NEW GOLDBERG VARIATIONS:
Molto Adagio and Presto
(1997) cello and piano, 6 min.

The idea for the New Goldberg Variations began as a twenty-fifth anniversary gift from Robert Goldberg to his wife Judy. The Goldbergs were friends of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who suggested that they choose a consortium of American composers to create new variations on Bach’s original Aria for his Goldberg Variations. Sadly, Robert died before the project’s completion. The work remains as a tribute to the Goldbergs and their love of music.

chairs

Other composers involved in the project were John Corgliano, Richard Danielpour, Peter Lieberson, Peter Schickele and Christopher Rouse.

I was particularly honored to be a part of this project, having known the Goldberg Variations since I was a teenager. I wore out my Landowska record and spent countless hours tripping through the pieces at the piano. Responding to Bach’s soulful balance of song, invention and virtuosity was daunting at first. Yet being part of a collective reviewing of the Variations was intriguing. And the cello and piano lent new interactive and coloristic possibilities.

I wrote two contrasting variations which adhere to the source. The “Molto Adagio” carries forth from the Aria’s stately rhythms, exploring chords created by stacking the original ground bass. In the “Presto” the bass line soars high in the piano, above a whirling inversion canon.

First performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall in Boston. Recorded by Tanya Prochazka, cello, and Jaques Despres, piano, on The New Goldberg Variations (Arktos).

Click here for more on the New Goldberg Variations project.