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Piano Classics

Bach: Inventions & Sinfonias

Baroque Spiritual Virtuosic Uplifting Dramatic
$19.99

Details

Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach
Artist
Yuan Sheng
Format
CD
Label
Piano Classics
Released
Jan 16, 2026
Catalog #
PCL10327
UPC
5063758103275

About

The latest volume in an ongoing series by an acclaimed Bach specialist on the modern piano. With recordings of the French Suites, Partitas and Goldberg Variations on Piano Classics, the Chinese pianist Yuan Sheng has placed himself among the most searching of present-day Bach pianists. As Jed Distler remarked in Gramophone, reviewing the Goldbergs, 'Yuan Sheng's disciplined, scrupulously terraced style often reflects his mentor Rosalyn Tureck.' In a new and illuminating booklet essay for this album, the musicologist and pianist Raymond Erickson remarks that the 15 two-part Inventions and the 15 three-part Sinfonias played an important role in Bach's teaching. These pieces, although today mainly associated with basic piano training, are not at all easy and in fact are sophisticated, small-scale masterpieces. 'They were not composed simply to provide technical training in keyboard playing but, perhaps more important, to teach keyboard players how to compose.' In 1720 Bach's oldest son Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-84) was already of an age appropriate for introducing him into the family trade of musician. So Bach started for him a music notebook: a Clavierbuchlein which included these Inventions and Sinfonias. Bach revised them shortly before moving to Leipzig in the spring of 1720, to take up his new post as Thomaskantor, and copied them out with a preface. In learning and playing these works, Bach affirmed, a diligent student would be taught 'a clear manner for playing not only in two voices but also in three obbligato parts and, furthermore, not only how to invent good musical ideas [inventiones] but also how to develop these well. And above all, how to achieve a cantabile manner of playing, and additionally to obtain a strong foretaste of Composition.' So it is that the Inventions and Sinfonias have given much pleasure to both performers and listeners throughout the subsequent two centuries. Brief as they are, each one of these 30 works elegantly outlines a distinct and often playful world of it's own. They reward intensive listening both on their own and in sequence. And Yuan Sheng's performances draw on all the coloristic possibilities and varieties of articulation available on the modern piano, without seeking to exceed the bounds of style which the works themselves inhabit.

Tracklist 37 tracks

  1. 1 Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772 01:26
    Track
    1
    Title
    Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772
    Duration
    01:26
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  2. 2 Invention No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 773 02:13
    Track
    2
    Title
    Invention No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 773
    Duration
    02:13
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  3. 3 Invention No. 3 in D Major, BWV 774 01:09
    Track
    3
    Title
    Invention No. 3 in D Major, BWV 774
    Duration
    01:09
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  4. 4 Invention No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 775 01:00
    Track
    4
    Title
    Invention No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 775
    Duration
    01:00
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  5. 5 Invention No. 5 in E-Flat Major, BWV 776 01:54
    Track
    5
    Title
    Invention No. 5 in E-Flat Major, BWV 776
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  6. 6 Invention No. 6 in E Major, BWV 777 02:46
    Track
    6
    Title
    Invention No. 6 in E Major, BWV 777
    Duration
    02:46
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  7. 7 Invention No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 778 01:50
    Track
    7
    Title
    Invention No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 778
    Duration
    01:50
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  8. 8 Invention No. 8 in F Major, BWV 779 00:57
    Track
    8
    Title
    Invention No. 8 in F Major, BWV 779
    Duration
    00:57
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  9. 9 Invention No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 780 02:10
    Track
    9
    Title
    Invention No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 780
    Duration
    02:10
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  10. 10 Invention No. 10 in G Major, BWV 781 00:56
    Track
    10
    Title
    Invention No. 10 in G Major, BWV 781
    Duration
    00:56
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  11. 11 Invention No. 11 in G Minor, BWV 782 01:56
    Track
    11
    Title
    Invention No. 11 in G Minor, BWV 782
    Duration
    01:56
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  12. 12 Invention No. 12 in A Major, BWV 783 01:11
    Track
    12
    Title
    Invention No. 12 in A Major, BWV 783
    Duration
    01:11
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  13. 13 Invention No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 784 01:19
    Track
    13
    Title
    Invention No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 784
    Duration
    01:19
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  14. 14 Invention No. 14 in B-Flat Major, BWV 785 01:28
    Track
    14
    Title
    Invention No. 14 in B-Flat Major, BWV 785
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  15. 15 Invention No. 15 in B Minor, BWV 786 01:30
    Track
    15
    Title
    Invention No. 15 in B Minor, BWV 786
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  16. 16 Sinfonia No. 1 in C Major, BWV 787 01:25
    Track
    16
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 1 in C Major, BWV 787
    Duration
    01:25
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  17. 17 Sinfonia No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 788 02:12
    Track
    17
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 788
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  18. 18 Sinfonia No. 3 in D Major, BWV 789 01:23
    Track
    18
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 3 in D Major, BWV 789
    Duration
    01:23
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  19. 19 Sinfonia No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 790 02:10
    Track
    19
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 790
    Duration
    02:10
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  20. 20 Sinfonia No. 5 in E-Flat Major, BWV 791 02:45
    Track
    20
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 5 in E-Flat Major, BWV 791
    Duration
    02:45
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  21. 21 Sinfonia No. 6 in E Major, BWV 792 01:14
    Track
    21
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 6 in E Major, BWV 792
    Duration
    01:14
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  22. 22 Sinfonia No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 793 02:21
    Track
    22
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 793
    Duration
    02:21
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  23. 23 Sinfonia No. 8 in F Major, BWV 794 01:15
    Track
    23
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 8 in F Major, BWV 794
    Duration
    01:15
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  24. 24 Sinfonia No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 795 03:31
    Track
    24
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 795
    Duration
    03:31
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  25. 25 Sinfonia No. 10 in G Major, BWV 796 01:02
    Track
    25
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 10 in G Major, BWV 796
    Duration
    01:02
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  26. 26 Sinfonia No. 11 in G Minor, BWV 797 02:24
    Track
    26
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 11 in G Minor, BWV 797
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  27. 27 Sinfonia No. 12 in A Major, BWV 798 01:31
    Track
    27
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 12 in A Major, BWV 798
    Duration
    01:31
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  28. 28 Sinfonia No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 799 01:50
    Track
    28
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 799
    Duration
    01:50
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  29. 29 Sinfonia No. 14 in B-Flat Major, BWV 800 01:52
    Track
    29
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 14 in B-Flat Major, BWV 800
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  30. 30 Sinfonia No. 15 in B Minor, BWV 801 01:47
    Track
    30
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 15 in B Minor, BWV 801
    Duration
    01:47
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  31. 31 Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772a 01:35
    Track
    31
    Title
    Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772a
    Duration
    01:35
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  32. 32 Sinfonia No. 3 in D Major BWV 789 01:27
    Track
    32
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 3 in D Major BWV 789
    Duration
    01:27
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  33. 33 Sinfonia No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 790 02:17
    Track
    33
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 790
    Duration
    02:17
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  34. 34 Sinfonia No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 793 02:34
    Track
    34
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 793
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  35. 35 Sinfonia No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 795 03:18
    Track
    35
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 9 in F Minor, BWV 795
    Duration
    03:18
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  36. 36 Sinfonia No. 11 in G Minor, BWV 797 02:25
    Track
    36
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 11 in G Minor, BWV 797
    Duration
    02:25
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng
  37. 37 Sinfonia No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 799 01:53
    Track
    37
    Title
    Sinfonia No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 799
    Duration
    01:53
    Composer
    Johann Sebastian Bach
    Performer
    Yuan Sheng