| 1 CD |
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| Label Phil.Harmonie |
UPC 4250317416063 |
Catalogue number PHIL 06006 |
Release date 04 February 2022 |
'Aria mit verschiedenen Veränderungen vors Clavicimbal mit zwei Manualen denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths Ergetzung verfertigt von Johann Sebastian Bach' is the heading of the cover of the first edition of the composition which today is called 'Goldberg Variationen'. Bach was commissioned to compose them by the Russian envoy to the court in Dresden, Graf Hermann von Kayserling, at the court in Dresden. The earl, suffering from insomnia, had asked for piano pieces of a ‚soft and somewhat merry character'. His private harpsichordist, Johann Theophilus Goldberg, was to play them for him at night to cheer him up.
Bach complied willingly with the earl’s request and created the extensive cycle of an aria with 30 variations. Kayserling was enthusiastic about the music. Bach received a golden goblet containing 100 Louisdor.
This masterpiece begins and ends with an aria with a sarabande character and can already be found in the ‚Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach‘. As is frequently the case with baroque variation cycles, the variations situated in between are not based on the melody of the aria but rather on its bass and the bass harmonies.
The composition possesses a clearly recognizable structure. Alltogether it consists of ten groups with three variations each. Every third variation is a canon the intervals of which rise from unison to ninth. The two-part division of the entire cycle is marked by a French overture at the beginning of the 16th variation.
Special attention should be paid to the 25th variation, an adagio in g-minor. With its sad and painful expression it ranks among the most profound written by J. S. Bach.
In his last variations Bach decided in favour of an amusing 'Quodlibet' which is characterized by two folksongs. They are artfully added to the bass: 'Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertreiben' und 'Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir gewest: ruck her, ruck her, ruck her. '
After that we hear the initial aria of the beginning again. We have come full circle. Goldberg’s playing for the earl can start once more... Hans-Ludwig Feldgen"Aria mit verschiedenen Veränderungen vors Clavicimbal mit zwei Manualen denen Liebhabern zur Gemüths Ergetzung verfertigt von Johann Sebastian Bach" steht auf der Titelseite des Erstdrucks, der heute als Goldberg-Variationen bezeichneten Komposition. Bach schrieb sie im Auftrag des russischen Gesandten am Dresdner Hof Graf Hermann von Kayserling. Klavierstücke von "sanftem und etwas munterem Charakter" hatte der an Schlaflosigkeit leidende Graf gewünscht. Sein Hauscembalist Johann Theophilus Goldberg sollte sie ihm nachts zur Aufheiterung vorspielen.
Bach kam dem Wunsch des Grafen gerne nach und schuf den umfangreichen Zyklus einer Aria mit dreißig Variationen. Kayserling war von der Musik begeistert. Der Thomaskantor kassierte als fürstliches Honorar einen goldenen Becher mit 100 Louisdor.
Mit einer Aria vom Typus einer Sarabande, die sich bereits im Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach findet, beginnt und endet das Meisterwerk. Die dazwischenliegenden Variationen basieren, wie bei barocken Variationszyklen häufig, nicht auf der Melodie der Aria, sondern auf ihrem Bass mit den ihm zugehörigen Harmonien.
Das Werk ist klar erkennbar strukturiert. Insgesamt besteht die Variationsreihe aus zehn Gruppen zu je drei Variationen. Jede dritte Variation ist ein Kanon, dessen Intervallabstand vom Einklang bis zur None aufsteigt. Die Zweiteilung des gesamten Zyklus ist durch eine französische Ouvertüre zu Eröffnung der 16. Variation markiert. Besondere Beachtung verdient die 25. Variation, ein Adagio in g-Moll, dessen schmerzlicher Ausdruck zum Tiefsinnigsten aus der Feder Johann Sebastian Bachs gezählt wird.
In der letzten Variation entscheidet sich Bach für ein heiteres Quodlibet. Zwei Volkslieder bestimmen das Geschehen und werden dem Bass kunstvoll hinzugefügt: "Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertreiben" und "Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir gewest: ruck her, ruck her, ruck her."
Danach erklingt erneut die Aria des Anfangs. Der Kreis schließt sich Goldbergs Spiel für den Grafen kann erneut beginnen. Hans-Ludwig Feldgen
Pi-hsien Chen was born in Taiwan. At the age of ten she started studying at the Cologne Academy of Music where, taught by Professor Hans-Otto Schmidt-Neuhaus, she received her diploma as a concert pianist in 1970. Subsequently she attended classes on music pedagogy with Hans Leygraf at the University for Music and Drama Hannover. Courses given by Tatjana Nikolajewa, Geza Anda, Wilhelm Kempff, and Claudio Arrau all made a deep impression on her.
When she was twenty-one she won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and began her career as a concert pianist, swiftly chalking up appearances at major European concert venues. She was also awarded first prize in other competitions.
Pi-hsien Chen has played with distinguished ensembles such as the London and BBC Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and virtually all the symphony orchestras belonging to German TV stations.
She has worked with conductors such as Bernhard Haitink, Paul Sacher, Sir Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Marek Janowski, Hans Zender, Edmond de Stoutz, and last but not least, Peter Eötvös.
Her chamber music partners have included the Linos-Ensemble, Ruggiero Ricci, Augustin Dumay, Alyssa Park, Hermann Baumann, Hans Deinzer, Roswitha Staege, Wolfgang Meyer, Pierre-Laurant Aimard, Alfons Kontarsky, Kristi Becker, Catherine Vickers, and Andreas Boettger.
Her growing interest in and commitment to contemporary music is reflected in her cooperation with composers like Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Elliott Carter, York Höller, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Pi-hsien Chen has taken part in many music festivals, such as the Ruhr Piano Festival in July 2003, where she played Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 and Pierre Boulez’ Piano Sonata No. 2.
Between 1983 and 2004, Pi-hsien Chen taught piano as a professor at the Cologne Academy of Music. She moved to the Freiburg University of Music in 2004.
She regularly performs in Taiwan, where she also teaches courses and heads projects at a number of universities with the aim of building a bridge between old and new music.
In 1999 she was a lecturer at the Institute of New Music and Music Education in Darmstadt, where she also taught in the International Holiday Courses for New Music program in 2002 and 2008.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and hundreds of cantatas. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.
Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
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