Aria
Variations 1-30
Aria da capo

In the Goldberg Variations Bach answered a modest request reputedly from an aristocratic patron who wanted music that was 'soft and somewhat Iively' as a distraction from insomnia - with a work of immense scale and ambition, a great musical journey that traverses a dazzling kaleidoscope of musical styles. The music's wit and virtuosity is matched by the exquisite contrapuntal tracery of the canons that form the work's backbone, and by the tragic grandeur of the minor-key variations, which contain some of the most poignant music Bach ever wrote; the homecoming, as Bach ends by returning to the opening Aria, is one ofthe most moving passages in all music. Peter Hill here continues his acclaimed series of Bach recordings with a searchingly imaginative performance, capturing the music's zest and its depth of feeljng in a reading that is as profoundly poetic as it is beautifully coloured.