Interactive piano piece
Learn Sinfonia No. 5 in E flat major, BWV 791
Warm E-flat major three-voice writing — the only sinfonia in this key, giving it an immediately distinctive colour. The interactive player renders the Eb-major voice crossing in notation — use voice isolation to see and hear when the inner voice rises above the soprano, a touch of three-part counterpoint that surprises first-time players.
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Press Play for the full piece, or choose Opening and switch to Wait for note for guided right-hand practice.
About the piece
E-flat major's warmth — the Sinfonia that breathes.
Sinfonia No. 5 in E-flat major is perhaps the most lyrical of the set — a three-voice piece in compound meter that moves with a lilting, dance-like quality quite different from the more austere D-minor pieces on either side of it. E-flat major was associated in Baroque music with a noble, tender affect, and Bach's subject here is gently arching, almost singable, in contrast to the angular subjects of the D-minor Sinfonias.
The compound meter (typically 9/8 or 3/8 depending on the edition) gives all three voices a rocking quality, and the voice crossings — where the inner voice briefly rises above the soprano — add a touch of playful complexity that reveals itself only when you trace the individual lines. It is a piece that rewards listening as much as playing.
Practice path
Feel the compound meter as a gentle triple pulse.
Before playing, tap the compound beat subdivision lightly — three subdivisions per beat — and internalize the rocking quality. When you begin playing, let that rocking motion guide the phrasing so that each group of three subdivisions has a slight lean on the first. This gives the piece its dance-like lilt without exaggerating the rhythm.
Score basis: Generated MusicXML from Mutopia MIDI. Public domain composition; Public Domain (CC0) — Mutopia; MusicXML generated for Pianodemy. Attribution: Mutopia Project (https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=204).
MIDI source: Mutopia Project (https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=204). Public Domain (CC0) — Mutopia.
Questions
Before you practice.
Short answers for learners and for searchers deciding whether this is the right version to start with.
01Why is E-flat major unusual for Bach keyboard pieces?
Bach wrote remarkably little solo keyboard music in E-flat major — the WTC contains a prelude and fugue in this key (BWV 852), but it remains rare compared to C major or D minor. The sinfonias include it partly to exercise the student's fluency in less common keys.
02How many bars is Sinfonia No. 5?
38 bars — one of the longer sinfonias — with a flowing texture that requires sustained three-voice independence throughout.
How to use this V1
Watch for the voice crossing — prepare the hand position early.
The inner voice rises above the soprano at least once in the piece; this requires the right hand to play two notes simultaneously in positions that can feel counterintuitive. Identify those measures in the score, practice them in isolation at 60% tempo, and map out which finger plays which voice before returning them to context.