The Agony and Ecstacy about Playing Bach's Goldberg Variations

For many pianists, Bach's Goldberg Variations BWV988 is an essential advanced repertoire in the bucket list. This very unique work of J S Bach is no doubt a gem: it consists of thirty short variations, each illuminating with distinct character, mood and color, snuggly wrapped by an enchantingly beautiful Aria that opens and closes the Variations.

Needless to say the Goldberg Variations is a notoriously hard repertoire of Bach's keyboard composition. But why?

Bach wrote Goldberg variations for the two manual harpischord. To play it on the single manual modern piano is a no brainer challenge because there are places where you need to cross your hands to execute two voices and most of the time the texture is very dense. To make this work, a deep study in the score to figure out the fingerings is critical. Well, is it technically possible? Yes it is. The renowned Canadian pianist Glenn Gould had done it incredibly well. For the latest recordings by contemporary pianists of the younger generation check Lang Lang, Beatrice Rana, and Pavel Kolesnikov.

The Goldberg Variations is a showcase of what Bach could do for the keyboard containing the essence of his art. You can see a wide variety of styles and forms in the set of 30 Variations: canons (1 or 2 manual, various interval), overture, dances, fughetta, adagio, quodlibet and aria (Sarabande). Since each unit is short, the mood shifts rather quickly from one to the next.

The design of this collection is brilliant in that it "arrives" and "vanishes" with the same Aria, while in between the rich and colorful episodes unfold one after another like a glimpse of life. You will find the most cheerful, fast tempo dances, and you also will find the darkest melody singing the deepest sorrow. For this reason, Goldberg Variation is certainly not a work about life that has just begun; it is a conclusive work that reflects and reconciles.

Legend has it that Bach composed the Variations for the purpose of helping with the sleepless nights of one count, who requested his harpischordist Goldberg to perform for him. Goldberg Varistions thus became Bach's one single work of this kind: variations for the G major, except for just a few G minor. Interestingly, for me the variations work the opposite way. The richness and liveliness of the music simply gets me too excited, or too emotional to fall asleep!

I have started the journey of studying and recording the Goldberg Variations myself and have just released my second EP on the variations 7-12 on Spotify and iTune. I confess it is a journey full of hardwork: back pain, wrist pain, relentless section practice and deep diving into the score and self reflection on expression and interpretation. But it has been incredibly rewarding. I love it.

Stay with me for more sharing on "The Agony and Ecstacy about Playing Bach's Goldberg Variations". My hope is to build the capacity and knowlege about this iconic work and share my inspirations with you all!

Lang Lang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55hk75OgWDg&ab_channel=LangLangVEVO

Beatrice Rana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H6BwVpvNFw&ab_channel=WarnerClassics

Additional readings about the Goldberg Variations

https://crosseyedpianist.com/2020/10/10/a-new-edition-of-the-goldberg-variations/

How to practice Bach with Success

Here are some hands on tips to practice J S Bach's work effectively and efficiently.

Read the notes

In the early stage of learning a new piece, you want to focus on reading notes, in detail. Read and play, hand separately. In a slow tempo. The more short notes there are in a piece, the slower. Where there is a third voice that comes in and out, you want to decide on which hand is playing it.

Decide on the fingerings

Fingering is one of the major challenges in Bach's keyboard work because of the multi- voice structure. Where there is a third voice coming in your hands will need to engage in that extra voice while still looking after the first and second voice. Therefore, to figure out how to make use of spare fingers to handle that third voice (sometimes four) takes some time to figure it out. The principle is that you want to maintain the lines of phrases. Once you have decided on fingerings write it down and try not to change it unless you need to modify it later.

Key musical elements to look for

Motif - a musical idea or phrase that is being used again and again, that returns multiple times.

Sequence - the restatement of a motif or longer melodic patterns at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice.

Harmonic inversion - the restatement of a melodic pattern or passage that is vertically re-ordered. (changing voices)

Melodic inversion - a melodic phrase or motif that is being modified, usually rewitten backwards (intervals moving in the opposite direction)

Imitation - a mofivic passage or phrase reappears in a different voice.

Mark these elements and try to figure out what the "theme" is. Emphasize the recurring themes by volume or expressiveness to make it 'dominant' - in other words, more visible.

