Musica Sacra: Counting the Hours—The Hours of the Night

Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations and Music for the Night

Leipzig, 1740. Count Hermann Karl von Keyserling lies awake in his chamber. In an adjoining room, his young servant, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, plays the harpsichord to entertain him through the lonely night.

Incantati present Bach’s Goldberg Aria and Variations, along with “Music of the Night” by Guillaume de Machaut (1300–1377) John Dunstable (1390–1453), Edward Gibbons (1540–1595), and Leoš Janáček (1854–1928). A narration guides the audience through the Count’s experience of insomnia, his mental
distractions, memories, and fears, until he finally falls asleep.