Introduction
Demonstrations of the art of variation on keyboard instruments were extremely popular from the sixteenth century onward. Whether Girolamo Frescobaldi, John Bull, Johann Pachelbel, Antonio de Cabézon or Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck – all over Europe, composers produced corresponding works, some of considerable length. Yet apart from a few youthful works and the famous violin chaconne, Johann Sebastian Bach was rather restrained when it came to the art of variation. However, when planning the publication of his multi-volume »Clavier-Übung« in the 1730s, in which he intended to present himself to the musical world as a versatile composer of keyboard music, he gave a prominent place to the genre of variation: as the fourth and culminating part of his greatest print project in 1741, Bach published the »Aria with diverse variations for harpsichord with 2 manuals«, later simply called the »Goldberg Variations«.
The theme of the Goldberg Variations can be heard in the »aria«, a 32-bar piece of music in slow triple time, which is reminiscent of a sarabande. However, it is not the elegantly ornamented upper voice that plays the crucial part in the following 30 variations, but the bass line. This is a melody that during the first eight bars is identical to the ostinato bass of a 62-part series of variations by George Frideric Handel (HWV 442). Whether Bach consciously extended this theme or designed it independently of Handel (or other models) is unknown.
The ensuing series of 30 variations then follows a carefully constructed architectural plan. This divides the composition into ten groups, each with three variations, which are built on similar principles. This tripartite division can be recognised most clearly with the final variation of each group, which is always a two-part canon above the given bass line. The interval between the two canonic voices increases by one tone from one group to the next: in variation 3, it is a unison canon (canone all’unisono), in variation 6 a canon at the interval of a whole tone (canone alla seconda), in variation 9 a canon at the third, etc. The intermediate variations in each group of three (that is, Variations 2, 5, 8, etc.) are largely virtuosic pieces tailored explicitly to the technical possibilities of performance on a two-manual harpsichord. In these fast-paced pieces, voice-crossing is not rare. Lastly, the first variations of each of the ten groups (that is, Variations 1, 4, 7 etc.) display the greatest stylistic variety. They include numerous dance movements, but also some splendid character pieces.
Beyond this »tripartite« structure, Bach repeatedly refers in the individual variations to specific forms and compositional techniques. For example, the dance movements are polonaises (variations 1, 23, 29), sarabandes (variations 25, 26), minuets (variation 19) or passepieds (variation 4), while variation 10 is a fughetta, and variation 22 a fantasia. In three variations (15, 21 and 25), Bach changes from the otherwise constant base key of G major to G minor, and by doing so achieves extraordinary depth of expression. With an overture of French inspiration, Bach unmistakably marks the central point of the whole work in variation 16.
Bach reserved an unusual effect for the 30th and final variation. He does not present a two-part canon, but a quodlibet, in which he cleverly combines the theme-giving bass line with extracts from the tunes of two Thuringian and Saxon folk songs (»Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir gewest« –»It’s a long time since I came to you« – and »Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben« – »Cabbage and turnips drove me away«). This unique combination of high culture and popular hit demonstrates a considerable amount of humour and self-derision in Johann Sebastian Bach. After completing the series of variations, Bach repeats the »aria« once again, the 32-bar bass theme actually occurring 32 times.
Bernhard Schrammek
A series of variations for sleepless nights?
So, at least, says the myth of the origins of the »Goldberg Variations«. Bach, according to his first biographer Forkel, wrote this aria with 30 variations for a diplomat in Dresden who suffered from insomnia and passed away the nightly hours with musical offerings from his resident harpsichordist, Goldberg. Fiction or fact?
Commissioned by Count von Keyserlingk?
Bach’s biographer Forkel suggested as early as 1802 that Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk (1696–1764) was the commissioner of the series of variations. This aristocrat acted as the Russian ambassador to the electoral court in Dresden from 1733 to 1745. In this capacity, he supported Bach’s efforts to be awarded the title of »court compositeur«. The Thomaskantor visited him in Dresden in 1741 and could have presented him with a copy of the Variations hot from the press. However, since the publication lacks any customary dedication to the count, Keyserlinck is very unlikely to be the direct commissioner.
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg – the first interpreter of the piece?
Without Bach’s series of variations, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727–1756) would probably be totally unknown today. Born in Danzig, he came to Dresden as a child, in the service of Count von Keyserlingk. There, he was taught by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Later he evidently also spent a short time with Bach senior in Leipzig and in 1751 was appointed chamber musician to Count von Brühl. In the autumn of 1741, he might have been present when Bach visited Dresden. However, whether, as a 14 year-old, he was already capable of playing the extremely demanding variations is questionable at the very least.