of
fingering (and the articulation with which it goes hand in
hand) can be used effectively at the piano, provided that the
player uses the rhythmic inequalities which naturally arise
in this style to propel the material forward, rather than
W 3 4 3 4 3
^..
4
:i
65
pausing after each tiny articulation. For some pianists it
may also take some effort to remember that the end of each
fingering/articulative grouping is unstressed; otherwise, it
is all too easy to have a "hiccup" at the end of each group.
Several pieces by Bach and his circle which have added
fingerings illustrate Bach's fingering practices. The first
of these is the Applicatio from the Clavier-Biichlein vor W.F.
Bach (BWV 994).' This is a purely didactic piece, designed to
give the student concrete examples of fingering and
ornamental procedures. In this source, the right hand uses
[12]3434 ascending and 543232 descending, while the left hand
uses 32121 ascending (see Example 4.2).' W.F. Bach (1710-
1784) is said by Daniel Gottlob Tiirk, his student, to have
used these patterns all his life.'
The second piece from the Clavier-Biichlein which Bach
fingered, the Preambulum (BWV 930), consists primarily of
arpeggiated chords. The fingerings are similar to modern
practice, except that the thumb is not generally used on the
black keys. As a result of its less contrapuntal texture,
this piece is less useful in terms of establishing fingerings
for the Inventions than the preceding one.
Third for consideration is the Prelude and Fugetta
(sic) (BWV 870a). Though this manuscript is not in J.S.
Bach's handwriting, it corroborates the principles found in
the Applicatio and the fingerings of Bach's student
Kirnberger. The Prelude and Fugetta are both thoroughly
' J.S. Bach, Clavier-Buchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach,
Facsimile ed., 9.
" In Faulkner, 22. Mattheson's Kleine General Bass Schule, p.72
uses the same patterns.
' Tiirk, 146.
66
Example 4.2: Applicatio from W.F. Bach's Clavier-buchlein.
.^ 4 /! I .^-+3 4 5 -^
3 4 3 4 ^ ^MK
i
5F=3=3=3= ^ '
^
^
fi
S
sW 3 2 12
2 1 2
5 4 -- 3
5 4 3 2 3 2 15 ^
: J- H^j
Tr
4 5
,'V*'
^
at:^ ^ 3 y at isEEEEEE^E^
r 4 3 2
B ^ ^^^t^trr
1 2 3 5 ^
2
a 3 ^
^
2 3 4 5 3 2 1 ' ^
J:
Transcribed from the facsimile.
67
contrapuntal works, in four and three voices respectively,
and therefore provide apt illustrations for the purposes of
this study, Quentin Faulkner, in whose useful manual entitled
J.S. Bach's Keyboard Technique :_A^iiisiori^a,LlntrMuction
these pieces can be found, gives an analysis of the fingering
principles found here:
1. The equal use of all fingers.... In
particular, there is a consistent use of the thumb of
both hands....
73
CHAPTER V
TEMPO CONSIDERATIONS AND APPLICABLE
DANCE FORMS
Tempo Considerations
We have little direct and unambiguous evidence of
Bach's intentions concerning tempos for the Inventions.' On
the other hand, this is an area in which modern musicologists
have constructed some guidelines, based upon scattered and
fragmentary evidence. In the obituary of J.S. Bach which
C.P.E. Bach and J.F. Agricola wrote in 1754, one finds the
following: "... of the tempo, which he generally took very
lively, he was uncommonly sure."' Bach scholar Robert Marshall
comments that "The suspicion... that an Allegro tempo
constituted Bach's norm receives virtually explicit
corroboration from the [Obituary]."' Considering this comment
and the remarks made by C.P.E. Bach, Kirnberger, and others
about rhythm, meter, and articulation, one concludes that
Marshall is correct with regard to the Inventions: only two
Inventions, the F-minor and B-flat-major, are somewhat slow,
while the B-flat Invention does not feel slow, due to the
persistent use of thirty-second notes and vigorous rhythmic
patterns. Though the other Inventions certainly vary in
tempo, they all fit into the "lively" category.
' i.e., we do not know without doubt that when Bach wrote a piece
in the style of a minuet he intended it to be performed at exactly M.M.
138 to the quarter note.
'David, Mendel, and Wolff, 306.
' Robert Marshall, The Music of J.S. Bach: The Sources, the Style,
the Significance (New York: Schirmer Books, 1989), 266.
74
The information in the preceding paragraph is modified
somewhat by the fact that the evidence which exists regarding
articulation and metric accentuation indicates that a normal
"lively" tempo in Bach's day was almost surely slower than a
Classic or Romantic allegro. As Zehnder says: "As an almost
natural consequence of this strong-weak alternation, the
tempo becomes slower than that which we are accustomed to.""
Apparently, Baroque musicians wished to focus upon a wealth
of articulative details rather than extreme speed. A
performance which calls the attention of the listener to the
"words" and "sentences"'' present in the music through varied
and interesting articulation is surely at least as valid as a
flawlessly smooth legato performance at a faster tempo.
Schulenberg notes that "...[I]ndividual tones on the older
stringed keyboard instruments seem to take a bit longer to
achieve full resonance than on the modern piano, but they
fade much more quickly, a fact having important implications
for tempo, among other things."' Rosenblum, discussing the
shift which occurred toward faster tempos during the mid-
eighteenth century, quotes Tiirk, Quantz, and others in
support of the fact that fast movements were played more
slowly in the first half of the eighteenth century than in
the latter part.' In the nineteenth-century, more extreme
tempos were certainly normative for the performance of Bach's
music, as a perusal of Czerny's tempo indications for the
Inventions will show (see Table 5.1). Badura-Skoda uses a
considerable amount of space in an attempt to show that
" Zehnder, Part II, 44.
^ To borrow Kirnberger's terminology.
' Schulenberg, 10.
'' See Rosenblum, 305-353.
75
Table 5.1: Editorial metronome marks in Czerny's edition
of the Two-Part Inventions of J.S. Bach.
Invention Key Note Value Metronome
Marking
1 C major: quarter-note = 120
2 C minor: quarter-note = 108
3 D major: dotted-quarter note = 80
4 D minor: dotted-quarter note = 72
5 E-flat major: quarter-note = 108
6 E major: eighth-note = 144
7 E minor: auarter-note = 1 ^7
76
Baroque tempos were faster than they are commonly performed
today, primarily using late eighteenth-century English
mechanical organs to support his views." Whether this is true
or not,' when Badura-Skoda quotes Quantz in support of faster
Baroque tempos, he fails to recognize that while Quantz's
tempo recommendations reflected the preferences of the mid-
to late-eighteenth century,'" Quantz was clearly aware that
his practice in 1752 differed from that of Bach's
generation." Whatever modern practice may be, the eighteenth-
century sources are clear that the somewhat slower "lively"
temposcompared to the latter half of the eighteenth
centurywhich are suitable for the performance of Bach ought
not to lose their sense of proportion, however. Schulenberg
remarks:
"theorists associated specific time-
signatures with given ranges of tempo, and while
there is considerable room for leeway in these
prescriptions, it is clear that, as a rule, one ought
not subdivide the notated beat.... [E]ven in
embellished adagios and sarabandes one should not
count eighths or sixteenths....""
m. m tfL
Pulse
Beat
^ r
Giga I: Minuet:
Tap
Tap
^fnfufnfnup
Pulse Pulse
f~i*-^-
Beat ^Beat
^
r *T-^
Sarabande, Corrente:
Tap
11 1 1 i J i } i ^ i ^
Pulse
Beat
r r r
Little, Jenne, If
82
Allemande. Little and Jenne's work excludes the
allemande because by Bach's era, this dance "no longer
reflected a particular dance form. In a study of allemandes
of this period we discovered neither clear choreographic
roots nor distinguishable recurring rhythmic patterns; nor
did we find any choreographies."" This source treats the
allemande as a "prelude-like form."" In Bach's suites, the
Allemande is in binary or rounded binary form," the tempo is
Mattheson's term.
