What is special about Goldberg Variations?

Consisting of an opening aria and then 30 different variations on it, the Goldberg Variations — named after its first performer Johann Gottlieb Goldberg and published in 1741 — is Bach’s most popular keyboard work, partly because it isn’t laden with the academic formality of the Well-Tempered Clavier, and covers so …

How many variations are there in the Goldberg Variations?

“She apparently wanted to play the piece, and it probably wasn’t copied by her until the late 1730s.” “But I think the origin goes back to an idea Bach got from Handel. Handel, in 1733, published an aria with 64 variations. The variations are based on the same Aria bass, but it’s only eight measures long.

Are Goldberg Variations difficulty?

In print, the Goldbergs (Goldberg Variations) have a quasi-legendary status, a hallmark of technical difficulty. I was perusing the score and it doesn’t look terribly intricate for what’s possibly a majority of the variations – certainly less than Bach’s 3- or 4-part works.

How big is the variation in the Goldberg Variations?

The variation is in 6 8 meter, suggesting several possible Baroque dances. In 1974, when scholars discovered Bach’s own copy of the first printing of the Goldberg Variations, they noted that over this variation Bach had added the heading al tempo di Giga.

Who was the publisher of the Goldberg Variations?

Publication. Rather unusually for Bach’s works, the Goldberg Variations were published in his own lifetime, in 1741. The publisher was Bach’s friend Balthasar Schmid of Nuremberg. Schmid printed the work by making engraved copper plates (rather than using movable type); thus the notes of the first edition are in Schmid’s own handwriting.

Why are the Goldberg Variations Music of intellect?

Here, the object of “music of intellect” is a particular piece of music, that is to say Bach’s “the Goldberg Variations”, and I am not going to browse any other works. Why do the Goldberg Variations have a reality as “music of intellect”, and are they to be the object of the intellectual manipulation.

Do you need JavaScript to play the Goldberg Variations?

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