J. S. Bach – Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (version for string trio)

A masterpiece of keyboard music (and music in general), the Goldberg Variations are presented here in a version for string trio. This composition, completely unusual for Bach, who had rarely written a theme and variations before, is said to have been written for the young virtuoso pianist Goldberg to help his patron and commissioner of the variations, Count Keyserling, fall asleep. A circular work made up of golden proportions both in its overall structure and in the individual variations, which sometimes (as in the Quodlibet) echo German folklore. ‘It is music, in short, that knows neither beginning nor end, music without a real climax and without a real resolution’ (Glenn Gould).