In this programme entitled Variations on Variations, Rinaldo Alessandrini, one of today’s references on Baroque music, has chosen to adapt the Goldberg Variations and the Aria variata alla maniera italiana - initially composed for the keyboard - for small string ensemble, from duo to quartet.

An intellectual and affectionate re-reading of some of the titans in music, Alessandrini’s ‘variations’ echo a common practice found in Bach himself (and many composers thereafter): we see in the Mass in B minor, for example, numerous elaborations of earlier works; several movements of the Brandenburg Concertos have been taken in various ways in other cantatas; while his German version of Psalm 51 is adapted from the score of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.

The passionate work of Rinaldo Alessandrini, who has sought to remain as faithful as possible to the spirit of the original work and to the practice of writing instrumental music during this period, results in a breathtaking new light shone upon the genius of Johann Sebastian Bach.