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The Goldberg Variations

We know them as the Goldberg Variations, but Johann Sebastian Bach did not publish them under this name.

The title refers to Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a young harpsichordist who had been a pupil of Bach. According to a popular account, Count Keyserlingk, the Russian ambassador to the court of Saxony, suffered from insomnia and asked Bach to compose a work that Goldberg could perform for him during the nights when he could not sleep.

We cannot say with certainty whether this story is true. What we do know is that Bach wrote an aria followed by thirty variations: a work in which the same harmonic foundation is transformed again and again.

Each variation changes the rhythm, character, texture or the way the voices interact. Thirty different ways of looking at the same idea, before returning to the opening aria at the end of the work.

PROGRAMME

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

(Eisenach, Alemania 1685 – Leipzig 1750)

Goldberg Variation, BWV 988 (1741)

Aria
Variatio 1. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 2. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 3. Canone all’Unisono. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 4. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.
Variatio 6. Canone alla Seconda. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. al tempo di Giga
Variatio 8. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 9. Canone alla Terza. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 10. Fughetta. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 11. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 12. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario
Variatio 13. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 14. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 15. Canone alla Quinta. a 1 Clav.: Andante
Variatio 16. Ouverture. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 17. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 18. Canone alla Sesta. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 19. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 20. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima
Variatio 22. a 1 Clav. alla breve
Variatio 23. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 24. Canone all’Ottava. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 25. a 2 Clav.: Adagio
Variatio 26. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 27. Canone alla Nona. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 28. a 2 Clav.
Variatio 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav.
Variatio 30. a 1 Clav. Quodlibet
Aria da Capo

Rafael González Paz seated at a grand piano in a concert hall.

Rafael González Paz, a pianist born in Montevideo and based in Ibiza, has developed an international career that has led him to perform on prestigious stages across Europe and Latin America. He has given recitals at venues such as the Solís Theatre in Montevideo, Teatro del Lago in Frutillar, the Municipal Theatre of Santiago de Chile, and the Palace of the Arts in Budapest, and has taken part in several seasons of the Chamber Music Cycle of Uruguay’s National Radio (SODRE).

His concert activity includes collaborations with a wide range of chamber music ensembles in South America and Europe. Since 2022, he has maintained an ongoing artistic relationship with the Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra. In Mallorca, he has appeared in festivals and series such as the Clàssica Festival in Maria de la Salut, the International Festival Vila de Santanyí, the Migjorn Chamber Music Series, and the Ca’n Bonico Concert Series.

With solid training in Germany and Hungary, his interpretation is characterised by a balance of intellectual depth and sonic sensitivity. Since settling in the Balearic Islands in 2018, he combines his performing career with teaching at various musical institutions in Mallorca and Ibiza.