PlayPiano
The short answer
A teaching piece with a history before its familiar title. Three-Part Sinfonia No. 9, BWV 795 is a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach from the Baroque era. PlayPiano puts it at Level 7, an estimate.
- sinfonia
- Baroque
- melancholic
History
Three-Part Sinfonia No. 9, BWV 795 belongs to Bach's three-part Sinfonias. The earlier teaching notebook for Wilhelm Friedemann was begun in Köthen on 22 January 1720. Bach made a separate fair copy of the collection in 1723, revising its presentation and order. These dates mark stages in the collection's history, not the exact day this individual piece was composed. The collection reached print in 1801, long after Bach's lifetime.
Sources
What to listen for
Three concurrent strands
Follow the subject beside its two counter-lines.
How to practise it
Later first-line entrance; bass changes durations and register.
- Count the two silent spans and prepare the entry against the already sounding lines.
- Practise the bass outline first, then retain its duration changes under the other lines.
How hard is it
Chromatic movement appears immediately in the bass and inner line, with independent rests, ties and later thirty-second-note ornaments. Accurate releases and harmonic reading are as important as velocity.
About this piece
- Licence
- Public Domain
- Source
- mutopiaproject.org
More by Johann Sebastian Bach
- Prelude in C major, BWV 846Level 4, estimatedOpen to everyone
- Two-Part Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV 772Level 5, estimatedWith Maestro
- Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971: III. PrestoLevel 9, estimatedWith Maestro
