The Genius Behind Bach's Goldberg Variations: CANONS

Recently I learned some incredible insights about the science behind the canons in J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations with help from my mentor and teacher, David Louie.
David Louie: davidlouiepiano.com
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As always, thank you so much for watching, and thank you to all of you that leave comments.

[@IainEmslie]

The Genius Behind Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture: CANNONS

[@andyrisi4032]

Iain Emslie this comment should have more likes

[@InventorZahran]

Tchaikovsky be like: "Dammit, editor! You wrote one extra 'N' on the score, and now look what you've done! It was suppoed to be a canon, but now they're playing it with cannons!"

[@koshersalaami]

I once saw National Symphony do the 1812 at Wolf Trap conducted by Rostropovich. They used both recorded and live cannons. It was a blast.

[@kenkinnally6144]

InventorZahran. Yes, had me laughing. "Stupid typographer, look what you've done!" Lol.

[@lorisschirar6680]

I came here looking for this comment and I was not disappointed xD

[@DBruce]

Great video, love the Goldbergs! Always amazes me how Bach is able to stay in one key for such a long piece without it getting boring.Enjoyed your piece too (again!)

[@NahreSol]

Thank you David!! 😊

[@davidraiklen4521]

True. Bach has a flexible concept of key that allows for surprises in melody and harmony.

[@SuperDeepzone]

@@NahreSol Nice video have you eard Steve Reich's Piano Phase? It's a wonderful thing and a type of cannon

[@opnop123]

You might enjoy Jeremy Denk's attempt at loving criticism of the Goldbergs. "It would perhaps be fine that the Goldbergs are so joyful, if only-and this is the big third flaw-they weren't also so annoyingly unimpeachable. Just the theme, for instance: a favorite inflection of mine, the way Bach gently moves into E minor at the beginning of the second half. It's so ideal and satisfying, the way he uses E minor as a melancholy foil to the prevailing G major, and having led us into it, subtly and affectingly leads us up out of it." www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2012/03/16/148769794/why-i-hate-the-goldberg-variations

[@MrJdsenior]

Not only not boring, but MORE and MORE interesting and varied as it continues on, in virtually every aspect.

[@RickBeato]

Beautiful Nahre! Love your composition both melodically and conceptually. David is great. Thank you!!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you Rick

[@iainthomas5249]

While I was watching this I remembered that Rick had done a video about Bach and I thought right away “I wonder if Rick saw this.” My hope is that you two will do a video together.

[@pfylim]

@@iainthomas5249 Stay away from Beato. It's all clickbait to push a crap PDF file of his notes.

[@iainthomas5249]

The Tree Seems like you and I have a vast difference of opinion.

[@Macanto]

Nahre's composition at 10:55 Very nice, love it! Bach with a gentle jazz kiss 😀👌

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!!

[@Macanto]

@@NahreSol Very welcome!

[@Mignuke]

Nahre Sol will the sheets be for sale?

[@johndecicco]

At 11:41, the measure after the G has a wonderful F# Augmented passing chord.

[@shiouhsu4869]

I want a link to download it

[@jesselapierre]

Nahre puts her creativity in a box, and then it jump kicks right through the lid!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😂🙏

[@Kosmo999]

Could literally listen to David Louie about Bach for hours!!!!! He needs to put up content online i would follow him 1000%

[@Sara-lk2yr]

I studied It for my final exam at the Conservatory. When I played the repetition of theme at the end I felt as if I was floating among the planets... It Is an astonishing stunning masterpiece... I am honored to have studied and played It...❤️

[@kazimierzgarshin3924]

"That's the genius..." That is why I watch this video. I dont have a musical background but I love music: as far as I understand what you are explaining you show me a part of the genius of Bach. Thank you very much!

[@thomasmcgill6918]

I can remember my Bach addiction started at the age of 4. He is the perfect composer that demonstrated that a simple melody can become the universe. Thank you again for your amazing videos. :-)

[@NahreSol]

Thank you Thomas!!

