Bach: Goldberg Variations (Arr. D. Sitkovetsky for String Trio)

Featuring

Isabelle van Keulen
Lawrence Power
Kate Gould
Leopold String Trio
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Compositional Technique

Bach was unusually precise in specifying a two-manual harpsichord for the Goldberg Variations, as most of his keyboard music was for an unspecified 'clavier' (keyboard).

Composition History

Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations were among the few works he published during his lifetime, around 1741.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The original title page of the Goldberg Variations states it was 'prepared to delight the souls of music-lovers,' reflecting Bach's deep consciousness of music's spiritual dimension as a devout Lutheran.

Composition History

The Goldberg Variations constitute the most extended single piece of keyboard music published in the eighteenth century.

Interpretation

Dmitry Sitkovetsky's arrangement of the Goldberg Variations for string trio was made in 1985 to celebrate Bach's 300th birthday and is dedicated to the memory of Glenn Gould, whose recordings popularized the work.

Interpretation

Sitkovetsky's string trio arrangement aims to produce an equivalent of the harpsichord's virtuosity, using techniques like redistributing parts and pizzicato to mirror the original's brilliance and create a chamber music dialogue.

Composition History

The famous story that Bach wrote the Goldberg Variations for Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a young musician employed by Count Hermann Carl Keyserlingk, to cure the Count's insomnia, is likely embellished.