PETER SERKIN
A PORTRAIT
performing works by
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
FREDERIC CHOPIN
PETER SERKIN: A PORTRAIT
BACH: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Aria
Variatio 1. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 2. a 1 Clav.
Variatio 3. Canone all’Unisuono. 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. a 1 Clav. 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. a 1
Clav.
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. Quodlibet. a 1 Clav.
Aria da Capo
CHOPIN: Mazurkas, Op. 63
No. 1: Vivace
No. 2: Lento
No. 3: Allegretto
CHOPIN: Waltz No. 14 in E Minor:
Vivace
CHOPIN: Waltzes, Op. 34: No. 2: Allegretto
CHOPIN: Grande valse brilliante: Vivo
CHOPIN: Ballade No. 4, Op. 52:
Andante con moto
CHOPIN: Nocturnes, Op. 32
No. 1 in B Major: Andante sostenuto
CHOPIN: Mazurkas, Op. 41
No. 1 in C-sharp Minor: Maestoso
No. 2 in E Minor: Andantino
No. 3 in B Major: Animato
No. 4 in A-flat Major: Allegretto
CHOPIN: Fantasy, Op. 49
MOZART: Piano Sonata No. 16 in B-
flat Major, K. 570
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto
MOZART: Rondo in D Major, K. 485
MOZART: Rondo in A minor, K. 511
MOZART: Piano Sonata No 17 in D
Major, K. 576
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto
BACH: Italian Concerto BWV 971
Movement One
Adagio
Presto
Peter SERKIN, pianoIn listening to compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, it becomes apparent that here is yet another prolific composer who defies such convenient pigeonholing as severe or florid, mechanical or impulsive. Because like so many other composers' works, Bach's were created in response to all manner of commissions, occasions and ceremonies. One of the most interesting commissions Bach undertook (and certainly among the most profitable) was a charge from Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk which resulted in the creation of the Goldberg Variations, and the immortalization of their namesake Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.
However, there is still some question whether the Goldberg Variations were the product solely of a noble commission, or if Bach had another purpose in mind, and by happenstance, the variations did double duty in satisfying the Count as well.
The other purpose, of course, is the Clavierubung ("keyboard practice") - the general title Bach gave a collection of keyboard exercises in four Parts, and one of the few works by Bach to be published during his life time. Part I, the Six Keyboard Partitas (or "German Suites") was published in 1731. The succeeding Parts II and III were released at four year intervals, and the concluding section, the Goldberg Variations, was issued in 1742.
Bach described the variations as "an aria with different variations for harpsichord with two manuals, designed for the refreshment of music-lovers." Certainly one of the most prominent music-lovers known to Bach at this time was Count Keyserlingk, yet no formal dedication to the Count is known to exist, leading many to believe the variations were composed at Bach's own initiative for inclusion in the Clavierubung, and that a copy had simply been given the good Count some months before Part IV was published. But whatever purpose the variations were first born to serve -- keyboard practice or count's commission Keyserlingk's presence during the work's evolution lends considerable credence to the side that the Goldberg Variations sprang from his commission.
Hermann Karl von Keyserlingk came from St. Petersburg (now Leningrad) on December 13, 1733 to serve as Russian ambassador to the Saxon Court in Dresden. In St. Petersburg Keyserlingk had been president of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, and in Dresden he was now quite the musical aesthete, gathering the city's best musicians around him and fostering their talents. One such musician was Johann Sebastian Bach's eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, who had come to Dresden the same year as Keyserlingk to assume the post of organist at the Protestant Court Church. The Count was much impressed with the
musicianship of the younger Bach, and referred students to him to augment the church organist's rather lean stipend.
One of those referred was the Count's own resident harpsichordist, Johann Gottlieb
Goldberg, whom Keyserlingk had brought to Dresden as a boy. Goldberg was an ardent student, and practiced his art with such diligence that his skill belied his youth. Although Wilhelm Friedmann was an able, gifted instructor, Goldberg was soon to enjoy the tutelage of Johann Sebastian as well, for Count Keyserlingk had known of the older Bach for several years and on his occasional trips to Leipzig, where Bach was cantor of St.
Thomas' Church and School, he brought
Goldberg along for advanced instruction from the master. It is thought that during one such visit to Leipzig Keyserlingk asked Bach to write some harpsichord music for him (the variations), and the composer consented - not unusual, considering the request came from such an influential, and generous patron.
