Demonstration - Bach Invention in F major, BWV 779

Dr. Ivona Kaminska expanded her pianistic knowledge under such Bach and Baroque performance practice experts as Dr. George Ritchie, Dr. Quentin Faulkner, and Dr. Gregory Butler and performance on harpsichord and organ. This fascination led her to publish her dissertation on applying such techniques to the modern piano.
In this clip, Dr. Kaminska presents Bach's Invention No. 8 in F major, BWV 779 on a modern Steinway model D.
Notes:
Many aspects of Baroque performance practice are possible on the modern piano. These aspects get us closer to the way Bach heard, understood, and performed the music himself.
* one of the most popular inventions, this one presents one of the most significant examples of projecting strong and weak notes at every rhythmic level
* the contour of the main subject shows that Bach placed the most interesting (changing) notes on the strongest beats, with the strongest arrival on beat 1 of measure 2
* sequential material is very clear, and facilitates an easy dynamic plan
* one of the most easily accessible of inventions, emotionally and technically, it also serves as one of the best inventions to study the importance of strong/weak pairing (eighth-notes and sixteenth-notes)
* the 4/4 meter suggests a tempo that could be lively, but near the upper spectrum of overall tempo
* light and bouncy articulation of eighth-notes corroborates the light and joyful Affect
* this was obviously written for the two-manual harpsichord (two examples of hands aligning on the same pitch), but on the modern piano, the performer must decide which hand is more comfortable to play the unison note
* it is customary on piano to bring out the main motive; however, this was not the case on harpsichord or organ, so such shading was not possible