Description
A calm minor-key melody passes between the two voices of this lyrical E minor Invention. The collection climbs through the keynotes from C major, setting major- and minor-key pieces side by side, and No. 7 comes straight after No. 6 in E major, turning the mood around on the same keynote. Heard straight after the bright No. 6, it shows how much the same keynote changes between major and minor.
The writing draws the ear to the shading of the melodic line and the movement of the harmony rather than to speed or brilliance. In 4/4 and ranging from C2 to C6, its 473 notes in about 63 seconds make it of typical size for the set.
Its technical demands are moderate, which makes it a good piece for concentrating on expression. It asks you to swell towards the peak of each phrase and let it settle naturally towards its end. Slow the playback speed to hear the chords at the phrase endings, and check the phrase divisions in the score view as you practise; the breathing of the melody will start to come naturally.
A set of 15 two-part counterpoint studies (BWV 772-786) that Bach composed for his son's musical education.
Browse all songs in Two-Part Inventions →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach was the towering figure of German Baroque music, serving for decades as Cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Renowned for his mastery of counterpoint, he laid the foundations of keyboard music with works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions. This site includes minuets and polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, the Inventions and Sinfonias, and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Notebook pieces are catalogued with BWV Anh. (appendix) numbers, but many are by other composers - Petzold's minuets among them - or by no one known, and most of their song pages give the current view of who wrote them.
View all works by Bach →