Goldberg Notes

• Goldberg week on NPR  

• Why I Hate The 'Goldberg Variations' 
• The piece is eighty minutes long, and mostly in G major. Just think about that for a minute. Then (without a bathroom break) think very similar thoughts for 79 more minutes, winding around the same basic themes, and then you will have some idea of what it's like to experience—you might even say survive—the Goldbergs. Let's not delude ourselves. No amount of artistry and inspiration (sorry Glenn, not even you) can make you forget that you are hearing 80 minutes of G major; it's like trying not to notice Mount Everest. Not only is it G major, but it is always, (nauseatingly?) the same sequence of harmonies within G major. This is more than a compositional roadblock; it's essentially a recipe for monotony and failure. The Goldbergs are a fool's errand attempted by the greatest genius of all time. 

•  Hannibal Lecter's Guide To The 'Goldberg Variations'

•  This Is Your Brain On The Goldberg Variations
• How can we be King Lear one moment and the Three Stooges the next?

Recordings

• Gould (Piano - 1955) 
• Peraheia (Piano)
• Staier (Harpsichord) 
• Sitkovetsky (String ensemble)