Goldberg Variationen BWV988

Hello All,

Searching through old music books I found again the Goldberg Variationen. I have the beautiful piano recording by Glenn Gould and tried them myself at the time on the piano, long ago, but the striking difference in quality made me give up.
I tried some variations again, today, on the superb Mietke Klavichord and on the beautiful Antegnati organ, and although still my quality of playing leaves much to be desired, I still enjoyed myself, especially on the organ. The longer notes stand out much more than on either the piano or the cembalo, of course, and give a very different sound palette. I don't think all of the variations seem suitable for organ, but I tried two simple variations (22 and 30 - what beautiful harmonics) and I liked it so much I'll be going to practice them again - with my level that will still be taking a long time though.
Just wanted to share this joy.
I found no recordings on Contrebombarde....

Ernst

Make sure you find a nice unequal temperament and try playing them on that - it'll really change the feel of some of the movements.

Thanks Adrian, actually I am for a few months now studying unequal temperaments - playing them and reading a lot of background information. I just bought the eBook Unequal Temperaments of Claudio Di Veroli.

Martin Dümig said that he intends to write a program to show, edit and create temperament files for HW4, which really would be a very interesting option. I once tried to make and import a temperament using a tool mentioned on the Hauptwerk site (http://www.casacota.cat/2x2/tremp.pl) but that failed. Maybe I'm going to try that again.
I play some very beautiful chorals from the Matthew Passion, and two particularly in 4 sharps and 4 flats (that one especially) sound unbearably false in just any unequal temperament, with the one exception of the so-called Lehman/Bach temperament. That one might be disputable but at least it works.

Have you found an approach of using unequal temperaments which is consistent and satisfying to yourself?

Ernst

I posted one variation from goldberg variations on contrebombarde.com yesterday:

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5817

I hope to post more of them in future but I also have to practice
since it's been a long time..

here is one other :

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5818

Hi Fazioli,

You have an admirable talent to be able to reproduce this music by hearing. I have just troubles to link what I hear to a score in front of me! Anyway, I'm sure that your link 5817 is variatio 19 and #5818 probably is variatio 26 - playing it at the same breakneck speed as e.g. Glenn Gould.
I agree that the trumpet in the bass of #5818 is very suitable.
I think there is an error in the midi file of link 5818 - I looked at the (midi) score and it does not seems to be what you're playing.
Many thanks for the performances.
By the way, thanks to you I bought the book "At the organ with Virgil Fox", especially for the arrangement of Come Sweetest Death, Come Blessed Rest.

Ernst

Hi Fazioli,

You have an admirable talent to be able to reproduce this music by hearing. I have just troubles to link what I hear to a score in front of me! Anyway, I'm sure that your link 5817 is variatio 19 and #5818 probably is variatio 26 - playing it at the same breakneck speed as e.g. Glenn Gould.
I agree that the trumpet in the bass of #5818 is very suitable.
I think there is an error in the midi file of link 5818 - I looked at the (midi) score and it does not seems to be what you're playing.
Many thanks for the performances.
By the way, thanks to you I bought the book "At the organ with Virgil Fox", especially for the arrangement of Come Sweetest Death, Come Blessed Rest.

Ernst

Thanks Ernst!, to me the MIDI file sounds ok did You play it with Hauptwerk4? if You open the file in somekind of score writter like Sibelius or Finale without quantesize the notes it will look strange because I recorded it live with the HW4 MIDI recorder and without a metronome. But it should sound ok though.
It may be that I posted accidentely one of my earlier attempts to record this piece, I will check that later and repost it if true.

Glenn Gould played this variation acctualy twice as fast which I can't of course. I like it fast, but faster than this is not possible for me (and even like this it took me a long time to get a good recording).

I try to upload another tonight.

Best regards,

Roland

Oh and I forgot to tell You that St. Maximin's pitch is much lower which make it sound like it was played in another key.

My uploads so far (not in the right order):

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5817

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5818

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5827

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5828 (I like the grande tierce in the walking bass line)

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5829

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5837

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5839

Up to the next one..

Roland

You have publiced the following parts of Goldberg variationen

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5817
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Var. 19

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5818
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Var. 5

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5827
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Var. 21

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5828
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Var. 18

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5829
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Var. 13

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5837
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Var. 8

http://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/5839
Bach Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Var. 14



Scores and Performances in OGG format:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Goldberg-Variatio ... bastian%29


Please do a check is I'am right (also because the different pitch of St. Maxim)

I also have sent you a pm for titles.

Evert-Jan

Thanks Evert-Jan

I have changed the tittles (without checking sorry) I will check them when I'm home from work and eventually
correct them. Yes I did play them from memory, a long time ago I was practicing this piece for hours a day
with a CD and the music score, I can not read music very well (almost not) but in combination with a CD I
could manage to learn 24 out of 30 variations but all on piano which is different. I don't know why only 24,
somehow I lost interest in this work (not totally of course). There are quit complex variations of which a view
I can play and strange enough there are also easy variations I still can't play because I never learned them.
I had no particulair order in learning them, the ones I like most I did first.
It is also not so that I can sit down and play them perfectly in once most of the recordings where the best of many.

Thanks again!

Roland,

Many thanks for the large list of variations - very useful as a help and guideline for playing and registration. Glad that Evert-Jan took the trouble of marking the variations!
What actually do you like you more now - playing these variations on piano or organ? My problem on piano is that for sounding the connected notes (gebonden noten) long enough, you have to play fast, and I can't do that.

Ernst

Roland,

Many thanks for the large list of variations - very useful as a help and guideline for playing and registration. Glad that Evert-Jan took the trouble of marking the variations!
What actually do you like you more now - playing these variations on piano or organ? My problem on piano is that for sounding the connected notes (gebonden noten) long enough, you have to play fast, and I can't do that.

Ernst

Hello Ernst,

I have a recording of the Golberg variations played by Rosalyn Tureck, which is the slowest version I ever heard and it is beautiful. A good piano (concert grand) have a long sound. When I play a variation on organ I find it diffecult to know how long to press the note since they always stay at the same volume level which can be irritating when release the key to late or to early, it is completely different to play this pieces on an organ especially when using a cheap keyboard like i'm doing now (my console is not ready yet). At the other hand thanks to this cheap keyboard that play extremely light I can do things I can't do on a piano. But to answer Your question to me personaly the Goldberg variations are sounding best on a piano.

Roland

There are two distinct versions of the Goldberg Variations by Gould and the differences in tempi are dramatic.
I would say there is less showing off in the later one.
I've been playing them on the harpsichord as well as the piano. Utterly different technique required of course and certainly different results.

Hi Rob,

I have the two versions of Glenn Gould as well and fully agree with your conclusion. I play some variations (of course the ones I love best and can reasonably master) on piano, harpsichord (that beautiful Mietke) or organ and I enjoy all, but sure very different. I love the harpsichord as well and that I guess has been the instrument for which the variations were written. But because I learned to know the Goldberg variations through the recording of Glenn Gould, which made a deep impression at the time, that has stuck in my memory as THE way to play it. But I'm going to look for the recording by Rosalyn Tureck which Fazioli mentions.

Ernst