Associates of Brand Library Music Series Junko Ueno Garrett, piano Glendale Central Library Saturday February 23, 2013 2:00pm

Program

Vierter Teil der Klavierübung Goldberg Variationen BWV 988 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Aria Variatio 1 a 1 Clav. Variatio 2 a 1 Clav. Variatio 3 Canone all’ Unisuono. a 1 Clav. Variatio 4 a 1 Clav. Variatio 5 a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. Variatio 6 Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav. Variatio 7 a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo de Giga Variatio 8 a 2 Clav. Variatio 9 Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav. Variatio 10 Fugetta. a 1 Clav. Variatio 11 a 2 Clav. Variatio 12 Canone alla Quarta. a 1 Clav. Variatio 13 a 2 Clav. Variatio 14 a 2 Clav. Variatio 15 Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav. Variatio 16 Ouverture. a 1 Clav. Variatio 17 a 2 Clav. Variatio 18 Canone alla Sexta. a 1 Clav. Variatio 19 a 1 Clav. Variatio 20 a 2 Clav. Variatio 21 Canone alla Settima. a 1 Clav. Variatio 22 a 1 Clav. alla breve Variatio 23 a 2 Clav. Variatio 24 Canone all’Ottava. a 1 Clav. Variatio 25 a 2 Clav. adagio Variatio 26 a 2 Clav. Variatio 27 Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav. Variatio 28 a 2 Clav. Variatio 29 a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. Variatio 30 Quodlibet. a 1 Clav. Aria

Note: “1 Clav.” indicates for one keyboard on the harpsichord , “2 Clav.” indicates the variation is intended to be played on two keyboards of the harpsichord. Canons appear every 3 variations, and each canon is based on a different interval. The variation 3 is in unison, and the interval increases with each canon up to a ninth in Variato 27.

This concert is supported by the Associates of Brand Library. If you are interested in supporting the art, music and dance events at Brand Library membership forms are available. Donations are also accepted.

Program Notes

J. S. Bach was a very ambitious composer, writing vast amounts of secular and sacred music. He published 3 volumes of Klavierübung (Keyboard Practice) consisting of Partitas, the Italian Concerto, the French Overture, and organ pieces. The fourth and concluding volume of Klavierübung is the crowning achievement, the Goldberg Variations. Many composers wrote variations, but Bach wanted to create something that went beyond the ordinary. He integrated continental style, Italian melodies, canons, a chaconne, a French overture, dance movements, character pieces, trios and duets. He unified those elements into his Goldberg Variations.

This piece starts with a beautiful Aria, moves through 30 variations, and ends with another playing of the Aria that started the journey. This musical journey usually takes 70-80 minutes to play through. The length alone is already a big challenge! To master the technical and musical difficulties in this piece is another challenge. Another difficulty comes from the fact that the Goldberg Variations was written for a harpsichord with two keyboards, so when we play on the piano (with one keyboard) the two hands run into and cross over each other. For instance, Variation 5 uses an Italian hands crossing method in which one hand constantly moves back and forth between high and low registers while the other hand stays in the middle. By contrast, Variation 8 uses a French crossing method in which both hands cross each other. So many challenges, and why do we still play----? Because the music is amazing. I come to the piano every day and play Goldberg with joy. I discover phrasings, voicing, and hidden ideas; every look at the music reveals new challenges. It is like climbers who see challenging mountains and can‘t resist climbing, even sometimes at the risk of their own lives.

I have my personal imagination regarding particular variations, like Variation 3 with a noble English man with a stick and silk hat, Variation 7 with a crystal ballerina in the music box, Variation 9 with a grandmother reading a book for her grandchild in the beautiful spring sun, Variation 17 with quick motions in a silent movie, Variation 22 with a sunrise on the horizon, Variation 24 with a young girl dancing in the field, or Variation 27 with rain drops from the trees. In French Overture, the Variation 16, there is the procession of Louis XIV in the first half, and in the second half I see the well-dressed ladies gossiping, chatting, whispering. There are 3 variations in minor keys, and Variation 25 is the depiction of Passion, we hear Jesus steps in chromatic motion. In Variation 30, to conclude this monumental work, Bach came up with the idea of using a humorous variation, a Quodlibet (‘what you please’). He combined 2 German songs (one is quite humorous) for this grand finale.

“Goldberg Variations” carries a fun anecdote by a Bach scholar, Johann Nikolaus Forkel. In his 1802 biography of Johann Sebastian Bach Forkel writes “Count Keyserlingk, formerly Russian ambassador to Saxon, often visited Leipzig. Among his servants there was a talented young man, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a harpsichordist who was a pupil of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and later of Johann Sebastian Bach himself. The count had been suffering from insomnia and ill-health and Goldberg, who also lived there, had to stay in the room next door to sooth his master’s suffering with music. Once the count asked Bach to compose some keyboard pieces for Goldberg, pieces of mellowness and gaiety that would enliven his sleepless nights. Bach decided to write a set of variations, a form that prior to this, hadn’t interested him much. Nevertheless, in his masterly hands, an exemplary work of art was born. The count was so delighted with it, he called them “my variations.” Bach had probably never been so generously rewarded for his music. The count gave him a golden goblet with a hundred Louis d’Or!” Goldberg was only 14 when this piece was published. He was too young to handle the extraordinary musical, technical and intellectual challenge of this work. Regarding the reliability of the story, András Schiff, one of our leading current interpreters of Bach said, “If it is not true, it is well invented.”

Junko Ueno Garrett