Copyright: GBV Study Guide ®1994 Ryan Neaveill


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The Goldberg Variations Study Guide

Version 1.0   Copyright ©1994 Ryan Neaveill

About this Study Guide

 Overview

 Instructions

 Registration

Part One: Background

 History of the Goldberg Variations

 Theme and Variations

 Form


About
About the Goldberg Variations Study Guide

The Goldberg Variations Study Guide is a useful document for music students (especially keyboard students) who are studying or playing the Goldberg Variations. It is also helpful for people in general who would like to know more about the Goldberg Variations or who would like to be introduced to classical music and, in particular, the music of Bach.

Part One gives some background information on the Goldberg Variations by first giving the history, and then discussing in detail Theme and Variations and how variations are composed.  The compositional process is illustrated step by step with a variation on the tune "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  Next, it is shown how the techniques studied are applied in the Goldberg Variations.  Finally, the form of the work as a whole is discussed.

Part Two combines listening along with study of the score.

Although the MIDI files which accompany this Help file will give an accurate rendition of the pieces, it is beneficial to also listen to this work played by a human performer.  An excellent recording of the Goldberg Variations was made by Glenn Gould in 1955.  A second recording was made by the same performer in 1981.  There are also other recordings of the Goldberg Variations including one for harpsichord made by Wanda Landowska.


Instructions

This study guide is designed so that all information can be retrieved by clicking your mouse on various text and buttons.  If you don't have a mouse, you can use the "tab" key to select highlighted text or buttons and the "enter" key to activate them.

Words which are highlighted in green can be clicked for further information or to proceed to the next page.

Description of Buttons:

Retrieves further information on the current topic.

Plays the current music selection.

Stops the current music selection

You may also find it useful to use your keyboard to move a page forward or backward particularly as you view the scores.  To move a page forward, use the ">" key.  To move back a page, use the "<" key.  You can also use the buttons along the top of the window to perform various tasks such as searching for topics, returning to the previous topic, moving a page forward or backward or returning to the beginning of the study guide.  You can find more information on this by selecting "How to use Help" from the "Help" selection in the menu bar or by reading your Windows manual.


Registration
Registration Form

The Goldberg Variations Study Guide was created by Ryan D. Neaveill who studied music composition and theory at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL.  This program is shareware which means you may evaluate it freely for thirty days.  If you decide to continue using it, you must pay a registration fee of $15.00.  This will enable the author to further his education and allow him to create more projects like this for your benefit and enjoyment.  A lot of time and hard work was put into this project so if you have found it useful and continue to use it, please print this registration form (by selecting "file" from the menu and then "print topic"), fill in the information, and send it along with a check or money order for $15.00 in U.S. funds to:

Ryan D. Neaveill
302 Kenwood Road, Apt. 235
Champaign, IL
61821

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About the Goldberg Variations

The Goldberg Variations were written by Johann Sebastian Bach and were first published in 1742.  It is unknown why Bach wrote the variations because he did not normally write in this form.  However, a popular story is that he wrote them for Count Kaiserling.  Supposedly, the Count had insomnia and mentioned to Bach that he would like some keyboard pieces to listen to during his sleepless nights.  The pieces would be played by Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.  Although Bach did not title this work "The Goldberg Variations," the name has stuck because of this story.

The original publication of the Goldberg Variations bore this inscription:

Keyboard Practice, consisting of an Aria with thirty variations for the harpsichord with 2 manuals. Prepared for the enjoyment of music lovers by Johann Sebastian Bach, Polish royal and Saxon electoral court-composer, director and choir-master in Leipzig.

Click here to read more about Theme and Variations


Theme and Variations part 1
Theme and Variations

There are two main ways of composing variations.  The first way is to base the variations on the same melody (or the theme), changing and embellishing the melody for each variation.  One way to do this is by the use of nonharmonic tones.  Some examples of nonharmonic tones include:

1 	Passing tone

2 	Neighbor tone

3 	Escape tone

4 	Anticipation

5 	Appogiatura

Below are examples of each of these. The nonharmonic tones are in red:

Since nonharmonic tones are so common, composers often abbreviate certain melodic ideas with a sort of notational shorthand, using various symbols to represent ornamentation.

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Theme and Variations part 2
Theme and Variations

Most of the Goldberg Variations make use of ornamentation.  In the "Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach" (Little Clavier Book for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach), J.S. Bach prepared a table of ornamentation to show how the various ornaments should be played.  Below are some of the examples from this book.  The ornamentation is notated on the top staff with the way each should be played written out on the bottom staff.  Notice how all these ornaments are made up entirely of passing tones and neighbor tones.

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Theme and Variations part 3
Theme and Variations

To see how nonharmonic tones can be used in a composition, we will examine the simple tune "Mary Had a Little Lamb" which is displayed below.  To hear this selection, click on the left button.  Clicking on the right button will stop the selection.

Next we will examine the same melody which has been altered by the use of nonharmonic tones.

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Theme and Variations part 4
Theme and Variations

Below is the same tune, "Mary Had a Little Lamb," which has been altered by the addition of nonharmonic tones.

To make this variation more interesting, the underlying harmony could be changed to give the piece more variety.

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Theme and Variations part 5
Theme and Variations

Below is the variation on "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with different harmony.

To make this variation even more interesting, nonharmonic tones can be added to the underlying parts as well.

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Theme and Variations part 6
Theme and Variations

Below is the next step in the variation on "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  It uses nonharmonic tones in the melody, the bass line, and the tenor line.

