Music Worcester presents Simone Dinnerstein: Bach Inventions & Sinfonias

Bach’s Inventions & Sinfonias are indispensable to pianists, being both a classroom and playground. Made up of thirty small works ranging in complexity, this collection of works has acted as a lifelong companion for Dinnerstein. There are instances of imitation, repetition, canons, and harmonic development that push these works from practice to concert hall.

“The first keyboard pieces of Bach that I remember hearing were his Inventions, when I was nine years old. The music seemed impossibly expressive and virtuosic at the time, and wholly beyond my abilities. Here were two continuous and independent voices, neither of which was subservient to the other. Until then I had thought of music as melody and accompaniment. Instrumental training is as much a training in how to listen as in how to play. In the text that accompanies the Inventions, Bach calls them ‘an honest guide.’ His Inventions and Sinfonias are marvels in demonstrating just how potent counterpoint is as an aid to expression, and how powerful a cantabile voice can be when surrounded by contradiction and elaboration. These small masterpieces have snippets of dances in them, laments and celebrations, simplicity and complexity.” (Simone Dinnerstein)