Goldberg-Variationen

Historical context

The Goldberg-Variationen, BWV 988, were composed at the request of Count Kaiserling, formerly Russian Ambassador at the Saxon Electoral Court, who suffered from insomnia. The Count asked Bach to write some Clavier music of a “soothing and cheerful character” for his clavicenist, Goldberg, to relieve sleepless nights, a need Bach thought a set of Variations would best fulfill, as “the book” from c. 1742 relates. Though Bach had previously paid little attention to the variation form in his maturity, he struck out a new path worthy of his genius for this work. The theme, a sarabande from Anna Magdalena Bach’s ‘Notenbuch’, dates back to as early as 1725, and Bach made it the central point of this great set of thirty variations.

The work was dedicated to Count Kaiserling, for whom it was composed. “The book” recounts that the Count always called them ‘my Variations’ and was never weary of hearing them, often requesting ‘Play me one of my Variations, Goldberg’ when he could not sleep. Bach was rewarded with a golden goblet containing one hundred louis d’ors for this composition, or, as Forkel relates, a snuff-box containing a hundred Louis d’or. “The book” describes this admirable work as consisting of thirty Variations, some in canon, in a variety of movements and at all intervals, with easy flowing melody, concluding with a Quodlibet. Forkel considers the Variations models of what such compositions ought to be and a masterpiece.

Drawn from Forkel, Johann Nikolaus, 1749-1818; Terry, Charles Sanford, 1864-1936, Johann Sebastian Bach; his life, art, and work, tr. from the German of Johann Nikolaus Forkel, with notes and appendices (1920); Spitta, Philipp, 1841-1894, Johann Sebastian Bach : his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685-1750 (1899); Spitta, Philipp, 1841-1894, Johann Sebastian Bach : his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685-1750 (1899) — public domain, archive.org.