SCHUMANN J.S. BACH

SCHUMANNJ.S. BACH G o l d b e r g V a r i a t i o n s

A l ex a n d ra Pa p a s t e f a n o u

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1 Aria: Andante espressivo [3:59] 2 Variation 1 [1:55]3 Variation 2 [1:34]4 Variation 3: Canone all’Unisono [1:54] 5 Variation 4 [1:09]6 Variation 5 [1:45]7 Variation 6: Canone alla Seconda [1:50]8 Variation 7 [1:47]9 Variation 8 [2:04]A Variation 9: Canone alla Terza [2:21]B Variation 10: Fughetta [1:52]C Variation 11 [2:15] D Variation 12: Canone alla Quarta [2:27] E Variation 13 [4:42]F Variation 14 [2:15] G Variation 15: Canone alla Quinta [4:41]

H Variation 16: Ouverture [3:09] I Variation 17 [2:01] J Variation 18: Canone alla Sesta [1:25] K Variation 19 [1:27]L Variation 20 [1:59]M Variation 21: Canone alla Settima [2:39]N Variation 22: Alla breve [1:32]O Variation 23 [2:31]P Variation 24: Canone all’Ottava [2:32]Q Variation 25 [8:41]R Variation 26 [2:12]S Variation 27: Canone alla Nona [2:05]T Variation 28 [2:23]U Variation 29 [2:12]V Variation 30: Quodlibet [1:50]W Aria (da capo) [2:16]

Total Timing: [79:29]

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988Aria with 30 Variations

℗ & © 2021 The copyright in these sound recordings is owned by First Hand Records Ltd

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Johann Sebastian BACH (1685–1750)Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Bach’s Goldberg Variations were published in the autumn of 1741 as the fourth and final part of his Clavierübung (Keyboard Exercise) cycle. We do not know when the work was written, but the Aria appears in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena; however, this could have been copied into blank pages of the book as late as 1740. The history and circumstances surrounding the composition have been handed down to us by Bach’s biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel. Unfortunately, Forkel wrote his biography in 1802, some sixty years after the event, although we know that he did interview some of Bach’s sons about their father. Forkel’s account has been disputed, and still is, but it is worth repeating the salient facts here.

When passing through Leipzig, Herman von Keyserling would take his young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727–1756) to Bach for lessons. On one visit, Keyserling mentioned to Bach that he would like some pieces for Goldberg to play to him during his nights of insomnia. The great composer responded with an Aria and set of thirty variations which have become a landmark in the history of keyboard music. Bach was rewarded with a golden goblet filled with 100 Louis d’or.

The employer of Johann Goldberg was Count Hermann Karl von Keyserling (1697–1764). He had been appointed President of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1733 and the

following year became Ambassador to the Russian Empire at the court of Dresden and Warsaw. He later became the Russian Ambassador to the Imperial Court in Vienna in 1744.

Objections raised to Forkel’s story include the fact that Goldberg was only 13 or 14 years of age at this time and therefore could not have been able to play these technically demanding variations. Why not? Musical history is littered with child prodigies who could achieve the most extraordinary technical feats at the keyboard. Another reason for doubt is the fact that Bach did not dedicate the work to Count Keyserling – his name is not on the title page and there is no dedication – and it does not appear that the work was commissioned by the Count. He gave Bach a reward, according to Forkel, but Keyserling was rich and no doubt was delighted with the work when he was presented with one of the first printed copies, so why not show his pleasure by rewarding the composer in this way?

It has also been stated that the variations are totally unsuitable for an insomniac – but their purpose was not as a soporific to lull the Count to sleep, but to divert and pass time while he was unable to sleep. It is disingenuous to believe that Goldberg would have played all thirty variations to Keyserling each time he was suffering from insomnia. Bach’s inventive, mathematical and fecund musical mind could spin

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rigorous play of the harpsichord’. The same could be said of Bach’s virtuosic study variations.

