GENERAL DISCUSSION: Bach Goldberg Variations
Seems like a few of us are interested in taking a deep dive into a few of the amazing Goldberg Variations!
Since we will all be busy with next month's Community Challenge, I was thinking that this project could have a longer timeline. Perhaps we could even learn a few variations over the winter holidays?
What do you think about everyone learning the Aria and the each member suggests 1 variation for us all to learn?
So far, I think we have about 5-6 Tonebase friends in this group, so that would be only 5-6 variations so far. Please tag anyone else who'd like to join this "additional" challenge group!
Warmest regards,
Gail
Monika Tusnady Susan Sindre Pauline Juan Carlos Olite Genevieve
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I’m in meetings all day today, so I’m afraid I haven’t been keeping up with our discussions. But, I always agree with Monika’s excellent suggestions: no repeats simply because we ALL want to hear each other and our listening time is limited.
A smorgasbord sounds delicious!
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Gail Starr we miss you!!! Enjoy your trip, the meetings, the visits, and come home wanting nothing more than to spend time with your fabulous piano.
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Monika Tusnady I’ll be back home at the piano on Saturday. It is SO difficult to travel when we don’t have access to a piano (and have all-meetings!).
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RE: PERSONAL SMORGASBORD AND STYLISTIC ORIGINALITY
Hi everyone,
I’ve been avoiding recordings of the Goldberg lately except Dominic’s, of course, trying to clear my head of the ways they have already been played and looking for something new. Easier said than done! It seems true, however, that the simpler the variation, the more options you have.
For my little smorgasbord, I’m aiming for phrasings and dynamic contrasts possible only on the modern piano and I can probably use some input along the way.
Dominic, can you set this up as a community challenge where we can post for feedback?Thanks everyone for your engagement in this endeavour. Look how it’s taking shape!
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Monika Tusnady I loved listening to Jean Rondeau play the variations on the harpsichord . It gave me some ideas
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Monika Tusnady Being able to style Bach’s music with my own phrasing , articulation etc is what makes Bach’s music so appealing to me even though it requires so much work . I think perhaps it’s a good idea to avoid recordings too but I can’t do it just yet.
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Monika Tusnady Sorry for the delay in this! But I will set up a "long term, special circumstance" community challenge for us. So that we can post like we normally do. Because this thread has become the "General discussion" thread I would say! Look for a new place to post in the next few days! And I will move any videos posted to this new area for convenience!
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RE: PERSONAL SMORGASBORD AND STYLISTIC ORIGINALITY
After familiarizing myself with this lengthy piece a little more, I've decided on a set-up of pairs:
Aria and var. 1
Var. 4 and 5
Var 7 and 8
Var 13 and 14
Var 25 and 26
Var 29 and 30
Aria
I will start practicing this in a couple of weeks, and take my time with it :)
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Sindre Skarelven good on your for making such a commitment! You have some really cute variations in that set. This weekend, I've spent hours working out the fingerings on just a couple of variations. That's all: fingerings. We'll see if I get the sound I'm hoping for...though I'll admit the process was engaging beyond description.
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Monika Tusnady I hope to create something that fits together, so I will be excited to see how this set turns out!
Getting the fingerings down is always the best way to start. Sometimes I play around with it a little to get a feel of it before deciding on the fingerings, but usually time is best well spend to get it done right away :)
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Sindre Skarelven I’ll just say Wow ! I’m looking forward to hearing you !
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mariannejhampton Sindre Skarelven Yes, we all are. I especially look forward to hearing the evolution of bits and pieces as we learn and think through the piece one variation, one little nibble at the time. It will be like spilling all the pieces of a puzzle on the table before assembling it.
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Sindre Skarelven What a superb plan, Sindre! I look forward to hearing it.
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mariannejhampton Thank you, Marianne! I look forward to hear you and everyone else's version! Let's be patient with this one :)
Monika Tusnady You always know how to paint a picture, Monika! Looking forward to the process :)
Juan Carlos Olite I like this plan a lot too, Juan Carlos! Excited to see how it turns out! Maybe it will be a classic ;)
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Sindre Skarelven I love this idea!
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Sindre Skarelven Sounds great! Absolutely wonderful variations, you picked some of the most challenging! Let me know if you need some advice on fingerings/hand positions!
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Sindre Skarelven I love your pairings!
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Inspiration for the day !
"There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself." Johann Sebastian Bach
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mariannejhampton Wow! Why is it that my experience is so different? I don’t remember anything at all being easy on the piano, ever! Oh, yes, of course: I am just Monika, not Bach!
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Monika Tusnady
Nothing has every been easy for me either . In fact it’s been blood , sweat and tears and still not the results I would like !
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mariannejhampton Great quote! It’s like someone is asking Bach «what’s the magic and secret ingrediens behind it all» and he drops a truth-bomb like: «just play the right keys at the right time» Yup, that’s it
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Sindre Skarelven Exactly!
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mariannejhampton Wow such a simple and direct way of looking at things! Of course Bach was a genius so simply hitting the keys meant that he was also doing so with absolute purpose and emotional intent.
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Monika Tusnady Like anything its best to try and simplify complex problems to tackle them. Perhaps this is what Bach is doing!
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mariannejhampton Even for Bach, he worked SO hard, and it wasn't easy for him either! He never said playing the right notes at the right time was easy!! :)
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