557268bk Bach US 9/11/04 8:53 pm Page 4

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) , BWV 988 J. S. BACH

1 Aria 3:57 & Variation 16 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 2:55 Goldberg Variations 2 Variation 1 – a 1 Clav. 1:39 * Variation 17 – a 2 Clav. 2:07 3 Variation 2 – a 1 Clav. 1:29 ( Variation 18 – a 1 Clav. 1:19 Jeno˝ Jandó, Piano 4 Variation 3 – a 1 Clav. 2:24 Canone alla Sesta Canone all’Unisuono ) Variation 19 – a 1 Clav. 1:27 5 Variation 4 – a 1 Clav. 0:59 ¡ Variation 20 – a 2 Clav. 2:01 6 Variation 5 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 1:23 ™ Variation 21 – a 1 Clav. 2:23 7 Variation 6 – a 1 Clav. 1:21 Canone alla Settima Canone alla Seconda £ Variation 22 – a 1 Clav. 1:39 8 Variation 7 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 1:46 ¢ Variation 23 – a 1 Clav. 2:08 9 Variation 8 – a 2 Clav. 1:44 ∞ Variation 24 – a 1 Clav. 2:31 0 Variation 9 – a 1 Clav. 1:45 Canone all’Ottava Canone alla Terza § Variation 25 – a 1 Clav. 10:00 ! Variation 10 – a 1 Clav. 1:32 Adagio Fugetta ¶ Variation 26 – a 1 Clav. 2:05 @ Variation 11 – a 2 Clav. 1:53 • Variation 27 – a 1 Clav. 1:49 # Variation 12 – a 1 Clav. 1:56 Canone alla Nona Canone alla Quarta ª Variation 28 – a 1 Clav. 2:10 $ Variation 13 – a 2 Clav. 4:05 º Variation 29 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 2:00 % Variation 14 – a 2 Clav. 2:08 ⁄ Variation 30 – a 1 Clav. 1:45 ^ Variation 15 – a 1 Clav. 4:18 Quodlibet Canone alla Quinta ¤ Aria 4:49