For the variations that follow the canons, Bach used a variety of ideas and forms – Fughetta, Gigue, Sarabande and diverse slower tempos to provide contrast before the display of the study variation. Throughout, Bach’s extraordinary invention never permits his restricted harmonic foundation and melody line in G major to allow any monotony but, for tonal variety, just before the halfway point he moves to the tonic minor for the first of three variations; the Canon at the 5th (Variation 15), the Canon at the 7th (Variation 21), both beginning with a similar figure of a semiquaver rest followed by seven semiquavers, while for Variation 25 – three quarters of the way through the work – Bach writes an extended sarabande in the minor with a melody line and harmony of complex chromaticism reminiscent in style and rhythm to Variation 13. The indication for two keyboards in the preface makes clear the intention in this case of highlighted melody on a different harpsichord stop over a two part accompaniment but is also often indicates where the crossing of parts and hands becomes physically obstructive on a single keyboard. The air is cleared by the following virtuosic Variation 26, a study in even semiquavers written in 18/16 time. After the last canon, at the 9th, Bach concludes his work with two virtuoso variations followed by the last, not a canon at the tenth, but a variation which he titled Quodlibet. This is a sort of ‘in-joke’ where Bach takes two popular songs (Ich bin so lang nicht bei

parts. The Study variations are all in two parts designed to exploit various aspects of technique, evenly shared between the hands. Variation 5, flowing and even scaled, Variation 8, arpeggios based on rising triads, Variation 11, scales passing seamlessly from one hand to the other as well as arpeggios.

There are many passages of sequential figuration of the type Carl Czerny (1791–1857) would publish in multiple volumes of daily studies for the next generation of keyboard players to perfect their technique. Indeed, Czerny edited his own edition of the Goldberg Variations for Peters Edition around 1850, adding his own metronome marks, plus tempo, dynamic and articulation details.

At the beginning, although the first variation is a study variation, to start the work in motion, Bach places a simple three and four part variation, utilising imitation, either side of the first canon at the unison. Thereafter, (from Variation 5) he follows his pattern of study variation – canon – diverse piece, until Variation 28.

After the half way mark, the writing becomes more virtuosic with an obvious influence from Scarlatti whose Essercizi per gravicembalo, a volume of 30 pieces for harpsichord, was published in London in 1739. It is possible, therefore, that Bach could have just discovered these extraordinarily virtuosic works at the time he was writing his Goldberg Variations. Scarlatti’s Essercizi were also presented to the public as a teaching aid, ‘an ingenious banter in the art to exercise you in

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an unlimited number of variations on his Aria – they may have even been tailored for Goldberg’s particular keyboard talents or composed to encourage the expansion of his technique.

Of Bach’s works for harpsichord, only the Six Partitas, Italian Concerto, Overture in the French Style and the Goldberg Variations were published during his lifetime. Bach’s friend Balthasar Schmid published the Goldberg Variations in Nuremberg. Bach stayed with Keyserling in Dresden in the Autumn of 1741 when one imagines at this time, he presented him with one of the newly printed copies of the work. The title page has a long description:

Clavier Ubung / bestehend / in einer ARIA / mit verschiedenen Verænderungen / vors Clavicimbal / mit 2 Manualen. / Denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths- / Ergetzung verfertiget von / Johann Sebastian Bach / Königl. Pohl. u. Churfl. Sæchs. Hoff- / Compositeur, Capellmeister, u. Directore / Chori Musici in Leipzig. / Nürnberg in Verlegung / Balthasar Schmids

Keyboard exercise, consisting of an ARIA with diverse variations for harpsichord with two manuals. Composed for connoisseurs, for the refreshment of their spirits, by Johann Sebastian Bach, composer for the royal court of Poland and the Electoral court of Saxony, Kapellmeister and Director of Choral Music in Leipzig. Nuremberg, Balthasar Schmid, publisher.

Nineteen copies of this first edition survive today, the most important being one discovered in Strasbourg in 1974 as it contains corrections made by Bach and fourteen extra canons based on the bass line of the Aria.

Bach was around 55 years of age when he wrote this work and it can be seen as a collection of diverting pieces to be dipped into at leisure – there is certainly a great deal of variety amongst them. However, Bach had a unique mind that could see structure, imitation, fugue, and all forms available to him at a glance. His plan for the Goldberg Variations is one of such perfection that it is no wonder that it stands today, more than 280 years after its conception, as one of the great masterpieces of Western keyboard music. Much has been read into the internal workings of this composition, a good deal of it fanciful. One thing is clear, the number three – the Holy Trinity perhaps – is prevalent throughout. There are 30 variations, every third variation is a canon at a rising interval, of which there are nine in total, the aria is in triple measure. One could continue, but the overall structure is of more interest.

Not only are there canons at precise points, but each is preceded by a virtuosic variation (exercise or study) that one could imagine was written to display Goldberg’s precocious talent. It seems that Bach, who composed many works for students to improve their abilities, wrote these cumulatively to become more technically taxing for the performer with the last containing scales in double thirds and sixths. With the exception of the Canon at the Ninth, all the canons are in three

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Canon at the 8th

Study

Study

Study

Study

3 Part Menuet

Study

4 Part Passepied

Study

Aria (da capo)W

2 Part Sinfonia

Canon at the Unison

5 Var. 4

.