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Theme and Variations part 7
Theme and Variations

Finally, let's add some ornamentation to the variation

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Theme and Variations part 8
Theme and Variations

The second way to compose variations is to base the variations on the same bass line or harmonic structure but using different melodic content each time (also called a chaconne or passacaglia).  This is the technique which is used in the Goldberg Variations.

If we reduced the preceding variation on "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to a simple harmonic structure, it would look something like this:

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Theme and Variations part 9
Theme and Variations

Now we will examine what might be composed using the harmonic structure from the variation on "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  The chords are all the same, but completely new melodic ideas have taken shape.

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Theme and Variations part 10
Theme and Variations

Now let's see how well the original melody of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" fits with the new variation.

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Theme and Variations part 11
The Bass Line

Now that we have studied some of the techniques used in composing variations, let's begin to look at how these techniques are used in the Goldberg Variations.  The Goldberg Variations are constructed on the following bass line:

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Theme and Variations part 12
The Bass Line

As you examine the individual pieces in the Goldberg Variations, try to trace the bass line to discover what modifications and embellishments Bach made.  Certainly the use of nonharmonic tones plays a large part in this, but there are a few other things to look for which may not be as easily noticed.

For example, the notes of the original bass line do not always occur in the bass.  That is, sometimes they are transferred to one of the upper voices

You should also look for octave displacement.  That is, the notes do not always occur in the same octave that they did in the original bass line.  Sometimes they are found an octave or two higher or lower.

Finally, three of the variations (nos. 15, 21 and 25) are in the key of G minor (as opposed to G Major like all the rest).  In these pieces, sometimes the notes have been changed to accomodate the different key signature.  That is you may find an E flat instead of an E natural or an F natural instead of an F sharp.

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Theme and Variations part 13
The Harmonic Progression

From the bass line, the following harmonic progression is implied

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Theme and Variations part 14
The Harmonic Progression

Like the bass line, the harmonic progression is also modified at times.  For example, occasionally the quality of the chords is changed, that is, a chord might be changed from major to minor or vice versa.  The quality of major and minor chords is determined by the 3rd (or the middle note of the chord).  For instance, C major is built from the notes C, E and G, while C minor is built from the notes C, E FLAT and G.

Sometimes a substitution chord might be used.  A substitution chord  usually has two notes in common with the chord it is replacing.  For example a C major chord (C, E and G) might be replaced with an A minor chord (A, C and E).  Since these chords have two notes in common (C and E), they can be interchanged.

As you listen to the Goldberg Variations, try to be aware of any alterations in the harmonic structure.

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Form part 1
The Form of the Goldberg Variations

The main thing which ties all the pieces in the Goldberg Variations together is the bass line and harmonic structure which is used throughout.  However, there are a couple more things which become evident when we examine the entire set of pieces and how they are grouped.

Perhaps the first thing that is noticed is that the first piece, the Aria, is the same as the last piece, the Aria da Capo.  These two pieces create a pair of "musical bookends" keeping all the variations nestled between them.

The next interesting thing we notice is in the grouping of the variations.  The variations are grouped in sets of three with the last variation in each set being a canon.  The 3rd variation is a canon at the unison, that is both voices start on the same pitch.  The 6th variation is a canon at the interval of a 2nd, that is the second voice is one note higher than the first.  The 9th variation is a canon at the 3rd.  The 12th variation is a canon at the 4th.  This pattern continues until the 27th variation which is a canon at the 9th.

The 30th variation is a quodlibet based on two German folk songs, breaking the pattern of canons as well as being the final variation.

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Form part 2
The Form of the Goldberg Variations

The overall structure of the Goldberg Variations can be shown by the following diagram:

The two gold columns on the left and right of the diagram represent the Aria and the Aria da Capo respectively.  The blue column on the right represents the quodlibet.  The red columns in between represent the canons at successive intervals.  The grey boxes are the remaining variations.  As shown in the above diagram, the entire set of the Goldberg Variations is a highly structured, well thought out musical masterpiece.

You can view the scores and listen to the Goldberg Variations by continuing with the other Help file (gbv_2.hlp).


Title


Anticipation

A nonharmonic tone which is the same pitch as the harmonic tone it precedes.


Appogiatura

A nonharmonic tone which occurs on a strong beat and is a 2nd above or below the following harmonic tone.


canon

A piece in which one voice imitates another but following a measure or so later.


Count Kaiserling

A former Russian ambassador to the electoral court of saxony.


da Capo

da Capo is an Italian term meaning "from the beginning."


Escape tone

A nonharmonic tone which occurs between two harmonic tones of different pitch.  The direction from the first harmonic tone to the escape tones is opposite of the direction from the first harmonic tone to the second harmonic tone.  That is, if the second harmonic tone is lower than the first, the escape tone will be higher than the first.


Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

Count Kaiserling's musician-in-service and one of Bach's pupils.


Johann Sebastian Bach

German Composer who lived from 1685-1750.


Neighbor tone

A nonharmonic tone which occurs between two harmonic tones of the same pitch.  The neighbor tone is one step (or the interval of a 2nd) above or below the harmonic tones.


nonharmonic tones

Tones which are not found in the current chord.  For example, if the current chord is made up of the tones C, E and G, then a nonharmonic tone would be D, F, A, etc.  Nonharmonic tones often fall between harmonic tones (notes which ARE found in the current chord).


ornamentation

The decoration or embellishment of a melodic idea.


Passing tone

A nonharmonic tone which occurs between two harmonic tones.  The two harmonic tones are separated by the interval of a 3rd so the passing tone in effect "connects" the harmonic tones.


quodlibet

A piece in which different well-known melodies are combined together.


Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

J.S. Bach's oldest son who lived from 1710-1784.  He was also a composer.