In the past, I've not had much success writing "long" music (more than about 2-4 minutes in length) due to not having several days in a row where each day could be devoted to composing. Long intervals (weeks) between composing days meant that the habit, skills, and endurance of writing for hours on end never developed. Being now retired, that is changing. This Invention was composed between March 26, 2024 and April 3 with 3-6 hours being devoted to writing each day but two. In a rather loose manner, it follows the Invention style used by J.S. Bach, one obvious difference being the addition of three string parts (violin, viola, and cello).
The Invention started with a principal motive that was derived from to first bar of an Allemanda by Bertin Quentin. Guideposts were added in the form of a dozen-and-a-half dominant-tonic modulations which suggested about five minutes of music. An Invention being sort of fugue-like, at each modulation the principal motive reappeared, often modified in some way.
Between the modulations, one or more bars of counterpoint were added, often based on the principal motive. The harmony in a half dozen cases is based on patterns used in the 18th century that I learned from Robert Gjerdingen's Music in the Galant Style, the Romanesca and Prinner, and the Folia. After four days, a draft of the Invention was done, but it had some rough spots.
Three days were spent on revisions. Much of the time was spent just listening to the current draft over and over, trying to identify what exactly was causing the disagreeablenesses. The melodic lines of each of the string parts needed a lot of fiddling about, the harmonic rhythm was lengthened then shortened in a number of spots, and the harmonic progressions were adjusted to remove some abruptness. These changes were to sections that did not use one of the aforementioned patterns. The result is about six and a half minutes of music.
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[Realized by the Garritan piano and string sections]
©2024 by David Rupp