The nickname "Goldberg Variations" comes from a story in Johann Nikolaus Forkel's 1802 biography of Bach, claiming they were commissioned by an insomniac Baron Keyserlingk for his harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.
Recording & Production
Pavel Kolesnikov chose a Yamaha CFX concert grand piano for this recording, which was made in St Silas the Martyr, Kentish Town, London.
Performer Biography
Pavel Kolesnikov, the pianist on this recording, won the Honens International Piano Competition in 2012.
Compositional Technique
The variations are organized in groups of three, with the first of each group being a strict canon, where the intervals grow wider with each successive canon.
Compositional Technique
Bach builds the Goldberg Variations on a florid 'aria' that appears in Anna Magdalena Bach's notebook as a 'sarabande'.
Composition History
The Goldberg Variations were published in autumn 1741 as the fourth and final part of Bach's Clavierübung cycle.
Compositional Technique
The 30th variation is a 'quodlibet' (meaning 'what you please'), where Bach incorporates snatches of two popular songs: 'Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir g'west' and 'Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben'.
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