Bach invention trills: 4 notes vs. 6 notes

[eric0773]

The following page gives a very detailed overview of how Bach trills should be played. The exact same table appears in the Preface of the Wiener Urtext and Henle Verlag editions.

According this table, a trill includes 6 notes (and not 4), starting as usual on the upper note. I am trying to apply it to the first Invention. Below is an attempt, for the first measure:



Two questions:
- I have never read it or heard it played this way. What am I doing wrong here?
- Do people prefer to play 4 notes in the trill (as opposed to 6) because it allows them to keep the trill "clean" when playing the piece at higher speeds?

Thanks,

Eric

PS: Yes, I know that Bach trills have been discussed here before, but I couldn't find answers to my questions.

[mikeowski]

I'm playing whatever sounds good tbh. And it's different for every piece. For example in the Partita 1, the allemande has trillo signs over 16ths. I played those as 3 notes actually and even had to start slightly before the beat to comfortably get them right. On the other hand, in the Goldberg Aria I'm pretty sure I played the trillos like this.

Btw, the page you linked to has an answer to your question:
...it is good to see Bach specifying what he wants in this regard. Nevertheless, a cautionary note is in order: Willard A. Palmer, in his detailed explanation of this table, helpfully remarks that "Since the Explication applies each ornament to a quarter note only, and that application is only practical at a moderate tempo, it can only show the GENERAL CONFIGURATION of each ornament."

[evitaevita]

You may find this interesting:

A comparison of 5 pianists playing the 1st invention. The pianists are:
1. Walter Gieseking 00:00
2. Rosalyn Tureck 01:05
3. James Friskin 02:32
4. Tatiana Nikolayeva 03:45
5. Glenn Gould 04:51
(All of them are playing 4 notes in the first trill.)

And here are two harpsichordists (both playing 4-note trill):

Kenneth Gilbert:

Gustav Leonhardt:

To sum up, I agree with mikeowski that it is different for each piece and situation. It depends on the tempo, the context (what precedes and what follows the particular note with the trill) and of course the taste of each musician.
Anyway, the issue of Bach's ornamentation is controversial...