Title page of the Goldberg Variations (first edition) The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, are a set of 30 variations for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. First published in 1741 as the fourth in a series Bach called Clavier-Übung, "keyboard practice", the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form. It is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the first performer. Image File history File links Goldberg-titlepage. ...
Image File history File links Goldberg-titlepage. ...
Goldberg Variations may refer to The Goldberg Variations, a musical composition by Johann Sebastian Bach Les Variations Goldberg (English title The Goldberg Variations), a 1981 novel by Nancy Huston The Goldberg Variations (play), a 2000 play by Ron Elisha Goldberg Variations (2002 book), a 2002 novel by Gabriel Josipovici The...
Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is the numbering system used to identify musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...
For the ballet Theme and Variations, see Theme and Variations (ballet). ...
Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. ...
“Bach†redirects here. ...
See List of compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach for the complete list of Bach compositions - the present list only lists those compositions by Bach that were printed during his lifetime: since some of these editions got a bit scattered over the BWV catalogue, this list is only intended to provide...
For the ballet Theme and Variations, see Theme and Variations (ballet). ...
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (baptised March 14, 1727 – April 13, 1756) was a German virtuoso harpsichordist, organist, and composer of the late Baroque and early Classical period. ...
Composition
The tale of how the variations came to be composed comes from a biography of Bach written by Johann Nikolaus Forkel: Johann Nikolaus Forkel (February 22, 1749–March 20, 1818), was a German musician, musicologist and music theorist. ...
[For this work] we have to thank the instigation of the former Russian ambassador to the electoral court of Saxony, Count Kaiserling, who often stopped in Leipzig and brought there with him the aforementioned Goldberg, in order to have him given musical instruction by Bach. The Count was often ill and had sleepless nights. At such times, Goldberg, who lived in his house, had to spend the night in an antechamber, so as to play for him during his insomnia. ... Once the Count mentioned in Bach's presence that he would like to have some clavier pieces for Goldberg, which should be of such a smooth and somewhat lively character that he might be a little cheered up by them in his sleepless nights. Bach thought himself best able to fulfill this wish by means of Variations, the writing of which he had until then considered an ungrateful task on account of the repeatedly similar harmonic foundation. But since at this time all his works were already models of art, such also these variations became under his hand. Yet he produced only a single work of this kind. Thereafter the Count always called them his variations. He never tired of them, and for a long time sleepless nights meant: 'Dear Goldberg, do play me one of my variations.' Bach was perhaps never so rewarded for one of his works as for this. The Count presented him with a golden goblet filled with 100 louis-d'or. Nevertheless, even had the gift been a thousand times larger, their artistic value would not yet have been paid for.[1] Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area 18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1] - Density 231 /km...
Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ...
This article is about the sleeping disorder. ...
Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ...
The French Louis XVIII 20 franc coin was a limited number of gold coins issued depicting King Louis on one side, and the French royal coat of arms on the reverse. ...
Forkel wrote his biography in 1802, more than 60 years after the events related, and its accuracy has been questioned. The lack of dedication on the title page of the "Aria with Diverse Variations" also makes the tale of the commission unlikely. Goldberg's age at the time of publication (14 years) has also been cited as grounds for doubting Forkel's tale, although it must be said that he was known to be an accomplished keyboardist and sight-reader. In a recent book-length study,[2] keyboardist and Bach scholar Peter Williams contends that the Forkel story is entirely spurious. This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...
The aria on which the variations are based was suggested by Arnold Schering not to have been written by Bach. More recent scholarly literature (the edition by Christoph Wolff, cited below) suggests there is no basis for such doubts. An aria (Italian for air; plural: arie or arias in common usage) in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. ...
Christoph Wolff (born May 24, 1940) is a German-born musicologist, presently on the faculty of Harvard University. ...
Publication Rather unusually for Bach's works, the Goldberg variations were published in his own lifetime, in 1741. The publisher was Bach's friend Balthasar Schmid of Nuremberg. Schmid printed the work by making engraved copper plates (rather than using movable type); thus the notes of the first edition are in Schmid's own handwriting. The edition contains various printing errors.[3] Nürnberg redirects here. ...
