The Goldberg Variations and Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue on this album were recorded in Paris and Saint-Leu-la-Forêt in 1933 and 1935, respectively, on 'big wheels of wax'.
Compositional Technique
The Goldberg Variations display Bach's boundless imagination by building each variation on an immutably recurring bass line, yet each variation depicts a unique mood.
Interpretation
Yehudi Menuhin, the violinist on this album, greatly admired Wanda Landowska's authority in Baroque music and was receptive to her advice on ornamentation, phrasing, and tempi.
Compositional Technique
In the Goldberg Variations, every third variation is a canon, ranging in successive steps from 'all'unisuono' (at the unison) to 'alla nona' (at the ninth).
Instruments
Bach specified that the Goldberg Variations were intended for 'Clavicymbel mit zweyen Manualen' (harpsichord with two manuals), which is the instrument used on this recording.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Wanda Landowska, the harpsichordist on this album, believed that Bach was 'counterpoint incarnate' and that he forged the Goldberg Variations in this language.
Interpretation
Wanda Landowska, the harpsichordist, carefully studied Bach's methods of writing broken chords to devise expressive and rhythmically free yet solid patterns for the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue.
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