Invention In B Minor for Violin & Viola Duo

The current Invention in B minor was adapted for violin and Viola duo based on the original Invention in A minor Op 22 for keyboard as part of the MuseScore Community challenge to write pieces for two instruments. The adaption of the keyboard Invention as a duo for two stringed instruments also serves as an example of the plasticity of the Bach influenced Baroque style's adaptability to diverse instruments.

The original Invention Op 22 was written for piano, but alternatives were created for harpsichord as well as Celtic harp. The current piece for violin and viola was transposed from A minor to B minor to accommodate string players preferences for sharp key-based signatures.

Bach’s inventions were studies in “fugal” contrapuntal techniques some in canonic style using alternating tonic and dominant. As with Bach’s first Invention (written in C Major), the current “invention” is rewritten in B minor in canonic style. The term “Contravention” was used as the title of this piece in a rather tongue-in-cheek statement to note that I cannot begin to have the genius of Bach as well as to state that after writing 15 Inventions, Bach definitely needed an “Intervention”. The present work is in
“contravention” to the “intervention” of Op. 53.

The adaption to B minor for string instruments was created 22 May 2021.