J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) (studio album) by Glenn Gould

J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) by Glenn Gould
Year: 1956
Overall rank: 1,899th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 116 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1956 (9th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1950s (47th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,899th)
Product Details
Availability

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Glenn Gould – Goldberg Variations BWV 988 LP Album 1993 Re-Issue
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Glenn Gould - Bach: Goldberg Variations [New Vinyl LP] Ltd Ed, 180 Gram
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Glenn Gould Bach The Goldberg Variations 2 Eye Mono Columbi Tested Record Album
Condition: Used


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Glenn Gould bestography

J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) is ranked as the best album by Glenn Gould.

Glenn Gould album bestography « Higher ranked (-) This album (1,899th) Lower ranked (3,845th) »
No album foundJ.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956)J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1982)

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J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) rankings

J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) collection

J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) ratings

Average Rating: 
81/100 (from 116 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 116 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
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06/06/2025 04:37 MrOlan  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 84277/100
 
90/100
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03/26/2025 21:57 MarkusKosmo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 54784/100
 
60/100
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12/07/2024 19:19 TonySayers61  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 20,69364/100
 
100/100
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09/03/2024 02:53 Musyahid  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 42286/100
 
85/100
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08/26/2024 02:29 Proto  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,13235/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.8/100, a mean average of 81.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.7.

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J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) favourites

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J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1956) comments

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Rating:  
70/100
From 02/15/2023 23:16
Prefer the latest version.
Guess he was just a virtuoso kid and lacked that depth and maturity to play it like he did in '81.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 11/07/2020 22:20
Grande pianista. Apesar da dificuldade técnica há sentimento!
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Rating:  
70/100
From 08/15/2019 19:08
Really good stuff. I found it hard to get into classical music because the pieces were too long. No such issue here.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 01/29/2016 05:01
I agree with the GoodSir. Reminds me a bit of some of Mozart's music... I felt it ran through algorithms of a scale instead of something emotionally moving. Still quite impressive and beautiful.

I think if I saw someone perform this live, it would move me differently... I've noticed this with "classical" music recordings.
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Rating:  
85/100
From 05/20/2015 04:57
I'm a pianist, and this is my favorite piano music of all time. Really tough to play stuff. Holding all of the counterpoint in your head is difficult stuff.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 11/14/2014 02:45
Obviously very technically impressive, though it doesn't do anything to particularly move me emotionally. I did enjoy it thoroughly despite that.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1956
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7. Elvis by Elvis Presley
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