HARMONIA MUNDI (Electrola)
1 LP - 1C 065-99 710 - (p) 1978
1 CD - GD 77149 - (c) 1990

GOLDBERG VARIATIONEN







Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Aria mit verschiedenen Veränderungen vors Clavicimbal mit 2 Manualen (Goldberg-Variationen), BWV 988
47' 19"

- Aria
2' 29"
A1

- Variatio 1, a 1 Clav.
1' 33"
A2

- Variatio 2, a 1 Clav. 1' 04"
A3

- Variatio 3, a 1 Clav. - Canone all'Unisono
1' 00"
A4

- Variatio 4, a 1 Clav. 0' 34"
A5

- Variatio 5, a 1 ovvero 2 Clav. 1' 00"
A6

- Variatio 6, a 1 Clav. - Canone alla Seconda 1' 00"
A7

- Variatio 7, a 1 ovvero Clav. - Al tempo di Giga
1' 04"

A8

- Variatio 8, a 2 Clav. 1' 18"
A9

- Variatio 9, a 1 Clav. - Canone alla Terza
1' 10"
A10

- Variatio 10, a 1 Clav. - Fughetta
0' 52"
A11

- Variatio 11, a 2 Clav. 1' 25"
A12

- Variatio 12, Canone alla Quarta 1' 53"
A13

- Variatio 13, a 2 Clav. 2' 38"
A14

- Variatio 14, a 2 Clav. 1' 20"
A15

- Variatio 15, a 1 Clav. - Canone alla Quinta, Andante 2' 50"
A16

- Variatio 16, a 1 Clav. - Ouverture
1' 26"
B1

- Variatio 17, a 2 Clav. 1' 02"
B2

- Variatio 18, a 1 Clav. - Canone alla Sesta
0' 44"
B3

- Variatio 19, a 1 Clav. 0' 58"
B4

- Variatio 20, a 2 Clav. 1' 14"
B5

- Variatio 21, Canone alla Settima 1' 55"
B6

- Variatio 22, a 1 Clav. - Alla breve
0' 46"
B7

- Variatio 23, a 2 Clav. 1' 20"
B8

- Variatio 24, a 1 Clav. - Canone all'Ottava
1' 53"
B9

- Variatio 25, a 2 Clav. - Adagio
4' 07"
B10

- Variatio 26, a 2 Clav. 1' 13"
B11

- Variatio 27, a 2 Clav. - Canone alla Nona
0' 57"
B12

- Variatio 28, a 2 Clav. 1' 33"
B13

- Variatio 29, a 1 ovvero 2 Clav. 1' 11"
B14

- Variatio 30, a 1 Clav. - Quodlibet
1' 06"
B15

- Aria da capo
1' 11"
B16





 
Gustav LEONHARDT, Cembalo (William Dowd, Paris 1975, nach Blanchet, Paris um 1730)
Stimmung: ein Halbton unter Normalstimmung

 






Luogo e data di registrazione
Kirche Haarlem (Holland) - aprile 1976


Registrazione: live / studio
studio

Recording Supervision
Dr. Th. Gallia | P. Dery


Engineer
Sonart


Prima Edizione LP
Harmonia Mundi (EMI Electrola) | 1C 065-99 710 | 1 LP - durata 47' 19" | (p) 1978


Edizione CD
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi | LC 0761 | GD 77149 | 1 CD - durata 47' 19" | (c) 1990 | ADD

Cover Art

Clavichordspielerin, Unbek, süddeutscher Meister 18. Jhd. Mit freundlicher Gebehmigung von: Archir für Kunst und Geschichte.


Note
-













Not too much credence should be attached to the story initially reported in Johann Nikolaus Forkel's 1802 biography of Bach, that the Goldberg Variations were written to the commission of Count Keyserlingk. In all probability Bach presented his noble sponsor with a copy of the newly printed work on his visit to Dresden in November 1741, and it is certain that Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727-56), the highly gifted pupil of J. S. and W. F. Bach, and Keyserlingk's harpsichordist, often played the work to his master - probably in reality to while away the latter's sleepless nights. But there is no trace of a formal dedication to the Count on the title page of the 1741 printed edition, as the nieties of 18th century manners would certainly have demanded. Furthermore, it is more than doubtful wheter Bach could have had in mind the capacities of the then only 13 year old Goldberg when he began to compose the work, in 1740 at the latest. It is much more likely that this set of variations, like the three preceding parts of the "Clavier-Übunh", were written at Bach's own initiative. The monumental series of "clavier exercises", representing the most important types of keyboard music in exemplary compositions, was destined to receive a cyclically closed major work as its crown and conclusion.
Yhis closing part of the Clavierübung simultaneously opens the series of monothematic contrapuntal instrumental works which occupied the last decade of Bach's life. How much this set of variations may be regarded as a milestone is particularly evident from Bach's manuscript copy which became known to us only in 1975, containing, in addition to important corrections and amendments, a manuscript appendix with "14 canons on the first 8 ground notes of the Aria" (BWV 1087), the new conceptual basis of which was to find fuller expression in the later works (e. g. the Musical Offering).
The unusual proportions of the set of variations are already apparent in the lenght of the theme, which Bach developed from a traditional bass model into a 32-bar ground bass for the aria and its variations. The number of bars and the total number of sections (Aria, 30 variations, Aria da capo) correspond exactly: a perfect proportion. The overall plan and structure of the work mirrors the composer's intended balance of "inventio" and "ratio". The variety of musical forms, types of rhythmic movement, expressive moods and technical refinements is divided into two large sections each containing 15 variations (the second begins with an Overture) and simultaneously finds its backbone in the form of a compelling contrapuntal climax: each third section is a canon, with the imitative intervals climbing steadily from unison to ninth, and at the end stands a Quodlibet as a humorous final section, combining the theme of the work with two folktunes ("Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben". "Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir g'west").
Christoph Wolff