Inventionen
by eight young pianists
Not the Netherlands Bach Society itself, and not a renowned soloist, but eight talented young pianists (aged between 7 and 15) performed Bach’s fifteen inventions for All of Bach, in April 2016. The pieces, which Bach once wrote as exercises for children, were performed on harpsichord, just like in Bach’s day.
Following an application round, the following eight candidates were selected:
• Johannes Asfaw
• Kanji Daito
• Evander Eijsink
• Domonkos Hegyi
• Anna Kuvshinov
• Frank Monster
• Peiting Xue
• David Zielman
Former artistic director Jos van Veldhoven said, “Bach wrote the Inventionen as practice material for his own sons and for his pupils. For us, that is the ideal reason to give the opportunity to talented children on this occasion. As we use only historical instruments, they are given masterclasses and lessons in performing the pieces on harpsichord. Only a few children who play Bach at a high standard have had the chance to become familiar with the harpsichord, which is why we decided to invite pianists as well”.
Pieter-Jan Belder, Tineke Steenbrink, Siebe Henstra and Menno van Delft coached the talented youngsters for the recordings, which took place on Saturday 16 April 2016, in Ottone, Utrecht, in front of a live audience. The project received support from the Rabobank. Watch the complete recording of the 15 inventions below.