The title page, shown in the figure above, reads in German:
- Clavier Ubung / bestehend / in einer ARIA / mit verschiedenen Veraenderungen / vors Clavicimbal / mit 2 Manualen. / Denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths- / Ergetzung verfertiget von / Johann Sebastian Bach / Königl. Pohl. u. Curfl. Saechs. Hoff- / Compositeur, Capellmeister, u. Directore / Chori Musici in Leipzig. / Nürnberg in Verlegung / Balthasar Schmids[4]
- "Keyboard practice, consisting of an ARIA with diverse variations for harpsichord with two manuals. Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach, composer for the royal court of Poland and the Electoral court of Saxony, Kapellmeister and Director of Choral Music in Leipzig. Nuremberg, Balthasar Schmid, publisher."
By "Clavier Ubung" (nowadays spelled "Klavier Übung"), according to some, Bach designated the Variations as the fourth (and last) in a series of clavier (organ and harpsichord) works he published (part 1 being the Partitas, part 2 the Italian Concerto and French Overture, and part 3 a series of chorale preludes for organ framed by a prelude and fugue in E-flat major.) Because he does not specifically mention its being a fourth part, as opposed to the other three, it is still a matter of debate whether he really saw it as a fourth part in a series. A Kapellmeister is nowadays the director or conductor of an orchestra or choir. ...
The Partitas, BWV 825–830, are a set of six harpsichord suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach, published from 1726 to 1730 as Clavier-übung I, and the first of his works to be published. ...
Nineteen copies of the first edition survive today. Of these, the most valuable is the 'handexemplar', kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, which includes corrections and additions made by the composer, including an appendix with fourteen canons based on the first eight bass notes of the aria, BWV 1087. The new buildings of the library. ...
These copies provide virtually the only information available to modern editors trying to reconstruct Bach's intent; the autograph (hand-written) score has not survived. A handwritten copy of just the aria is found in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Christoph Wolff, on the basis of handwriting evidence, suggests that Anna Magdalena copied the aria from the autograph score around 1740; it appears on two pages previously left blank. See also: 1724 in music, other events of 1725, 1726 in music, list of years in music. ...
Categories: Stub | Manuscripts ...
Form After a statement of the aria at the beginning of the piece, there are thirty variations. The variations do not follow the melody of the aria, but rather use its bass line and chord progression. Because of this the work is often said to be a chaconne — the difference being that the theme for a chaconne is usually just four bars long, whereas Bach's aria is in two sections of sixteen bars, each repeated. A bassline is a series of notes with tones that are low in pitch or frequency. ...
A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence), as its name implies, is a series of chords played in order. ...
In music, a chaconne (IPA: ; Italian: ciaccona) is a musical form whose primary formal feature involves variation on a repeated short harmonic progression. ...
The bass line is notated by Ralph Kirkpatrick in his performing edition[5] as follows. Ralph Kirkpatrick (June 10, 1911–April 13, 1984) was a musician, musicologist and harpsichordist, born in Leominster, Massachusetts. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2110x1045, 8 KB) Summary The bass line of Bachs Goldberg Variations, as annotated by Ralph Kirkpatrick. ...
The digits above the notes indicate the specified chord in the system of figured bass; where digits are separated by comma, they indicate different options taken in different variations. Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords, and nonchord tones, in relation to a bass note. ...
Every third variation in the series of 30 is a canon, following an ascending pattern. Thus, variation 3 is a canon at the unison, variation 6 is a canon at the second (the second entry begins the interval of a second above the first), variation 9 is a canon at the third, and so on until variation 27, which is a canon at the ninth. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon in the tenth, is a quodlibet, discussed below. In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e. ...
In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ...
A quodlibet is a piece of music which combines several different melodies in counterpoint, usually popular tunes, and often in a light-hearted manner. ...
As Ralph Kirkpatrick has pointed out,[6] the variations that intervene between the canons are also arranged in a pattern. If we leave aside the initial and final material of the work (specifically, the Aria, the first two variations, the Quodlibet, and the aria da capo), the remaining material is arranged as follows. The variations found just after each canon are genre pieces of various types, among them three Baroque dances (4, 7, 19); a fughetta (10); a French overture (16); and two ornate arias for the right hand (13, 25). The variations located two after each canon (5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, and 29) are what Kirkpatrick calls "arabesques"; they are variations in lively tempo with a great deal of hand-crossing. This ternary pattern - canon, genre piece, arabesque — is repeated a total of nine times, until the Quodlibet breaks the cycle. Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era in Europe (roughly 1600–1750), closely linked with Baroque music, theater and opera. ...
