Bach's Two-Part Inventions

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I am currently tackling these well-known teaching pieces and would like to hear anything about other people's experience with them, as well as any useful advice.

There are 15 in all. I started with #1 (C major). Upon mastering that, I went to #2 (C minor), but to my puzzlement found it much more difficult than its keymate. So I abandoned it (temporarily I hope), in favor of #8 (F major) and #14 (Bb major). I found these two much more feasible, especially #14. I wonder if #14 really is objectively easier than the other ones, or if I have improved to the point where it just feels easier to me. I hope it's the latter. 

On the other hand, Old Man Bach indicated that the player, in the course of attempting his "straightforward instruction," should acquire "a cantabile style of playing" as well as "a strong foretaste of composition." I can't say I've acquired either of these two things yet. 

So who else has tackled them? Any experiences you could share?

[brassbandmaestro]

They certainly may look 'easy' to play. but. my goodness, they are quite hard. I found it quite diffciult to get around these pieces for some reason. I don't know why.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

They certainly may look 'easy' to play. but. my goodness, they are quite hard. I found it quite diffciult to get around these pieces for some reason. I don't know why.

One thing I am discovering in my Pianistic Pilgrimage is that some music that sounds easy is hard, and some music that sounds hard is easy.

Re the Inventions specifically. Each of them takes one motif and works it to death in both hands, thereby promoting dexterity and manual independence. There are no chords or "accompaniment" or anything outside the relentless working of the motif. The logic is extraordinarily airtight.

I have found that each Invention contains some easy stretches, usually at the beginning and end, and contains a much more difficult section of 4-8 bars somewhere in the middle. So if I want to practice effectively, it's these few bars of concentrated difficulty that I spend most of my time on.

Incidentally, I use the Glenn Gould recording as a reference. Trying to play like him is not a realistic (or even desirable) aspiration, but the important thing is that he presents the Inventions not as exercises but as real, uncompromising music.

[karlhenning]

Like the WTC though on a more modest scale, the Two-Pt Inventions range from [ attainable by a beginner ] to [ challenging even for a pro to bring the music out ]

Me, I am not a pianist as such . . . I've plunked on divers pianos for some few decades now, and had to pass a piano proficiency as part of my undergrad degree.  So there are a few of the Two-Pt Inventions which I come very close to being able to play decently;  and there are others which I probably never shall master, though from the "strong foretaste of composition" perspective, picking through all of them has been value-added.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Like the WTC though on a more modest scale, the Two-Pt Inventions range from [ attainable by a beginner ] to [ challenging even for a pro to bring the music out ]

Karl, do you recall which of the Inventions you found easy, and which were difficult?

Also, I recently bought the score of the Goldberg Variations and have been fooling around with that at the keyboard, too. To my surprise, some of the variations (like 7 and 19) are no more difficult than the Inventions I've tried - in some respects easier in fact.

[karlhenning]

Karl, do you recall which of the Inventions you found easy, and which were difficult?

Well, mind you, even those which I find comparatively 'easy', I'm not playing in public . . . for one thing, I'm probably taking most of them under-tempo.  It's also a while since I've spent time with them at a piano, so . . . The ones I remember finding more of a challenge were E-flat, B minor, F major . . . A major and E major aren't so hard, really, but I remember tripping up on them a bit.  And if I didn't find the C minor or F minor (e.g.) necessarily difficult, I was apt to take them at perhaps-Romantically slow tempi, and linger on the compositional dimension.

Probably the easiest ones for me were C major & minor, E minor, A minor & B-flat.

[Guido]

Not a pianist here at all, but these are some of my favourite works by Bach, and to me reveal his genius just as readily as his grandest achievements.

They sound great on violin and cello too!

[karlhenning]

Why, at least one of them is realized on banjo and marimba on Bela Fleck's Perpetual Motion CD . . . .

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Not a pianist here at all, but these are some of my favourite works by Bach, and to me reveal his genius just as readily as his grandest achievements.

Yes, I am always struck by how much wisdom and craftsmanship you can find in these little gems.

[Holden]

There are some finger breaking moments in many of these and here comes the most important point - how you finger these is vital. It might be worth seeking out an annotated edition which does this as fully as possible. You might initially think that some of the fingering is wrong but when youi bring the works up to speed you suddenly see the reasons. I've heard that this is very good

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

There are some finger breaking moments in many of these and here comes the most important point - how you finger these is vital.

Indeed. I've just been downloading the sheet music from a free source, and it doesn't give the fingerings. This leads to some problems. Playing #8, I always find myself needing an extra finger or two at the end of phrases.

[jochanaan]

I've played #1 and #2.  Like Stravinsky said about Mozart's music, these are "too easy for the amateur, too difficult for the professional."

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Progress Report

After much practice, I am now able to play the following Two-Part Inventions at a reasonable level. (My definition of "reasonable": I can play them from beginning to end at a moderate tempo without too many distortions or slowdowns for the difficult bits, and without hitting too many wrong notes along the way):

#1 (Cmaj), #2 (Cmin), #8 (Fmaj), #9 (Fmin), #14 (Bbmaj)

It's been a good, educational experience. Having had enough of the 2-Parters, I decided to attempt a Sinfonia (Three-Part Invention). Like a dumbass, I chose #9 in F Minor, just because it was my favorite of the lot and because Glenn Gould plays it so hauntingly.

Let's just say I am nowhere near being able to play this one competently, though it's fun to pick out the individual lines. Maybe I'll go back and survey the other 3-Parters: surely they can't all be as hard as this one?