Special offer. Bach, J S: Goldberg Variations, BWV988
Fretwork
When [Boothby] simply transfers lines from harpsichord unaltered, it's particularly effective, clarifying the counterpoint...No one can be unaffected after experiencing these new perspectives.
Special offer. Bach, J S: Goldberg Variations, BWV988
Fretwork
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When [Boothby] simply transfers lines from harpsichord unaltered, it's particularly effective, clarifying the counterpoint...No one can be unaffected after experiencing these new perspectives.
About
"The Goldberg Variations are a pinnacle of Bach’s art. Conceived for harpsichord, the work has been transcribed for quite different instruments. . . Richard Boothby’s version for his own consort of viols, Fretwork, is arguably the most unusual, in that it opts for a soundworld that looks even further back in time. Part of the justification for such a setting must be Bach’s own liking for viola da gamba, already then old-fashioned.... Boothby’s setting is dexterously divided between various combinations of the treble, tenor and bass viols, and he achieved some magical effects, notably (...) in variations of gossamer passagework." The Guardian (concert review)
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
December 2011
When [Boothby] simply transfers lines from harpsichord unaltered, it's particularly effective, clarifying the counterpoint...No one can be unaffected after experiencing these new perspectives.
January 2012
Boothy's transcriptions are an unusual yet fascinating advocacy for a consort of viols that Bach would have considered archaic...as the spirit of the music dictates, Fretwork produces playing of astonishing imagination...With such a feast on offer, harpsichords never crossed my heretical mind.
Classical Music 22nd October 2011
An unusually stately opening Aria begins a fascinating viol consort arrangement of this oft-recorded work...This reviewer's initial skepticism soon vanished. Cogent, moving and and superbly recorded, it is perhaps a 'meditation on' rather than an 'arrangement of' the Goldbergs.