For the use of the word in psychology see fugue state In music, a fugue is a type of piece written in counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ...
The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. ...
An aria (Italian for air; plural: arie or arias in common usage) in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. ...
At the end of the thirty variations, Bach writes Aria da Capo è fine, meaning that the performer is to return to the beginning ("da capo") and play the aria again before concluding.
The variations It should be noted that the piece has been played in a wide variety of ways, and there are a range of views on the work, not all of them represented here.
The work was composed for a two-manual harpsichord (see musical keyboard). Variations 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 are specified in the score for two manuals, whilst variations 5, 7 and 29 are specified as playable with either one or two. With greater difficulty, the work can nevertheless be played on a single-manual harpsichord or piano. A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. ...
Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. ...
The layout of a typical musical keyboard A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers on a musical instrument which cause the instrument to produce sounds. ...
All the variations are in G major, apart from variations 15, 21, and 25, which are in G minor. Many of the variations are binary in form, that is, an A section followed by a B section. Binary form is a way of structuring a piece of music into two related sections, both of which are usually repeated. ...
Aria The aria is a sarabande in 3/4 time, and features a heavily ornamented melody: In music, the sarabande (It. ...
The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and what note value constitutes one beat. ...
The French style of ornamentation suggests that the ornaments are supposed to be parts of the melody, however some performers (for example Wilhelm Kempff on piano) omit some or all ornaments and present the aria unadorned. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1241x186, 7 KB) Summary Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Aria) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Wilhelm Kempff (November 25, 1895 – May 23, 1991) was a German pianist and composer. ...
Peter Williams, writing in Bach: The Goldberg Variations (see reference below), comments that this is not the theme at all, but actually the first variation (a view emphasising the idea of the work as a chaconne rather than a piece in true variation form). In music, a chaconne (IPA: ; Italian: ciaccona) is a musical form whose primary formal feature involves variation on a repeated short harmonic progression. ...
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ...
Variatio 1. a 1 Clav. This sprightly variation contrasts markedly with the slow, contemplative mood of the theme. The rhythm in the right hand forces the emphasis on the second beat, giving rise to syncopation from bars 1 to 7. Hands cross at bar 13 from the upper register to the lower, bringing back this syncopation for another two bars. In the first two bars of the B part, the rhythm mirrors that of the beginning of the A part, but after this a different idea is introduced. In music, syncopation is when a stressing of a normally unstressed beat in a bar or failure to sound a tone on an accented beat occurs. ...
Williams sees this as a sort of polonaise. The characteristic rhythm in the left hand is also found in Bach's Partita No. 3 for solo violin and in the A-flat major prelude from the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Typical rhythm of a Polonaise For a robe à la polonaise, see Polonaise (clothing). ...
The Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) is a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...
Title-page of Das wohltemperirte Clavier A flat major (As-dur) fugue from the second part of Das wohltemperirte Clavier (manuscript) The Well-Tempered Clavier (in the original German: Das wohltemperierte Clavier[1]) is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...
Variatio 2. a 1 Clav. This is a simple three-part contrapuntal piece in 2/4 time, two voices engage in constant motivic interplay over an incessant bass line. The piece is almost a pure canon. Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat. In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e. ...
Variatio 3. a 1 Clav. Canone all’ Unisuono The first of the regular canons, this is a canon at the unison: the follower begins on the same note as the leader, a bar later. As with all canons of the Goldberg Variations (except the 27th variation, canon at the ninth), there is a supporting bass line here. The time signature of 12/8 and the many sets of triplets suggest a kind of a simple dance. In music a tuplet is a note value whose relationship with the next larger note value is more or less than (not equal to) half as long as the next higher note value, usually indicated with a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) bracket with a number. ...
Variatio 4. a 1 Clav. Like the passepied, a Baroque dance movement, this variation is in 3/8 time with a preponderance of quaver rhythms. Bach uses close but not exact imitation: the musical pattern in one part reappears a bar later in another (sometimes inverted). The paspy (French: passepied - passing feet) is a 17th and 18th century dance that originated in Brittany. ...
Imitation is an advanced animal behaviour whereby an individual observes anothers behaviour and replicates it itself. ...
In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. ...
