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For the novel by Nancy Huston, see The Goldberg Variations (novel).
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a theme and variations by Johann Sebastian Bach, originally written for the harpsichord but nowadays frequently performed on the piano.
| Composition | Form | Reception | BWV1087 |
| Books | Recordings | External link | Trivia |
| Aria - The Variations: - Aria da Capo |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
The Variations were probably written around 1741 for Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk; they were performed for the count by his talented young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, after whom the work was ultimately named.
The tale of how the variations came to be composed comes from a biography of Bach written by Johann Nikolaus Forkel:
It should be noted that Forkel wrote his biography in 1802, more than 60 years after the events related, so it is quite possible that the tale has been embellished in the retelling.
The aria on which the variations are based may or may not be by Bach himself. It appears elsewhere in the notebook of music owned by Bach's second wife Anna Magdalena Bach.
After a statement of the aria at the beginning of the piece, there are thirty variations. The variations generally do not follow the melody of the aria, but rather use its bass line and chord progression. Because of this, and because of the 3/4 time signature, 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 eight bars, each repeated.
The bass line is notated by Ralph Kirkpatrick in his performing edition as follows. The bass line can be heard as a sound file (Ogg format, 391K).
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.
Every third variation in the series of 30 is a canon, following an ascending pattern: the first is a canon at the unison, the second is a canon at the second (that is, the second entry begins the interval of a second above the first), the next is a canon at the third and so on until variation 27 which is a canon at the ninth. The intervening variations are of various structures and character. The final variation, instead of being the expected canon in the tenth, is a quodlibet, discussed below.
At the end of the thirty variations, the aria is played again without alteration.
A complete performance of the work will usually take between thirty five and fifty minutes, depending on tempos and how many repeats are observed.
The Goldberg Variations were once seen as a dry and rather boring technical exercise. Today, however, the emotional content and range of the work is increasingly realised, and it has become a favorite work of many classical music listeners. The Variations are widely performed and recorded, and have been the subject of many articles, books and analytical studies.
Below is a list of the variations with brief descriptions and some comments by writers and performers. 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 keyboard). Variations 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, and 28 are specified in the score for two manuals, whilst variations 5 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.
The Aria (a sarabande) is intended to provide the thematic material for variation over the entire set of variations. Unlike "conventional" variations, instead of the melody as the subject of variations, the bass is instead.
chaconne rather than a piece in true variation form).
Listen to the first couple of bars of this variation (Ogg). Whole variation (different pianist).
This sprightly variation contrasts markedly with the slow, contemplative mood of the theme.
Williams sees this as a sort of polonaise. The characteristic rhythm in the left hand is also found in Bach's Partita in E major for solo violin as well as the Prelude in A flat from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier.
Almost a pure canon.
The first of the regular canons. This variation is at the unison (that is, the second part begins on the same note as the first).
This variation, with its sets of triplets, gives an overall feeling of fast pace.
A dance (a passepied) with the same pattern in almost every bar (sometimes inverted).
A rapid running line accompanies another line with very wide leaps. This is the first of the hand-crossing, two-part variations.
Glenn Gould and others play this variation with exceptional and precise speed, whilst Kenneth Gilbert in his harpsichord version of the work, interprets this at a much more relaxed tempo.
Canon at the second (that is, the second part comes in a major second higher than the first). The harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick describes this as having "an almost nostalgic tenderness" - this is probably due to the separation of a second between follower and leader.
This often used to be played as a siciliana (a slow, stately dance) but when Bach's own copy of the Goldberg turned up, it was found he had marked it al tempo di giga (a much livelier dance). Dotted rhytmical pattern of this variation is very similar to that of the gigue of the second French suite.
Another two-part variation. Williams compared this to fireworks.
Canon at the third.
A four-part fugue.
A two-part variation largely made up of scale passages and arpeggios. Often played at a very quick tempo.
Listen to the first couple of bars of this variation (Ogg).
Canon at the fourth. The answer is inverted (that is, it is upside-down).
A highly decorated sarabande (a slow dance in 3/4 time).
A brilliant and virtuosic variation, with many trills and other rapid ornamentation.
Canon at the fifth. In contrary motion with the answer inverted. This is the first of the variations in a minor key.
As the title suggests, this variation is an overture, specifically a French overture with a slow prelude with dotted rhythms followed by faster contrapuntal writing. The division of the prelude and the overture lies halfway throughout the variation, after the sixteenth bar. This variation, the midpoint of the entire set is marked by a particularly emphatic opening and closing chords.
Williams sees echoes of Antonio Vivaldi and Domenico Scarlatti in this variation.
Canon at the sixth.
Listen to the first couple of bars of this variation (Ogg).
The first seven bars of this variation set out the bass theme one which the entire set is built with particular clarity. The gentle detached soprano voice gives the entire variation an extremely tender and gentle feel.
Another virtuosic variation, with rapid hand-crossing.
Canon at the seventh. Reminiscent of a chorale setting. This is the second of the variations in the minor key.
Like variation 2, this is almost as fully canonic as the formal canons.
Another lively virtuosic variation. Williams, marvelling at the emotional range of the piece, asks "Can this really be a variation of the same theme that lies behind the adagio no 25?"
Canon at the octave. The canon is answered both an octave below and an octave above.
Marked adagio in Bach's own copy. Expressing a widely shared opinion, Williams wrote that "the beauty and dark passion of this variation make it unquestionably the emotional high point of the work." One of three variations (along with numbers 15 and 21) to be in a minor key, it generally lasts longer than five minutes in performance. The harpsichordist Wanda Landowska dubbed this variation a "black pearl".
Underneath the rapid arabesques, this variation is basically a sarabande. There is a notable contrast again with the introspective and passionate nature of the previous variation, here we have joyous release. Widely known as the "quicksilver" variation.
Canon at the ninth. The only canon where two manuals are specified. This canon is also special in being pure canon without a bass line.
This variation is marked by brilliant trills alternating between the left and right hands. Williams compared this variation, like the eighth, to fireworks.
A heavier and rather grand variation, with weighty chords alternating with scalic passages, adds an air of resolution after the lofty brilliance of the previous variation.
A cross between a chorale and a medley of popular tunes: "I Have So Long Been Away From You" and "Cabbage and Turnips Have Driven Me Away".
Bach's biographer Forkel explains the Quodlibet by invoking a custom observed at Bach family reunions (Bach's relatives were almost all musicians):
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, and many listeners today hear it as such.
Some feel that the joke is in fact about the variation themselves, in effect that "you" in this instance was the theme, the Aria, and the quodlibet laments and anticipates the return of the Aria.
Written as a note for note repeat of the aria, although it is often performed in quite a different way, often more wistfully. Williams writes that "the Goldberg'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 return of the Aria adds to the symmetry of the work, possibly even hinting at a cyclic nature of the entire work - a round trip.
This late contrapuctual work is composed by fourteen canons built on the first eight bass notes from the Aria of the Goldberg Variations. It was found in 1974, in Strasbourg (Germany), 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 BWV1077 and BWV1076, which is included in the famous portrait of Bach painted by Elias Gottlob Haussmann in 1746. See the canons of (external link).
Ordered by date
Without recording date - To be inserted in the first list
In the context of a particularly dreadful scene in The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Hannibal Lecter is seen passionately listening to a recording of the Aria of the Goldberg Variations by Glenn Gould. It is later included on the Hannibal soundtrack.
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