Bach - Goldberg Variations BWV 988 / Harpsichord + Presentation (Century's recording: Helmut Walcha) 

Album available // Bach: Goldberg Variations by Helmut Walcha ***Listen to our latest mastering update*** : bit.ly/3WlOsbk 🎧 Qobuz (Hi-Res) bit.ly/48LGv4Z Tidal (Hi-Res) bit.ly/3sIyV8d 🎧 Apple Music (Lossless) apple.co/3GmbJ78 Deezer (Hi-Fi) bit.ly/3fd0uDO 🎧 Amazon Music (Hi-Res) amzn.to/4b2NBUX Napster (Hi-Fi) bit.ly/48JdpmX 🎧 Spotify (mp3) spoti.fi/48nZ8fF RU-vid Music (mp4) bit.ly/3WlOsbk 🎧 Pandora, Anghami, Soundcloud, QQ音乐, LineMusic 日本… Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 by Helmut Walcha *Click to activate the English subtitles for the presentation* (00:00-03:50) Aria (00:00) Variation I (03:11) Variation II (05:26) Variation III (07:10) Variation IV (09:50) Variation V (11:10) Variation VI (13:07) Variation VII (14:36) Variation VIII (16:21) Variation IX (18:53) Variation X (20:42) Variation XI (22:23) Variation XII (24:31) Variation XIII (27:21) Variation XIV (31:11) Variation XV (33:33) Variation XVI (36:53) Variation XVII (40:18) Variation XVIII (42:38) Variation XIX (44:18) Variation XX (45:21) Variation XXI (48:23) Variation XXII (50:39) Variation XXIII (52:11) Variation XXIV (54:28) Variation XXV (57:16) Variation XXVI (1:02:30) Variation XXVII (1:05:00) Variation XXVIII (1:07:13) Variation XXIX (1:09:51) Variation XXX (1:12:04) Aria Da Capo (1:13:52) --- Harpsichord / Clavecin/ Cembalo : Helmut Walcha Recorded in 1961 ***Listen to our latest mastering update***: bit.ly/3feWnHl 🔊 FOLLOW US on SPOTIFY (Profil: CMRR) : spoti.fi/3016eVr 🔊 Download CMRR's recordings in High fidelity audio (QOBUZ) : bit.ly/370zcMg ❤ If you like CM//RR content, please consider membership at our Patreon page. Thank you :) www.patreon.com/cmrr --- GOLDBERG, Johann Gottlieb (1727-1756 est claveciniste allemand. Il fut à Dresde l'élève de W. Fr. et de J.-S. Bach qui écrivit pour lui les Variations-Goldberg, rendant ainsi hommage au talent exceptionnel de son élève. VARIATIONS GOLDBERG. Titre sous lequel sont connues les 30 variations pour clavier BWV 988 de Jean Sébastien Bach sont composées vers 1741. Le titre original est ‘’Aria mit verschiedenen Veründerungen vors Clavicimbal mit 2 Manualen’’ (« Aria avec diverses variations pour clavecin à deux claviers manuels »). Leur genèse a souvent été rapportée. Le comte von Keyserlingk, ambassadeur de Russie à la cour de Dresde et protecteur de Bach, souffrait d'insomnie. Le compositeur et claveciniste Johann Gottlieb Goldberg lui jouait de la musique pour le distraire. On demanda à Bach des pièces à la fois douces et divertissantes pour cet office, et il composa ces variations sur un thème de sarabande. Le comte en fut tellement satisfait qu'il fit envoyer à Bach un gobelet rempli de 100 louis d'or. Cette histoire contient sans doute un fond de vérité, mais on ne saura probablement jamais le dernier mot sur l'origine des Variations Goldberg. L'œuvre fut éditée en 1742 comme quatrième partie de la Clavier-Übung (le terme en allemand qui désigne la « pratique du clavier »). - Les Variations Goldberg sont un des sommets de la musique de Bach, et une de ses musiques pour clavier les plus séduisantes. La sarabande énoncée au début comme thème des variations réapparaît telle quelle à la fin, comme si l'œuvre était « en boucle », et suggère l’infinie. La tonalité est sol majeur (sol mineur pour les variations XV, XXI et XXV), et la structure d'ensemble fort claire. Un premier groupe de trois pièces est formé du thème et des deux premières variations. Suivent neuf groupes de trois pièces chacun, tous formés d'un canon, d'une variation libre ou de caractère, et d'une variation de virtuosité (les canons étant à l'unisson, à la seconde, à la tierce, etc.., jusqu'à la neuvième), et enfin un quodlibet (variation XXX) et la reprise du thème. - La première variation est d'essence motoristique ; la deuxieme est un duo contrapuntique d'allure pastorale ; la troisième un canon à l'unisson sur un rythme de sicilienne ; la quatrième un passepied en imitations ; la cinquième est rapide, pour les deux claviers avec croisements de mains ; la sixième est un canon à la seconde ; la septième une forlane rapide ; la huitième est de nouveau virtuose ; la neuvième un canon à la tierce ; la' dixième une fughetta à trois voix ; la onzième est à deux voix ; la douzième un canon à la quarte (par mouvement contraire) ; la treizième une longue melodie proche du mouvement lent du Concerto italien ; la quatorzième se joue sur les deux claviers ; la quinzième, en sol mineur, est un canon à la quinte (par mouvement contraire) ; la seizième adopte le style de l'ouverture à la française ; la dix-septième est très rapide ; la dix-huitième, canon à la Sixte, adopte un rythme de marche, et la dix-neuvième est un 3/8 avenant ; la vingtième est de nouveau une sorte de poursuite, et la vingt et unième, en sol mineur, un canon à la septième ; la vingt-deuxième est très contrapuntique, et la vingt-troisième très brillante, en style de toccata ; la vingt-quatrième est un canon à l'octave, et la vingt-cinquième, en sol mineur, un adagio chromatique à la Chopin ; la vingt-sixième est rapide, la vingt-septième un canon à la neuvième ; la vingt-huitième est caractérisée par une frise continue de trilles qui se relaient aux deux mains - admirable effet instrumental ; la vingt-neuvième doit se jouer en battements alternés sur les deux claviers, avec des triolets rapides ; la trentième et dernière variation est un quodlibet, c'est-à-dire un divertissement mélangeant le thème de sarabande à deux chansons populaires, ‘Ich bin so lange bei dir nicht gewest’ et ‘Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben’. Enfin, la répétition de l'aria, dans sa nudité initiale, produit un effet de gravité extraordinaire. - Visiblement, Bach prit un immense plaisir à être tour à tour, ou en même temps, brillant et savant, et à laisser sa vitalité s'exprimer avec moins de détours que dans d'autres pièces. Les Variations Goldberg furent rapidement célèbres et adaptées au piano (par Liszt notamment), et il est fort probable que Beethoven y songea en écrivant ses Variations Diabelli. - "UN des grands interprètes de J. S. Bach", telle était la description de l'organiste et claveciniste allemand Helmut Walcha (1907-1991) dans le New York Times. Sa compréhension intuitive de l'esprit et des intentions du compositeur" a été notée par The Guardian, tandis que Gramophone a jugé que "sa cohérence et sa logique interne en tant qu'interprète de Bach restent inégalées". --- Bach - Partitas Nos.1,2,3,4,5,6 BWV 825-830 Harpsichord + Presentation (Century’s recording : Helmut Walcha) : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1D-frZbFHVU.html --- Bach - The Art of Fugue in D minor BWV 1080, New mastering (Century's record.: Helmut Walcha, Organ): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aZ_qoS1_uPA.html - Johann Sebastian Bach PLAYLIST (reference recordings) : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-spHBTyagfZ4.html

