[UNSW, 2009]
Former Russian
ambassador Count Hermann Karl von Kaiserling could not sleep at night. He suffered from insomnia, and when Johann
Gottlieb Goldberg and Johann Sebastian Bach teamed together, a solution was
formulated. That solution was the “Goldberg” Variations for the
harpsichord, or Variations for
Harpsichord in G Major, BWV 988: An Aria
with Diverse Variations. It is the
last of the sequence of keyboard music that J.S. Bach composed titled Clavierübung. Kaiserling, the patron of fourteen year
old Johann Goldberg, often stopped in Leipzig with Goldberg to have Bach
instruct the young harpsichordist. The
Count was often sick and had much trouble sleeping, and Goldberg played for him
frequently to ease his insomnia. The
Count mentioned to Bach that he desired some pieces for Goldberg to play that
would be cherry, smooth, and lively to cheer him up during his long, sleepless
nights. And so the Goldberg Variations
were composed, named for the young virtuoso, and the Count never grew sick of
them. He liked them so much, in fact,
that he rewarded Bach extremely generously with a goblet full of gold, probably
the highest payment that Bach ever received for a single composition
(Goldberg).
However, this
anecdote may be myth. The story came
from Johann Nikolaus Forkel’s biography of J.S. Bach, written more than sixty
years after the Goldberg Variations wee composed. There is no official dedication to the Count
documented on the title page of the composition (as was customary), or anywhere
else, and no record exists of the golden goblet in which Bach’s payment was
supposedly given in. Furthermore, since
it is likely that the variations were composed around 1739 -1740, Goldberg,
born in 1727, would have been only twelve years old. While it is possible that the young musician
was extraordinarily talented and had the abilities and technical skills to play
the Goldberg Variations (he did, in fact, have the reputation as being an
extremely talented musician), another hypothesis is that J.S. Bach’s son,
Wilhelm Friedemann, was the intended performer of this composition. J.S. Bach had already written several pieces
for him previous to the creation of the variations (Williams).
However, J.S.
Bach’s obituary, published in 1754, does document the composition’s official
purpose: the Goldberg Variations is a
work “prepared for the soul’s delight of music-lovers”. This phrase also has religious connotations,
as J.S. Bach was an orthodox Lutheran.
The piece, therefore, may also have been a pious offering. It was composed around 1739, engraved in
1741, and on sale at the Leipzig Michaelmas Fair later that year (Williams).
This was quite unusual, for many of Bach’s works were not published while he
was alive. During the time of
composition of the Goldberg Variations, J.S. Bach was directing the Collegium Masicum in Leipzig, an
association of professional musicians and students that held public concerts
each week. He was the director of this
association until the early 1740s. During this time he also went on many
concert tours and turned his attention to various private interests, like the
Count who commissioned him for the Goldberg Variations (Geiringer).
The form of the
Goldberg Variations is very organized.
It is a theme and variation written for the harpsichord (although today
it is most often played on the piano), and each variation has its own thematic
material. The time signature is ¾. Every third variation is a canon, and there
is an ascending pattern: the first canon
is on the tonic, the second canon is at the second (a second above the first),
and this pattern is followed until the twenty seventh variation, which is on
the ninth. The last variation is a
quodlibet, and two independent melodies are played together. The theme is thirty two measures long,
divided into two sixteen measure sections (Goldberg). The aria, or theme, is not present or even
hinted at again throughout the variations until the end, but the harmonies fundamental
to the aria are the basis for all of the variations. Two manuals are not required to play all of
the notes, but on the title page of the composition they are denoted mandatory
for eleven of the variations and optional for three (Williams).
This paper,
however, will focus specifically on the first variation. Energetic and lively, it is extremely
different in mood than the slow and meditative theme, but the steps of the bass
are pointedly the same as in the theme. It is a duet between the right and left
hands. Measure nine of the first
variation presents a new idea and is an inverted variation of the left hand
melody in measure thirteen. There are
wide arpeggios and big leaps throughout the variation (Goldberg). The two voices are often involved in hand
crossings throughout their duet, and there are two exact halves (like each of
the variations), each sixteen measure half played twice. The phrases are in a two bar structure, and
the bass theme is thirty two measures and thirty two notes long. Two keys exist, one major and one minor, and
it is hypothesized to be a polonaise because it is a dance in constant triple
time. There is an alteration of four bar
phrasing in the first half of the variation.
