Bach's Goldberg Variations 10/5/11 6:04 AM

Bach's Goldberg Variations Search this site

Bach’s Goldberg: the French Connection

A: Harpsichord, B: Piano

A: Bach directed “2 manuals” for all of these variations.

track title, meter comments

1 Aria, ¾ The aria first appears in Anna Magdalena Bach’s 1725 Notebook on 2 facing
pages at the exact mid-point. Her calligraphy suggests, by its spacing and
Click here to play slurring, two passing appoggiaturas in measures 2 and 25. I think Bach
honored his wife, a professional singer, by placing these unaccented
ornaments in prominent positions, and she honored him by placing the aria in
the symbolic middle of her book.

2 Var. 5, [1 st Arabesque], ¾ i.e., 2 voices crisscrossing on 2 manuals with contrasting timbres.

Click here to play

http://sites.google.com/site/bachsgoldbergs/ Page 1 of 6
Bach's Goldberg Variations 10/5/11 6:04 AM

3 Var. 7, al tempo di Giga, 6/8 In 2 voices. Slurred groups of 4 32d -notes followed by a tiny silence.
Click here to play

4 Var. 8, [2 nd Arabesque], ¾ Bach uses ¾, as in the Aria, more frequently than any other time signature in
this work. Here he typically divides the quarter-note beat into 4 beamed
Click here to play sixteenth notes which outline a basic harmony. The beaming alone suggests
legato touch with tiny silences of articulation reinforcing the beginning of
each beat. I also hold the tones through to complete the indicated triad or
seventh chord, thus reinforcing Bach’s harmony. Similarly in Var. 17.

5 Var. 11, [3 rdArabesque], 12/16 Notice the 16th-note is the beat. Meter alone suggests articulation, i.e., non-
legato sixteenth-notes, to hear the beginning of each tone.
Click here to play

6 Var. 13, [florid aria], ¾ Polyphonic accompaniment in 2 voices on lower manual.

Click here to play

7 Var. 14, [4 th Arabesque], ¾ Lute stop on lower manual heightens contrast between voices.

Click here to play

8 Var. 17, [5 th Arabesque], ¾ Monsieur de St. Lambert (Principes du Clavecin, 1702) indicated slurring or
holding harmonic intervals was a common practice.
Click here to play

9 Var. 20, [6 th Arabesque], ¾ Four 16th-notes to the beat with the 1st & 3rd twice the value of the 2nd & 4th,
thus assimilating to dominant triplet rhythm (CPE Bach, Versuch, 1753).
Click here to play

10 Var. 23, [7 th Arabesque], ¾ 2-voice writing contrasted with 3- & 4-voice writing.

Click here to play

11 Var. 25, adagio, minore, ¾ Florid aria with harmonic bass.

Click here to play

12 Var. 26, [8 th Arabesque], one staff in The 18/16 meter, similar to that in Var. 11, suggests articulated 16th-notes.
18/16, the other in ¾ . Six of these divide into 3 groups of 2—not 2 groups of 3—as indicated by
rests in bar 32. Bach set these six 16th-notes regularly against the quarter-
Click here to play
note beat in ¾ time, but notated the division of that beat into apparent binary
units: a dotted figure or equal eighth-notes. These must be assimilated to the
actual ternary rhythm of the 16th-notes as indicated by Bach’s vertical
alignments and according to C. P. E. Bach’s rule. See also variations 20 and
29.

13 Var. 27, Canon at the Ninth, 6/8 In 2 voices on 2 contrasting manuals, unique among the canons.
Click here to play

http://sites.google.com/site/bachsgoldbergs/ Page 2 of 6
Bach's Goldberg Variations 10/5/11 6:04 AM

14 Var. 28, [9 th Arabesque], ¾ The 2 voices become variously 3 or 4 with accompanying trill-like rhythms.

Click here to play

15 Var. 29, [Toccata], ¾ As in variations 20 & 26, the dotted pair or seemingly equal pair of notes
must be assimilated to the prevailing triplet rhythm.
Click here to play

B: Bach directed “one manual” for all of these variations.

track title, meter comments

16 Var. 16, Ouverture, alla breve; 2d half, Conventional French Overture style; the first half slow with a pulse of 4
3/8 quarter-notes to the bar, highly dotted, pompous, as Johann Quantz
(Versuch, 1752) describes it, “the splendid style.” (Quantz studied in Paris,
Click here to play 1726–1727).This variation occupies 2 facing pages exactly in the middle of
Bach’s original edition. I think Bach suggests by this positioning that French
performance style is central to his work.

