Robin Holloway: Gilded Goldbergs
The Micallef-Inanga Piano Duo
Hyperion CDA67360

Holloway's Goldberg Meta-Variations

What a creative idea: to write a variation on each of the Goldberg
Variations! But that's not what Robin Holloway initially intended to
do.  He admits that he was so stumped at his own clumsy attempts to
play the Goldbergs at his own piano that he had the idea to clarify the
counterpoint, so entangled in the two-hand version, by recasting the
more complex variations for two pianos. As he proceeded (and got willing
partners to play them over with him) he and his partners had such fun
that he got charged up to recast all the variations, even the ones which
were not so complicated. (He was not aware that Joseph Rheinberger -
Liechtenstein's only significant composer! - had made a two-piano version
in the 1880s.) Over a period of about six years, and in hiatuses between
his other more 'serious' composing chores, he added more and more
meta-variations until he was finally finished in late 1997.

The variations written fairly early in this 'adventure,' (as Holloway
terms it), do not wander far from their models; indeed, they could be
considered transcriptions. But as the spirit of adventure and challenge
spurred him on he began taking more and more daring liberties. Since he
didn't write the meta-variations in order, the more sedate variations
are interspersed amongst the more elaborate ones. Thus, the complete set
has reassuringly old-fashioned  'raisins' spread throughout the wild
rice pudding. And it makes for a satisfying meal.

There are some stylistic comments to be made. One recurring technique
in the more liberal variations is a quirky shift of key, sometimes in
mid-phrase, and sometimes the modulations raise the harmonic tension at
that same time that one smiles at what sounds like the pianists going
off the rails. Indeed, by the end of 'Gilded Goldbergs' Holloway has his
pianists playing in all twelve major keys and dipping into some minor
keys as well. One can imagine Charles Ives (and his inventive band-master
father, who taught this trick to Charlie) smiling in approval at Variation
9 (canon at the third) which has the second piano come in after the first
statement by echoing the first piano in a completely different key; the
two tonal layers coexist peacefully (and beautifully) to the end of the
variation.

Bach's two somber and related variations, No. 13 and No. 25, are given
especial care in Holloway's recomposition. No. 13 (the longest of
Holloway's variations) is a double variation that juxtaposes Ravelian
bell-sounds with a dark-hued Dowland lute-song. No. 25, Bach's so-called
'black pearl,' is cut up into sections and scrambled, as well as run
through a number of different keys. Sounds awful, I know, but in fact
it is as gorgeous as it is surprising.

Other high points: Variation 16 (the French 'Ouverture'), with its
double-dotting, becomes an homage to, of all things, the piano-player
etudes of Conlon Nancarrow. Variation 18 (canon at the sixth) is an
extension of the harmony of the sixth into a pointillistic dreamscape.
Variation 17 borrows stylistic gestures from three Hungarians: Bartok,
Kurtag, and most prominently, Ligeti, before it melts into a Romanian
'folk-lament' by Enescu.

This work is a real jeu d'esprit and nowhere is this more evident in the
good-humored Variation 19 (Bach's Landler variation). In four-and-a-half
minutes Holloway takes us through the history of Germanic music written
in three-quarter time, from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to Schumann,
Wagner (the 'Parsifal' Flower-Maidens make an appearance), Brahms, Mahler,
Strauss's Rosenkavalier, and finally Hindemith. Whew!

I will admit that I'm a sucker for polystylistic variations  I love
Rochberg's 'Caprice Variations,' Tsontakis's 'Ghost Variations,' Rzewski's
'Variations on "The People United Will Never Be Defeated"' at least
partly because they are a way current composers can express their love
and respect for composers of the past. There is an article at a J. S.
Bach website that looks down its blue nose at Holloway's current
'meta-variations.' But it is evident to me that Holloway is not trashing
Bach, but honoring him, and I am convinced that Bach would smile and
give Holloway full marks for his efforts.

The two pianists recorded here  Jennifer Micallef and Glen Inanga  do
a fabulous job in this performance. They reportedly have played it in
recital many times, and that shows. Hyperion gives us its usual clear
and true recorded piano sound.

This issue is a triumph!

Scott Morrison