Goldberg Relocating Postcolonialism

Road trip: In the thirty-two movements that make up the Goldberg Variations, Bach offers us a perfect equilibrium between structure, proportion, counterpoint and melody. Diego Ares, for whom this remarkable work has been a lifelong inspiration, sees the key to it in the notion of travel: a moving trip to different environments, enriched by new experiences in the course of the variations, the last of which (the Quodlibet) marks the composer's salutary return home. A profound and humanistic message and an angle from which the Variations have rarely been approached before.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a contrapuntal tour de force, and one of the pinnacles in the history of the variation genre. Composed ‘to refresh the spirits of music-lovers’, it is a constantly fascinating and deeply enriching evocation of an entire musical universe. This arrangement with two ten-string guitars is a transcription of the original text including later corrections and additional musical indications made by the composer. The additional bass strings of these instruments provide an entire lower octave, giving access to the full range of musical timbres in this eternal masterpiece.

In the realm of music criticism and scholarship, Bach’s music is often hailed as the epitome of functional musical logic. Every note has its place, every chord has its function, and all musical elements are combined in a masterful display of contrapuntal craft with few recognised rivals. But despite the intellectual reverence to which Bach’s music is subjected, musicians are still able to find themselves intimately and affectively involved with his compositions.

Award-winning accordionist Vincent van Amsterdam performs J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, one of the great masterpieces of Western music. The music of J.S. Bach has been heard in countless guises, from those intended to be meticulous in their authenticity, to loose, improvisatory interpretations. Bach’s treatment of his own music was practical and versatile, often tailored to the musicians available rather than an ideal ensemble, so it seems likely that the composer himself would treat this spectrum of approaches with generosity and pleasure.