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Bach's Goldberg Variations have become quite popular over the past few decades. They have been played on the harpsichord, piano and other keyboard instruments, by string ensembles and orchestra. They have been presented as exercises and accomplished concert masterpieces. They have been interpreted as austere period works and treated as dry architectural marvels.
Glenn Gould's second and last release of the Goldberg Variations on piano was for me a landmark event. He attempted to connect each of the variations on the basis of rhythmic relationships rather than considering each as simply a variation upon the theme. The work is based upon the opening Aria, which originally appeared in the Klavierbüchen of Anna Magdalena Bach from 1725 as a Sarabande following the song "Bist du bie mir." The thirty variations which follow are based loosely upon the bass or harmonic progression rather than on any melodic theme. An interesting structural element of the overall work is the fact that every third variation takes the form of a canon on increasing intervals, from the unison to the ninth.
I take a humanistic view of Bach's music. In these variations, I hear the daily toil of a one of the most prodigious men in all of history. The initial variations reflect the more conservative style of putting ideas onto paper and watching them unfold. As Bach progressed toward the second half, the music became increasingly introspective, showing emotional moments - joy, sadness, even fatigue.
Nearing the end of this task, Bach appears to have become elated, and the music takes on an exuberant quality. Nowhere is this more evident than in Variation 29, which is essentially a two-fisted succession of alternating chords and melodic snippets, very much in contrast with earlier variations.
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