Little and Jenne, 67-68.
Ibid., 70.
Ibid.
Ibid., 65.
Ibid., 71.
Ibid., 69.
84
from his twentieth Ordre are also written in I, providing
Ibid., 83.
Ibid., 83.
Ibid., 85.
Ibid., 85.
Ibid., 86.
85
Example 5.2: (Premier) Menuet Croises from the Vingt-Deuxieme
Ordre by Francois Couperin
86
The dance rhythm consists of a rhythmic-harmonic
phrase four beats (measures) long with a thesis [point of
relative repose] on measure 4...."
[S]ixteenth notes are to be articulated with care
and may move with inequality, even as the eighth notes do
in a minuet."
r r'r^- rT^r
%
r^r~r^nT~r^
Little, Jenne, 97,
present study. When one compares the F-Minor Invention (see
Appendix A) to the sarabande from the C-minor Partita (see
Example 5.4), one can immediately see that the two pieces
utilize nearly all of the same elements, including rhythmic
patterns and slurs. This Invention even approximates binary
form (which is unusual in the Inventions in general), with
the most important interior cadence occurring half way
through at measure sixteen and seventeen. Indeed, the
Invention could potentially have served as a "practice piece"
which prepared Bach for the composition of the sarabande in
the C-minor Partita.
Ibid., 219.
Ibid., 129.
89
Example 5 . 4 : Sarabande from t h e C-minor P a r t i t a .
Sarabande.
^ ^
^^mw^^w^^^
^E^%-'SSi
ii
n r^f^T
^
S ^5 mm^f^
s ^ ;^^<1- ^j^^^-V^rzg^g4^yJ-t:tfj
^s
^s:^
90
This quotation certainly captures the essential
elements of the G-major Invention, with only minor deviation.
What is surprising is the fact that this movement is in
Ibid., 143.
91
Example 5.5: Courante (Corrente) from the
B-flat major Partita.
Courante.
^^fe
^^^M ^ ^ = ^
- i^r-^^^^
^ # ^ ' - ^
92
Example 5 . 6 : Courante (Corrente) from t h e
E - f l a t major French S u i t e .
C our Mite.
fl 1 l 1,-f-f,
i"#r*
yVr'v ' Uairr~
- 1 ^ ^ j _ t [ ! 1
^
Ty-r--to r^pri
' '^^ B* J^ *' *_\_ '^^ - ^ ^ * ' m * ~f~I^^
93
Example 5 , 7 : Courante (Corrente) from t h e
G-major French S u i t e .
Courante
94
Example 5.8: Excerpts from "Model for the [French] Gigue Dance Rhythm."
r X-H' LZT'T'r
95
"lively and spritely," with phrases which are frequently
irregular in length."' None of the Inventions fit this
category.
"Giga I refers to Baroque pieces entitled 'gigue' or
'giga' (or related terms) in whose metric structure
tripleness appears on the lowest level of rhythm."" Most
Baroque dances feature a more or less regular phrase
structure which is punctuated cadentially, but in giga I,
cadences are either avoided or brushed past in a whirl of
forward motion which lasts until the end of the main formal
divisions. The phrase structure of giga I is irregular," and
uneven, "hopping" rhythms (e.g., repetitive quarter/eighth
meters are used for this genre, but what is important is that
tripleness occurs at the tap level, with duple divisions at
the pulse and beat levels.'" Giga I gives the illusion of
being the fastest of the gigue subdivisions, but at the beat
level it is actually slower than the o t h e r s . " Though the giga
was originally an Italian imitation of an English dance, the
giga I was a purely instrumental, frequently quasi-fugal form
by Bach's e r a . "
Bach wrote in this style many times: the English Suites
in A major, G minor, F major, and D minor, the French Suite
in G major, and all of the Partitas except the G-major
Partita contain examples of the giga I (see Example 5.10).
" Ibid., 146.
" Ibid., 153.
"' Ibid. , 154.
" Ibid., 155.
' I b i d . , 145.
" Ibid., 157.
96
Example 5.9: Typical rhythmi
c patterns for Giga I.
~^^^m-i-[ir^M^rTr-pHr-pT-r^
Little, Jenne, 156.
97
Example 5.10: Gique from the F-major English Suite.
P^ m ^
^^^^s
m^^^ Tr^ i=^ ^pa
- i ( ^
^
p^^^^e
^^T-fin p^
Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.
98
Initially, the A-major Invention appeared to be a giga I,
since it features continuous, rapidly flowing sixteenth notes
which subvert the effectiveness of cadences (see Appendix A ) .
This analysis proved to be unsatisfactory, however, because
in 'i meter the "level of tripleness" (and therefore the tap
" Ibid.
" Ibid., 164. Couperin's La Milordine from the Premier Ordre is
an example of a French Giga II.
'' Ibid., 169-174.
" Ibid., 220.
100
Example 5.11: Typical rhythmic patterns for Giga II,
^--rr-rr f T r-'i^rrr r
fr ^ - ^ - r - r r-r r i f p
Little, Jenne, 165.
101
Dan'S^Rhnhm.^ '^^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^ "Alternate Model for the Giga XI
102
Example 5.13: Gique from the E-minor French Suite.
Gique.
103
Example 5 . 1 4 : Gique from t h e A-major E n g l i s h S u i t e .
Gique.
1 cii-^ .A*
.>41* f # ^^-r tt<i "f'f"^
^ ^ ^ ^ = ^ : ^ t ^ , c ^ ^ jg ^LJLC-^-.
t' B
M-
1 1 rH-#~^ '**' ^* A V
9^. ->
^~
tf
* ^ AV
-^y
.^^^^01^91 /w
*^' itriff f*^^yr 1
I JI^J ^^I
L * *
104
CHAPTER VI
DYNAMICS AND ORNAMENTS
Introduction
The grouping of these two topics might initially seem
unusual. However, the practical function of any ornament in
this repertoire is the creation of a brief emphasis, a
gradual crescendo, or a "sigh" decrescendo. Ornaments are
valuable tools for the creation of dynamic nuances,
especially on the harpsichord or organ. The mechanics of
performing ornaments will not be discussed here since the
keyboard player can turn to any number of readily available
modern guides to ornamentation, including many modern Urtext
editions of the music. Thus there is no necessity for a
detailed, separate section to deal with ornaments in this
study.
Allemande.
106
p r e s e n t v e r t i c a l l y for a t h i c k e r or t h i n n e r t e x t u r e (see
Example 6.2, the Prelude from the G-minor English S u i t e ) ; and
they used o v e r - l e g a t o (or, t o use Czerny's l a t e r term,
"prolonged t o u c h " ) , ' which i s c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o the use of
broken, or r a p i d l y arpeggiated chords known as style brise or
style luthe. Written out examples of style brise can r e a d i l y
be found in the works of Rameau and Couperin' (see Example
6.3).
In r e f e r e n c e t o the concept of forte as the normal
dynamic, Robert Marshall comments t h a t
The unambiguous, i f t a c i t , assumption of a
f o r t e dynamic a t t h e beginning of such movements [in
r i t o r n e l l o form] i s p a r t i c u l a r l y s i g n i f i c a n t , for i t
s t r o n g l y suggests t h a t Bach regarded t h e simple forte
as the normal dynamic l e v e l p r e v a i l i n g in a
composition in the absence of any i n d i c a t i o n to the
contrary."
