Program
Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: No 28
This elaborate toccata variation is in some ways an amalgamation of similar variations before it. The melody and Sarabande ground bass of the aria is expanded in a pyrotechnic display of technical skill and showmanship—both Bach’s and the performer’s—through constant thirty-second notes, trills, scales, and hand-crossing.
In 1741, Johann Sebastian Bach published a complex, intricate, and mesmerizing keyboard piece that would become known as the Goldberg Variations. Named after one of Bach’s pupils, who is purported to…
Read More >The third variation is the first of the nine canons that form the through-line for the Goldberg Variations. A canone all’unisono (canon in unison), the variation includes features a supported, ground bass built around…
Read More >The fifth variation sees the basic melody of the 32-measure aria reimagined through rapid sixteenth notes and punctuated by frequent, unpredictable hand-crossing from the lower to the higher registers—and back again!—of the keyboard and back!
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