“The manuscripts of great composers are invaluable. Unlike printed editions, they offer a direct window into the composer’s innermost world, revealing the creative process, complete with changes, corrections, and variants. The beauty of Bach’s manuscripts stands out as truly unique, singular.” /András Schiff (Editor)

Great art in the seemingly small: What Johann Sebastian Bach initially created as the “Notebook for Friedemann Bach”, he later reworked and retitled “Auffrichtige Anleitung” (A Sincere Guide) – a first step in piano and composition training, upon which the “Well-Tempered Clavier”, the parts of the “Clavier Übung” and ultimately the “Art of Fugue” are based. To this day, the inventions and sinfonias from this “Auffrichtige Anleitung” are the first encounter with Bach’s music for many piano students worldwide.

András Schiff, for whom this work has been a companion since early childhood, describes in his Foreword what fascinates him about it: Bach’s handwriting reveals the inner movement of the music more vividly than a modern music edition ever could. Although each invention and sinfonia takes up no more than a double page, each piece has its very own distinctive character, often inspired by dances. Bach’s art reveals itself in all its grandeur in this condensed form in the smallest of spaces. Martina Rebmann, head of the music department of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, describes how Bach conceived this collection and the journey the autograph manuscript has taken up to the present day.

Content:
Invention 1 C major BWV 772
Invention 1 (Triplets) C major BWV 772a
Invention 2 c minor BWV 773
Invention 3 D major BWV 774
Invention 4 d minor BWV 775
Invention 5 E flat major BWV 776
Invention 6 E major BWV 777
Invention 7 e minor BWV 778
Invention 8 F major BWV 779
Invention 9 f minor BWV 780
Invention 10 G major BWV 781
Invention 11 g minor BWV 782
Invention 12 A major BWV 783
Invention 13 a minor BWV 784
Invention 14 B flat major BWV 785
Invention 15 b minor BWV 786

Sinfonia 1 C major BWV 787
Sinfonia 2 c minor BWV 788
Sinfonia 3 D major BWV 789
Sinfonia 4 d minor BWV 790
Sinfonia 5 E flat major BWV 791
Sinfonia 5 (ornamented) E flat major BWV 791a
Sinfonia 6 E major BWV 792
Sinfonia 7 e minor BWV 793
Sinfonia 8 F major BWV 794
Sinfonia 9 f minor BWV 795
Sinfonia 10 G major BWV 796
Sinfonia 11 g minor BWV 797
Sinfonia 12 A major BWV 798
Sinfonia 13 a minor BWV 799
Sinfonia 14 B flat major BWV 800
Sinfonia 15 b minor BWV 801

Preface – In Nuce
A Keyboard Tutor Bridging the Centuries
Genesis and conception
The transmission of the manuscript
State of preservation of the manuscript