With r e s p e c t t o ensemble works, Bach's normal
p r a c t i c e a t l e a s t in the case of movements in
r i t o r n e l l o form ( a r i a s , choruses, concerto
movements)was, as i s well known, t o have the t u t t i
ensemble play f o r t e during the r i t o r n e l l o s and piano
during the solo s e c t i o n s . . . . The unambiguous, i f
t a c i t , assumption of a f o r t e dynamic a t the opening
of such movements [in r i t o r n e l l o form] i s
p a r t i c u l a r l y s i g n i f i c a n t , for i t strongly suggests
t h a t Bach regarded the simple f o r t e as the normal
dynamic l e v e l p r e v a i l i n g in a composition in the
absence of any i n d i c a t i o n t o the c o n t r a r y . '
Prelude.
"J ^ ti^^~
^ ^ ,
'flw p "^^1 * -- ^ '"y^
7 r'/ F-:
gf\\' ., j - B s a ^
tT ^^'JJJ*' '
\--ff-f-fi0f
trr/fr 1^1 r, , feMBf*"""', 1
108
Example 6.3: Style brise in the final measures of Allemande I from
the Premier Liy^e de Pieces de Clavecin by Jean Philippe Rameau.
mmm^k^=L ti^^T^^^-^
T e^
^ ^
W
Paris: Heugel et Cie., 197i
^M' r
109
Butt concurs:
In statistical terms there are far more
'forte' marks in Bach's keyboard works than any other
dynamic indications.... Unmarked works should
normally also begin forte.'
r P P r p r
'Les Bergeries" as it appeared when copied into the
'Anna Magdalena Notebook":
i
-P-
^
w^^^^mi ^
^ - = ^
M. M-
I- ^ ^
Rosenblum, 155.
116
richness of sonority. This technique was described by J.P.
Rameau in his Premier Livre de Pieces de Clavecin (1724) in a
table of ornaments, including a musical example featuring the
port de volx (see Example 6.5)." Zehnder describes the source
of these techniques:
In the Baroque instrumental style, a form exists in
which a two- or three-part texture is hidden behind a
single melodic line. Such cases were frequently
performed in Germany with a suspension (holding over)
of the respective notes.... This form of notation was
known in France as the style luth6 or style brise and
was derived from models in the contemporary lute
repertoire. The duration of the plucked note (as is
also the case in the lute tablature notation) is not
fixed precisely: the note sounds until the finger
leaves the respective fret and the string is used for
another note. This style was frequently employed in
France as a method of harpsichord playing.... This
holding over of notes is often written out in full,
but when so written gives the music a very complex
appearance.... There is, therefore, every reason to
believe that the single-line notational system was
preferred for ease of reading and that the
interpretation, with or without the over-legato, was
left up to the performer."
P^ f ^
1
118
Obviously, questions of tempo, articulation, and affect,
in addition to textural considerations, will have an impact
upon whether or not to use this technique. Pieces in fast
tempos or dance genres and in the "lighter" meters would be
less likely to use prolonged touch persistently, since
prolonged touch is in what Baroque musicians would term the
"emphatic" category. Zehnder, remarking upon Rameau's port de
voix says that it "creates an excellent effect with the
diminishing quality of harpsichord tone (the sound of the
held note covers as if it were the attack of the new note, so
that the second appears to be quieter)."" This fits quite
well with what C.P.E. Bach has to say about the tenderness of
adagios being "best expressed by broad, slurred notes,"
though not with what he says about the detached nature of
leaps, since many passages which could employ prolonged touch
(for more than two notes, at any rate) predominantly involve
leaps. It is likely that even the leaps in "tender" tempos
are more likely to be slurred, but the predominance of light
meters and lively tempos in the Inventions is one indication
that prolonged touch should be used somewhat sparingly in
this repertoire. The two primary criteria for the use of
prolonged touch are that the polyphonic nature of the passage
is elucidated and that the material so enhanced is important
enough to warrant the greater emphasis which the use of this
technique creates.
A possible use of prolonged touch in a lively piece
occurs in the F-major Invention, treble staff, mm.24-25 (see
Example 6.6). In this instance, what appears to be a string
120
of even eighth notes can be heard as a two-voice texture when
the first note of each measure is 'over-held' until the last
note of the measure is reached. Prolonged touch in this
passage allows the large-scale stepwise descending treble
line of mm.21-25 to be clearly heard. On the other hand, a
similar passage for the left hand, mm.21-23 of the F-major
Invention, would not be a such a good candidate for prolonged
touch, since "overholding" the first note of each measure
until the last note is reached produces no coherent
additional melodic line.
121
CHAPTER VII
EXPRESSIVE RESOURCES OF THE VARIOUS
KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS
Introduction
To an extent, the expressive resources of the keyboard
instruments of Bach's day have been elucidated by the
preceding material, but perhaps some additional remarks are
appropriate. A question which frequently arises in reference
to the keyboard music of J. s. Bach is "Is there a 'best'
instrument for the performance of this repertoire?" In
response to this question, David Schulenberg writes
The sources for the keyboard music rarely give an
explicit indication of instrument, more often using
ambiguous terms such as Clavier or manualiter. Even
though Bach must have realized that certain pieces
would suit one instrument better than another, he
evidently accepted the custom of composing in a
manner that made most music readily transferable from
one keyboard to another.... Nevertheless, Bach's
suites... were certainly meant for harpsichord of one
sort or another.... All this merely proves that the
harpsichord is a suitable medium for the keyboard
pieces not necessarily [always] the optimal or the
intended one.'
The Clavichord
The clavichord was Bach's favored instrument for
private practice and performance, as shown by this quotation
from the biography of Bach by J.N. Forkel:
[Bach] liked best to play upon the clavichord; the
harpsichord, though certainly susceptible of a very
great variety of expression, had not soul enough for
him.... He therefore considered the clavichord as the
best instrument for study, and in general, for
private musical entertainment.'
Marshall interprets Forkel's remarks, stating
The Piano
The modern piano combines much of the expressivity of
the clavichord with some of the brilliance of the
harpsichord, and is certainly capable of more power than
either, but the much heavier action, deeper keydip, and less
' Ibid.
128
twentieth century music. Such pedaling, and the
concomitant disregard of slurs in eighteenth century
music... discourages the pianist from using the
finely honed silences that are one of the
harpsichord's most valuable resources [L]egato
pedaling like the continuous vibrato of modern
string players is an innovation of the mid- or late
nineteenth century, and its appropriateness in
Mozart, Beethoven and even Chopin is open to
question, let alone in Bach. An articulate, unpedaled
approach to the modern piano need not be dry or
percussive, but it does require placing a certain
amount of weight on each note and paying the same
attention to each attack and each release as a good
organist or harpsichordist does.
Doing so makes good musical sense; it is not
simply to imitate the older, non-dynamic instruments.
Indeed, pianists certainly ought to use dynamic
accents on appoggiaturas and suspensions, and there
is no reason not to increase and decrease volume to
reflect the rise and fall of melodic lines."
131
CHAPTER VIII
RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS STUDY
FOR PERFORMANCE PRACTICE
137
Specific Application of the Collected
Evidence to the Inventions
The order followed here is that of the 172 3 autograph,
since that is the format which is most familiar to modern
keyboard players.
Invention No.l in C major. This familiar piece in
common time presents a couple of interpretive challenges:
first, what is the proper tempo; and second, how should the
Goldberg, 91.
138
Example 8.1: Allemande from Nouvelles Suites de Pigce.q de
Clavecin by J.P. Rameau. '~
^
^m T
^
^ ^ ^
-^r-i
s
. - ^
^
iw s^^ ^^^^S ^m
n SL^Bi
w M ^ ^ ^ i W'^
'^\ fr ^
Paris: Heugel et Cie., 197!
