Description

The fourth and final volume of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Clavier-Übung keyboard cycle, his “Goldberg Variations”, is considered to be the most important work in this form from the Baroque era. The work includes 30 variations over a ground-bass, originally composed for harpsichord, and is adapted here for solo organ by Stephen Tharp. Widely respected for his interpretations of Romantic and 20th century repertoire, Stephen Tharp performs with a stylistic sensitivity to the music at hand. While utilizing the full color palette of Paul Fritts€™ pipe organ at St. Joseph’€™s Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, this arrangement, while imaginative and virtuosic, remains faithful to the period aesthetic in which the music was originally conceived. In addition to the Goldberg Variations, there are several tracks of short organ improvisations interspersed with Mr. Tharp’s narrated tour of the various individual colors found in the Fritts pipe organ. There are also extensive music notes by Mark Dwyer as well as an essay about the organ by Paul Fritts, packaged in a beautifully designed Digipack.