Listen to my "Goldberg Variations" album on Streaming Platforms!

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This series aims to make Bach's Goldberg Variations more comfortable to play on piano. Urtext notation edits and fingering suggestions featured in each video for download in my new edition:

VIDEO:
Bach Goldberg Variations (Complete) in Overhead Keyboard View (v.2)
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PIANO LESSON: videos take each variation individually, highlight changes made to the urtext notation and offer fingering suggestions via variation played at a slow tempo.
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ARIA: (and Aria da Capo) is played from the Ferruccio Busoni edition of the Goldberg Variations available (Free) from IMSLP Public Domain Music Library.
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Select "Arrangements and Transcriptions" tab.
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HARMONIC PEDAL:
In this recording I use the harmonic pedal (4th pedal on the Lyra) Our English and French language Harmonic Pedal channels:
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Spoken dialogue in this video in English language text (as requested for online translation)

Variation 25, along with the slow movement of Bach's Italian Concerto, are 2 memorably expressive slow movements in baroque keyboard music. On Bach's own copy of the Goldberg Variations he wrote "adagio".

Variation 25 was written for 2 manuals but can be played comfortably on piano. It's fairly ambiguous harmonically, part 2 is especially chromatic. We pass through numerous unexpected keys before returning to G minor.

Variation 25 is the 3rd and last of 3 variations in G minor, the others being 15 ... and 21.

Looking backwards, the tempo for Variation 25 can relate to Variation 15 and 21, either be slightly or significantly slower.

Looking forwards, a slow adagio makes the most effective contrast with follow-on Variation 26, which could be thought of as the fastest variation, placing the slowest and fastest of the set side by side.

Variation 25 is an opportunity "not to rush" in a world so much around us is moving quickly.

Variation 25 is, at least for me, as good a piece as any to win the argument for why Bach's music is perfectly suited to the modern piano. Even though this variation was written for harpsichord, a beautifully toned instrument but not one not capable of dynamic variety made by finger touch - only colour changes alternating or combining 2 manuals - when playing this variation on piano we cannot help but find, each in her or his own way, the rise and fall and tension and release between notes and in phrases which suggest this "music" in it's entirety can perhaps be most fully realised - rather than in part only - by an instrument capable of a variety of dynamics made by finger touch.

The Goldberg Variations gets performed in three ways: without repeats, occasional repeats and with repeats. There are complex reasons for all 3 points of view, in the end it's a personal choice - as is changing the E flat to an E natural in bar 18.

I've slightly edited the urtext in these bars highlighted and added fingering suggestions. You can download my new edition "Bach Goldberg Variations for Piano" as a free PDF from a link below.

I'll run through variations 24 and 25 together.

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