Each repeated section has alternate endings for the first or second time. Image File history File links Bach-goldberg-var4. ...
Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. This is the first of the hand-crossing, two-part variations. It is in 3/4 time. A rapid melodic line written predominantly in sixteenth notes is accompanied by another melody with longer note values, which features very wide leaps:
First four bars of Variation 5. The Italian type of hand-crossing is employed here, with one hand constantly moving back and forth between high and low registers while the other hand stays in the middle of the keyboard, playing the fast passages. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (938x147, 4 KB) Summary Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 5) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (938x147, 4 KB) Summary Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 5) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
In music, a register is the relative height or range of a note, set of pitches or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument or group of instruments. ...
Variatio 6. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Seconda The sixth variation is a canon at the second (): the follower starts a major second higher than the leader. The piece is based on a descending scale and is in 3/8 time. The harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick describes this piece as having "an almost nostalgic tenderness". Each section has an alternate ending to be played on the first and second repeat. In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ...
Ralph Kirkpatrick (June 10, 1911–April 13, 1984) was a musician, musicologist and harpsichordist, born in Leominster, Massachusetts. ...
Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga In his own copy of Goldberg Variations, Bach specified that this 6/8 dance should be played al tempo di Giga — in the tempo of a gigue, which is a lively, energetic dance. Since Bach's copy was only found in 1974, early recordings where this variation is played at a slower speed, like a loure or a siciliana, are not uncommon. Slow tempi, however, are also found in post-1974 recordings by Glenn Gould, Wilhelm Kempff and Angela Hewitt, among others. The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance in a compound metre such as 3/8, 6/8, 6/4, 9/8 or 12/16. ...
The loure, also known as the gigue lente or slow gigue, is a French Baroque dance, probably invented in Normandy and named after the sound of the instrument of the same name (a type of musette). ...
The siciliana or siciliano is a musical form often included as a movement within larger pieces of music starting in the Baroque period. ...
Glenn Herbert Gould[1][2] (September 25, 1932 – October 4, 1982) was a Canadian pianist, noted especially for his recordings of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, his remarkable technical proficiency, and his eccentric piano technique and personality. ...
Wilhelm Kempff (November 25, 1895 – May 23, 1991) was a German pianist and composer. ...
Angela Hewitt OBE(born July 26, 1958) is a Canadian classical pianist. ...
The dotted rhythmic pattern of this variation (pictured) is very similar to that of the gigue from Bach's second French suite and the gigue of the French Overture. Both the bass line and the melody feature much ornamentation. Image File history File links Bach-goldberg-var7. ...
French Suites are suites composed in a style that for one or more reasons is considered French. ...
French Suites are suites composed in a style that for one or more reasons is considered French. ...
Variatio 8. a 2 Clav. This is another two-part hand-crossing variation, in 3/4 time. The French style of hand-crossing is employed, with both hands playing at the same part of the keyboard, one above the other. This is relatively easy to perform on a two-manual harpsichord, but quite hard to do on a piano.
Most bars feature either a distinctive pattern of eleven sixteenth notes and a sixteenth rest, or ten sixteenth notes and a single eighth note. Large leaps in the melody can be observed, for instance, in bars 9-11: from B below middle C in bar 9, from A above middle C to an A an octave higher in bar 10, and from G above middle C to a G an octave higher in bar 11. Both sections end with descending passages in thirty-second notes. [[ Figure 1. ...
Figure 1. ...
In music, a thirty-second note (American or German terminology) or demisemiquaver (British or classical terminology) is a note played for 1/32 of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). ...
Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav. This is a canon at the third, in 4/4 time. The supporting bass line is slightly more active than in the previous canons. This short variation (16 bars) is usually played at a slow tempo.
Variatio 10. Fughetta a 1 Clav. Variation 10 is a four-voice fughetta, with a four-bar subject heavily decorated with ornaments and somewhat reminiscent of the opening aria's melody. For the use of the word in psychology see fugue state In music, a fugue is a type of piece written in counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ...
In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or ornament that line. ...