Scarce pedalling

In principle, Bach's keyboard work should refrain from using pedals, unless absolutely necessary. Why? Bach's music is in essence polyphonic, which means multi voicing at the same time, recurring melodic phrases appearing one another like "chase", very often overlapping. Pedaling runs a risk of blurring melodic phrases. The blurring sound can be easily heard. When is it "absolutely necessary" to use the pedal? When we need pedal to help us connect note to note while our fingering just could not possibly do. Even so, the use of pedal is usually brief. The dense structure of Baroque music just does not allow pedal to be on for long time; it quickly blurs. At times, to highlight a broken chord a pedal can add colors and expressiveness without risking clarity, for aesthetic purpose and personal taste.

Practice in sections and go slow

We very often skip the process of learning and jump to the final stage too early - we like putting the whole piece together soon to enjoy the pleasure. This is how we race to miss all the quality of performance. All the details, understanding and nuances that make your performance great will be skipped, ignored and lost. Practice in small sections and practice slow is very critical.

Dynamics decision

Dynamics is always a thorny issue in performing Bach because he did not tell you what to do! The good news is that you have the freedom to decide. However, be very careful about your choice. Whatever you decide to do, still you want to stay true to Baroque style. It is the figuration that leads the direction, not emotions. Contemporary pianists interpret Bach differently, some boldly, depending on their personal taste. Certainly as an artist you can experiment however you need to know the style before you can change the style! Abundance in dynamic change and contrast, both vertically and horizontally is very desirable. Having an overall view and a dynamic plan and strategy always upgrades your performance level.

The consistency in tempo

Please keep time. Playing Bach like playing Debussy or Chopin is obviously wrong. Personally, I love tapping my foot like a metronome when listening to Bach. The steady and consistent articulation throughout is like the bone structure of your body - we rely on the structure to achieve strong balance and movement. How to keep time? Very simple. Open your metronome.

I am just throwing in a few main points here. Please continue to read my following posts for further elaboration.

巴哈（Bach）爲什麼那麼難

在我小的時候，我從來沒有問過我為什麼要學習巴哈的創意曲，或者哈農的音階，或者徹爾尼練習曲。我按照指示去做。對我而言，巴哈與莫扎特並沒有太大區別。直到我二十多歲的時候，我才第一次意識到演奏巴哈能讓筋疲力盡和焦慮的我迅速平靜下來。 現在，在我的教學實踐中，我經常遇到有關巴哈（Bach）太艱難, 單調無聊的抱怨。對於某些學生來說，巴哈是不可能彈的。對我來說，這仍然是一個謎。學習一首新曲的原則是相同的。無論是肖邦，貝多芬，巴哈，莫扎爾特，您都需要讀譜，弄清指法，了解結構和音樂構想，並分開雙手再合手練習。從理論上講，除非曲子非為人的手或頭腦而寫，沒有不可能演奏的樂曲。 我相信巴哈之所以被批評非常艱難，是因為缺乏清晰的彈奏標記，聲量標記，困難的指法和令人困惑的對位風格。與莫扎特相比，在學習的早期階段確實需要花費更多時間。但是，一旦您認真地完成作業，結果是可以預見的。樂趣和享受稍後出現。這需要耐心和勤奮。我小時候根本不懂對位法的巴洛克的風格。有時，最好的學習方法是在不知道為什麼的情況下練習。同樣，在大多數時候，我們確實需要毫無感情地進行練習，只是為了掌握技術技能。巴哈就是那種要求很高的音樂。 然而，好消息是演奏巴哈非常有益。 練習巴哈非常聰明，因為它將為您提供所需的所有基本技能-手指之間的獨立性，聲部分隔，視線閱讀，背譜技巧等。這真的是捷徑！ 學習序曲,賦格曲與和聲學對了解巴哈很有幫助。現在我知道我為什麼要演奏巴哈，並了解巴哈的價值和練習巴哈的好處。我的心態已經準備好，並且對巴哈感到很自在。我認為在學習巴哈的主要作品時，有一個堅實的心理準備是不可少的。 關於如何演奏巴哈，我們可以寫很多本書。我對巴哈作品充滿熱情，可分享一些如何練成巴哈的技巧。請関注下回貼文!