[Video] Bach - 2-part Invention No. 13

[revanyoda777]

Hello all. Here's my performance of Bach's 2-part invention 13. I went through about 2 hours of recording sessions to get to this take. It's not perfect, but I believe it's about the best I can do at the moment.

I was debating doing a slower tempo to make use of the more solemn minor key, but figured it's easier to parse out the distinctive 2 voices between legato and staccato, which just articulates better at more than 100bpm.

Let me know what you think! Cheers.

[dogperson]

Thanks for posting—- I thought it was very well played ( and I liked your tempo choice). 😊

[revanyoda777]

Thanks for posting—- I thought it was very well played ( and I liked your tempo choice). 😊

Thank you
I got a comment on Reddit on how I should've used more rubato, not sure I agree it could use any more (in fact I think I perhaps used too much, haha), but I do wonder what others think about rubato usage in Bach. Cheers, and thanks for listening!

[dogperson]

You might want to listen to Schiff play this.  I am not hearing anything but very slight rubato
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hPxs3np5oJo

[revanyoda777]

Gotta love Schiff's playing of the Inventions. His recordings of them are among my favorites.
I agree he uses more rubato than my recording and maintains its structure well. Certainly something to aspire to. As said, my take was about the best I could do at the moment. More expression can be added to it, but it's a fine and thin line from being too strict and over-exaggerating Bach into a romantic piece, something I have embarrassingly done with previous attempts.

[brogers70]

I like it very much. You said something about rubato. I think what you could add is not quite rubato, so much as just giving a little space at the end of phrases, not slowing down, just pausing, very very briefly; a few milliseconds here or there can make a big difference in how clear the shape of the piece is to the listener. In fact, it's mostly a way to prevent yourself from hurrying on the the next phrase; make yourself feel as though you are holding back just briefly and you'll avoid rushing on the the next phrase before the last one has had time to feel finished. It's already very good as is, though, this is a minor suggestion.

[quantum]

Lots of good things going on.  Appropriate tempo choice, pacing, hand balance. 

I think you could work at freeing up your hands and making your palms more flexible. 

You can work on phrase shaping, by considering where a staccato or legato touch would highlight the various shapes in the music.  Phrase shaping does not have to be a one-off decision, specially in this kind of music.  You can find different ways of expressing the same passage of music just by changing the shape of a phrase.