Bach Invention no. 8 in F major

[classical_bluebird]

Hi all,

This is my first post and I have just finished mastering Invention No. 8. Great for hand independance, but took a while though! Any suggestions on the next invention I should tackle after this, or any other baroque alternatives like Haydn?

Thanks and Merry Christmas

Hywel

[eddie92099]

any other baroque alternatives like Haydn?

Haydn is not baroque,
Ed

P.s. Welcome to the forum and Merry Christmas

[classical_bluebird]

Hi Ed,

Ooops and thanks!

Hywel

[bernhard]

The two voive inventions can be roughly divided in three difficulty groups (bearing in mind that difficulty is many times subjective, so regard what follows as personal opinion):

Easiest: 1 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 10 - 13 - 14
Intermediate: 3 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 9
Advanced: 11 - 12 - 15

You can listen to all of them on CD and choose your favorites within each group. A lot of pianists recorded the whole set, most notably Glenn Gould, Andras Schiff and Angela Hewitt ( I believe that there are at least three recordings on Naxos as well).

If you can play the most difficult ones, you may want to go ahead and try the three voice inventions (usually called symphonies). The easiest of them (1 - 3 - 6 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13) are comparable in difficulty with the advanced two voice inventions.

There are also many keyboard works by JS Bach apart from the inventions and symphonies of comparable dfficulty. Try the little preludes, and some movements of the French and English suites.

There are also a number of Baroque composers worth exploring, the most interesting being Domenico Scarlatti, Handel, Telemann and Loeillet. Konemann has published a collections of easy baroque pieces called "The baroque pianist" (edited by Pekka Vapaavuori and Hanelle Hynninen).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[classical_bluebird]

Thanks for such a very detailed response to my question Bernhard. I'll probabaly go with Angela Hewitt as I have heard a lot of her work before. Thanks again and happy new year!

Hywel

PS Of course I meant Handel NOT Haydn!

[BoliverAllmon]

If you are thinking of going to a 3-part invention you might think of doing a fugue from the WTC. I played invention 8 then went straight to an easier fugue. Nothing is set in stone about which counterpoint piece to play next.

boliver

[BoliverAllmon]

Haydn is not baroque,
Ed

and ed should know. He doesn't play anything remotely close to baroque.

boliver

[eddie92099]

and ed should know. He doesn't play anything remotely close to baroque.

I just played a Scarlatti sonata for my auditions I'll have you know!
Ed

[bernhard]

I just played a Scarlatti sonata for my auditions I'll have you know!
Ed

Which one?

[bernhard]

Nothing is set in stone about which counterpoint piece to play next.

boliver

Bloliver is right. In fact my own belief/attitude in this matter of difficulty is that there are no difficult pieces in the whole piano repertory. There only easy pieces and impossible pieces. And (correct) practice is the process by which impossible pieces become easy.

In any case, the traditional progression in Bach goes roughly like:

1. The little book of Anna Magdalena Bach.
2.  The little book of W.F. Bach
3. 2 voice inventions
4. 3 voice inventions.
5. French and English suites.
6. Partitas.
7. Well tempered Clavier
8. Goldberg variations.

(incidentally, this is the progression Bach himself used with his own pupils)

My own approach is to play whatever I like from anywhere on this list. If it proves to be impossible, I just have to practise it! So for instance, I have never played the French or English suites (with the exception of the Gavotte on French Suite 5) simply because I dislike them.

So again, listen to the CDS, decide what you like and go for it!

(Yes, I like Angela Hewitt a lot as well. My favourite Bach interpreter is Rosalyn Tureck, but to my knowledge she never recorded the full set of 2 and 3 voice inventions - just a tiny selection of them. Angela is my second favourite).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[eddie92099]

Which one?

B minor, K.27 in some numberings although there are various different systems. (Also known as the one Michelangeli plays on the Art of Piano),
Ed

[bernhard]

This is one of the nicest

Have you heard Pletnev's interpretation? Do you like it? (I do).

[eddie92099]

I have only heard Michelangeli,
Ed

[BoliverAllmon]

Well congratulations on the Scarlatti. I was just kidding on the whole baroque thing anyway.

boliver