BWV 988

E265831

BWV 988 is the catalogue number for Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a monumental set of keyboard variations and one of the most celebrated works in the Baroque repertoire.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
BWV 988 canonical 3

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf keyboard composition
musical work
set of variations
approximateCompositionDate early 1740s
associatedWith Count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk
basedOn bass line and harmonic progression of the opening aria
cataloguedIn BWV
catalogueNumber BWV 988 self-link
closingMovement Aria da capo
commonlyPerformedOn harpsichord
piano
composer Johann Sebastian Bach
compositionForm theme and variations
contains arabesques
canons at increasing intervals
dance movements
fugues
overture-style variation
countryOfOrigin Electorate of Saxony
dedicatedTo Johann Gottlieb Goldberg
famousRecordingBy Glenn Gould
firstPublicationDate 1741
firstPublisher Balthasar Schmid
genre Baroque music
keyboard variations
hasPart 30 variations
Aria
hasVariation Variation 1 in G major
Variation 25 in G minor
influenced keyboard variation repertoire
key G major
language none (instrumental)
movementCount 32 including aria and its reprise
notableFeature every third variation is a canon
symmetrical large-scale structure
thirty variations grouped in sets of three
virtuosic writing for two-manual harpsichord
notableNickname Black Pearl (for Variation 25)
numberOfMovements 30 variations plus aria
openingMovement Aria in G major
originalInstrumentation harpsichord with two manuals
partOf BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis)
surface form: Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis
period Baroque
placeOfComposition Leipzig
placeOfFirstPublication Nuremberg
structure aria, 30 variations, aria da capo
title Goldberg Variations
workNumberInBWV 988

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

BWV 988 catalogueNumber BWV 988 self-link
Aria da capo catalogNumber BWV 988