139
Example 8.2: Prelude from the F-major English Suite.
i^^^^S^^
I'reludc
140
this pace, depending upon which articulation is chosen. When
thought of as a miniature concerto grosso, the Invention can
be divided into an opening "ritornello" (m.l through the
downbeat of m.7) followed by a "solo" section (mm.7-12), a
second "ritornello" in the relative minor (m.l3 to the
downbeat of m.l5), a second "solo"(mm.15-18) which leads back
to tonic and the closing "ritornello." The implications for
dynamic choices in this Invention should be clear from the
foregoing description.
* s
142
The counter-motive of the C-Major Invention (m.l, beats
3-4 of the right hand) is comprised of four eighth-notes
which divide into two pairs. The first pair occurs on beat
threea strong beatand receives a slur in order to give
emphasis to the beat. The second pair could be detached since
it is on a weak beat, or it could be slurred since it
consists of stepwise motion. The first two times the counter-
motive appears, the first note of the second pair receives a
trill. In the Appendix of the present study, when the
counter-motive includes the trill, the second pair of eighth-
notes is slurred, but when no slur is present the eighth-
notes are detached so that the fourth beat will not receive
undue emphasis, and the end of the measure will move lightly
toward the next downbeat. The phrasing described for the
motive and counter-motive of this Invention is
characteristic, in that it does not go against the normal
accentual pattern of the meter and the shape of the phrase
builds toward the accented eighth-note on beat three.
The cadences in measures six and fourteen are classic
examples of how the normal metrical pattern can be altered
when the occasion arises. In both cases a cadential six/four
pattern which includes a trill in the melody occurs on beat
four. The fourth beat is normally unaccented but in these two
situations it receives both harmonic and ornamental stress,
and therefore it is sensible to slur both the left-hand and
right-hand parts, and to detach the chord of resolutionat
least in measure fifteen, since there is only one note to the
resolution in measure five.
143
The fingering for this Invention is quite
straightforward, with care taken to ensure that the "strong"
fingers are placed on the strong beats. There are only a few
instances of Baroque "hopping" (e.g., 12343 descending in the
left hand part of mm.12 and 13) and the thumbs rarely play a
black key (e.g., m.l4, right hand).
Invention No.2 in C minor. This Invention was number
fifteen in W.F. Bach's notebook of 1720. It is canonic for
most of its length, and this fact causes some challenges for
the performer, notably independence of articulation for each
hand and one spot (m.l3) where the parts collide with each
other to the extent that they must either be played on
separate manuals or else the left-hand trill must be omitted
and other notes must be cut short. This Invention is another
example of a lively piece in common time, but the seriousness
of the material coupled with details such as the recurring
ornamented "sigh" figure (e.g., m.3, beat 3, right hand) will
lead the performer to take a somewhat slower tempo than that
which has been adopted for the previous Invention. Goldberg
calls C minor "Exceedingly lovely but also sorrowful."'
The canonic nature of this movement causes it to be
quite different from other Inventions in terms of a primary
motive. Here the opening motive does recur a few times, but
it is more appropriate to speak in terms of a rather lengthy
subject and counter-subject. Because of this, the
identification of the articulative pattern to be used for the
opening figure, while still necessary, assumes less
importance than it does in other Inventions such as the
Goldberg, 92.
144
Invention in E-Flat Major. Some points regarding the
articulation of this piece are worth noting at this point,
however. The first two notes are detached so that they move
gracefully into beat two, where the first three sixteenth-
notes are slurred together but the fourthwhich leaps down
the interval of a sixthis detached. Detaching this last
note provides a contrast to beat three, which is slurred
together with the fourth beat. After the barline the next two
beats are also slurred together. This phrasing allows the
performer to begin lightly and increase the intensity of the
subject until it is dissipated by the trill and resolution
which occurs between the end of measure two and the beginning
of measure three. In the right-hand part of measure five it
is appropriate to slur the leap of a sixth which occurs at
the beginning of the measure since it happens on a strong
beat, and since one can then detach the sixteenth-notes which
occur after beat twothey are less importantand move
lightly to the longer slur which takes place on beats three
and four. In measure eight the two-note slur in beat two is
Bach's own, and it indicates that this usually unaccented
beat should receive a little extra stress whenever this
figure occurs in this Invention.
The canonic nature of this Invention also impacts the
treatment of cadences. In each of the main interior cadences
one part comes to some sort of conclusion while the other
continues on its way without interruption. For this reason it
has not seemed appropriate to break from the established
articulative patterns at cadential points. Nevertheless, the
performer would be well advised to give some extra emphasis
145
to these cadences and to allow the tempo to relax slightly in
order that the form of the piece may be made clearer to one
who listens.
In fingering a piece with this many flats it proved
impossible to simultaneously employ strong fingers on strong
beats while avoiding thumbsand fifth fingerson black keys
and following the established articulative patterns. As a
result, though the thumb is not placed upon a black key
unless doing so is the best option, this is in fact the case
quite frequently.
The dynamic makeup of this movement should be strong,
in keeping with the bold nature of the subject. Cadences,
ornaments, and rising sequences will generally be occasions
for dynamic intensification, while the resolution of cadences
and falling sequential material will indicate a lessening of
dynamic intensity.
Invention No.3 in D major. This Invention was
identified as a passepied in Chapter V of the present study.
To summarize the findings from that chapter, this piece is
Butt, 165.
Schulenberg, 407.
147
mm.39-40, where the turns in the right hand cause pairs of
eighth-notes to be slurred together, indicating a hemiola.
Finally, in mm.5-8 and mm.49-52 there are repeated two-bar
phrases. These would seem to lend themselves to an "echo"
interpretationat least on the pianosince doing otherwise
causes the repetition of each phrase to sound static.
The final cadential figure of this piece as it is
presented in the New Bach Edition does not include a trill.'
Robert Donington gives the justification for the addition of
a trill at this point:
[W]ith the development of the typical
cadential formulas of the baroque period, the trill
increasingly attached itself to those formulas,
until by about half way through the period it
became virtually impossible to arrive at an authentic
cadence(plagal cadences do not afford the same
invitation) without introducing an unwritten trill or
trills.... Cadential trills have mainly a harmonic
function, which they fulfill by behaving like
appoggiaturas, accented from the upper (i.e., the
auxiliary) note, on the beat, so that the harmony is
heard from the upper note, to which the main note
then serves like a resolution.^
Several other Inventions have a trill added by Bach or one of
his students at the corresponding position in the final
cadence, and in one other instancethe final cadence of the
D-Minor Inventiona trill has been inserted by the author of
this study.
Dynamic variety can be obtained in this movement by
observing the architectural elements which make up the
structure of the piece: one hand playing alone is not as loud
as two hands playing together, while one line of running
-|XiJ_J..-.lJ.^^_j J ^
Little and Jenne, 171.
150
Fingerings in this movement proved to be somewhat
elusive until a hierarchy of articulative factors was decided
upon. At the top of this hierarchy was the decision to follow
the normal accentuation of the meter, taking into account any
exceptions which occurred. Next in importance came the
characteristic phrasing for the giga II which had been
adopted. The third factor to be considered was the idea that
two-note slurred groups could most consistently be performed
at a lively tempo by using the Baroque scale fingering
advocated by Bach in the Applicatio of the Notebook for W.F.
Bach and elsewhere (i.e., right hand 123434 ascending)."
