New to Bach's delightfully intricate and huge keyboard piece? Read on for a brief Goldberg Variations FAQ, with comments from Professor Wolff.Īround 1741, Bach published a long and complicated keyboard piece, calling it Aria with diverse variations for a harpsichord with two manuals (keyboards). We'll play and discuss Glenn Gould's 1955 recording of the Goldberg Variations with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tim Page (a friend of Gould's) and Washington Post classical music critic Anne Midgette. 23rd at 12 noon, ET for a live online listening party. Also look for our official interactive "Goldberg Puzzler" and lists of great Goldbergs, and Goldbergs in costume.ĭo you have stories, opinions or questions about the Goldberg Variations? Join the conversation this week in the comments sections of our stories, also on Facebook and Twitter #NPRGoldberg.
Other Goldberg Week guests include pianist Jeremy Denk, whose thoughtful and offbeat sense of humor creeps into his essays, performances and videos pianist Lara Downes, who looks forward from Bach through the lens of today's composers Andreas Staier, who takes us on a tour of his high-performance harpsichord and thoughts from pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. Throughout this Bach birthday week - he was born 327 years ago Wednesday - we'll explore the Goldbergs with guests like Harvard professor Christoph Wolff (click the audio link above), the director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig, who helps put the music in context. On one level, it's simply a beautiful keyboard work, and on another, it's a Rubik's Cube of invention and architecture.įrom its apocryphal back story (based on a count's sleepless nights), to its labyrinthine structure, to the breakthrough recording by Glenn Gould, the Goldbergs carry a heavy load of compelling baggage. Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations has become an iconic monument in Western music. All this week, a look at Bach's Goldberg Variations from many points of view.
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