NPR Music

Support Public RadioLogin

Music Videos

Credit: Mito-Habe Evans/NPR

Jeremy Denk vs. The Goldberg Variations: The Musical DNA

April 3, 2012 What makes Bach's Goldberg Variations tick? Pianist Jeremy Denk reveals how Bach's musical DNA — a simple strand of bass notes — is fleshed out into the beautiful melody that fuels the Goldbergs.

What makes Bach's Goldberg Variations tick? Pianist Jeremy Denk has a few ideas. From the comfort of his living room piano, he reveals how Bach's musical DNA — a simple strand of bass notes — is fleshed out into the beautiful melody that feeds the Goldbergs.

Oddly enough, Bach just may have gotten his idea for the Goldbergs from a piece by Handel. And in what Denk calls one of the greatest instances of "musical one-upmanship," Bach blew Handel out of the water by creating a set of variations (on the same 8 bass notes) so extraordinary in their scope they've remained a milestone in the history of Western music.

Credits

Produced by Mito Habe-Evans and Tom Huizenga; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Production Assistance: Amanda Ameer and Anatasia Tsioulcas; Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann and Keith Jenkins

More Music Videos

More Music Videos
 

Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and Terms of Use. NPR reserves the right to use the comments we receive, in whole or in part, and to use the commenter's name and location, in any medium. See also the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Community FAQ.

Search NPR.org

Podcast + RSS Feeds

Podcast RSS

  • Music Videos–
     
  • Tom Huizenga