Invention No. 12 in A major BWV 783

About this work

In Bach’s Invention No. 12 in A major, BWV 783, the bass starts moving while the upper voice proceeds in spaced, ornamented notes. The 12/8 metre groups quavers in threes, giving each bar four broad beats. Semiquaver figures can run within that pulse without changing it. The different rates of movement in the two hands give the opening its shape.
The fast figure reaches the right hand in the second bar. Follow that handover without accenting every change of hand. Play the opening two bars slowly while singing the voice with the longer notes; its line should remain audible through the quicker figures.
Ornament signs appear in the upper line from the opening. Find the note each ornament leads to before adding it, then fit it within the four beats. Keep the bass supple so that the quavers do not turn into twelve equally weighted taps.

What the document contains

The 4-page PDF contains the complete keyboard Invention BWV 783, typeset by jeff covey from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition and distributed by Mutopia. The engraving is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0; adaptations require attribution and the same licence. The PDF includes the printed ornament signs. A MIDI file accompanies the score.


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