Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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On the back of his own personal copy of the 'Goldberg Variations', Bach notated an additional fourteen canons. These were discovered only as late as 1974(!) and are among the most interesting compositional exercises we know from the composer. 



From eight bass notes (the first 8 notes of the 'Goldberg' Aria- the structure in a sense,) Bach creates, yes, fourteen other canons. In this episode, we introduce the history, the idea behind the canons and the first four canons.



Here is what they look like as seen on the back of Bach's own copy: (vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3f/IMSLP430619-PMLP326356-N55005962_(BWV_1087).pdf)



and here are the Handel variations on the Chaccone of which I speak in this episode:



youtu.be/X_Lp9ZWWI-Q?t=73



 



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