6 Var. 5

.

7 Var. 6.

Study

Canon at the 2nd

Forlane alla Giga

Canon atthe 3rd

Study

Fughetta

Canon at the 4th

Study

Sarabande

Canon at the 5th

Study French Ouvertüre

Canon at the 6th

Canon at the 7th

Ricercar – Gavotte

Adagio

Canon at the 9th

Étude – Courante

Quodlibet

2 V

ar. 1

.

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 Aria with 30 Variations

3 V

ar. 2

.4

Var. 3

.

B Var. 10.C Var. 11.

D Var. 12.

8 Var. 7.

9 Var. 8.

A Var. 9.

E Var. 13.

F Var. 14.

G Var. 15.

J V

ar. 18

.I

Var

. 17.

H V

ar. 1

6.M Var. 21.

L Var. 2

0.

K Va

r. 19.

P Var. 24.

O Var. 23.

N Var. 22.

S Var. 27.R

Var. 26.Q Var. 25.

V Var. 30.

U Var. 29.

T Var. 28.

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Aria

dir g’west (‘I’ve not been with you for so long’), and Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben (‘Cabbages and beets have driven me away’) and plays with them in his usual contrapuntal way. Apparently, the Bach family would do something like this in a vocal fashion at family gatherings. It is an ideal way, a stroke of genius, to go suddenly from the extraordinarily flamboyant virtuosity of the previous study variations – one directly following the other for the first time – to the spiritual calm of the concluding Aria. There are also echoes of Variation 9 at the beginning so that this last variation does not sound incongruous.

Parallels are often drawn between Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Similarities are few with the exception of each being a large work in variation form which stands as one of the great keyboard works of Western music. Bach wrote 30 variations, Beethoven 33; Bach writes variations on a ground bass of harmonic progression, Beethoven wrote variations on a theme that he did not compose himself. There is a closer musical affinity with the theme and six variations Beethoven wrote for his Piano Sonata, Op. 109 where the theme is a sarabande and some of the variations use forms borrowed from Bach – a two-part invention for Variation 3 and a fugue for Variation 5 while even the shape of Beethoven’s Variation 4 echoes Bach’s Variation 3. Beethoven also repeats his sarabande theme as a conclusion to the work after a virtuoso display in the final variation, as Bach does with his Aria.

Like many of Bach’s keyboard works, the Goldberg Variations were not written for public performance, but for the instruction and diversion of connoisseurs. In 1916, Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924) prepared an edition for the public performance of the Goldberg Variations. It is interesting to read this great musician’s preface to his edition:

‘In order to rescue this remarkable work for the concert hall (that is, to give the thousands, who cannot reproduce it themselves, an opportunity of hearing it), it is necessary – more in this, than in the others of Bach’s Pianoforte compositions – either by shortening it, or paraphrasing it, to render it more suitable both for the receptive powers of the hearer, and for the possibilities of the performer.’

He suggested removing all repeats and discarding some of the variations, something that would today be unacceptable.

However, the work was played in public before this, and probably without any drastic alteration to the text. One of the earliest documented performances in London was by German pianist and educator Edward Dannreuther (1844–1905). He settled in London in 1863 where he edited Liszt’s Études for publication, translated Wagner’s book on conducting and became known for his two-volume work on musical ornamentation published in 1893. It was around this time, in January 1892, that he played the Goldberg Variations in London. By omitting some of the repeats he played the work in forty-nine minutes. Nearly ten years later, at St James’s Hall

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in 1901, music theorist Donald Francis Tovey (1875–1940) played the work, a performance which some found fascinating although the duration was found to be excessive and akin to a sermon from which one could not escape!

Today, the work is more popular than ever with audiences and is becoming a calling card for many aspiring pianists.

© 2021 Jonathan Summers

Alexandra Papastefanou – PianistBorn into a musical family, Alexandra Papastefanou graduated from Athens Conservatoire, where she studied piano under Aliki Vatikioti. She followed her studies with Olga Zhukova at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, with Peter Solymos at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and, on a scholarship from the Alexander Onassis Foundation, at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, with György Sebők. She has also taken lessons from Alfred Brendel who praised her playing as well as her edition of The Well-Tempered Clavier (Ph. Nakas Music Publications).

Papastefanou was a finalist at the 1985 Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland and received the Liebstoeckl and Fazioli Prizes at the International Geneva Competition, as well as the Spyros Motsenigos Prize from the Academy of Athens.

