Bach, J.S.: Goldberg Variations, Bwv 988

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Cat No: 8557268

Release Date: 11 January 2004

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313226825

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: BACH, J.S.

Description
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)Goldberg Variations, BWV 988The aria and thirty variations, known as the GoldbergVariations, offer remarkable testimony to JohannSebastian Bach's mastery of contrapuntal forms in hiswork for the clavier, and his command of over-allmusical structure. The work belongs to the later part ofBach's career. His earlier appointments had been as anorganist, followed by a happy and relatively brief periodas Court Kapellmeister to the young Prince Leopold ofAnhalt-Cothen. In 1723 he had resigned his position atCothen, after the Prince's marriage, and moved toLeipzig as Cantor at the Choir School of St Thomas,with responsibility for the music of the principal citychurches. He remained in Leipzig for the rest of his life.The variations were published probably in 1741 asthe fourth and final part of Bach's Clavier-?£bung, a titlethat he had used for the three preceding collections ofkeyboard music and one that had been used by hispredecessor as Thomascantor, Johann Kuhnau. The firstpart had been published in 1731 and included sixPartitas, works that had appeared annually, one by one,since 1726, three years after his arrival in Leipzig. Thesecond part, published in 1735, contained the contrastedItalian Concerto and Overture in the French Style, andthe third part, issued in 1739, consisted of various organcompositions and the keyboard Duets. The fourth partmay be regarded as the culmination of a carefullyplanned series.Doubt has been cast on the story associated with theGoldberg Variations, the source of the title by which theAria and Variations are commonly known. Bach's earlybiographer Forkel alleged that Count Hermann Karl vonKeyserlingk, Russian ambassador to the court of Saxonyin Dresden, had commissioned the work forperformance by his protege, the young harpsichordistJohann Gottlieb Goldberg, to amuse him during hishours of sleeplessness. Goldberg himself was born in1727 in Danzig (Gdansk), where he came toKeyserlingk's attention ten years later. He was said tohave taken lessons not only from J.S.Bach but also fromthe latter's eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whowas working in Dresden from 1733 until 1746. Goldbergmay have remained in Dresden after Keyserlingk'sdeparture to Potsdam in 1745, and in 1751 he entered theservice of the First Minister in Dresden, Count Heinrichvon Br??hl. He died of tuberculosis in 1756 at the age of29, leaving a reputation rather as a virtuoso performerthan as a composer.There was, of course, a close connection betweenJ.S.Bach and Count von Keyserlingk, his patron at thecourt of Dresden. It was through Keyserlingk that Bachhad in 1736 finally secured the title of Court Composerto the King of Saxony, and the ambassador's only sonwas a student in Leipzig from 1741, so that bothKeyserlingk and Goldberg might well have visited Bach.Wilhelm Friedemann Bach owed his introduction to thecourt of Dresden to Keyserlingk, whose house was opento other Dresden musicians of distinction. The Aria andVariati
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