music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, an invention is a short

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

(usually for a

keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital p ...

) in two-part counterpoint. (Compositions in the same style as an invention but using three-part counterpoint are known as ''

sinfonia Sinfonia (; plural ''sinfonie'') is the Italian word for symphony, from the Latin ''symphonia'', in turn derived from Ancient Greek συμφωνία ''symphōnia'' (agreement or concord of sound), from the prefix σύν (together) and ϕωνή (sou ...

s.'' Some modern publishers call them "three-part inventions" to avoid confusion with symphonies.) Well-known examples are the fifteen inventions that make up the first half of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Inventions and Sinfonias The Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801, also known as the Two- and Three-Part Inventions, are a collection of thirty short keyboard compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): 15 ''inventions'', which are two-part contrapuntal pieces, ...

. Inventions are usually not performed in public, but serve as exercises for keyboard students, and as

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

exercises for composition students.

Form

Inventions are similar in style to a fugue, though they are much simpler. They consist of a short

exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair * Expository writing ** Exposition (narrative) * Exposition (music) *Trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade e ...

, a longer

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

, and, sometimes, a short recapitulation. The key difference is that inventions do not generally contain an answer to the subject in the dominant key, whereas the fugue does. Two-part and three-part inventions are in contrapuntal style.

Exposition

In the exposition, a short motif is introduced by one voice in the tonic key. This is also known as the theme. The subject is then repeated in the second voice in the tonic key while the initial voice either plays a

countersubject In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme. Characteristics A subject may be perceivable as a complete mus ...

or plays in free counterpoint.

Development

The development comprises the bulk of the piece. Here the composer develops the subject by writing

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individua ...

either melodically or

harmonically In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...

. This usually involves the alternation of episodes with statements of the theme, similar to the development of a fugue. In minor- and major-mode inventions, the theme is typically restated in the relative major and the dominant, respectively. New key areas are reached through episodes, which usually move sequentially through the circle of fifths. The final episode ends on a half cadence in the original key, and is often exaggerated to make the subject sound extra special when it returns. David Fuentes, "Figuring out Melody" Many of Bach‘s Inventions follow this plan, including BWV 775 and BWV 782.

Recapitulation

If an invention does have any recapitulation at all, it tends to be extremely short—sometimes only two or four measures. The composer repeats the theme in the upper voice and the piece ends. The repetition of the theme contains very little variation (or no variation at all) on the original theme. The lower line usually plays the countersubject, and if there is no countersubject, plays in free counterpoint.

History

The invention is primarily a work of

. Inventions originated from contrapuntal improvisations in Italy, especially from the form of the composer Francesco Antonio Bonporti. Bach adapted and modified the form to what is considered to be a formal invention. Bach wrote 15 inventions (BWV 772–786) as exercises for his son,

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and compose ...

. Bach later wrote a set of 15 three-part inventions, called

s (BWV 787–801).

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