The first section of Variation 10. The exposition takes up the whole first section of this variation (pictured). First the subject is stated in the bass, starting on the G below middle C. The answer (in the tenor) enters in bar 5, but it's a tonal answer, so some of the intervals are altered. The soprano voice enters in bar 9, but only keeps the first two bars of the subject intact, changing the rest. The final entry occurs in the alto in bar 13. There is no regular counter-subject in this fugue. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1433x387, 10 KB) Summary Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 10) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1433x387, 10 KB) Summary Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 10) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
The second section develops using the same thematic material with slight changes. It resembles a counter-exposition: the voices enter one by one, all begin by stating the subject (sometimes a bit altered, like in the first section). The section begins with the subject heard once again, in the soprano voice, accompanied by an active bass line, making the bass part the only exception since it doesn't pronounce the subject until bar 25.
Variatio 11. a 2 Clav. This is a virtuosic two-part toccata in 12/16 time. Specified for two manuals, it is largely made up of various scale passages, arpeggios and trills, and features much hand-crossing of different kinds. Toccata (Italian for to touch) is a Virtuoso piece of classical music for a keyboard instrument or plucked string instrument featuring sections of brilliant passagework, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer. ...
In music, a scale is a set of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work. ...
Various arpeggios as seen on a staff Notation of a chord in arpeggio In music, an arpeggio is a broken chord where the notes are played or sung in succession rather than simultaneously. ...
Variatio 12. Canone alla Quarta. a 1 Clav. This is a canon at the fourth in 3/4 time, of the inverted variety: the follower enters in the second bar in contrary motion to the leader. The follower appears inverted in the second bar. In music theory, contrary motion is the general movement of two melodic lines or pitches in opposite directions. ...
In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. ...
In the first section, the left hand accompanies with a bass line written out in repeated quarter notes, in bars 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. This repeated note motif also appears in the first bar of the second section (bar 17, two Ds and a C), and, slightly altered, in bars 22 and 23. In the second section, Bach changes the mood slightly by introducing a few appoggiaturas (bars 19 and 20) and trills (bars 29-30). In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or ornament that line. ...
Variatio 13. a 2 Clav. This variation is a slow, gentle and richly decorated sarabande in 3/4 time. Most of the melody is written out using thirty-second notes, and ornamented with a few appoggiaturas (more frequent in the second section) and a few mordents. Throughout the piece, the melody is in one voice, and in bars 16 and 24 there is an interesting effect produced by using an additional voice. Here are bars 15 and 16, the ending of the first section (bar 24 exhibits a similar pattern): In music, the sarabande (It. ...
In music, a thirty-second note (American or German terminology) or demisemiquaver (British or classical terminology) is a note played for 1/32 of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). ...
A Mordent is an elongated bar above a letter, used e. ...
Image File history File links Bach-goldberg-var13. ...
Variatio 14. a 2 Clav. This is a rapid two-part hand-crossing toccata in 3/4 time, with many trills and other ornamentation. It is specified for two manuals and features large jumps between registers. Both features (ornaments and leaps in the melody) are apparent from the first bar: the piece begins with a transition from the G two octaves below middle C, with a lower mordent, to the G two octaves above it with a trill with initial turn. The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare mordent and tremolo). ...
In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or ornament that line. ...
Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav. This is a canon at the fifth in 2/4 time. Like Variation 12, it is in contrary motion with the leader appearing inverted in the second bar. This is the first of the three variations in G minor, and its melancholic mood contrasts sharply with the playfulness of the previous variation. Pianist Angela Hewitt notes that there is "a wonderful effect at the very end [of this variation]: the hands move away from each other, with the right suspended in mid-air on an open fifth. This gradual fade, leaving us in awe but ready for more, is a fitting end to the first half of the piece." In music theory, contrary motion is the general movement of two melodic lines or pitches in opposite directions. ...
Angela Hewitt OBE(born July 26, 1958) is a Canadian classical pianist. ...
Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav. The set of variations can be seen as being divided into two halves, clearly marked by this grand French overture, commencing with a particularly emphatic opening and closing chords. It consists of a slow prelude with dotted rhythms with a following fugue-like contrapuntal section. The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. ...
Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ...
For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film). ...
For other uses, see Counterpoint (disambiguation). ...
Variatio 17. a 2 Clav. This variation is another two-part virtuosic toccata. Peter Williams sees echoes of Antonio Vivaldi and Domenico Scarlatti here. Specified for 2 manuals, the piece features hand-crossing. It is in 3/4 time and usually played at a moderately fast tempo. Rosalyn Tureck is one of the very few performers who recorded slow interpretations of the piece. Vivaldi redirects here. ...
