Nobody remembers poor old Count Kaiserling anymore. In 1741, so the story goes, he hired J.S. Bach to write some bedtime music for his harpsichordist, one Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, to play for him -- music that would be interesting enough to take his mind off the intractable pain that kept him awake at night.
What became known as the Goldberg Variations were never meant for concert performance, but so masterful is this music that it found its way into both the composition class and the recital stage. Maggie Cole plays it for us this week, on harpsichord as Bach intended.