Bach's music has always attracted arrangers and orchestrators - such as Stokowski, Elgar and Busoni, to name just three. Regardless of it's original version, Bach's music has an expressive power, drama and architectural logic that lend themselves well to expanded orchestral sonorities. Bassoonist and conductor Robin O'Neill buried his head in the Goldberg Variations, which he had discovered through Glenn Gould's recordings, during the first months of the Covid lockdown. Soon after that, the idea of making an arrangement for orchestra began to obsess him as he began hearing instrumental and orchestral sonorities in the keyboard work. Since the main challenge was to reclothe the music without damaging the subtle intricacy of the piece, and after much thought and experimentation, O'Neill chose instruments that Bach himself would have recognized for the solo parts. His reinterpretation of the Goldberg Variations offers a mixture of full orchestral variations interspersed with concertante ones involving two, three or four solo instruments, at times close to St Matthew Passion-style writing.Completed during a difficult period, this arrangement was made, in the words of O'Neill, in the hope that it expresses the joy and solace that Bach's music gives both performer and listener.

Tracklist:

Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Aria
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 1
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 2
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation
Canone all' Unisuono
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 4
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 5
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation
Canone alla Seconda
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation
Al tempo di Giga
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 8
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation
Canone alla Terza
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 1
Fughetta
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 11
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 1
Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 13
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 14
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 1
Canone alla Quinta: Andante
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 1
Ouverture
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 17
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 1
Canone alla Sesta
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 19
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 20
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 2
Canone alla Settima
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 2
Alla breve
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 23
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 2
Canone all' Ottava
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 2
Adagio
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 26
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 2
Canone alla Nona
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 28
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 29
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 3
Quodlibet
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Aria da Capo al Fine

UPC: 7318599926582
Label: Bis
Release Date: 10.18.24
Format: CD

J Bach .S. / Philharmonia Orchestra - Goldberg Variations (Arr. Robin O'neill) (Hybr) (CD)