17 Var. 1, ¾ In 2 voices
Click here to play

18 Var. 2, 2/4 In 3 voices, upper 2 voices imitative

Click here to play

19 Var. 3, Canon at the unison, 12/8 Typically between the 2 upper voices with accompanying bass
Click here to play

20 Var. 4, 3/8 In 4 voices

Click here to play

21 Var. 6, Canon at the second, 3/8

Click here to play

22 Var. 9, Canon at the third, C

Click here to play

23 Var. 10, Fugetta, alla breve In 4 voices

Click here to play

http://sites.google.com/site/bachsgoldbergs/ Page 3 of 6
Bach's Goldberg Variations 10/5/11 6:04 AM

24 Var. 12, Canon at the fourth, ¾ Inverted

Click here to play

25 Var. 15, Canon at the fifth, andante, Inverted

minore, 2/4
Click here to play

26 Var. 18, Canon at the sixth, alla breve

Click here to play

27 Var. 19, 3/8 Two upper voices in invertible counterpoint

Click here to play

28 Var. 21, Canon at the seventh, minore,

Click here to play

29 Var. 22, alla breve (Bach’s title) In 4 voices

Click here to play

30 Var. 24, Canon at the octave, 9/8

Click here to play

31 Var. 30, Quodlibet, C Bach joins 2 popular songs in invertible counterpoint to the original bass
harmonies.
Click here to play

32 Aria da Capo è Fine

Click here to play

Summary. (1) notes inégales: usually notes subdividing the beat, as eighths or
sixteenths, will be played unequally, i.e., long–short. (2) dotted rhythms: the short note
following a dotted note will be played still shorter in order, as Quantz writes: “to express
the necessary liveliness.” The dot itself will often be interpreted as a rest. This is true not
only in the French-overture or “splendid” style but elsewhere according to the
performer’s choice in both slow and fast tempos. (3) French influence: according to C.
P. E. Bach his father visited French musicians at the princely court of Celle when he
was a young man, possibly during the Lüneburg period (1700–1703). His French-style
Ouverture, the first so titled, (# 822 in the Schmieder catalog) dates precisely from this
time. (4) dots over or under a note-head: the renown French organist, Louis-Nicolas
Clérambault (1676–1749) mentions this as a sign, not for staccato, but for notes to be
played equally (1716). Bach’s first use of similar dots in the Goldberg Variations occurs
exceptionally over pairs of sixteenth-notes in measure 11 of Var. 13, where the florid
aria-style plus frequent dotted rhythms suggest normally shortened rather than equal
sixteenth-notes. Quantz also, writing not about French style in particular but about
musical style in general, reserves the stroke for staccato and the dot for a specially
marked performance with the note “not released but held out” (Versuch,1752, p.193-
94). (5) appoggiaturas: C. P. E. Bach wrote (1753) that “recently small notes were being

http://sites.google.com/site/bachsgoldbergs/ Page 4 of 6
Bach's Goldberg Variations 10/5/11 6:04 AM