What prompted the commission was more than a whim of the wealthy, however. Keyserlingk had recently suffered a severe illness which left him an insomniac. He wished to hear soft, cheerful music during the long sleepless nights he so often faced. To that end, Johann Goldberg slept in a room adjoining the Count's
primed to play on a moment's notice from the treasured set of variations the noble insomniac never tired of hearing. Keyserlingk so enjoyed the variations that he rewarded Bach with a golden goblet containing 100 louis d'or -- the highest commission Bach is known to have received.
The Goldberg Variations are the most involved and difficult examples of the variation form to appear during the Baroque period, yet the form itself is deceptively simple: one theme or subject is first played in its original simplicity, then repeated a number of times with various elaborations, thus making each variation distinct from the original and the others. It was a form Bach had heretofore avoided, thinking it "an unrewarding task owing to the unchanging fundamental harmony." It is not surprising, however, that once settling on the form as a viable answer to Keyserlingk's request, he would produce an exemplary work.
The subject for the Goldberg Variations, the Aria in G, is based on a sarabande found in the second Anna Magdalena Notebook (1725), a collection of keyboard works and some vocal and theoretical music for Bach's second wife. Since the notebook contains compositions by both Bach and his spouse, it is uncertain who wrote the original sarabande. In either case, the ground-bass of this dance attracted Bach
when he was searching for a theme on which to build the variations. The simple bass line now became the backbone of the Aria, and it the cornerstone of the variations. The structure of the Aria is quite incomplex: 32 bars in all, divided into two sections of sixteen bars, each composed of two eight-bar groups that consists of four twobar sarabande phrases.
The Goldberg Variations are in the form of a chaconne - a stately dance in triple time that was quite popular in the 17th century, and which frequently appeared in Baroque operas and keyboard works. The chaconne is one of the earliest form of variations and consists of a steadily repeated bass phrase accompanied by varied upper parts; in this case, a series of variations on the ground-bass of the original Aria. Perhaps the bestknown example of this form is provided by Bach himself, in the chaconne which closes his second Partita in D minor for solo violin.
In his Goldberg Variations, Bach fully exploits the form's possibilities to produce thirty surprisingly dissimilar pieces. The thirty variations are formally arranged in consecutive groups of three (e.g. Variations 1-2-3, 25- 2627). In these groups, the first two variations are used to illustrate a particular harpsichord
technique like runs or crossing the hands; or a certain compositional type such as the Fughette of Variation 10 and the Minuet of number 19 (all of which neatly satisfies the work's role as "keyboard practice" in the Clavierubung).
The third piece in these triune groups is always a two-part canon. There are nine canons in all, and each is "strict" in that the second melodic strand imitates the first exactly. Composing the canons probably presented the greatest challenge in the variations, since they must harmonize with both the groundbass and each other. In addition, each canon is at a successively higher interval than the one preceding it; for example, the first canon, Variation 3, is at the unison with the bass; and Variation 6, the second canon, is at the second interval.
At the center of the work, Variation 16 is presented in the form of a French overture, but unlike so many of Bach's overtures which are more properly called suites, Variation 16 holds true to the original slow-fast form of JeanBaptiste Lully, having a slow introduction before a lively fugal section.
The last variation, number 30, is the wellknown Quodlibet. This kind of composition was extremely popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially with German composers, and was reputedly a favorite diversion in the Bach household. Quodlibets ("what you will") involve the simultaneous or successive playing of two or more popular songs - usually with humorous effect. Our present example employs two folk songs in simultaneous performance, and through Bach's careful juxtaposition, seemingly inconsonant lyrics sum up the whole of the Goldberg Variations: "I have long been away from thee . .. " (the Aria's melody was separated from the ground-bass);
"Kail and turnips have driven me away ... " (the melody lost the bass to variations).
In all, the Goldberg Variations is a perfectly proportioned, closed circuit work. The number of variations - thirty plus the introductory Aria and its repeat at the end, exactly equals the number of bars in the Aria itself. Bach's Goldberg Variations at once satisfied both a noble commission and the role of progressive keyboard exercise. Today, the work still challenges keyboardists as it once did young
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, and while modern listeners are infatuated with it no less than Count Keyserlingk; happily, it is not insomnia that cues their listening.
Her itageMusicRoyalties.Originally producedbyPeterSerkinandBruce C a