Whilst pursuing her piano studies, Papastefanou took up music

theory and composition, first with I. A. Papaioannou, and then later, in the United States, with Frederic Fox.

Along with her activity as a performer, Papastefanou has pursued her in-depth study of J.S. Bach’s music, the meaning and enduring appeal of which she examined in a lecture series. She has performed all of Bach’s keyboard works and, in a series of recitals, has presented his complete The Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, and The Musical Offering as well as his keyboard concertos. She has also performed and recorded the works of Robert Schumann.

In 2018, Papastefanou recorded J.S. Bach’s complete The Well-Tempered Clavier for FHR [FHR65] to much critical acclaim. It was awarded ‘Best Recording of 2018’ by The Union of Greek Theatre and Music Critics ‘for the virtuoso and expressively impeccable approach of a monument of the world’s pianistic literature, crowning a distinguished, consistent, long-lasting personal artistic journey’.

Her release in 2019 of the complete French Suites of J.S. Bach also for FHR [FHR70] ranked among the best recordings of the Suites according to international critics.

Papastefanou’s diverse repertoire extends from composers of the baroque era to more recent composers such as George Crumb, György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Toru Takemitsu. She has also performed and recorded the piano works of major Greek composers Dimitris Mitropoulos,

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Nikos Skalkottas, George Koumendakis, I.A. Papaioannou and Vangelis Katsoulis. Her music career also extendsd to lecture-recitals, featuring innovative thematic cycles.

Papastefanou has appeared, always to enthusiastic acclaim, with symphony orchestras, in solo recitals and with chamber music groups across Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Finland and Hungary), the United States and Canada. Papastefanou has also recorded her debut album as a composer, entitled Enamel (Smalto, in Greek), a collection of songs to her own lyrics and musical arrangements (Lyra Records). Her composition cycles 12 Minerals for solo piano, and 12+1 Shells and Shadows for voice and piano, were recently published by Ph. Nakas Music Publications and the album Minerals was recently published by Subways Music.

Recorded at Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, Megaron, Athens, 12 and 21 May 2020

Produced by Alexandra Papastefanou • Engineered by Nikos Espialidis • Mastered by John Croft (Chiaro Audio)

24bit, 44.1kHz hi-resolution recording and mastering

Piano: Steinway & Sons, Model D, #572712Piano technician: Giannis Karydas

Booklet notes by Jonathan SummersArtwork by David Murphy (FHR)

Goldberg Variations wheel chart on page 6 designed by Alexandra Papastefanou © 2021

Page 9: facsimile of the Aria from Aria mit verschieden Verænderungen (Goldberg Variations)

published in 1742. (BnF)

Page 4: J.S. Bach holding his Riddle Canon, BWV 1076, portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, 1746

Photos:Album cover and page 11 by Georgia Salambasi

Back of DigiFile by Errika Zacharopoulou(Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center)

FHR thanks Peter Bromley and Alexandra Papastefanou

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also available

J. S. BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier (4CD) [FHR65]

MusicWeb International: RECORDING OF THE MONTH

‘Musically in the moment and convincing? Absolutely.’ (BBC Music Magazine: PERFORMANCE ***** / SOUND ****)

‘Beyond question, Papastefanou more than holds her own alongside the catalogue’s top piano versions of the ‘48’.’ (Gramophone)

‘Fresh is the word... A remarkable recording of Bach on the piano...’ (Rob Cowan, Classic FM Radio)

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J. S. BACH: French Suites (2CD) [FHR70]

‘A performance of considerable virtuosity and imagination.’ (Gramophone)

‘Sheer joy and delight from start to finish.’ (MusicWeb International)

‘Be assured: Papastefanou’s is Bach playing of considerable distinction, vivacity and insight.’ (BBC Music Magazine: PERFORMANCE **** / SOUND *****)

‘Captivating pianism… her French Suites easily ranks among the catalogue’s finest piano editions…’ (Classics Today)

CD1Humoreske in B flat major, Op. 204 Nachtstücke, Op. 23Arabeske in C major, Op. 18 (1838-39)Blumenstück in D flat major, Op. 19

CD2Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26 (1839–40)3 Romanzen, Op. 28Bunte Blätter, Op. 99: 3 Stücklein (1838)Bunte Blätter, Op. 99: No. 10, Praeludium4 Klavierstücke, Op. 32: No. 4. Fughette in G minor Albumblätter, Op. 124: No. 19 in A major: Phantasiestück

R. SCHUMANN: 1839 – Year of Piano (2CD) [FHR112]

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