[@ea6256]

Excellent video as always, Nahre! My favorite canon of his is the canon at the octave from the Art of Fugue! It is absolutely incredible! I suggest you give it a listen when you have the time.

[@NahreSol]

Thanks!! Also for the suggestion :))

[@fredericbeaudoin6850]

Isn't that your compositions?🤔

[@ea6256]

@@fredericbeaudoin6850Uhm... yes! I must have misspoken ;)

[@joechip1232]

@@fredericbeaudoin6850 When you're as much of a legend as Bach you can speak about yourself in the third person ;)

[@DrSticktrick]

BWV?

[@jolee3124]

your canon is absolutely gorgeous! Reminds me of poulenc

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!!

[@DanielYapHZ]

I was thinking this when I heard it!! Absolute love

[@Pakkens_Backyard]

yeah it's very late romantic French style

[@andresordonez2287]

I was thinking the same thing, this piece is absolutely amazing!!

[@richardsagala3186]

Nahre’s composition has an impressionistic feel to it, lovely!

[@sebastian-benedictflore]

I used to listen to these every day and I remember when I learned these a few years ago, I had no idea of how complicated they really were. Bach is a true genius.

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😊

[@sebastian-benedictflore]

@@NahreSol Thank you! I was wondering if you could consider making a video on Mendelssohn Concerto No.1 Op.25 as well. I'm playing it right now and your insight/videos are always unique and interesting. Thanks

[@sebastian-benedictflore]

@@NahreSol Hey congrats on the WIRED video by the way.

[@paqman67]

I used to work in customer service and I used to put the Goldberg's on harpsichord by Pierre Hanati on constant replay on my 8 hr shift on very low volume..for nearly 5 years, every day!! I almost wore out the CD!

[@PlataxJazz]

Nahre, I'm so glad I found you. You have added levels of complexity to my enjoyment of music. Thank you for this gift.

[@samanthayork3125]

ahhhhh i love the second canon. the analysis with harpsichord playing was so nice to watch!!

[@andrewkigen]

I can't thank you enough! Thanks for all your lessons, it broadens my understanding of music and teaches me new ways to think about composing. Lots of love from your number 1 Kenyan fan! Thanks again! And your composition sounds beautiful!

[@h2shin]

I absolutely loved your collaboration with wired and now am on a binge of your videos. Hope you keep making great content and look forward to your future work.

[@milofryling4654]

I love the way you document your process - how much work it was, nearly quitting - and then you persist and succeed! I like the sound of your finished product!

[@rolontzbass]

Nahre your piece is so beautiful. I love the harmonic sensibility you have. Thanks for the great video.

[@rodrigocalmanowitz]

Great video Nahre Sol! Always a delight to watch. You always show us your process, and the amount of work you put into these videos!!

[@craigberry4051]

Congrats on making through and composing your canon Nahre! Sounded great!

[@BlueHundred1]

Amazing thing about music composition is how much theory and understanding is needed AND then the actual skill and talent to play the piece. Really informative video. I learned a lot!

[@mark012498]

I've only just found your content and I absolutely love the Goldbergs but I have to say, I'm so in awe of the clarity that you explain concepts (both linguistically and visually) for those that may not be as fluent in music theory as well as not being patronising for those that may be more fluent. I can imagine you being a fantastic pedagogue (as well as evidently an exceptionally accomplished pianist, composer and general musician) and look forward to seeing more of your content!

[@douglasjensen8986]

This is by far my favorite of your videos because it is long enough to get a little bit deeper into the analysis - vs. weeks that can be devoted to the Goldbergs in a music conservatory (not to mention years studying and playing it, e.g., Gould). More like this please.

[@MyXxx77]

Again, you have come up with a wonderful piece of original music at the end of your journey. CONGRATULATIONS! Glad to hear there will be more of David Louie as well.

[@martinmellacarames464]

Great work spreading this marvelous piece of art. And lovely composition too!

