Bach - 3 part inventions No. 2

[reiyza]

Hello PS forum, this is the first time that I'll be posting under here. So here's the link to my recording.

Piano : CLP 430r
Recorder Used : Xiaomi F1 video recorder

Details : I have been working on this piece for about a month now, and this is how far I've reached, it's far from perfect but I'm going to move on from this piece soon, might as well record it while it's clean enough?

Missed notes everywhere, sorry guys I'm not a professional in any way. Happy to receive negative feedbacks for self improvement. Thank you!

Sharing is caring. lol

Edit1: pardon, I live in the tropics so, yeah shirtless it is... Sorry

[j_tour]

I have no negative criticism at all.

Yeah, of course, you hit a couple of clams/wrong notes, but not that many, and that isn't a big deal IMHO.

Your even, measured trills were very good, your tempo was good, your articulation especially in the LH sixteenth-note runs was very good.  You nailed what I think is the hardest part of the piece, in bar 26, having the RH come in at the right times over the LH running bass figure.

You seem to be, as a theme, pretty hard on yourself, but I hear only things you should be proud of.

Fortunately for you, since your goal is the Cm partita, Bach wrote so much good stuff in that key.  For a similar-difficulty (IMO) "student piece," the WTCII Cm prelude+fugue are nice. 

Especially given you learned that in a month to a very good level (I'm assuming you did other music at the same time), I think you should keep going while your enthusiasm is there.
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[reiyza]

@jtour - your critique is exceptionally helpful! Thank you so much, i tend to be very negative about my playing, so sorry for that.

The only pieces that i've practiced along with the invention was the czerny 599 studies, about exercise 57 to 61. And fragment of Mozart's "twinkle twinkle little star" Variation VIII minor, and some segments of the partita that doesn't seem to go anywhere.

So in your opinion, the WTC is in my reach? I've always wanted to play from that compositions all my life.. but i feel like i have to complete all the inventions first before moving on. :/

[j_tour]

So in your opinion, the WTC is in my reach? I've always wanted to play from that compositions all my life.. but i feel like i have to complete all the inventions first before moving on. :/

Well, I'm no expert, but absolutely.  The reason I said the C minor one from book II is that not only is the prelude actually worth playing, but there seem to be some relationships between what's happening in both the prelude and the fugue and some of the bits from the "Sinfonia" section of the Partita.

Nothing really wrong with the book I C minor set:  the fugue is a classic, but whether you'd want to bother with the prelude depends on your tastes I guess.

Yeah, absolutely you could do those or others from the WTC. 

Of course, I would also say you could just start with the Sinfonia section from the Partita, but it is pretty long.

So, you know, I'm just some guy on the internet.  Of course I think I'm right, but who doesn't? 

[reiyza]

No, no, any kind of feedback from just about anyone is greatly appreciated.

I think I'll go for the 3 part invention No. 7 after this, then revive some of the inventions (especially 2 part no. 4 and 15, love those works) to give me some technical stability then I'll slowly make my way to WTK Book no. 1 P & F in C minor, I'll complete it.

Thank you for listening to my recording, it really means a lot, especially when you don't have a teacher.

[j_tour]

Nice choice of the E minor Sinfonia:  I think it's one of the more interesting of the minor-key sinfonie, for some reason.  It has an odd wheedling, almost Eastern European quality to it that I find unusual.  When I was much younger, I was all about the F minor and the D minor, but I rarely have the patience to play them now — late at night, maybe if I've been drinking and am feeling sentimental.  They're powerful, intricate pieces, but sometimes a little more than I want to play.

Not that you asked, but my personal favorites are the C, Cm, D, E, Em, G, A, Am.  I like the F major, but I haven't played it in a while and I have to be more careful reading it than I'd like.  Those are the ones that I keep playing, just for fun.  And, no, I can never keep the arpeggios straight in the B minor — in theory it can be done, certainly, but since nobody's paying me to do it, I just don't bother.  Among the 2-Part Inventions, the C, Cm, Dm, A, and the Bb are really the only ones I come back to, sort of just for fun.  It's pretty fun to play the C or the Dm as fast as possible, almost as a joke to myself.  Although Gould clearly won that game with his amusing, blistering take on the Am.

Oh, I remember the reason I was thinking the WTCII Cm Prelude had some relationship to the Cm Partita's first movement:  just the LH part in staggered octaves or other intervals.  I think you could just sight-read it without much problem.  The fugue is great, but it has some tricky syncopations:  probably a little harder than the fugue from book I, but not by much.