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (October 26, 1685 – July 23, 1757) was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in Spain and Portugal. ...
Rosalyn Tureck (December 14, 1914 - July 17, 2003) was an American pianist and harpsichordist who was particularly associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. ...
Variatio 18. Canone alla Sexta. a 1 Clav. This is a canon at the sixth in 2/2 time. The canonic interplay in the upper voices features many suspensions. Commenting on the structure of the canons of the Goldberg Variations, Glenn Gould cited this variation as the extreme example of "deliberate duality of motivic emphasis [...] the canonic voices are called upon to sustain the passacaille role which is capriciously abandoned by the bass." A nonchord tone, nonharmonic tone, or non-harmony note is a note in a piece of music which is not a part of the chord that is formed by the other notes sounding at the time. ...
Glenn Herbert Gould[1][2] (September 25, 1932 – October 4, 1982) was a Canadian pianist, noted especially for his recordings of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, his remarkable technical proficiency, and his eccentric piano technique and personality. ...
In music a passacaglia (French: passacaille, Spanish: pasacalle, German: passacalia; Italian: passacaglio, passagallo, passacagli, passacaglie) is a musical form and the corresponding court dance. ...
Variatio 19. a 1 Clav. This is a dance-like three-part variation in 3/8 time. The same sixteenth note figuration is continuously employed and variously exchanged between each of the three voices.
Variatio 20. a 2 Clav. This variation is a virtuosic two-part toccata in 3/4 time. Specified for two manuals, it involves rapid hand-crossing. The piece consists mostly of variations on the texture introduced during its first eight bars, where one hand plays a string of eighth notes and the other accompanies by plucking sixteenth notes after each eighth note. To demonstrate this, here are the first two bars of the first section: Figure 1. ...
[[ Figure 1. ...
Image File history File links Bach-goldberg-var20. ...
Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima. a 1 Clav. The second of the minor key variations, variation 21 is a canon at the seventh in 4/4 time; Kenneth Gilbert sees it as an allemande.[7] The bass line begins the piece with a low note, proceeds to a slow chromatic descent from a higher note and only picks up the pace of the canonic voices in bar 3: Kenneth Gilbert (born December 16, 1931) is a Canadian harpsichordist. ...
An allemande (also spelled allemanda, almain, or alman) (from French German) is a type of dance popular in Baroque music, and a standard element of a suite, generally the first or second movement. ...
The first 3 bars of Variation 21. A similar pattern, only a bit more lively, occurs in the bass line in the beginning of the second section, which begins with the opening motif inverted. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1005x193, 5 KB) Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 21) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1005x193, 5 KB) Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 21) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. ...
Variatio 22. a 1 Clav. alla breve This variation features four-part writing with many imitative passages and its development in all voices but the bass is much like that of a fugue. The only specified ornament is a trill which is performed on a whole note and which lasts for two bars (11 and 12). The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare mordent and tremolo). ...
Figure 1. ...
The ground bass on which the entire set of variations is built is heard perhaps most explicitly in this variation (as well as in the Quodlibet) due to the simplicity of the bass voice.
Variatio 23. a 2 Clav. Another lively two-part virtuosic variation for two manuals, in 3/4 time. It begins with the hands chasing another, as it were: the melodic line, initiated in the left hand with a sharp striking of the G above middle C, and then sliding down from the D above to the A, is offset by the right hand, imitating the left at the same pitch, but a quaver late, for the first three bars, ending with a small flourish in the fourth:
The first 4 bars of Variation 23. This pattern is repeated during bars 5-8, only with the left hand imitating the right one, and the scales are ascending, not descending. We then alternate between hands in short bursts written out in short note values until the last three bars of the first section. The second section starts with this similar alternation in short bursts again, then leads to a dramatic section of alternating thirds between hands. Peter Williams, marvelling at the emotional range of the work, asks: "Can this really be a variation of the same theme that lies behind the adagio no 25?" Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1066x161, 6 KB) Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 23) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1066x161, 6 KB) Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 23) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Variatio 24. Canone all'Ottava. a 1 Clav. This variation is a canon at the octave, in 9/8 time. The leader is answered both an octave below and an octave above; it is the only canon of the variations in which the leader alternates between voices in the middle of a section.
