An absolute work / The Goldberg Variations - NOSPR

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The Goldberg Variations are described as an absolute work of art. The commission is said to have come from count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk, suffering from insomnia during his time at the Viennese court.  The piece was intended to be performed by the very young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a musician of the count’s own court, whose playing helped the aristocrat while away the sleepless hours. The composer found variations to be the best form for night-time music-making. And that was how the aria with thirty variations, which over time became a synonym for musical innovativeness, came to be.  

The work Bach created is eclectic in its every aspect, showing a skillful use of various musical elements, such as counterpoint, virtuosity, and musical rhetoric. The leitmotif, however, is not the melody of the aria, but… the bass line! What is more, the composer created a work of unbelievable singability, which can be heard in the entirety of the cycle. There is no other keyboard composition of Bach’s that adheres to the idea of the cantilena – a singable and smooth melody, highly engaging for the listener – to such an extent. 

The Goldberg Variations stood the test of time and continue to delight listeners. Their influence on further generations of composers and the development of pianistics cannot be overstated. Centuries after the work’s creation, numerous renowned artists, such as Glenn Gould, proposed interpretations as controversial as they were groundbreaking, often crossing the borders laid out by the composer, perceiving the piece not only as a technical challenge, but predominantly as a source of deep musical knowledge. The contemporary grand piano performances represent another innovative trend, which constitutes a significant departure from the composer’s original imagination and concept. While the piano is indeed different from the harpsichord, it does, however, enable even more depth and complexity to be found in the masterpiece, thus showing the richness of its sound and the unsurpassed skill of its composition in all their glory. 

[Alexandra Kozowicz]

Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes