Bach: Goldberg Variations

Featuring

Anna Besson
Louis Creac‘h
Robin Pharo
Jean Rondeau
Nevermind
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Compositional Technique

Bach's Goldberg Variations consist of 32 movements (2 Arias and 30 Variations), with each movement having exactly 32 bars.

Recording & Production

The recording was made in the Salle de Musique in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, which the performers consider to have one of Europe's finest acoustics.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The performers aimed to create a transcription that Bach himself might have devised, as he frequently transcribed his own pieces for different instruments and occasions.

Compositional Technique

The Goldberg Variations include canons, an ancient contrapuntal form, explored by Bach from the unison up to the ninth, concluding with a 'Quodlibet' combining popular tunes.

Performer Biography

The ensemble Nevermind, formed in 2013 by Anna Besson, Louis Creac'h, Robin Pharo, and Jean Rondeau, is celebrating its tenth anniversary with this transcription project.

Interpretation

This recording features a unique transcription of Bach's Goldberg Variations for flute, violin, viola da gamba, and basso continuo, an instrumentation never before attempted for this work.

Interpretation

The transcription was based on a 1741 Nuremberg edition of the Goldberg Variations, which contains annotations in red ink by Johann Sebastian Bach himself.