Invention 9 BWV 780 in the key of F minor is a challenging invention to play particularly from the note reading and voice leading point of view. There are many accidentals to read and it is easy to make music reading errors. The octave range or more is not so much in evidence in place in this arrangement presenting quite challenging intonation (tuning) issues. That said an excellent test piece for those who have a good musical ear and need to clarify their understanding of the term voice leading / leading note in their playing. A legato playing approach is required in the playing in what is a slow tempo and melancholy movement. In the sheet music score the ornaments are indicated but do not sound. The ornamentation in place is placed at the important cadence points in the movement. In the keyboard video score, which clarinettists may wish to refer to on the PlentyMusic YouTube channel ornaments have been written out as they sound in the realisation to represent exactly what is being played. The #sheetmusic video plays back at 56 quarter note or crotchet beats per minute. Accompaniments are in place allowing flute players to participate in ensemble activities as part of practice routines. Flute 1 sounds on one side of the stereo channel and flute 2 on the other. The accompaniment tracks play back at 54, 56, 58, 60, 62 & 64 quarter note (crotchet) beats per minute. There is a two bar count in /click track at the beginning of the accompaniment tracks. Playing the music of Bach is challenging and his style is demanding and uncompromising in the consistency required to perform it accurately. As a composer Bach is not so much an innovator but one of those who brings all the musical elements of his time together and takes them to an altogether much higher artistic and technical level. The Bach Inventions are generally considered to be intermediate level movements when played on a keyboard instrument. The principle behind J. S. Bach’s two part inventions is to take a musical idea or motive and then process it following the rules of good contrapuntal writing using the compositional processes of the baroque and at the same time referencing the closely related keys in the key system. Inversion, repetition, sequence, transposition, rhythmic augmentation & diminution amongst processes are evident in Bach’s inventions as most other music of the baroque period. J. S. Bach composed 15 Inventions in a collection dating from 1723 intended to introduce keyboard players to composition techniques of the baroque. They are excellent ensemble movements.
