Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A Goldberg Variation for the Day



I have found the musical representation for this wet, nasty, freezing rain/snow going on outside. It is not dreary or miserable (as I would certainly be if I were stuck outside in this mess), but instead very cozy, like I am now in bed, just looking out through the window. It is Variation 28 from Bach's Goldberg Variations.

In 3/4 and two voices, it is reminiscent of a dream sequence. The eighth note progression is a chaconne, and over that are these twinkling thirty-second-notes. The twinklings are not particularly melodic, as each flourish is between just two notes, but latched onto the eighth-note chaconne, the whole thing has a forward propelled, scurrying feel. We are occasionally brought out of this dream world by the grounded sixteenth-notes, played by both hands and in inversion from one another (ex. bar 9).

Listening to this from inside looking out with a cup of hot tea in my hands is oh, so cozy. You should try it...really.

I also can't get this image out of my head of a man in a business suit running through central park on a day like today because he's late for a meeting. He's holding a briefcase over his head, trying to shield himself. He pauses momentarily under an awning to rest and get his bearings (bar 9), but a biker zooms by and splashes him. At the end, he finally arrives at work, soaking wet but out of the madness.

Yup, I'm sure that's what Bach had in mind...


Happy listening :)
(Variation 28 starts at 8:15 in the clip below.)

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