Humbling to think that Bach is speaking to us across oceans of time.

Helmut Walcha was one of the most respected organ and harpsichord players of the XXth century. He died in 1991. He recorded the complete organ works by Bach two times. He was a scholar and studious of Bach, and a world renowned teacher. His rendering of the Goldberg is solid, mathematical, respectful, coherent, admirable. Walcha plays a non romantic music, an architectural, structural, intelligent work of art. Personally I like it, this straightforward, no nonsense Bach. Thanks Classical Music for posting.

came here again still one of the greatest goldberg variation I've ever heard

Humanity’s great respect is paid on this man for his extraordinarily masterful musical talent. RIP Helmut Walcha.

Helmut Walcha is a man of remarkable memory.He cannot see what he played but he memorised extremely well what he is going to play.

Bach to perfection! No need to applaud.....

I would not have been able to fall asleep with Helmut Walcha's dynamic and enlivening presentation. Thank you.

Bach, played so crisply and well, soothes my mind, orders my thinking, and calms yet envigorates my soul. It brings me alive.

Helmut plays the Harpsichord with a clarity in phrasing that makes every note coherence and intelligibility.. Bach perfection!

Extremely beautiful version. No compromise. And, strangely enough, I never heard a harpsichord sound so much as an organ. Thanks so much for this download ....

