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Bach Quiz No. 11 - April 1999
check out the answers to December 1997's Quiz, January 1998's Quiz, February 1998's Quiz, March 1998's Quiz,
April 1998's Quiz, May 1998's Quiz, June 1998's Quiz, July 1998's Quiz, August & September 1998's Quiz,
February & March 1999's Quiz, April 1999's Quiz, May & June 1999's Quiz, July 1999's Quiz, August 1999's Quiz,
September 1999's Quiz, October 1999's Quiz, November 1999's Quiz, and December 1999's Quiz







Tjako van Schie - The Goldberg Variations

This month's prize has been provided by
Tjako van Schie
http://users.castel.nl/~schic02/

Tjako van Schie - Piano

The Goldberg Variations
BWV 988


     Tjako van Schie is a talented pianist from the Netherlands. He has recorded a well-played and tastefully interpreted CD of the Goldberg Variations on the Piano which is currently available at http://www.cddiscovery.com/. Several RealAudio clips are also available at that site.




The Quiz ...

     If your answers are correct, you will be entered into the contest to win a Bach CD. Winners will be selected at random at the end of the month and notified by e-mail. You may answer the quiz more than once but only your last entry will be counted.
You may also put the answers to the questions in an e-mail message and send it to: bachquiz@unpronounceable.com.
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Every third variation ( except the last ) in the Goldberg Variations is a __________.

Canon

True or False: Bach named the Goldberg Variations after the harpsichordist who it was commissioned for.

False. The 'Goldberg' Variations were not given that title until long after Bach's death. Bach titled the work ( translation ) 'Keyboard-practice, consisting of an Aria with different variations for the harpsichord with two manuals. Prepared for the enjoyment of music-lovers by Johann Sebastian Bach, Polish royal and Saxon electoral court-composer, director and choir-master in Leipzig'. According to legend, the work was commissioned for the former Russian ambassador to the electoral court of Saxony, Count Keyserlingk. The Count's harpsichordist was Johann Gottlieb Goldberg who was to play these works. Check out my Bach Works Catalog - Goldberg Variations for a more complete explanation.

The Goldberg Variations aren't the only set of 'Variations' composed by Bach. Name one other.

Acceptable answers were:
Any work in: BWV 766-771 - Partitas and Variations on Chorales
BWV 989 - Aria Varied in the Italian Manner in A minor
BWV 991 - Air with Variations in C minor ( Fragment )
Although not exactly 'variations' in the common usage of the term, these works were also accepted: Chaconne, Passacaglia, Musical Offering, and the Art of Fugue


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