An authoritative Urtext edition of Bach's widely celebrated and much-loved Goldberg Variations BWV 988, edited by Rudolf Steglich. The ŒñGoldbergŒî Variations are without a doubt the most important piano cycle of the 18th century. Only BeethovenŒÍs ŒñDiabelliŒî Variations from the 19th century can be compared to them as far their far-reaching significance is concerned. BachŒÍs own manuscript might not have survived, but the corrected first printing of the ŒñAria mit verschiedenen Veraenderungen vors Clavicimbal mit 2 ManualenŒî (thus the title) has done so. This first edition serves as the primary source for our edition; furthermore the musical text was compared to other sources as, for example, with BachŒÍs own record of the ŒñAriaŒî (not yet referred to as such) in the little notebook for Anna Magdalena .