8.557268 4 557268bk Bach US 9/11/04 8:53 pm Page 2

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) a canon at a higher numerical interval, with the final ending with a canon at the sixth. The seventh group ends Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 variation a quodlibet, a hotch-potch seemingly remote with a G minor canon at the seventh, and the eighth with from the original aria, which follows in conclusion. a canon at the octave. This is followed by a ninth group The aria and thirty variations, known as the Goldberg have taken lessons not only from J.S.Bach but also from Since the work was intended for a two-manual opening in G minor and closing with a canon at the Variations, offer remarkable testimony to Johann the latter’s eldest son, , who , there are occasional but not insuperable ninth. The final group, providing opportunities for Sebastian Bach’s mastery of contrapuntal forms in his was working in from 1733 until 1746. Goldberg technical problems in performance on a single-manual greater brilliance of performance, ends with a quodlibet, work for the clavier, and his command of over-all may have remained in Dresden after Keyserlingk’s piano. a mixture of popular tunes that include Kraut und Rüben musical structure. The work belongs to the later part of departure to Potsdam in 1745, and in 1751 he entered the The first three variations, ending with a canon at the haben mich vertrieben (Cabbage and turnips have driven Bach’s career. His earlier appointments had been as an service of the First Minister in Dresden, Count Heinrich unison, are for one manual, while the second group me away) and Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir g’west (It is organist, followed by a happy and relatively brief period von Brühl. He died of tuberculosis in 1756 at the age of includes a fifth variation for an optional second manual, so long since I was at your house), set against a variation as Court Kapellmeister to the young Prince Leopold of 29, leaving a reputation rather as a virtuoso performer leading to a canon at the second. The seventh variation ground. Anhalt-Cöthen. In 1723 he had resigned his position at than as a composer. offers the same option for a gigue-like movement, The Goldberg Variations offer a conspectus of Cöthen, after the Prince’s marriage, and moved to There was, of course, a close connection between followed by a two-manual variation and a canon at the Bach’s wit and technical accomplishment, and herald a as Cantor at the Choir School of St Thomas, J.S.Bach and Count von Keyserlingk, his patron at the third. The fourth group opens with a fughetta and ends final period in which he would continue to explore the with responsibility for the music of the principal city court of Dresden. It was through Keyserlingk that Bach with a canon at the fourth, and the fifth, designed for two possibilities of canon and the use of a single theme, churches. He remained in Leipzig for the rest of his life. had in 1736 finally secured the title of Court Composer manuals, ends with a single-manual G minor canon at notably in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. The variations were published probably in 1741 as to the King of , and the ambassador’s only son the fifth. An Ouverture opens the sixth group, marking the fourth and final part of Bach’s Clavier-Übung, a title was a student in Leipzig from 1741, so that both the second half of the work, a solemn introduction in the that he had used for the three preceding collections of Keyserlingk and Goldberg might well have visited Bach. French style, followed by a fugal section, the group Keith Anderson keyboard music and one that had been used by his Wilhelm Friedemann Bach owed his introduction to the predecessor as Thomascantor, Johann Kuhnau. The first court of Dresden to Keyserlingk, whose house was open part had been published in 1731 and included six to other Dresden musicians of distinction. The Aria and Partitas, works that had appeared annually, one by one, Variations, however, have no printed dedication, with since 1726, three years after his arrival in Leipzig. The the title-page announcing the work as for the enjoyment second part, published in 1735, contained the contrasted of amateurs, the work of the Saxon Court Composer and Italian and Overture in the French Style, and Kapellmeister in charge of choral music in Leipzig. It the third part, issued in 1739, consisted of various organ has been further argued that Goldberg was remarkably compositions and the keyboard Duets. The fourth part young at the time of composition, although the technical Jeno˝ Jandó may be regarded as the culmination of a carefully difficulties of the work should have been within the planned series. competence of the young virtuoso even at the age of The Hungarian pianist Jeno˝ Jandó has won a number of piano Doubt has been cast on the story associated with the fourteen. Forkel concludes his story by adding that Bach competitions in Hungary and abroad, including first prize in the Goldberg Variations, the source of the title by which the was rewarded by Keyserlingk with a gold cup filled with 1973 Hungarian Piano Concours and a first prize in the chamber Aria and Variations are commonly known. Bach’s early a hundred louis d’or. His biography of Bach, published music category at the Sydney International Piano Competition in biographer Forkel alleged that Count Hermann Karl von in 1802, is the only evidence for this. 1977. He has recorded for Naxos all the piano and Keyserlingk, Russian ambassador to the court of Saxony The aria on which the variations are based was sonatas of Mozart. Other recordings for the Naxos label include the in Dresden, had commissioned the work for included in the Clavierbüchlein copied in 1725 by concertos of Grieg and Schumann as well as Rachmaninov’s performance by his protégé, the young harpsichordist Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena, an untitled piece, Second Concerto and Paganini Rhapsody and Beethoven’s Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, to amuse him during his its first eight bars based on the chaconne bass familiar complete piano sonatas. hours of sleeplessness. Goldberg himself was born in from French tradition. The variations that follow are 1727 in Danzig (Gdansk), where he came to derived from the harmonic structure and the bass line of Keyserlingk’s attention ten years later. He was said to the aria and are grouped in threes, every third variation 8.557268 2 3 8.557268 557268bk Bach US 9/11/04 8:53 pm Page 2

