Bach lived during the Baroque period (born 1685 and died 1750). The Baroque era grew out of the Renaissance. While the Renaissance emphasized balance and restraint, the Baroque period was the age of emotion, contrast and faith expressed through grandeur. Music, art, and architecture sought to stir the soul and reflect the order of creation during the Baroque period. At this time, the Catholic Church tried to inspire awe and faith through emotional power. In Germany, the Protestant Church emphasized individual devotion and the inner life, concepts that shaped Bach’s music.

As a devout Lutheran, Bach believed music was a way to make the invisible visible, a mirror of divine order. He signed many of his scores with “S.D.G.” Soli Deo Gloria, To God alone be the glory. His Bible survived him and contained his annotations where he underlined passages about music glorifying God. To Bach, theology and music were one and the same.

Lest you think his devout nature made him stuffy, on the contrary, his students described him as gregarious and witty, enjoying good food, wine and conversation. He was also known to be difficult to get along with, having a fiery temper that got him into trouble. He once got into a fist fight with a student calling him  a “Zippelfagottist”, translated to “nanny-goat bassoonist”. Bach’s employers reprimanded him for transgressions such as being a loner, standoffish, and superior attitude.

Yes, Bach was a complex man. He was married twice: first to his second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach. They had 7 children. Maria passed in 1720. Bach married Anna Magdalena a professional singer at the Cothen court in 1721. His second marriage produced 13 children. Sadly, only 10 of his children survived past childhood. Bach was deeply devoted to his children teaching them music and forming small family ensembles for music-making at home.

Between 1720 and 1723, Bach began compiling keyboard exercise and wrote a notebook called Klaverbϋchlien fϋr Wilhelm Friedmann Bach (Little Keyboard Book for Wilhelm Friedeman Bach) that became the early version of the 2 and 3 part Inventions (the 3 part Inventions are also called Sinfonias). Wilhelm was Bach’s second son who became a gifted composer and organist. Wilhelm would have been around 10 years old at the time.

If you ever studied piano, eventually your teacher will introduce a Bach Invention to your repertoire. Just like Wilhem so many centuries ago, you found yourself practicing both hands independently. While the pieces seem simple to grasp, the technicality and musicality can challenge even the most seasoned pianist.

These pieces were not meant to be concert pieces but teaching works. However, you will find concert pianists today recording the entire set of inventions. One of my favorite artists who has recorded all of the inventions is Andras Shiff. When listening to his performance, listen to the conversation between the hands and allow your imagination to identify a conversation between two people. What are they talking about? Where are they talking and what are they feeling?

If this intrigues you, the following video provides a teaching session with Bach’s Invention No 1 in C major to give you an idea of what goes into learning an Invention and the interpretation. Notice how different the piece sounds with different phrasing, embellishments, and techniques.

Let me know how you enjoyed your visit to the Baroque period. Remember – if it isn’t Baroque, don’t fix it!