The Goldberg Variations, composed towards the end of Bach’s life, are one of his “summation” works. In these works, and here on a single instrument no less, he presents the entire history of music, synthesizing diverse styles from Italian Aria to French Overture. Depending on how many of the repeats are taken, a performance can … Continue reading A Light in the Darkness: Bach’s Goldberg Variations
Month: March 2022
A Musical Conversation in a Time of War
Sting released an accoustic version of his 1980s solo hit Russians in light of the war in Ukraine. It is, I think, a decided improvement on the original. https://youtu.be/r5qhS9Ic96A This new version, stripped of the lyric about President Reagan, is a bit more one-sided, but the message of universality remains the same. Perhaps this is … Continue reading A Musical Conversation in a Time of War
The Firing of Anna Netrebko
You would think that writing a blog on music history would be a safe refuge from politics. This week shattered any such illusion. So let it be said here, plainly and with no ambiguity—Peter Gelb is a coward and a fraud. He has overstayed his welcome and it is beyond time for him to go. … Continue reading The Firing of Anna Netrebko
Bach and Equal Temperament
Bach’s influence on keyboard instruments is unrivaled. But before getting into his works for solo keyboard, it is important to talk about Equal Temperament, which solved for all time the problem of the Pythagorean Comma, which we discussed at the beginning of this blog. To recap, Western music was based on a natural scale with … Continue reading Bach and Equal Temperament
A Gertus History of Music 