Without wishing to sound patronising, this performance is the more intriguing and marvellous owing to Helmut Walcha's blindness; it's hard enough 'feeling' and 'holding' the notes on a harpsichord when you're sighted. To learn everything by ear and then have to transcribe it through your fingers is little short of miraculous. His organ playing is also testament to this.

With a nod to all who comment, in my imagination I think of a conversation between JS Bach and a modern day pianist, say Glen Gould, Bach saying: "Do you think I would compose something like this had I to compose for an instrument like that?"The composer is always right in every circumstance.The gaping needy maw of a concert grand piano is the curse of our time.

Wonderful! Thank you, CMRR, for sharing this. We never would have heard it otherwise.

He memorises what he plays.

Gracias Classical music por darme la oportunidad de escuchar estas variaciones Golberg , musica paradisiaca y al genio de Helmut......

What a heavenly performance.

Helmuts Spiel und Ausfuhrung dieser Variationen ist GROSSARTIG !!! Tepper Michael.

this is my favorite music

Love the harpsichord!! One of my faves. Gives the variations a different tone and timbre. I will listen again when I get the full keyboard score in 2 days, I enjoy hearing and following the score in addition to doing a harmonic analysis for my own pieces! :)

Arrived at this bright and lovely harpsichord performance in escaping from tonight's BBC Prom - where it's being played on a piano!

Helmut Walcha was one of the best connaisseurs and interpret of JSB, both on harpsichord and above all on organ. A very classical vision, in the positive meaning of this word, without any excentric interpretations as we too often hear, but by no ways arid or scholar. JSB as he deserved to be played.

Erano anni che non mi capitava di risentire questa meravigliosa esecuzione. Helmut Walcha è stato un grande maestro che ci ha spezzato il pane angelico delle partiture bachiane insegnandoci, nei nostri verdi anni, a comprenderlo e amarlo. Mi sembra una lettura perfetta, che rinnova il miracolo dell'espressione attraverso la sola architettura delle melodie e delle armonie, senza l'ausilio del colore strumentale. E il miracolo si compie con la sola tersa e precisa lettura del lascito imperituro. Caro Walcha, grazie, come si ringrazia un nonno buono, che ci ha fatto scoprire un tesoro che ci ha accompagnato per tutta la vita.

MARAVILLOS, WALCHA. Lo descubrí hace un par de años, después de oir durante 40 a otros intérpretes de teclado de las obras de BACH. A partir de ahí solo escucho a JSB si él interpreta el órgano o clavicémbalo. Fué un gran hombre, que merece que su vida la den a conocer mediante una biografía y película.

Bachs most beautiful piece on a beautiful instrument

Superb! Very precise! It takes a German to play like Bach....

The fact that this version is so obscure saddens me, as this is wonderful is to listen to.

作曲された当時の音に近いと思う。 素晴らしいですね！！！ オルガンの名演奏家は、音色にも変化をつけようとしている。次から次へと、変奏がより興味深くなります。

I find that there's a particular resonance in higher notes that you don't really hear on the piano. No doubt Walcha's control of dynamics on such an instrument is a demonstration of his true mastery.

Luminous sound. Genius performance.

Esta interpretación me evoca a Walcha sentado ante el clavicémbalo y al maestro Bach en pie junto a él escuchando, siguiendo la música y dándole indicaciones.

Such a beautiful recording of Bach, masterpiece, I wonder how many people realize that his Goldberg Variations was made for and first played on the harpsichord before the piano was invented!! thank you for sharing.

Walcha's playing is dry, modernistic, very Bauhaus, but I always found that it suited the Goldbergs particularly well. I like the fact that there are no pronounced tempo oscillations between the variations. It makes the music flow better and brings out the unity of this set of variations. Walcha's other great successes at the harpsichord are the Chromatic fantasy and fugue and the 6th partita. The 4th partita and the English suites also deserve attentive listening, in my opinion. But then I grew up with these records.

how could a blind man memorize every note and play without a single mistake this gigantic piece?

This performance shows that the instrument is not important. The problem is not the instrument but the ability of the performer. The performance of this modern instrument is better than that of most of the period instruments.

Un chef-d'oeuvre intemporel !

I can feel the Baroque...

Thank you for sharing this!

So glad I stumbled into this. Having been a fan of Helmut Walchas organ recordings for Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv, I never had the chance to listen to his Goldberg Variations (I didn´t even know about these). He reveals the real beauty of this music by stripping it from all romanticisms. Great to find traces of this - by any means - remarkable and humble artist. Thanks for uploading! And f*** Google for destroying YT by ruining the most intimate performances with dumb commercials...

amo esta musica, gracias!