[@shadowgolem9158]

You have inspired me. After a 7 year hiatus I'm taking up piano lessons again. And loving it. Thank you!

[@gregonline6506]

I think I am addicted to these Variations. Listened to them so many times for so many years. Beginning with Gould’s early recording, then the later one and finally appreciating the personal touch of the interpreter. Thx for unveiling some of the funny maths behind.

[@exquisiteoath]

Growing up the Goldberg variations were played frequently at home. So they always feel very nostalgic for me. Your canon is lovely in that it kept that nostalgia factor but added some new harmonic life.

[@pianoplaynight]

I'm also obsessed with the Goldbergs! One interesting thing to mention is that Mahler features the canon from 3:45 in the third movement of his first symphony. Great video👍

[@NahreSol]

Didn't know that, awesome! And thanks!

He transposed this Canon in minor key though, and it sounds so good !

[@pianoplaynight]

@ the whole symphony is so awesome! Easily my favorite along with the 5th and Lied von der Erde.

@@pianoplaynight This one and the 2nd symphony are my favorite by Mahler.

[@jonsnow92]

Unfortunately, Mahler was then sued by Bach and died poor.

[@amulyashruthi]

I think what amazes me about your work is that you let us peek into the minds of other contemporary academics too: how cool the work they're doing is. Thanks for being so open and sharing what you learned. We need more of this interaction between the "lay person" (like me), the keenly interested novice (like many of the other commenters), and the academic.

[@kiwiznews217]

I just love how you explain your passion Music. I actually understand and learn so much. I lost music completely because of TBI injuries 14 years ago. Thank you so much

[@Advent22mix]

This is utterly brilliant content. There really isn't enough in-depth musical analysis out there for public consumption so this was a total treat to watch. I'm also ecstatic to see the harpsichord on your channel, that instrument is my passion.

[@bry5an]

Thanks for putting up the visual for your Canon, it helps digest what's going on so much

[@jasperpabroa4737]

Your teacher is awesome!!

[@NahreSol]

Yes I agree, he's remarkable!!!

[@jasperpabroa4737]

@@NahreSol so are you Nahre!! please do continue these things its just full of artistry, history, information and of course awsome music...

[@BenSadounJeremie]

Always infinitely grateful for this sharing.

[@agustinalonsomusic]

Loved your piece! I could barely notice there was a Canon going on.. For me Bach is the ultimate inspiration to recover from a Composer's Block, and this book of variations keeps prooving me that there's so much you can do and extract from a simple material.

[@acwatercolors]

Brillant. Your piece is stunning

[@metashrew]

I absolutely love the composition you came up with! It's like an interesting mix of classical and jazz, exactly in the way that I like it.

[@davidkennedy6251]

Excellent, very stimulating and illuminating and conveying the enthusiasm of the presenters.

[@scottdotjazzman]

Absolutely beautiful job!

[@duotonsatz]

Enjoyed your video, your analysis and your amazing piece!

[@antoinekiwi2]

This is really great. I could listen to David Louie talk about Bach all day. He could probably just talk about the Goldbergs all day and that would be great too! Thank you for sharing his insights and yours with us. This is the kind of thing that justifies YT's existence.

[@wills3212]

I really enjoyed watching you process as you tried to play through it shows it takes work! It gives me hope

[@markmilner842]

Fantastic job on the canon. I’ve always loved listening to the Goldberg variations, and this helped me understand why more clearly.

[@NahreSol]

Thank you !! 😊🙏

[@AntPDC]

Absolutely wonderful analysis of one of my favourite Bach pieces. Thank you very much indeed.

[@Oddquartet]

I have always been fascinated by these variations. Thanks for making such a great video about them!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😊

[@dpclerks09]

The Harmony and Counterpoint of the Goldberg Variations wraps around and upward like a double helix. If you loop some of them, they can sound like a rising Shepard's Tone. Divine 🙏

[@openup007]

Nahre, thank you opening my ears once again... its somewhat perplexing that it took a few score years for J.S. Bach to be recognized & appreciated as a composer. Your video casts a bright light on his genius and helps us all to better understand and appreciate his gifts to music.

