Bach. Goldberg Variations. Variatio 14

Description

This is a rapid two-part hand-crossing toccata in 3/4 time, with many trills and other ornamentation. It is specified for two manuals and features large jumps between registers. Both features (ornaments and leaps in the melody) are clearly hearable from the first bar.

The second part of this variation is the inversion of the first half. Bach “recycles” rhythmic and melodic material, passing material that was in the right hand to the left hand, and inverting it.

I’m using the repeats as a way to change dynamics and ornamentations. From the perspective in this video, it seems that one hand is chasing the other, producing a triumphing energy.