General Notes on Goldberg

Late in life, J. S. Bach completed one of his crowning masterpieces, the Goldberg Variations. These variations were named after J. Gottlieb Goldberg, though the dedication may indicate more legend than fact. Apparently, Goldberg’s patron, a certain Count Keyserlingk, brought the young man to Bach for instruction. Keyserlingk, suffering from insomnia, also requested Bach to compose suitable “diversions” to help him pass the long nights; hence arose Bach’s great Variations, and young Goldberg would have been the first performer. Whatever the truth may be, Goldberg did go on to compose music ranging from virtuoso keyboard music to Bachian sacred cantatas. Sadly he did not survive to his 30th birthday, so that the brilliant promise of original contributions has been overshadowed by his incidental contact with Bach via Keyserlingk. Goldberg’s C-major Trio Sonata reveals a keen interest in the harmonic daring of the new Empfindsamer Stil advocated by C. P. E. Bach, as well as the virtuosic string writing in demand at Dresden, where he died in 1756.

(c) Jason Stell