[@alicee2140]

Subscribed and smashed that bell button. You're renewing my interest for music with your pedagogy and talent for videos. And you always have the most passionate guests.

[@jonathanlam344]

Lovely video Nahre! I first heard of the Goldberg Variations (in particular, variation 3) on a CD when I was 8 years old, and I still love the Goldberg Variations to this day. I also love hearing your analysis of this piece

[@thebachproject6530]

This is great. I've been thinking about analysing some Bach and this is such a great teaser! I didn't know about the canons moving through 2nd. 3rd, 4ths etc.....so interesting. I took up piano 5 years ago at the age of 45 and am teaching myself by slowly learning my favourite Bach pieces and watching your channel (!!!) so thank you. It's so incredibly rewarding to learn Bach and your channel is gold.

[@christopherbarber9351]

Thank you for making this video! I love the Goldbergs, now I love them more by realizing how challenging they were to write!

[@yeongjinyu4578]

My goodness, I really LOVE Goldberg variations ! Thank you !!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!!

[@andrewjames6676]

I'll be listening to the Goldeberg variationss in a couple of months, at a concert in France. This video will greatly enhance my enjoyment (and understanding). Thanks!

[@rgferreira78]

Nahre, your videos are GREAT. Keep the good job. Thanks!

[@georgepppp533]

just came across this. wow. I am one that LOVES Bach but never understood why. thank you for the eye opener on what has been for years my favorite music.

[@peterwu8471]

David is awesome - thanks for making this!

[@davehein1418]

Amazing. A beautiful composition. Thank you.

[@ghanpatel2884]

this is such a great explanation thank you so much. I've been asking around and searching for someone to really break it down for me and this is the closest thus far. thanks!

[@tomlabooks3263]

Same here.

[@freakydisorders]

Beautiful and stimulating, thank you.

[@AaronPetitPianoTutorials]

Very fun video! Thanks for the upload!

[@MitchBoucherComposer]

Fantastic video! I think it's wonderful you had a mentor who was in your video.

[@musicchoi8752]

It's really helpful. Thank you.

[@Neerbija]

What a great channel. So glad to find it. Beautiful composition.

[@paulsimon6544]

Beautiful composition Nahre Sol!

[@bm4114]

Always great content. I’m learning so much. Always love hearing your music.

[@wormtownpaul]

Your composition is brilliant and beautiful. Thank you for giving this to us.

[@museprof]

Great job! Very informative and engaging. Keep up the good work!

[@redd6150]

I don't know if every school in the world does this, but I remember when I was like 8 my music teacher (basically my geography teacher on overtime) used to try to make us sing "canons", except he'd just improvise one with a random song. It sounds good when Bach does it, it doesn't when you just make a bunch of kids sing "Can you feel the love tonight" but a random group starts one bar later.

[@JimiEmerson]

Amazing video as always, Nahre !! So nice composition !!!

[@mpgilbertusa]

Thanks so much for exposing us to the genius of this work. I’ve heard it many times but never quite realized what was going on in the underlying structure. Hearing and watching you work through your own piece really helped me put it all together. Now I’ll have a deeper appreciation the next time I listen to the Variations.

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😊

[@PhilJonesIII]

Agreed. I try to play the piano and can spend weeks to just learn even the simpler Bach pieces. Then, after a few more weeks of playing, learning to hate and learning to love again, the patterns start to show through. It's a sort of 'I see what he did there' moment. I then get discouraged for not seeing it sooner. Still, its fun to learn. I may never fly but I can jump higher.

[@JoseOrtiz-df7oq]

Lovely composition.

