Johann Sebastian Bach: 15 Inventionen für zwei Gitarren

When Johann Sebastian Bach composed these Inventions, he intended them as teaching material for his young sons. We would certainly love to be able to travel via time machine and watch the older Bach instruct his six- or seven-year-old offspring.

Bach’s Inventions, though composed for Clavier, are suitable for playing on other instruments as well. It won’t come as a surprise then to learn that multiple adaptations of these compositions are in existence, to which we now add this arrangement for two guitars.

In our adaptation, you will find technical phrasings marked as dashed slurs, as opposed to the solid phrasing slurs employed by Bach. Embellishments, as well as fingerings, should be read as mere suggestions.

When performing the set in its entirety, we recommend closing with the alternate version of Invention No. 1, BWV 772a, for rounding the performance off.

Arranged by Reinbert Evers and Konstantin Vassiliev