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) a canon at a higher numerical interval, with the final ending with a canon at the sixth. The seventh group ends Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 variation a quodlibet, a hotch-potch seemingly remote with a G minor canon at the seventh, and the eighth with from the original aria, which follows in conclusion. a canon at the octave. This is followed by a ninth group The aria and thirty variations, known as the Goldberg have taken lessons not only from J.S.Bach but also from Since the work was intended for a two-manual opening in G minor and closing with a canon at the Variations, offer remarkable testimony to Johann the latter’s eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, who harpsichord, there are occasional but not insuperable ninth. The final group, providing opportunities for Sebastian Bach’s mastery of contrapuntal forms in his was working in Dresden from 1733 until 1746. Goldberg technical problems in performance on a single-manual greater brilliance of performance, ends with a quodlibet, work for the clavier, and his command of over-all may have remained in Dresden after Keyserlingk’s piano. a mixture of popular tunes that include Kraut und Rüben musical structure. The work belongs to the later part of departure to Potsdam in 1745, and in 1751 he entered the The first three variations, ending with a canon at the haben mich vertrieben (Cabbage and turnips have driven Bach’s career. His earlier appointments had been as an service of the First Minister in Dresden, Count Heinrich unison, are for one manual, while the second group me away) and Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir g’west (It is organist, followed by a happy and relatively brief period von Brühl. He died of tuberculosis in 1756 at the age of includes a fifth variation for an optional second manual, so long since I was at your house), set against a variation as Court Kapellmeister to the young Prince Leopold of 29, leaving a reputation rather as a virtuoso performer leading to a canon at the second. The seventh variation ground. Anhalt-Cöthen. In 1723 he had resigned his position at than as a composer. offers the same option for a gigue-like movement, The Goldberg Variations offer a conspectus of Cöthen, after the Prince’s marriage, and moved to There was, of course, a close connection between followed by a two-manual variation and a canon at the Bach’s wit and technical accomplishment, and herald a Leipzig as Cantor at the Choir School of St Thomas, J.S.Bach and Count von Keyserlingk, his patron at the third. The fourth group opens with a fughetta and ends final period in which he would continue to explore the with responsibility for the music of the principal city court of Dresden. It was through Keyserlingk that Bach with a canon at the fourth, and the fifth, designed for two possibilities of canon and the use of a single theme, churches. He remained in Leipzig for the rest of his life. had in 1736 finally secured the title of Court Composer manuals, ends with a single-manual G minor canon at notably in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. The variations were published probably in 1741 as to the King of Saxony, and the ambassador’s only son the fifth. An Ouverture opens the sixth group, marking the fourth and final part of Bach’s Clavier-Übung, a title was a student in Leipzig from 1741, so that both the second half of the work, a solemn introduction in the that he had used for the three preceding collections of Keyserlingk and Goldberg might well have visited Bach. French style, followed by a fugal section, the group Keith Anderson keyboard music and one that had been used by his Wilhelm Friedemann Bach owed his introduction to the predecessor as Thomascantor, Johann Kuhnau. The first court of Dresden to Keyserlingk, whose house was open part had been published in 1731 and included six to other Dresden musicians of distinction. The Aria and Partitas, works that had appeared annually, one by one, Variations, however, have no printed dedication, with since 1726, three years after his arrival in Leipzig. The the title-page announcing the work as for the enjoyment second part, published in 1735, contained the contrasted of amateurs, the work of the Saxon Court Composer and Italian Concerto and Overture in the French Style, and Kapellmeister in charge of choral music in Leipzig. It the third part, issued in 1739, consisted of various organ has been further argued that Goldberg was remarkably compositions and the keyboard Duets. The fourth part young at the time of composition, although the technical Jeno˝ Jandó may be regarded as the culmination of a carefully difficulties of the work should have been within the planned series. competence of the young virtuoso even at the age of The Hungarian pianist Jeno˝ Jandó has won a number of piano Doubt has been cast on the story associated with the fourteen. Forkel concludes his story by adding that Bach competitions in Hungary and abroad, including first prize in the Goldberg Variations, the source of the title by which the was rewarded by Keyserlingk with a gold cup filled with 1973 Hungarian Piano Concours and a first prize in the chamber Aria and Variations are commonly known. Bach’s early a hundred louis d’or. His biography of Bach, published music category at the Sydney International Piano Competition in biographer Forkel alleged that Count Hermann Karl von in 1802, is the only evidence for this. 1977. He has recorded for Naxos all the piano concertos and Keyserlingk, Russian ambassador to the court of Saxony The aria on which the variations are based was sonatas of Mozart. Other recordings for the Naxos label include the in Dresden, had commissioned the work for included in the Clavierbüchlein copied in 1725 by concertos of Grieg and Schumann as well as Rachmaninov’s performance by his protégé, the young harpsichordist Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena, an untitled piece, Second Concerto and Paganini Rhapsody and Beethoven’s Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, to amuse him during his its first eight bars based on the chaconne bass familiar complete piano sonatas. hours of sleeplessness. Goldberg himself was born in from French tradition. The variations that follow are 1727 in Danzig (Gdansk), where he came to derived from the harmonic structure and the bass line of Keyserlingk’s attention ten years later. He was said to the aria and are grouped in threes, every third variation 8.557268 2 3 8.557268 557268bk Bach US 9/11/04 8:53 pm Page 4