Once this hierarchy had been established a very
suitable fingering plan could be devised, with one caveat:
the thumb must be regularly employed on black keys. This
poses no difficulty for the modern pianist, of course, but is
it the best way to interpret this Invention? Other
articulative patterns could be adopted, but none of them
seemed to possess the grace and vigor of the pattern which
had been previously chosen. Likewise, other fingerings could
be devised which avoided the use of the thumb on the black
keys, but then weak fingers were regularly forced to play on
the strong beats, and furthermore, the chosen articulative
pattern was significantly more difficult to maintain. The
result, therefore, is that the chosen articulative pattern
has been kept and traditional fingering patterns have been
incorporatedwith the exception of the proscription of the
thumb on the black keys.
feft
P
156
intended! John Butt's invaluable study of Bach's articulative
practices comes to the rescue at this point. He cites an
example from the MS of Bach's Goldberg Variations, Variation
14 (see Example 8.6) which is identical in rhythm and quite
similar in terms of melodic content to the E-Major
Invention." Bach's dots on the sixteenth notes would give
virtually the same effect as the grouping which has
ultimately been chosen for this figure when it occurs in the
Invention.' Furthermore, when this figure is articulated in
this fashion one finds that the syncopated pulses of the
opening measures are being perpetuated (see Example 8.7). In
this Invention the exception becomes the rule as far as
phrasing is concerned.
Placing strong fingers at the beginning of slurred
groups and on strong beats is of great importance to the
performance of this movement. Since most of the fast-moving
figures are grouped in short phrases, it is not too hard to
achieve this. The thumb rarely has to be placed upon a black
key, but one must be careful to make rapid lateral shifts
with a rounded, relaxed hand when playing this Invention.
Dynamic shape for this piece can be linked to the
increasing tension inherent in a syncopated figure which
spans several bars. Also, rising and falling sequences and
the main cadences play their usual roles as indicators of
levels of dynamic emphasis.
Butt, 176.
158
Example 8.7: Comparison of the chosen articulation
with syncopated patterns.
S ^
iste 1
1 and(2) and(3) and 1 and(2) and(3) and
159
Invention No. 7 in E_ininor. This is another lively
movement in common time which is serious in tone like the c-
Minor Invention but somewhat more vigorous. Goldberg
identifies this key as "Pensive and profound Swift music
may be in this key, but merriment is not therefore implied.""
With the exception of measures seven and eight, where the
right hand has an extended trill, the treble melody dominates
this piece. The left hand regularly plays a fragment of the
principal motive, but it never succeeds in capturing the
listener's attention in the same way the right hand melody
does. This Invention contains many cadential figures, but
they are not all at the same level of significance to the
articulation of the form. Cadences in measures six, nine,
thirteen, and the deceptive cadence in measure 21-22 are the
most significant interior cadences. One who plays this
Invention must take care not to overemphasize the less
important cadences, though they can certainly guide one in
terms of the waxing or waning of the dynamic level.
The articulation of the primary motive of this
Invention begins with two detached sixteenth-notes which lead
into a series of slurred notes beginning on the next beat, as
is the case in several other Inventions. In this movement the
ornaments and the rhythmic content of the material propel the
motive to the downbeat of the next measure, where the motive
begins again. Sixteenth-notes in this movement are usually
arranged in groups of four or eight, and this fact combined
with the compactness of the motive causes the fingering for
the Invention to be quite straightforward.
Goldberg, 91.
160
Invention No.8 in F major. This well-known and exciting
piece was identified as a corrente in Chapter V. To summarize
Ibid.
161
feasible at a fast tempo. The right hand somewhat alleviates
this situation by always placing the thumb at these points.
The dynamics for this Invention follow the range of the
primary motive and the sequences which spin off from it up
and down the keyboard (e.g., mm.1-6), intensify as more
intense harmonies are employed (e.g., m.l9), and relax at the
resolution of the one interior cadence (m.11-12). This
interior cadence and the final cadence prove to be the only
places in the Invention where accentuation anywhere but the
downbeat occurs.
It could be argued that since the crescendos and
diminuendos described here do not work on the harpsichord
they are not valid. On the clavichord, however, this dynamic
strategy works quite well, albeit on a small scale. Why then
should this strategy not be applied to a performance of this
work on the piano? Furthermore, what musically sensitive
harpsichordist would not wish to imitate the dynamic
gradations a string or wind player would instinctively apply
to material such as this, were his instrument capable of such
a thing? It might be that on the harpsichord one would
progressively "hold over" some of the notes as a means of
producing a small crescendo effect. Elsewhere, one might
increase the amount of detachment between notes in order to
make them "lighter." The fact that the pianist does not have
to resort to such tactics for dynamic variety does not negate
the appropriateness of making the attempt to play this piece
expressively, whichever instrument is chosen.
Invention No.9 in F minor. This Invention was
identified, somewhat surprisingly, as a sarabande in Chapter
162
V. A sarabande is a slow, passionate dance in simple triple
meter with a definite secondary accentuation on beat two, and
regular formal divisions. This identification of the genre of
this movement, along with the many slurs indicated by Bach in
the sources, guide the interpretive choices which will be
made in this study regarding this piece. Goldberg says that F
minor "Expresses beautifully a black, hopeless melancholy and
may cause fear and dread in the listener."" The primary
motive contains four slurred sixteenth-notes, two slurred
eighths, and a quarter-note tied over the barline to a
sixteenth-note. Bach himself fairly consistently slurred the
sixteenth-notes, and in one case (m.l3) slurred the eighth-
notes in beat two. Did he intend this slur to be an exception
or was it a reminder of the "rule"? The contention which is
made here is that the slur on beat two of measure thirteen
serves as a reminder of the rule for the following reasons:
if the eighth-notes which regularly occur on beat two were
detached they would be the least emphasized part of the
measure, and this is not characteristic of the sarabande. De-
emphasizing the second beat would also have the ungainly
effect of making beat three the most emphasized part of every
measure in which there was a tie across the barline. Finally,
slurring the eighth-notes in the second beat makes for a more
"emphatic" or "heavy" interpretation of the movement, which
is appropriate. Perhaps Bach marked the slur in measure
thirteen to keep the performer from breaking an established
habit at the approach to the climax of the first half of the
Invention.
" Ibid.
163
There is some discussion regarding what Bach meant by
slurs covering an entire measure. Butt makes the following
statement:
166
thirteen and fourteen and in the trills and following
measures which lead up to the deceptive cadence in measures
29 and 30. The texture of measures fourteen through seventeen
would seem to indicate a quieter approach than that which is
necessary for the material on either side of these measures.
Invention No. 11 in G minor. Here one encounters
another serious yet vigorous piece in common time. According
to Goldberg, G minor is "Almost the most beautiful key.
Combines earnestness, amiability, grace and complaisance."'"
None of the ornaments were originally part of the piecethey
were added by Bach at a later date"yet each seems to be
"expected" in its context. As in the other lively common-time
Inventions, one initially encounters detached sixteenth-notes
which lead the ear lightly to the second beat. In this
instance the subject is lengthythree measuresand is
accompanied by the counter-subject. Three events stand out in
this movement: cadences in measures eleven and sixteen, and a
recapitulatory section which begins in measure eighteen.
This Invention is quite tightly organized, with the
hands trading the subject and the counter-subject back and
forth for most of its length. Unlike some of the other
Inventions this piece, with its serpentine subject, requires
short slurred groups most of the time. These factors cause
the older Baroque fingerings to work very easily. In fact,
this movement lends itself more naturally to the older
fingering patterns than any of the other Inventions.
As has been the case so often in these works, dynamic
intensity increases in the measures preceding the main
'' Goldberg, 92.
"Bach, Inventions and Symphonies, ed. Dadelsen, VII.
167
cadential figures, and increases or decreases along with the
rise and fall of the sequential material. Naturally, an
increase in dynamic intensity also coincides with an increase
in the number of ornaments which are applied to the texture.