Measures one through four invert in measures five through eight, and
measures nine through twelve invert in measures thirteen through sixteen. There is a hand-crossing in measures twenty
one and twenty-two, and one bar phrases in measures nine through eleven. Syncopation exists in the first seven bars
(Williams).
It is often said
that the Goldberg Variations are the most important set of variations of the
Baroque Era, and are considered the model for what all variations should be
like. According to Bukofzer, most early
Baroque music had a multi-sectional structure.
The variations are characteristic of the Baroque Era in this way,
because each variation is divided exactly in half into two sections. The set of
variations is also Baroque because it has structure (every third variation is a
canon) and balance.
In terms of the
reception of the Goldberg Variations and the performance history, it is
estimated that Wilhelm Friedemann, son of J.S., and possibly Philipp Emanual,
played the Goldberg Variations in public performances while traveling as
musicians. No documentation exists to prove this hypothesis, however
(Williams).
Sir John
Hawkin’s General History of Music,
published in 1776, includes three movements of the Goldberg Variations. Other than this publication, however, the
composition was mostly forgotten for years, even decades, subsequent to its
publication (Williams).
Dresdener A. A.
Klengei, born in 1783, emulated the canonic techniques of the Goldberg
Variations in his work, especially in his Exercises
pour le pianoforte, published in 1841.
Johann Nicolaus Forkel, who wrote the first biography of J.S. Bach,
wrote variations mimicking the Goldberg Variations’ technique. He also extolled the composition and claimed
it to be the quintessential variation.
Franz Liszt played some of the Goldberg Variations during his recital
tour from 1838-1848. The Complete Bach
Edition by Franz Anton Hoffmeister was available for purchase in 1803, and
included the Goldberg Variations. The
variations were also re-issued by Peters in Leipzig, and this kept the work in
print. Carl Czerny’s fingered edition of
1840 was used by many piano students for several generations, and the Bach
Society Edition of 1853 encouraged newer performing editions like Josef
Rheinberger’s version for two pianos in 1883. (Williams)
During the
twentieth century, piano performances of the Goldberg Variations have been
accompanied with descriptive analysis’, such as Sir Donald Francis Tovey’s
analysis in 1900. The Ferruccio Busoni
edition of the variations was reordered for a better sense of a climax in 1915
(Williams).
In 1866,
organological expert A.J. Hipkins played some of the variations on the
harpsichord to the Royal Musical Association in London (Williams).
Today, the
performance of the Goldberg Variations is considered to be very difficult,
because it was written for the harpsichord with two keyboards, including hand
crossings. However, methods have been
invented to overcome these difficulties, and the variations are performed as
time allows, as the composition as a whole usually takes between forty and
eighty minutes to perform, depending on tempo and the observance of the repeat
signs (Parry). Glenn Gould is well known
for his performance of the Goldberg Variations; in fact, his interpretation of
the composition is considered to be one of the most famous classical piano
recordings ever made. Since he recorded
his unique version of the Goldberg Variations in 1955, it has never been out of
print.
I chose this particular
set of variations to study because I find it to be extremely beautiful. Furthermore, it was very influential in terms
of setting the standard for variations and creating an AABB form. As a pianist
and a harpist, I also have a deep appreciation for difficult compositions,
especially those written for the harpsichord that may have been written for two
keyboards and have hand cross overs. I
really enjoyed learning about this piece, and playing parts of it as well.
Works
Cited
Bukofzer, Manfred F. Music
in the Baroque Era. New York: Norton Press, 1947.
Geiringer, Karl. The
Bach Family: Seven Generations of
Creative Genius. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1954.
Goldberg, Laurette. The
Goldberg Variations Reader: A
Performers’ Guide and
Anthology of Critical Appreciation. San Francisco: Giant Horse Printing, Inc, 2002.
Kirkpatrick, Ralph, ed. Johann
Sebastian Bach’s The Goldberg Variations, Edited for
the Harpsichord or piano. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc, 1938.
Parry, C. Hubert H. Johann
Sebastian Bach: The Story of the
Development of a Great
Personality. London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1909.
Williams, Peter. Bach: The Goldberg Variations. The United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press, 2001.
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