Re: GG: keyserlingk's variations

[Bradley P Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

On Mon, 6 Apr 1998, K. Berry wrote:

> In the latest GlennGould, one of the articles offhandedly stated that
> the idea that the Goldbergs had been commissioned by Count von
> Keyserlingk for his harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg was now
> discredited by many musicologists.
> 
> It is?  I looked at my various Bach books and poked around on the web
> for a bit but couldn't find anything to the contrary.  Anyone know the
> story?  Bradley :-)?

I don't know offhand, but it wouldn't surprise me.  I've forwarded the
question to a friend who did some of his doctoral work on the Goldbergs.

Meanwhile, the general populace has not yet got over the following
misconceptions which have been debunked for many years: 

"Bach wrote his Well-Tempered Clavier to demonstrate equal temperament." 
(There is no evidence that Bach ever used equal temperament, and
'well-tempered' does not mean 'equal' anyway.  Bach was also not the first
person to write music in all those exotic keys.  It could be argued just
as easily that for much of his career Bach worked happily within the 15
commonly used keys of his era's ordinary temperaments: precisely the 15
keys of the inventions and sinfonias.)

"The WTC is for clavichord."  (Yes, it works on clavichord, but 'Klavier'
is simply the generic term for keyboard instrument, not excluding the
organ or harpsichord.)

"Bach wrote most of the Art of Fugue very near the end of his life, and
when he got to the place where he brings in his name, he was unable to
finish it, so on his deathbed he quickly dictated the 'Vor deinen Thron'
chorale prelude to his son-in-law Altnikol, and then died."  (The
manuscript version of the KdF's first version, including that incomplete
fugue, dates from the early 1740's, more than eight years before his
death, and the chorale prelude is also from before 1750.) 

"The Art of Fugue was written with no specific instrumentation in mind." 
(There is plenty of evidence that this is 100% keyboard music, all for a
single player except the later arrangements of mirror fugues for two
players.  And choosing keyboards: musical evidence more strongly suggests
an unsustained instrument (clavichord or harpsichord) rather than organ. 
Of course, the KdF can be adapted for other instruments just as any other
piece can.)

"The piano was invented after Bach died." (No, it was invented in the
1740's, and he likely played one during his visit to Frederick's court,
the visit that inspired the Musical Offering; the 3-voiced and 6-voiced
ricercars of the MO might have been intended for the piano.)

"The keyboard toccatas are for harpsichord."  (Yes, they can be played
that way, but there is also a convincing amount of evidence for organ, and
specifically an organ that might not have a complete bass octave.)

"Bach had several pedal clavichords in his estate."  (Much more likely
there were several keyboard instruments (generic 'Klavier'), and one
interchangeable set of pedals, most likely the common harpsichord
pedalboard rather than a clavichord pedalboard.  This is the practical
solution for practicing organ music at home without having someone around
to pump bellows.)

Bradley Lehman ~ Harrisonburg VA, USA ~ 38.44N+78.87W
bpl@umich.edu ~ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/