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 J. S. BACH

1 Aria 3:57 & Variation 16 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 2:55 Goldberg Variations 2 Variation 1 – a 1 Clav. 1:39 * Variation 17 – a 2 Clav. 2:07 3 Variation 2 – a 1 Clav. 1:29 ( Variation 18 – a 1 Clav. 1:19 Jeno˝ Jandó, Piano 4 Variation 3 – a 1 Clav. 2:24 Canone alla Sesta Canone all’Unisuono ) Variation 19 – a 1 Clav. 1:27 5 Variation 4 – a 1 Clav. 0:59 ¡ Variation 20 – a 2 Clav. 2:01 6 Variation 5 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 1:23 ™ Variation 21 – a 1 Clav. 2:23 7 Variation 6 – a 1 Clav. 1:21 Canone alla Settima Canone alla Seconda £ Variation 22 – a 1 Clav. 1:39 8 Variation 7 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 1:46 ¢ Variation 23 – a 1 Clav. 2:08 9 Variation 8 – a 2 Clav. 1:44 ∞ Variation 24 – a 1 Clav. 2:31 0 Variation 9 – a 1 Clav. 1:45 Canone all’Ottava Canone alla Terza § Variation 25 – a 1 Clav. 10:00 ! Variation 10 – a 1 Clav. 1:32 Adagio Fugetta ¶ Variation 26 – a 1 Clav. 2:05 @ Variation 11 – a 2 Clav. 1:53 • Variation 27 – a 1 Clav. 1:49 # Variation 12 – a 1 Clav. 1:56 Canone alla Nona Canone alla Quarta ª Variation 28 – a 1 Clav. 2:10 $ Variation 13 – a 2 Clav. 4:05 º Variation 29 – a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. 2:00 % Variation 14 – a 2 Clav. 2:08 ⁄ Variation 30 – a 1 Clav. 1:45 ^ Variation 15 – a 1 Clav. 4:18 Quodlibet Canone alla Quinta ¤ Aria 4:49

8.557268 4 557268 inlay USA 11/11/04 8:13 pm Page 1 NAXOS NAXOS The Goldberg Variations, named after the fourteen-year old harpsichordist, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, for whom it is thought they were written, are the last of a series of keyboard music Bach published under the title of Clavierübung. Based on a single ground bass theme, the mastery and power of the variations are astonishing, and the range of emotion they encompass is unparallelled in Bach’s instrumental music. The work has long been regarded DDD J. S. BACH: as the most important set of variations composed in the Baroque era: in 1802 Johann J. S. BACH: Nicolaus Forkel, the author of the first biography of J. S. Bach, praised the work as the 8.557268 ‘model, according to which all variations should be made’. Johann Sebastian Playing Time BACH 77:29 (1685-1750) Goldberg Variations Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 Goldberg Variations 1 Aria 3:57 & Variation 16 2:55 2 Variation 1 1:39 * Variation 17 2:07 3 Variation 2 1:29 ( Variation 18 1:19 4 Variation 3 2:24 ) Variation 19 1:27 5 Variation 4 0:59 ¡ Variation 20 2:01 6 Variation 5 1:23 ™ Variation 21 2:23 7 Variation 6 1:21 £ Variation 22 1:39 www.naxos.com Made in Canada Booklet notes in English h & 8 Variation 7 1:46 ¢ Variation 23 2:08 g 9 ∞

Variation 8 1:44 Variation 24 2:31 2005 Naxos Rights International Ltd. 0 Variation 9 1:45 § Variation 25 10:00 ! Variation 10 1:32 ¶ Variation 26 2:05 @ Variation 11 1:53 • Variation 27 1:49 # Variation 12 1:56 ª Variation 28 2:10 $ Variation 13 4:05 º Variation 29 2:00 % Variation 14 2:08 ⁄ Variation 30 1:45 ^ Variation 15 4:18 ¤ Aria 4:49 8.557268 8.557268 Jeno˝ Jandó, Piano Recorded in the Phoenix Studio, Budapest, Hungary from 10th to 13th February, 2003 • Producer: Ibolya Tóth Engineer: János Bohus • Editing: Mária Falvay & Veronika Vincze • Booklet Notes: Keith Anderson Please see the booklet for a detailed track list • Cover Picture: The Thomas School in Leipzig, Germany 18th century engraving (The Art Archive / Bach House Leipzig / Dagli Orti)