Invention No. 11 in G minor BWV 782

About this work

The bass sounds a G at the very start of the Invention No. 11 in G minor, BWV 782. After a short rest, the right hand enters with a compact climb: D, E, F sharp, G. This little burst of semiquavers travels between the hands. Added accidentals give it a tension that the two flats in the key signature do not explain on their own.
Find that rising figure whenever it returns, then play it within its phrase rather than as a detached exercise. The bass has entrances and rests of its own. At a slow tempo, sing one voice while playing the other so that their answers remain audible and the left hand does not become mere accompaniment.
Some notes are held while the other line continues its semiquavers. Give them their full value and keep a steady four-beat pulse. The ornament signs become easier to place once you know where the phrase is heading. Practise that route without realising the ornaments first, then add them while preserving both voices’ durations.


What the document contains

The two-page PDF contains the complete keyboard Invention, BWV 782. The engraving by Allen Garvin, distributed by Mutopia from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition, is declared public domain. The PDF retains the printed ornaments. A MIDI file accompanies the score. An added link points to LesPartitions.info.