A dramatic work such as this requires a full, round tone, but
it is perhaps not as brilliant as the F-Major, G-Major or
A-Minor Inventions.
Invention No. 12 in A major. This Invention, like the
D-Minor Invention, is a Giga II, and the two pieces can
easily be played at the same tempo (63 to the dotted-quarter
note). The two works are not similar in terms of musical
material, affect, or articulation, however. Goldberg
identifies A major as "Extremely exhausting in spite of some
brilliancy."" Both the subject and the counter-subject are
long and meandering, moving from stepwise motion to
arpeggiated figures in sixteenth notes, the subject
commencing with a series of ornamented repeated eighth- and
quarter-notes. Almost every second measure contains cadential
harmoniessince this is how frequently the subject and
counter-subject trade handsbut most of these cadential
harmonies are swept away in the continuous flow of sixteenth-
note motion. Only one cadence prior to the end of the
Invention, in measures eight and nine, seems to play a role
which serves to mark a relatively large section of the piece.
This cadence corresponds to the beginning of the second
section of a rounded-binary movement. Later, the return of
the first material in the tonic key occurs at measure
eighteen.
Goldberg, 92.
168
The New Bach Edition includes varying ornaments for the
different statements of the subject of this Invention, which
could have been haphazardly applied. On the other hand, it is
possible that the more ornamented entrances were intended to
have more audibility than the sparsely ornamented entrances,
and that Bach was purposely varying the dynamic levels of the
various statements of the subject. The dynamics are
architecturally built into the texture of this piece in
several other ways.^'
Invention No.13 in A minor. This brilliant piece in
common time contains perhaps the fewest interpretive
challenges of all the Inventions. The articulation for this
movement is mostly detached, with slurs serving to clarify
the position of strong beats and to give emphasis to
cadential figures in the usual manner.' The form of the
piece is underscored by two interior cadences (mm. 6 and 13),
a return of the motive in the tonic (m.l8), and two climactic
moments (mm. 9 and 24). There is no added ornamentation in
this Invention. Its predominantly arpeggiated figuration is
easily fingered according to principles which are comfortable
for modern keyboard players while generally abiding by the
Baroque guidelines discussed elsewhere in this study- Dynamic
contrast in this piece is guided by the rise and fall of the
arpeggiations and sequences and by the tension and release of
the cadential figures. Goldberg says that A minor is
" Ibid.
171
detached sixteenths and eighths on unaccented parts of the
measure pull toward an ornamented "sigh" figure on beat
three. The pattern is repeated, this time with the sigh
landing on beat one. This articulative patternalong with
the generally slurred running sixteenth-notes of the counter-
subject which appears for the first time in measure three
forms the basis of nearly all of the articulative decisions
which are made in this movement, except for the usual
deviations at main cadences. The short trills on accented
beats in this subject cause the shape of the phrase to be
quite easily defined. Fingering and dynamic decisions are
made according to the parameters which have served as
reliable guides in other Inventions.
The only interpretive decision which proved to be
somewhat difficult in editing this Invention was the question
of whether or not to slur the two opening sixteenth-notes of
the subject. Initially it seemed that a slur gave more
emphasis to the beginning of the subject, and was therefore
favored. Later and more conclusively, the lively character of
the movement seemed impeded by an emphatic articulation of
the first two notes, and a detached interpretation was
adopted.
172
BIBLIOGRAPHY
173
Boyd, Malcolm. Bach. London: J.M. Dent, 1983.
176
Tiirk, Daniel Gottlob. School of Clavier Playing. Trans, by
Raymond H. Haggh. Lincoln; University of Nebraska
Press, 1983.
177
APPENDIX A
A PERFORMING EDITION OF FIFTEEN
TWO-PART INVENTIONS
BY J.S. BACH
178
A PERFORMING EDITION OF FIFTEEN
TWO-PART INVENTIONS
BY J.S. BACH
179
Though the New Bach Edition is beautifully done,
m a
couple of places where Bach's slurs are quite vague-notably
in the treble staff of m.l7 of the B-minor Invention-this
study does not follow the New Bach Edition, in this instance
preferring three-note slurs to four-note slurs. These seem
to make much more musical sense and they are certainly not
precluded by the manuscript sources.
4 1
5 4 3 1 2 3
1 4 3 4 3 2 3 2 1
5 3 32
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4 3
32
1 2 4 1
^w 1 2 1
^m i 1 2
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i 4 13 2 4
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3 2 1 -
184
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185
[Retmn of the motive on liic tonic]
gi : L p P y f > ^ : C&
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2 1
21
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186
Invention 2 in C Minor
inVV 773 ,J. S Hacli
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187
(2 4) 3 1 3 2 5
2 4 5 5 2 54 2 1
1 3
3 2
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kecapiUilatioi
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32
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190
I Invention 3 in D Major
HWA' 774 S. Hacii
32
32
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191
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192
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193
32
34
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(3) Recapitulation
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194
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195
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196
Invention 3 in D Major
B \ \ \ - 774 as il appears in Ihe H.icli (icscllscli.ill lulifion J. S Batli
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197
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198
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199
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201
, Invention 4 in D Minor
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202
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3 3 1 32
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203
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204
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43 1 3^_^ 3 4 3 3
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5 2 3
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205
Invention 5 in B-Flat Major
inVV 776 J.S. Bach
21
1 4
14 3 ^
I '' E w c m g B i ^ et>* ^
* According to the New Bach Edition, all ornaments except those in the final measure of tlus ln\ enlion
aie later additions by Bach.
** This mordent could be omitted, in accordance with similar passages
in the right hand (e.g., mm. 16, 23, 27).
206
3 3
10
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f ,f
4 1 2 1
1 5 5 1 2 13 2
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14 1 4 24 1 4
15
^
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207
3
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^L f ^g- r f-
5 1 3 1
5 1
4 31
18
m^
1^ 1 4 3 T
i gEEg^ SS w:.' 0
Sii i
m^ 3 2 1 3 4
B Si
E.I^^,-1t3"^
4^
12 1'
5 2 123 5 13 2 3 14
21 2 14 3 3
BE
^ te
\m^ssm
S^ 4 J4
S
12 2 1-^3 t3
208
'> bv
' Liz-U
Recapitulation 2
27 2^^ ^
SE 3 ^
P
^
i 0 r ^ 0
rissss
5 1 5 1 5 1
32 53
29 1 3 1 1 1 3
S i^S ^^m Qi
5 1
4 2 1
(3)
13 2
mmm
209
4 1 4 3 2
31 2 1 2
1*I~^^ ^ ^
3S=Tc^^fei5 *&J
"1 *j "f # V0 ^r ^
\ . p 1, m ,
^'-' 0 -^ 1 -\-
^^^rf ^
210
Invention 6 in E Major
B\\'\ 777 .1. S. Bach
^ 3 5 .^ 12
3 1 3 2 1 3
^m
t -^'
^
V- g/tt J r ' V ^
i ^
2 1
"ttatil
2
S
3 4 3 3 i
*iff 1 ^ 1
if 0-^^
^ P S
5
1^ ^ ~i
3
r^
i
3 2 1
3 12 1 3
J 0 1 :- =
/ ^
rm
^ # ^
't ^
f^\-r-py-^y- W^
M^^ ^K- ?T"^
1 -
--T#
4
0
gVi^
M-4^ ^
^
211
Iis^te*
3 I
M
m
^
^m ^-Mr^E 3
S
2 3 2
2
^
1
3 1
^A ' r ^/Tr
3 13 3 2 1 3__ 3 13 5
3 2 ^ 2 2 _ ++.r:^ 2 2
* fff=^
t <*U^ tlr^r -.
