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Title: J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (arr. Robin O'Neill)
Artist: Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Bis
Product Type: SUPER-AUDIO CD
UPC: 7318599926582
Genre: Classical Artists
Release Date: 2024-10-18
Number of Discs: 1
Additional Details: HYBRID SACD

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.

Tracks:
1.1 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Aria
1.2 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 1
1.3 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 2
1.4 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 3. Canone all' Unisuono
1.5 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 4
1.6 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 5
1.7 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 6. Canone alla Seconda
1.8 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 7. Al tempo di Giga
1.9 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 8
1.10 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 9. Canone alla Terza
1.11 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 10. Fughetta
1.12 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 11
1.13 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 12. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario
1.14 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 13
1.15 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 14
1.16 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 15. Canone alla Quinta: Andante
1.17 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 16. Ouverture
1.18 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 17
1.19 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 18. Canone alla Sesta
1.20 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 19
1.21 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 20
1.22 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 21. Canone alla Settima
1.23 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 22. Alla breve
1.24 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 23
1.25 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 24. Canone all' Ottava
1.26 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 25. Adagio
1.27 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 26
1.28 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 27. Canone alla Nona
1.29 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 28
1.30 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 29
1.31 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Variation 30. Quodlibet
1.32 Goldberg Variations, BWV 988~Aria da Capo al Fine