notated in their real length.” We find appoggiaturas in the Goldberg notated as small
eighth-, sixteenth- and thirtysecond-notes. These normally take their relative value from
on-the-beat performance at the beginning of the following large note, to which the
appoggiatura must be slurred. Exceptional upbeat, anticipatory performance is reserved
solely for the 2 introductory passing appoggiaturas (as indicated above for the initial aria
and also as specified by Quantz as both of French origin and in general usage). (6) time
signatures: Bach’s meters determine beat-emphasis. For example: 6/8 time indicates 6
beats per measure—not 2. Beats are normally defined by tiny silences of articulation
before the beginning of the beat. This is standard technique on the harpsichord and was
historically transferred to the emerging pianoforte during the course of the 18th century.
The idea in using this technique is not to introduce silences per se but to ensure that
one hears the beginning of the vibration of the strings. (7) choice of instrument: Bach on
the piano prevails in today’s world. During his life-time we know he played and had in
his possession a number of different instruments, including organs, clavichords,
harpsichords and the piano, which he even praised. Use of the piano, however, for the
arabesques—those variations requiring 2 contrasting voices crisscrossing on 2 manuals
—results in a number of detached notes, which falsify Bach’s original notation. Use of
the “ideal?” harpsichord—even if made according to prior modes, or even French—is
illusory. What unique choice could we possibly make, based on an analysis of Bach’s
life and customs? (8) instruments used: concert Sperrhake harpsichord and Blüthner
piano—both from the 1970s. (9) manner of performance: based on analysis of historical
documents and publications of the 17th and 18th centuries. This is more fundamental
than choice of instrument. (10) notation vs. performance practice: Actual notation based
on mathematical division of note-values by half. Actual performance based on “real”
values, i.e., short or long th-notes, 16th-notes, etc. These values developed primarily by
the French during the 17th and 18th centuries and explained, partly through vertical
alignments, by Couperin in the Preface to Book 1 of his Pièces de Clavecin (1713) and
his L’art de toucher le Clavecin (1716)—both of which were in the Bach household.

Ray McIntyre
June 26, 2008

Recording engineer & web designer : Julien Pierre

Blüthner piano, Roland VS-2400CD digital audio workstation, dual AKG C3000B microphones

Attachments (33)

01 Aria.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:25 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

3168k Download

02 Variation 5.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:27 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2483k Download

03 Variation 7.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:27 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1451k Download

04 Variation 8.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:28 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

4146k Download

05 Variation 11.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:30 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1812k Download

06 Variation 13.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:31 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

3859k Download

07 Variation 14.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:49 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1745k Download

08 Variation 17.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:50 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

4000k Download

09 Variation 20.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 7:52 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2095k Download

http://sites.google.com/site/bachsgoldbergs/ Page 5 of 6
Bach's Goldberg Variations 10/5/11 6:04 AM

10 Variation 23.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:01 PM by [email protected] (version 2 / earlier versions)
2263k Download

11 Variation 25.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:09 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

9168k Download

12 Variation 26.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:11 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2974k Download

13 Variation 27.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:12 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

3755k Download

14 Variation 28.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:13 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2133k Download

15 Variation 29.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:20 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1846k Download

16 Variation 16.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:21 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

4220k Download

17 Variation 1.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:23 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1635k Download

18 Variation 2.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:25 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2733k Download

19 Variation 3.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:26 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2604k Download

20 Variation 4.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:26 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1806k Download

21 Variation 6.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:26 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2606k Download

22 Variation 9.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:27 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

3171k Download

23 Variation 10.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:27 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1280k Download

24 Variation 12.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:28 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

5261k Download

25 Variation 15.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:28 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

5289k Download

26 Variation 18.mp3 - on Mar 30, 2009 12:46 PM by [email protected] (version 4 / earlier versions)
1550k Download

27 Variation 19.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:31 PM by [email protected] (version 2 / earlier versions)
2400k Download

28 Variation 21.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:31 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

4026k Download

29 Variation 22.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:32 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2062k Download

30 Variation 24.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:32 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

1870k Download

31 Variation 30.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:33 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

2269k Download

32 Aria.mp3 - on Dec 11, 2008 8:34 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

3586k Download

BachCanvas.jpg - on Jan 22, 2009 11:35 PM by [email protected] (version 1)

348k View Download

Sign in | Recent Site Activity | Terms | Report Abuse | Print page | Powered by Google Sites

http://sites.google.com/site/bachsgoldbergs/ Page 6 of 6