^ ^
x tfp
212
M*^ -K
1 2 3^11 3 3 2
* ,
gg^S
^
1 3 4 2 1 32
1 3 _
m
1 2 2 2 4,
=
i s
%
'>,''r r f - wt zzl
5 2 3 12
39 1 3
^ F^l *
^ 5 ^
== *J.^ ^y ^
F
O: i l # V B3
^
?
3 3
43 , 1
13 i = ^ 1 ^
^ 'jf^ r r r ^ * - 1 0 -^ 0
1 2 1 1 \ 1 3 4 3 1 1 - - 3
213
^ 5 3 12
1^ -0BT-
Ef I
'^^^rzT-
3^
1 2
1 2 1 1
^"^ 0 '
^tt^ l' 1 -] ^ * 0
=^=^ ^^
0 - 0 ^
h-^^^^-^ I-,. .
0--=
^0-^ rw= rf-r-.
- ^ TT"
214
Invention 7 in E Minor
S. Bach
BWV 778
J^ 88-92
32 32
^5
M
^m
^S csrat
1 3
s
3 -1 1 2 3
t
S ^ i ^
3SEE^3E ^ ^ ^
^
1 2 1
3 4 12
(23)
32 3 32 32
l^i^ Si i^^
g-^r-Ji^
3 2 1
m ^EEEEEE
215
.<2
H^ '.'0-.
m~i 10-0
m
^
i3 4 3 1 -^4 3 5
i
-^4 I .^ 1 ."> ^
3 3 1 3 4
m^^
32
7
ii^
^ ^^m^
32
14 1 2
zzz
^
>1<
S^pg3 V^JT^ -iS^
12 3 12 12 = ^ ^ 1 \/^)..
* This toll is not in the 1723 version, but is in the 1720 MS. If it is omitted in perfonnance it ma} be
necessary to re-stnke the b, preferably on beats one and/or three.
216
2 1 2
2 5
18 2 5
mm^=m is
3 3 2
m
3
^
2 12
B^^
3 2 12 3
32
^ i^^ ^
^s 3 1
^
3
S i
g^^ljJ-J^^a
13 4 2
217
32
mi f
218
Invention 8 in F Major
B\\'\'77V . I S . Bach
J 120
3 3 1 4
3 4
^ ^ ^
^ ^
i ^^m
3 2
3 2 1
1 3 1 3
3 1
3 1
1 4
^ ^
^^^m 3 1
^ ^
219
' 3 14 I 4
^ ^ ^ 1^
llSS :^^ eit*
4 1 4 1 3
4 I
"^^TT^J
16
2 3 2 13 4
^mm-
fl
m^S 3 g
1 2 3 1 3 13 1
1 2 3
1 3 12
220
. ^ 3 4 2
1 1
^ ? r f P: 0
^ . * <
K W 1*
3 4 ^
4 1 1 2 3 1 2 5 1 2 2
i ^
=,
^ 3 if
i
S ^ ^ ^
^
^ ^ ^
3 1 -^ 5 1 4
^m 1 *
"^i^O H f ^ S ^
3
5 4 3
5
25 3 1 3
f f r r - ^ S
S S ^^3 ^^^7^
5 4 3
221
12 4)
1 .^
1 3
ZZl
S^g#
Pi^ .1 1
3
J-J-TI-^^ 4*3-^5
1
F^^
3 1 4 1 4
^ 1 ^^^^P^^^
31 1 4
3 1
33
^ ^ ^
^ ^ ^ ^
4 1 2 3
222
Invention 9 in F Minor
B\\\'78() J S. Bach
J^ 69-72
S m
B 1 4
1 3 2 1 4
St *
S
^S mt^
1 2
2 3
^
fey=F yr r r r r p y g ^ f r'~'^JJjM^
iSt^
1*
5 2 1 2 3~^-
?'1
^
-^
m 3 2 1 3 1 3
*Shorter slurs from the Notebook for W. F. Bach
223
a^
ii
^ i^j:^^^
WW^. ^ rjv| ^ ^=3
1 1
11 4 3
t ^
^
^
5
S=^=-^
i
S^i> . W V^ ^i g- jH
1 2 12
' j ^^^ g p ^
3
m^ E L g r ^ ^ -
224
1(1 1 4
ski: p C^B
\^--
^ S
2 1,^ 1 .^
i*
P .'HJiH, j
.v^|'i>rr^
3 2 1 2 3 13 4 iJ 2 4
22
J 3
s i
V
i ^
')\\>n
^r=>^ r\ ^
i
2 3 3
225
(5 5;
24 _4 3
Sk^^ g
r^^ f E E E ^ ^
^ ^
W.-MMi ^
I> 5-
\4 3 4 1 3
kt=^
^ ^
1*
S a ^
s
'^- j'i> J m 3 2
2 1
a
30
a>> ^i
=^)-i.ii.i'.m, - T O ^ FjhXn ^ ^, ^, j^g
3 2 12
3 1 2 1 ^
226
1 2 1
^- '.M 2 1 3 / 32 1 2 32
Uv"
M ^ oo
I ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
3
^ ^
3 4 2 3 4
1 ff 1g_
227
Invention 9 in F Minor
BW \' 780 as i( appears m (he Bach (leseMschali lidilioii J S Bach
ite^i^^ ^ m^
^ i:fe=g
S=:^
B
te^ ^ ^
. ^
^m^Tftft ^r^rttff-
m
s1 *
* *
te
S
S ^
^
i ii^
228
s' ^ = ^
^ ^
-'b''i>]iJJ-Vi'W^
E3^ jst^ S 'rSclrr?^_j
13
s1 *
Ji
^ ^
229
lo OO
i^w
m ^
PS
^ g ^
IS
s1 * s ^
jF^^^ jirrr^TT^rV
f-fif^ p ^Q^
ygrfrrr:j
S1^ ^
1^ ^
y^"i,b f p t . . r |- ff^ji^
E S
^^m i* i
B
yft^^
i
230
26
g ^
3 5 g ^ ^ ^
B feSi
28
i in ^
^
^ ^
^i^
T-#
';-bi'i,i-J- - >p
231
232
In\ention 10 in G Major
inV\' 781 I S . P,ach
' = 112^116
1 4 5 ^
I
1 ^
i
^
5 1
F=^
^
^ fe^ ^ ^
3
^Si
2 3
5 1 5 3 1
hi J r r 1=J=^ 3^*~ff ^
3 2 3 1 3 5
2 1
(^1 ( ^
^
2 1 2 1 3 2 1 3 4
233
^
1
32
m
13 3 2 1
(^)
i i ^ i -t
^
s 2 1
15 -v%:-
3 1 = ^
mM 1=^
12
17
r^=
^ 3EE^ ^
w
(-WJ
12 2 1 3
234
23)
,9
32
n.
\ -^ 0- _^_ #
ra*
12 2 3 3 ? r
21 5 4 3 J
P P f ^
^ I ^
3 2 3 2 1
23 .S 3 3
1 ^ ^ >- . r r r 1# i *
l^-f * *
^r r . r ^J ^ J -A
' ^ L LJ - ' ' L U j lo). 0-
3 2 12
(21)
32
25 3
^ ) 1 ^ )
g ^ ^ = ^
^ ^
^
1 2 1 2 4 3
27
*.
