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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2010

Peter Williams
Affiliation:
University of Wales College of Cardiff
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Summary

The hallowed reputation

When in 1935 the American harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick prefaced his playing edition of the Goldberg Variations with a quote from Sir Thomas Browne's Religio medici of 1642 – ‘there is something in it of Divinity more than the eare discovers’ – he was not meaning to use it as an example of English aesthetics of the late Renaissance and platonic ideals of soundless music. Rather, he was looking for a way to signal his own admiration and enthusiasm for a unique piece of actual music, to invoke not so much the cleverness of its strategy and tactics as the kind of spiritual world it seems to occupy and the special feelings it arouses in both player and listener. To listen to or play any of the Goldberg Variations seems to many people more than a ‘merely musical’ experience, and its appearance in modern recital programmes attracts special attention as a peak to be scaled by the harpsichordist or a work to approach with respect by the pianist. I think myself that it ‘feels special’ because, whatever antecedent this or that feature has, its beauty is both original – seldom like anything else, even in Bach – and at the same time comprehensible, intelligible, coherent, based on simple, ‘truthful’ harmonies. The Goldberg has its own language, but one made from standard vocabulary.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

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  • Introduction
  • Peter Williams, University of Wales College of Cardiff
  • Book: Bach: The Goldberg Variations
  • Online publication: 06 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606007.001
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  • Introduction
  • Peter Williams, University of Wales College of Cardiff
  • Book: Bach: The Goldberg Variations
  • Online publication: 06 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606007.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Peter Williams, University of Wales College of Cardiff
  • Book: Bach: The Goldberg Variations
  • Online publication: 06 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606007.001
Available formats
×