J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill) Philharmonia Orchestra & Robin O'Neill

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill):
• 1 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Aria 03:57
• 2 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 1 01:36
• 3 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 2 01:09
• 4 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 3. Canone all Unisono 02:06
• 5 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 4 00:56
• 6 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 5 01:39
• 7 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 6. Canone alla Seconda 00:52
• 8 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 7. Al tempo di Giga 01:52
• 9 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 8 02:01
• 10 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 9. Canone alla Terza 01:20
• 11 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 10. Fughetta 01:21
• 12 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 11 02:15
• 13 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 12. Canone alla Quarta 02:11
• 14 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 13 05:24
• 15 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 14 02:25
• 16 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 15. Canone alla Quinta: Andante 02:25
• 17 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 16. Ouverture 02:44
• 18 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 17 02:01
• 19 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 18. Canone alla Sesta 01:20
• 20 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 19 01:06
• 21 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 20 02:29
• 22 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 21. Canone alla Settima 02:22
• 23 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 22. Alla breve 01:06
• 24 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 23 02:37
• 25 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 24. Canone all'Ottava 02:26
• 26 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 25. Adagio 08:41
• 27 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 26 01:59
• 28 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 27. Canone alla Nona 02:07
• 29 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 28 02:23
• 30 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 29 02:16
• 31 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Variation 30. Quodlibet 01:54
• 32 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill): Aria da Capo al Fine 02:13
• Total Runtime 01:13:13

Info for J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill)

Bach’s music has always attracted arrangers and orchestrators – such as Stokowski, Elgar and Busoni, to name just three. Regardless of its original version, Bach’s music has an expressive power, drama and architectural logic that lend themselves well to expanded orchestral sonorities. Bassoonist and conductor Robin O’Neill buried his head in the Goldberg Variations, which he had discovered through Glenn Gould’s recordings, during the first months of the Covid lockdown. Soon after that, the idea of making an arrangement for orchestra began to obsess him as he began hearing instrumental and orchestral sonorities in the keyboard work. Since the main challenge was to reclothe the music without damaging the subtle intricacy of the piece, and after much thought and experimentation, O’Neill chose instruments that Bach himself would have recognized for the solo parts. His reinterpretation of the Goldberg Variations offers a mixture of full orchestral variations interspersed with concertante ones involving two, three or four solo instruments, at times close to St Matthew Passion-style writing. Completed during a difficult period, this arrangement was made, in the words of O’Neill, in the hope that it expresses the joy and solace that Bach’s music gives both performer and listener.

Philharmonia Orchestra
Robin O'Neill, bassoon, conductor

Robin O’Neill
is principal bassoonist with the Philharmonia Orchestra and has held the same position with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the English Chamber Orchestra.

He is a member of London Winds and the Gaudier Ensemble. He has been Professor of Bassoon at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music where he is currently Visiting Professor of Bassoon. He has recorded virtually the whole of the core chamber music repertoire with more than 40 CDs to his name on labels such as Hyperion, Decca and Philips.

In the past few seasons Robin O’Neill has conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus (with whom he gave the Orchestra’s first performance in London’s Royal Festival Hall), London Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa Japan and the Orchestras of the Guildhall School of Music, Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, where he is professor of conducting.

Robin O’Neill has collaborated with musicians such as Mikhail Pletnev, Boris Beresovsky, Mitsuko Uchida, Christoph Eschenbach, Pascal Rogé, Stephen Kovacevich, Alexander Madzar, Pinchas Zuckerman, Salvatore Accardo, Isabelle Faust, Michael Collins, Alina Ibragimova, and actors such as Jeremy Irons, Julian Glover, Paul McGann and Hugh Dancy. He has also performed by invitation for His Royal Highness Prince Charles the Prince of Wales.

Robin O’Neill is music director of the music theatre ensemble The Motion Group. In 2005 together with theatre director Andrew Steggall he travelled to Baghdad, Iraq, and used their experiences to stage Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale at the Old Vic Theatre in London. This production used both Iraqi and European actors and musicians in what was by common consent one of the most shocking and thought-provoking theatre events of 2006.

The Principal Bassoon Chair is endowed by Penny and Nigel Turnbull.

During his career as a bassoonist Robin O’Neill worked with all of the worlds finest conductors (including Karajan, Giulini, Solti, Abbado, Levine, Kubelik, Boulez, Muti, Baremboim, Sanderling, Svetlanov and Gergiev) both as soloist and orchestral principal.

Booklet for J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Arr. for Orchestra by Robin O'Neill)