Goldberg Variations - 15

Description

The Goldberg Variations were published in 1741 as the fourth part of the Clavier-Übung: an aria followed by thirty variations. Every third variation is a canon, and the interval between leader and follower widens step by step, from the unison to the second and onward. Variation 15 is the canon at the fifth, set exactly at the halfway point of the thirty, closing the first half.

It is in G minor and 2/4. Only three of the thirty variations are in the minor - Nos. 15, 21 and 25 - and this is the first of them. The following voice imitates the leading melody a fifth higher and turned upside down, over a supporting bass. It has 524 notes in 119 seconds, with a range from C2 to D6 that fits on a 61-key keyboard.

It is rated intermediate. Since the two canonic voices sing the same melody in inversion, both must be heard with equal weight. The tempo is unhurried, but playing two melodies and a bass by yourself takes concentration. Lower the playback speed to match the two voices against each other in the score view, and keep track of who has what with the hand colours. Listening to the same passage repeatedly with an A-B loop lets your ear grasp how the melody is mirrored against itself.

Works written in theme-and-variations form, where a single melody is transformed in many different ways.