Variatio 25. a 2 Clav. Variation 25 is the third and last variation in G minor; a three-part piece, it is marked adagio in Bach's own copy and is in 3/4 time. The melody is written out predominantly in 16th and 32nd notes, with many chromaticisms. This variation generally lasts longer than any other piece of the set. For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ...
In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ...
Famously dubbed a "black pearl" by Wanda Landowska, Peter Williams writes that "the beauty and dark passion of this variation make it unquestionably the emotional high point of the work", and Glenn Gould said that "the appearance of this wistful, weary cantilena is a master-stroke of psychology." Wanda Landowska (July 5, 1879 – August 16, 1959), harpsichordist whose performances, teaching, recordings and writings played a large role in reviving the popularity of that instrument in the early 20th century. ...
Variatio 26. a 2 Clav. In sharp contrast with the introspective and passionate nature of the previous variation, this piece is another virtuosic two-part toccata, joyous and fast-paced. Underneath the rapid arabesques, this variation is basically a sarabande.[7] Two time signatures are used, 18/16 for the incessant melody written in 16th notes and 3/4 for the accompaniment in quarter and eighth notes; during the last 5 bars, both hands play in 18/16. In music, the sarabande (It. ...
Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav. Variation 27 is the last canon of the piece, at the ninth and in 6/8 time. This is the only canon where two manuals are specified (not due to hand-crossing difficulties), and the only pure canon of the work, because it does not have a bass line.
Variatio 28. a 2 Clav. This variation is two-part toccata in 3/4 time that employs a great deal of hand crossing. Trills are written out using 32nd notes and are present in most of the bars. The piece begins with a pattern in which each hand successively picks out a melodic line while also playing trills. Following this is a section with both hands playing in contrary motion in a melodic contour marked by 16th notes (bars 9-12). The end of the first section features trills again, in both hands now and mirroring one another:
The last 4 bars of the first section of Variation 28. The second section starts and closes with the contrary motion idea seen in bars 9-12. Most of the closing bars feature trills in one or both hands. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1395x193, 8 KB) Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 28) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1395x193, 8 KB) Musical quotation from Goldberg Variations (Variation 28) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). ...
Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. This variation consists mostly of heavy chords alternating with sections of brilliant arpeggios shared between the hands. It is in 3/4 time. A rather grand variation, it adds an air of resolution after the lofty brilliance of the previous variation. Glenn Gould states that variations 28 and 29 present the only case of "motivic collaboration or extension between successive variations."
Variatio 30. Quodlibet. a 1 Clav.
The Quodlibet as it appears in the first edition This quodlibet is based on multiple German folk songs,[8] two of which are Ich bin solang nicht bei dir g'west, ruck her, ruck her ("I have so long been away from you, come closer, come closer") and Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben, hätt mein' Mutter Fleisch gekocht, wär ich länger blieben ("Cabbage and turnips have driven me away, had my mother cooked meat, I'd have opted to stay"). The others have been forgotten.[9] Bach's biographer Forkel explains the Quodlibet by invoking a custom observed at Bach family reunions (Bach's relatives were almost all musicians): Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (640x652, 137 KB) Image of quadlibet, goldberg variation nro. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (640x652, 137 KB) Image of quadlibet, goldberg variation nro. ...
A quodlibet is a piece of music which combines several different melodies in counterpoint, usually popular tunes, and often in a light-hearted manner. ...
Johann Nikolaus Forkel (February 22, 1749–March 20, 1818), was a German musician, musicologist and music theorist. ...
As soon as they were assembled a chorale was first struck up. From this devout beginning they proceeded to jokes which were frequently in strong contrast. That is, they then sang popular songs partly of comic and also partly of indecent content, all mixed together on the spur of the moment. ... This kind of improvised harmonizing they called a Quodlibet, and not only could laugh over it quite whole-heartedly themselves, but also aroused just as hearty and irresistible laughter in all who heard them. A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. ...
Forkel's anecdote (which is likely to be true, given that he was able to interview Bach's sons), suggests fairly clearly that Bach meant the Quodlibet to be a joke.
Aria da Capo A note for note repeat of the aria at the beginning. Williams writes that the work's "elusive beauty [...] is reinforced by this return to the Aria. [...] no such return can have a neutral Affekt. Its melody is made to stand out by what has gone on in the last five variations, and it is likely to appear wistful or nostalgic or subdued or resigned or sad, heard on its repeat as something coming to an end, the same notes but now final." The doctrine of the affections, also known as the doctrine of affects, or by the German term Affektenlehre (after the German Affekt; plural Affekten) was a theory in musical aesthetics popular in the Baroque era (1600–1750). ...
