The Goldberg Variations - J. S. Bach
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, are a set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form. The Variations are named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may have been the first performer.
Pianist - Glen Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould (September 25, 1932 – October 4, 1982) was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach. His playing was distinguished by a remarkable technical proficiency and a capacity to articulate the polyphonic texture of Bach’s music.
Gould rejected most of the standard Romantic piano literature and shunned the performance of several of its composers such as Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Frédéric Chopin. Although his recordings were dominated by Bach, Gould's oeuvre was diverse, including works by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, pre-Baroque composers such as Jan Sweelinck, and 20th-century composers such as Paul Hindemith and Arnold Schoenberg. Gould was well-known for various eccentricities, ranging from his unorthodox musical interpretations and mannerisms at the keyboard, to aspects of his lifestyle and personal behavior. He abandoned the concert platform at the age of 31 to concentrate on studio recording and other projects.
Gould was also known as a writer, composer, conductor, and broadcaster. He was a prolific contributor to musical journals, in which he discussed musical theory and outlined his musical philosophy. His career as a composer was less distinguished; his output was minimal and many projects were left unfinished. There is evidence that, if he had lived beyond the age of 50, he intended to abandon the piano, and devote the remainder of his career to conducting and other projects. As a broadcaster, Gould was prolific. His output ranged from television and radio broadcasts of studio performances to musique concrète radio documentaries about life in the Canadian wilderness.
Shortly before his death in 1982, Gould re-recorded (He recorded Bach's Goldberg Variations in 1955, which was his debut album.) was Bach's The Goldberg Variations in 1955)the Goldberg Variations digitally and in stereo in the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City. He largely abandoned the showmanship of the 1955 performance and replaced it with a more introspective interpretation that included more calculated phrasing and ornamentation. For the 1981 version, Gould sought to unify the variations differently, through his choices of tempi: he played more of the repeats, and endeavoured to express proportional rhythmic relations between the variations. Arriving within a year of his death, the 1981 recording is popularly recognized as "autumnal", a symbolic testament to Gould's career.
In 2002, Sony issued a three-compact-disc collection titled A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981. It includes the 1955 and 1981 Goldberg recordings (the latter remastered from analogue tapes), and a third disc with 1955 studio outtakes and a lengthy interview with Gould documentarian and music critic Tim Page.
*Click each part to play its group.
Part I
- Aria
- Variation 1
- Variation 2
- Variation 3: Canon on the Unison
- Variation 4
- Variation 5
- Variation 6: Canon on the Second
- Variation 7: Al tempo di Giga
Part II
- Variation 8
- Variation 9: Canon on the Third
- Variation 10: Fughetta
- Variation 11
- Variation 12: Canon on the Fourth
- Variation 13
- Variation 14
Part III
- Variation 15: Canon on the Fifth
- Variation 16: Ouverture
- Variation 17
- Variation 18: Canon on the Sixth
Part IV
- Variation 19
- Variation 20
- Variation 21: Canon on the Seventh
- Variation 22: Alla Breve
- Variation 23
- Variation 24: Canon on the Octave
Part V
- Variation 25
- Variation 26
- Variation 27: Canon on the Ninth
- Variation 28
Part VI
- Variation 29
- Variation 30: Quodlibet
- Aria da capo
- Epilogue
Click here to play all parts.
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