Work of the Week – Bach/Koffler: Goldberg Variations

From the bedroom to the big stage: on 27 September 2024, the National Theatre in Brno, Czech Republic, celebrates its ballet premiere. The choreography ‘Cyrano of Bergerac’ by Jiří Bubeníček integrates the famous Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach in the orchestral version by Józef Koffler, conducted by Jakub Klecker.

The exact genesis of Bach's 32-part variation cycle for harpsichord is not known. According to legend, the harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg played them to Count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk at the Dresden court during his sleepless nights for his edification and reassurance and Bach wrote them precisely for this purpose. The cycle was published in the 1740s and only became better known in the 19th century.

Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach in the orchestral version by Józef Koffler

Somewhat later, in 1938, the Polish composer Józef Koffler arranged the Goldberg Variations for small orchestra, more precisely for woodwinds and strings. The conductor, composer and musicologist Hermann Scherchen published his arrangement in his publishing house Ars Viva, which was founded in the same year and has been part of the Schott Music Group since 1955. Koffler was murdered by the National Socialists in the ghetto of the occupied city of Wieliczka just a few years after his work on the Goldberg Variations.

Koffler no longer speaks. He was robbed of his language and his life. (...) Music achieves what words can hardly do. It overcomes speechlessness. Koffler speaks. To us. (Jewsish General News Germany, 12 March 2024)

The ballet ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ with Goldberg Variations by Bach and Koffler can be seen in six performances in Brno until June 2025.

Further Reading:

Goldberg Variations: work details and online score 

Website National Theatre Brno