Goldberg Variations facts for kids
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 is a work for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was written about 1741. The work consists of an aria and thirty variations. The aria was not original with Bach, but was probably based on a now lost French dance tune. The work is believed to have been commissioned by a pupil of Bach's named J. G. Goldberg. Goldberg was a celebrated virtuoso, and used the work to lull his insomniac employer Count Keyserkingk to sleep.
The basic harmonies and structure of the aria remain consistent from variation to variation. The work ends with a quodlibet, a humorous combination of two popular tunes. John Keillor writes, "The work is sublime and compassionate, graceful, warm, and relentlessly intricate, a demonstration of unmatched craft in music history and genuine, poetic imagination." In modern times, the work is played on both the harpsichord and the piano.
- Woodstra, Chris, et. al. 2005. All Music Guide to Classical Music. All Music Guide, LLC. ISBN: 0-87930-865-6.
Images for kids
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Title page of the Goldberg Variations (first edition)
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First 8 bars of the fourth variation.
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First four bars of Variation 5.
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The first section of Variation 10.
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The first three bars of Variation 21
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The first four bars of Variation 23
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The last four bars of the first section of Variation 28
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The Quodlibet as it appears in the first edition
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Haussmann's portrait of Bach depicts him holding the manuscript to BWV 1076, which is also the thirteenth canon in the Goldberg Canon cycle.
See also
In Spanish: Variaciones Goldberg, BWV 988 para niños
