Description
From the calm E major of No. 6, the seventh of the three-part Sinfonias moves into shadow on the same keynote, in E minor. As the set moves into its second half the range of character between the pieces widens further, and this one carries the subdued colour of the minor key. The contrast with the piece before it is one of the things to listen for.
Among the busier pieces in the set, it fits 725 notes into 101 seconds of 3/4. The three voices, with plenty of fine motion, intertwine to form the harmony of the minor key. Nothing goes below D2 or above C6, so it can be played on 61 keys.
Although its expression is subdued, it has many notes, and the intermediate-level task is not to let the fine motion break the line of the melody. First lower the playback speed and check the shape of each voice in the score view. Knowing from the hand colours where the right hand holds two voices makes fingering decisions easier. Loop the crowded passages with A-B repeat and bring them together while keeping the sound clear.
A set of three-part counterpoint studies (BWV 787-801) that expand on the two-part Inventions, teaching more complex polyphony.
Browse all songs in Three-Part Sinfonias →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.
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