Pedagogia, didattica e retorica nelle 'Invenzioni a due voci' di J. S. Bach

Abstract

The Two- and Three-Part Inventions were composed just before the more complete and complex work The Well Tempered Clavier and can be considered Bach's first organic pedagogic work for keyboard. The pedagogic concept, common in Bach's time, that integrates the purely instrumental element with the skill of musical composition is intrinsic to both works. The different succession of 15 pieces in the first version of the 'Invenzioni' (that which we find in Clavier-Buchlein von Wilhelm Friedmann Bach) achieve a consistent progression of difficulty. The more concrete didactic intention is quite clear in this example compared to the general pedagogy of the final version, proposing a practical tool which can clearly be used for teaching purposes. This article, also based on studies in the field, aims firstly at highlighting all aspects to achieve this progressive difficulty of composing and instrumental skills on two levels: parallel and concomitant. Secondly, it aims at showing that the use of classical rhetoric (then considered an essential element of pedagogy given its prime importance in all discourse be it musical or verbal) influenced the choice in Two-Part Inventions of certain models of formal articulation.