Very difficult to get this music "wrong". Divinity seems to rub off on those who come close.

Grand Merci !!!!!

Es primera vez que escucho esta interpretación y me ha cautivado tanto la ejecución como el peculiar sonido del instrumento. La técnica interpretativa es precisa, exquisitamente minuciosa en las frases contrapuntísticas. El sonido del clave me recuerda a una jaula llena de delicados pájaros de los más diversos colores, todos trinando al unísolo, deseosos de salir a raudales por la diminuta puerta de la jaula.

This channel should be called 'Classical Music/Reference Recording until the 1970s' ...

it is Walcha ,the all blind organist ,the high priest of BACH🥰

Great!!

You own the most beautiful performances on the internet. Thank you very much.

hannibal lover here

Merci !

Sehr schön

Gracias

Nice!

Merci pour cette vidéo !

Variation XX 45:50

I used to have Walcha's French Suites on vinyl, I don't believe they ever made it to CD....

¡Venga!

As great as this performance by Helmut Walcha is, after comparing it variation by variation I prefer Karl Richter's 1970 recording. I find it more profound and Richter insight into the music even greater than Walcha's. I know many will now protest - call it then a personal preference, but Richer is my first choice for the Goldberg Variations on harpsichord

Ready when you are, sergeant Pebry

Best sound out of a harpsi... for the G.V.'s ever.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!Bueníiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisimo!

Variation 25... Mozart Symphony No. 40.

Starting to really appreciate the speed of this Aria. The super slow thing is starting to border on melodrama, even schmalz. Looking even at the incomparable Gould on this one!

いい……

1:15:36

Nice

Much better than Piano variations!! This is one more proof that Cembalo is superior to Piano. It is to sad and to bad that Musicians "replaced" Cembalo with Piano at the beggining of XIX century. Cheers

Thank you very much for that.

Me encanta ☺️ lástima que tiene publicidad

此音只應天上有，人間難得幾回聞。

Quando morirò mi trasformerò nella variazione XXVII

Can someone please explain why Variation XIX has such a different timbre than the other ones before??

ready when you are...

i love JSB but there is something about the harpsichord that grates a bit. is it just me?

This is um invigorating I guess?

Walcha es Walcha...Gould es Gould...uno clave,,el otro piano,..los dos son geniales... solo Bach tiene que dar la opinión.....

so based

Muy Buena interpretaciòn como es de esperarce de un artista de ese nivel, pero pienso que algunas variaciones tendría que ejecutarlas mas lentamente Como lo hace Wanda landovska.por ej la variaciòn 15 pierde totalmente su belleza tocandola sin là minima disposiciòn de animo Como esta musica se merece.

Excellent. Thanks for uploading this. Great to hear this masterpiece on the harpsichord. But all the comments about how much better Bach's music sounds on harpsichord than on piano - sorry, but I am not going to join that bandwagon. I will always prefer Bach on piano over harpsichord.

바흐 생에에는 피아노가 없었다. 침밸로 연주가 더 맛갈난다.

This performance zaps all the character out of the music. Makes me feel suffocated.

Though I like many of Walcha's organ recordings, his feeling for the harpsichord just doesn't come up to Kirkpartick or some others of that era. The aria seems DETERMINED, rather than floating on air. Precision is not all (especially in our era of quantified and error-corrected performances..... which of course Walcha couldn't anticipate). It's a decent reading, nonetheless.

jesus the ads

La variaciòn 25 es un adagio!!! No un allegretto!! Que horror......

Its too fast i think

Dry, perfunctory and cold. There is not a scintilla of emotion of any kind here. This might as well have been played by an automaton. Gustav Leonhardt and Pierre Hantaï remain my touchstones for BWV 988.

There are good things and not so good about this. First of all, though, thank you for sharing this. Clearly the man could play and the instrument is recorded beautifully. I have heard some recordings where there is a slight disconnect between the left and right hands, at least on harpsichord recordings, which I expect has some stylistic justification but which makes it hard to listen to. On the less good side, it is all terribly earnest. I find it really quite foursquare and actually not that interesting interpretatively. (I got as far as variation 6 and then gave up). But it is easy to criticise and I can't believe someone of Walcha's stature hadn't thought through exactly what and how he wanted to say. Leaves this listener cold, sadly.

Too fast.

noise, noise, noise.