Bach. Goldberg Variations. Variatio 4

Date

October 08, 2016

Category

Bach at my side, Goldberg Variations

Description

Like the Passepied, a Baroque dance movement, Variation 4 is in 3/8 time with a preponderance of 8th notes rhythms. Bach uses close but not exact imitation: the musical pattern in one part reappears a bar later in another (sometimes inverted).

Therefore this variation is similar to a canon, but it is not. Bach plays mainly with jumps of thirds and fourths and imitates them in the various registers. That’s like a game of echoes, always on the main base notes, which are the same for all Goldberg Variations.