[@marjorievandyke8243]

Your brilliance is in simplifying the brilliance of the masters, and playing the masters so brilliantly, and taking their style and applying to Happy Birthday, and writing your own music that is inspired by boundariless genres and... I think you get my point!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you so much!! 🙏

[@georgehenry8391]

I enjoy your videos very much. My father tried to instill appreciation for Bach in me at a young age and his effort only partially succeeded. You have just advanced it a bit more. I also like your playing and compositions, enjoy the way you explain things and gain pleasure from following your adventures.

[@bronktug2446]

Love the videos on BACH, Baroque and counterpoint, especially theory to help me on long journey to becoming a self taught composer, thank you Nahre!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😊🙏

[@jurbanek2704]

This was amazing! Thank you so much

[@ffstopP]

Bach. Amazing. Out of rules comes release, out of structure comes ecstasy. Nahre is always amazing, too.

[@ZenandtheArtofPiano]

A fresh, engaging look at a piece I thought I knew forwards and backwards... thank you!! And I love the piece! Reminds me of the 1st mvt. of Dello Joio's 3rd Sonata

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😊

[@synthryder]

That was really fun to watch❤️👌

[@mikematics]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@mikenova9285]

This actually is extremely helpful since I'm playing the variations myself, it allows a deeper understanding of the entire piece though I knew about this bassline How these canons were composed is super fascinating

[@ranchopatriot]

Loved this. Listen to Bach every day. Thanks.

[@Jestunes]

Thank you Nahre and David Louie. Seemed like the left side of my brain didn't want to cooperate in fully understanding the complexity of writing a canon. Always loved Bach but now I have a deeper understanding of his genius. As always love seeing you, hearing you and sitting here admiring your creativity. That was some Canon you wrote btw. Felt a bit whole toneish to me at times, and the dissonance reminded me of when I first played my first Dominant chord with the flat 9th. haha mind blowing...

[@jonathansturm4163]

Wow! Just... wow! From a passionate fan of Bach for over 50 years...

[@davidgiles9378]

I remember when you had only a few hundred subscribers. Since you obviously had the intellect, talent and a non-egotistical personality (refreshing and rare when you see those qualities together), it’s been great watching you get more of the recognition you deserved. Especially now that music education is being cut back, I suspect you are educating and inspiring lots of aspiring young musicians.

[@audetbull9138]

Fascinating Nahre

[@katie4623]

How educational. Thank you!

[@quietusforgotten2428]

Loooooooved the original composition! I am absolutely gripped by the way you construct your videos. Very happy to be a new subscriber.

[@ezion67]

That was very inspirational, thank you!

[@Mike-cp1tj]

Thank you beautiful. Glenn Gould's 1st version of Goldberg was life changing for me, it's fantastic to relive that sense of discovery from a whole new angle

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! Goldberg is amazing...

[@m.a.3322]

Your compositions are so unique and modern. I hope you can compose more works like preludes, sonatas, etudes etc. I think your works would outlast us all haha!

[@TheZenguitarguy]

I am not a classical musician but have listened to a lot and thought your piece was lovely. For me colors of Shostokovich and Satie. Thanks for the lesson and the music!

[@fish_chipzen4293]

Great vid Nahre!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!!

[@samuelarba6695]

Nahre you are an example for a lot of classical pianists. Thank you for your videos!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😊🙏

[@owendavis4154]

Thanks Nahre your composition was just beautiful.....you really made my day .....always more excited to play after watching you.

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😊

[@AmandaKaymusic]

What an exceptional composition.Thank you for your cannon creation Nahre.

[@FriendlyIndex]

Nahre! you're awesome and an inspiration to us life long learners! Thanks for the video

[@adamh9025]

David's comments at 12:09-12:47 inspired me so hard it knocked me off a writers block!

[@jaieet]

Wow. You're SO genuinely good. As somebody with no musical talent whatsoever, I would love to see any original works or full-length covers you've done. Is there somewhere I can go for an easy list of that kind of stuff, without the musical theory (which, while sometimes fun, is well and truly over my head)?