Abstract
Abstract This chapter documents the early history of the Goldberg Variations, with particular attention to Ferruccio Busoni’s 1914 version of the piece. By examining nineteenth- and early twentieth-century editions and performances, it shows that transcriptions and arrangements of the piece for solo piano, piano duet, or two pianos were essential for the canonization of the Goldberg Variations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries due to a dearth of two-manual harpsichords and due the length. In the process, it not only documents a little researched aspect of the piece’s reception history, but also lays the foundation for the book’s broader discussion of adaptations of the Goldberg Variations throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
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