Bach: Inventions and Sinfonias BWV 772–80 Facsimile

Great art in the seemingly small: What Johann Sebastian Bach initially created as the “Notebook for Friedemann Bach”, he later reworked and retitled “Auffrichtige Anleitung” (A Sincere Guide) – a first step in piano and composition training, upon which the “Well-Tempered Clavier”, the parts of the “Clavier Übung” and ultimately the “Art of Fugue” are based. To this day, the inventions and sinfonias from this “Auffrichtige Anleitung” are the first encounter with Bach’s music for many piano students worldwide.

András Schiff, for whom this work has been a companion since early childhood, describes in his Foreword what fascinates him about it: Bach’s handwriting reveals the inner movement of the music more vividly than a modern music edition ever could. Although each invention and sinfonia takes up no more than a double page, each piece has its very own distinctive character, often inspired by dances. Bach’s art reveals itself in all its grandeur in this condensed form in the smallest of spaces. Martina Rebmann, head of the music department of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, describes how Bach conceived this collection and the journey the autograph manuscript has taken up to the present day.