Bach, J S:
Goldberg Variations, BWV988
Aria
Var. 1-30
Aria da capo

An hour and a half of ornate French overtures, insightful canons, expressive arias and playful virtuoso numbers and then a return to the beginning of everything, to a simple aria: in moments like these, I feel greatness and smallness, togetherness and separateness, in a way the philosopher John Dewey calls consummatory experience. At the end of the Goldberg Variations, the repetition of the Aria closes the circle of the narrated story and sanctifies the harmonic foundation of the work, the law of nature on which this most extensive keyboard work of the Baroque period rests. At that time, in addition to the refining experience, something else occurs as well: a desire to continue, to recollect what has been experienced, and to live under the influence of these safe laws of nature for one moment longer. In the silence of the end, the polonetic-like rhythm of the first variation creeps into my mind – and I can’t stop playing. - Hannu Alasaarela