Canons on the Goldberg ground, BWV 1087 This late contrapuntal work consists of fourteen canons built on the first eight bass notes from the aria of the Goldberg variations. It was found in 1974, in Strasbourg (Alsace, France), forming an appendix to the Bach's personal printed edition of the Goldberg Variations. Among those canons, the eleventh and the thirteenth are a sort of first version of BWV 1077 and BWV 1076, which is included in the famous portrait of Bach painted by Elias Gottlob Haussmann in 1746.[10] Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ...
For other uses, see Strasburg. ...
Elsaß redirects here. ...
// Events Catharine de Ricci (born 1522) canonized. ...
Transcribed and popularized versions The Goldberg Variations have been reworked freely by many performers, changing either the instrumentation, the notes, or both. - Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, transcription for two pianos, op.3
- Ferruccio Busoni prepared a massively altered transcription for piano. According to Michael Kimmelman, "Busoni shuffled the variations, skipping some, then added his own rather voluptuous coda to create a three-movement structure; each movement has a distinct, arcing shape, and the whole becomes a more tightly organized drama than the original."[11]
- 1984 - Dmitri Sitkovetsky, transcription for string trio
- 1987 - Jean Guillou, transcription for organ
- 1997 - József Eötvös (musician), transcription for guitar
- 2000 - Jacques Loussier, arrangement for jazz trio
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (March 17, 1839, in Vaduz - November 25, 1901, in Munich) was a Liechtensteinian composer. ...
Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ...
A string trio is a group of three string instruments or a piece written for such a group. ...
Jean Victor Arthur Guillou (born April 18, 1930 in Angers) is a French composer, organist, pianist, and pedagogue. ...
Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ...
For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ...
Jacques Loussier (born 26 October 1934 in Angers, northwestern France) is a noted pianist and composer. ...
Editions of the score - Ralph Kirkpatrick. New York/London: G. Schirmer, 1938. Contains an extensive preface by the editor and a facsimile of the original title page.
- Hans Bischoff. New York: Edwin F. Kalmus, 1947 (editorial work dates from the nineteenth century). Includes interpretive markings by the editor not indicated as such.
- Christoph Wolff. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1996. An urtext edition, making use of the new findings (1975) resulting from the discovery of an original copy hand-corrected by the composer. Includes suggested fingerings and notes on interpretation by harpsichordist Huguette Dreyfus.
- Reinhard Böß. München: edition text + kritik, 1996. Verschiedene Canones ... von J.S. Bach (BWV 1087). ISBN 3-88377-523-1 Edition of the canons in BWV 1087 only. The editor suggests a complete complement of all fourteen canons.
See also Online Scores, below. Ralph Kirkpatrick (June 10, 1911–April 13, 1984) was a musician, musicologist and harpsichordist, born in Leominster, Massachusetts. ...
Hans Bischoff (30 November 1889 Berlin-18 March 1960) was a German entomologist. ...
Christoph Wolff (born May 24, 1940) is a German-born musicologist, presently on the faculty of Harvard University. ...
Huguette Dreyfus is a French harpsichordist born on November 30, 1928 in Mulhouse, Alsace, France. ...
See also This is a partial list of recordings of Johann Sebastian Bachs Goldberg Variations. ...
Notes
References - Forkel, Johann Nikolaus (1802) Über Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst, und Kunstwerke ("On Johann Sebastian Bach's Life, Art and Work"). A recent reprint is by Henschel Verlag, Berlin, 2000; ISBN 3-89487-352-3. An English translation was published by Da Capo Press in 1970.
- Kirkpatrick, Ralph (1938) Edition of the Goldberg Variations. New York/London: G. Schirmer, 1938.
- Williams, Peter (2001) Bach: The Goldberg Variations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00193-5.
Johann Nikolaus Forkel (February 22, 1749–March 20, 1818), was a German musician, musicologist and music theorist. ...
Ralph Kirkpatrick (June 10, 1911–April 13, 1984) was a musician, musicologist and harpsichordist, born in Leominster, Massachusetts. ...
External links
General
Interactive Hypermedia
Online scores
Essays
Recordings |
Feeds |
Contact