S * y *
235
m m
29 4 5
0 r
^ ^
m=m^-
:=at
S mmM ? ^
3 3
32 -"^
S ^ ^ ^
236
Invention 11 in G Minor
inVV 782 J. S. Bach
J^ 88
34 5 4 3 2 (1:
14
^"rj^gM ^^^B
I ^^m 1 3 1 3
w^ ^
^ ^
4 3 2 5 3 1 5 2
3 2 12 1IJ 2 3 2 3 4 3^^ ^ - ^ 3 1 1
1 ^^g i? ^ ^
^
)M>ri^cn:rrj
^
f-^^
^ s ^
32 32
3 ^ 2
^s
2 1 3 3 2
gg P
^
3 2 1 ' ^ ^
1 51
^S 31 ~i -I
5 5 1 3
* Ail ornaments in this Invention except the short trill on Ijeat 3 of m. 17 were
added by Bach at a later dale, according to the New Bach Edition
237
*This is the one ornament which Bach
included in the 1723 MS. 238
Rocapitulation
3 1 2 32
22 3 5 3 2 1 5 : ^ ' ^ 3 1 2 3 1^ 3 ^ ^
^
^^fffrriij?^ PH f f i ^ ^ ^
^
m
^
^
^
^
o
239
Invention 12 in A Major
HW\'78.1 S. Bach
5
i^t^ ^
BS
iB
^r^^
tJ-4r'rM, 14 3 21 T^'^ 3 131 21
1 2132
*Dashed slurs are used in this movement to indicate that two notes of the same pitch aie to be grouped together but are
not intended to be lied.
**Slurs have not for the most part, been included for sixteenth^notes in this Invention. One who plays this piece should
bear m mind the fact that this is a light piece which would favor det;rched articulation, but notes in stepwise patterns are
more likely to be slurred and arpeggiated figures are more likely to be detached. In fingering this movement the goal
has been to allow each beat to be played as a unit whether the notes are sluned or detached.
240
^ 1 5 1232
i y=??^ i
5
S 3 5
iffliS 2 12 31
312 1
4 1 13
10
^J.\ f* J J J S^X^^f^^
r .r^ nm
11
^m 4
^ ^ F "^ *:
X^^-^-
1 3
I
pr r r J-^-^yTJ 3
J i^'^^g 1 ^
->tfj i j^^^
12
*t i 0 ^ 0~ 0 ^ 0~
tfO
i
g
igi#
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
m ^
^
i
# ^ #
1 5 3
241
4 2 o 4 32
t=s
I Jl*^ J J .^J J ^ J , m
16 J ^ 1
M
Ji' ^ ?- P
^Ei
^
=^ I
17 1
M: ;. i y-^ ^
\ l U 'f
.-)^tf,vrrrrp I .^rf^f^p^
242
Recapilul.ition
18 -'
i i i
1 5
i
^- (\^
g^^^
4 '1
21 (w)
O
AM ^
243
Invention 13 in A Minor
BWV 784 J. S. Bach
^= 96 100
m m
4 3 2
^
Q
S
^ ^
I
2 1 1 3
i 2
5 2 1 1 4 4 ^ 1 4 1 3 1 1 5
jmM^. H
ItolTr^^ ^tftEf^ 3 -> 5
^
5 ff
=
^ ^
2 4
2 4 5
m ? 3^ 4
1 4
^
3 3
* .
g 3 i^Fi* f^
t 2 1 2 15 1 2
^
3
^
2
1 2 1
3 2 3 _ 5 J ^
=Zt=j^ rrf.r .r^^r^fe^
*
M B
1 5 5
244
3 : 1 2 . ^ 4 5 142 3 2 4 5
2 1 2
'-. ' 4 , s 14 3 2 3 13 1
1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^?^^S r^rrttrT^fl s
^-^?
>
f^f^fVv
1 5 12 4 1 4
5 1 3 1
^m m
2 3 -1 2 4 1 5 2 5
\ '\>0 ' -'
^
i e^ *
iffi
:^
i|3E
1 Pe
a IF^^^ ^ & t f ? ^
1 3
1 3
16^ 2 1 5 12 4 1 5 2 2 1 5 23 5
^ i^ ^fefiirrrr.^^
^ P=^^^ ^
1 3 Lf ^'"'
L-J r
4 m 1 3
1 2 3 1
5 25 4 3)
Return of the motive in the tonic key.
IS
1 4 3 2 3 1
-jf^=A
^^E^
2 1 1 4 1 5 2 3
^^m
5 2 3 13
m 245
5 1 3 1 4
4 1 4 2
20 3 4 14 1 4
15 12 3 5 2 5
^=1 3^7Jr^^j^4^'
4 3 5 5 3 2 5 3 1 4 2 5
2 1
r\
w.t^
^ i ^^^9
^^^JigM^
*
s Ov
3 1 2 3 3
^
wt './ a
246
Invention 14 in B-flat Major
H\VV785 J. S. Bach
J^ 60
3 5
3
Elg=ff^
i ^
W^ -^
5l
2 3
3 5
m
3 2 1
s
3 5
0 JJ0
yv
4-J-4 s *-^
0 ' ^ V.*l' sa
"n^^-^ ^ ^
-' 13
^ mp' m ^
i iy=i 1 ^ ^
^ ^
i t^ i 4 ffi ffl
13
247
S^^^^^:
i 5
1 3 J1J 9
2 I1 4d 2
4 1
3 1
i^ ft
^
^5^tl"
3 12 1 3 1 --> 1 3
1 5 3 1 5 2 4
2 3
^ ^^ fu m m
-^;=;^ 0-
S3
10
0 V I* Pff
0 m 0
^ -^. J 0 ' 0
3 12 1 2
2 3 i 3
5 1
I
^
m :5 P ^
1 '
^ ^
1 2
i
^ ^
m
248
14 2 4 1 3
2 4 1 2
249
250
Invention 15 in B Minor
J^ 88 5 2 32
HWV 78(1
32
J. S, Bach
32
mm^^^
-w 1
=^^F^=^m=i
:5
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
^ ^=W^ J' ^ J g
^ ^ ^
3 2 1 3 3 2 2 3
^
U'^ yJa^JJ^.'^i^^
^ M^m^^^
s ra ^ ^
'W
^ ^
-J 12
I
1 3 2
12 12
2 12 2 1 4 4
251
mmm
32 1 2 3 3 4
3 3 4 3
If:
ffl^
I 4Y~!
^^^^s 4 1 4
3 2
^P^ i 3 . 3
^-^-W
*
WH~m 3
L ^ *
-\ 3 12 ' ' ^ 5 1 4
1 1 2 3 3
I. I
I ^e ^
w^4mm0 m i i
3 12 4 3 3 1 12
3 1 2 3 32
13 1 2 2 1 4^ ^
^ ' ^^* I ^
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
12 3 2 1 2 4 2
252
15 ^ iv"^ ' 2 3 1 2 5 2 2 5 2 2
Wm MS
3 1 2
^ 5''M^iH''^
m M^n
-w
2 1 4 3 2 3 1 3
12 3 2 (4 )
'W
-o^
^ ^m 4 3
^
2
(i:
253
APPENDIX B
FORMAL CONSIDERATIONS, LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
AND CONSEQUENT PLACEMENT IN THE
1720 AUTOGRAPH
254
FORMAL CONSIDERATIONS, LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
AND CONSEQUENT PLACEMENT IN THE
1720 AUTOGRAPH
Formal Considerations
...[I]t was characteristic of Bach that, while
in principle retaining the conventions of each genre
(such as the use of binary-form movements with dance
titles to form a suite), he transformed most of the
genres in which he worked by expanding the
traditional formal structures and admitting technical
and stylistic features borrowed from other genres.
Thus... few pieces follow any one model.'
Ibid., 149.
Ibid., 152.
256
restatement of the theme in its original form. While
this return comes very near the end (as it also does
in No. 9), in other inventions the final section more
closely resembles a true sonata-form recapitulation,
inasmuch as the return marks the beginning of a
section long enough to balance the first ones (Nos.3
in D, 6 in E, 13 in A minor).'