Goldberg Variations, arr. Labadie: Aria

Bach’s tools of transformation in the Goldberg Variations are as simple as decorating the melody, accelerating or slowing the rhythm, or as complex as nine-voice canons and intricate fugues,” writes Bernard Labadie. “My own variation on the Goldberg Variations takes this idea of transformation a step further by arranging the keyboard work for Baroque ensemble. In practice, most of the variations—including the opening Aria—can be transcribed for string instruments with little changes while others, composed more idiomatically for the keyboard—required a few changes.