Hannibal Lecter and the Goldberg Variations

Title page of the Goldberg Variations (first edition).
Clavier Ubung means "keyboard exercises".

You would not find a person in the world who would not believe that the so-called classical music soothes the soul and helps to eradicate our inner demons. Those people also see themselves as good folks, sensitive souls that would be incapable of killing a fly. However, this is not always true.

The Goldberg Variations is a work that would confirm the perceived virtues of classical music. Composed for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, it was completed around 1742, almost at the end of his life, while serving as kantor in Leipzig. The work includes an aria and 30 variations; it all ends with a shorter version of the initial aria, as if to remind us where everything came from. The complete piece lasts a little less than an hour and it is customarily played in one go, even though the interpreter generally takes a break after Variation 15th. This is what noticed during Alfredo Perl's recent rendition at the Municipal Theatre in Santiago.

According to one of Bach's biographers, the Variatons were composed at the request of a count in Dresden, to be performed by his harpsichordist (a certain Herr Goldberg) during the count's long sleepless nights. The purpose was succesfully fulfilled and Johann Sebastian was generously rewarded.

Let us now listen to the Aria. The version is from the Taiwanese pianist Chen Pi-hsien.

Goldberg Variations - Aria (3:13):

Many, many years later, The Silence of the Lambs, a novel by Thomas Harris, was published. Its male protagonist, the fearsome killer psychiatrist, Dr Hannibal Lecter, is a great lover of the music of Bach. Later, the homonymous film was unveiled; on it we can see that minutes before Dr Lecter savagely killed the police officers who guarded him, the prisoner  is enthralled to the aria of the Variations, just as we do it right now.

The officers are taking the supper to him and have to open the gate of the cage where Hannibal is locked. During this scene, parts of 6th and 7th variations can be heard.

6th Variation 

7th Variation

While the hideous killing occurs, part of the 12th, 13th and 21th variations are played. Here you can listen to them in their entirety:

12th Variation 

13th Variation

21th Variation

Dr. Lecter got rid of his jailers. He devoured a chunk of the face of one of the guards, and trashed to death the other one. Once the mission is accomplished, ecstatic, Hannibal enjoys the shorter, final version of the aria.

Sensitive souls can be found anywhere!

Bach: "Air" from Suite No. 3

Monument to J.S. Bach, in Shanghai

Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750, the same year when an eminent English doctor, who happened to be in Leipzig at the time, recommended the great musician an ophthalmic operation to avoid blindness. Overcoming his initial reticence, Johann Sebastian agreed. The eminent doctor carried out the operation, but it failed. Then, the eminent doctor performed a second operation. This time, the father of Western music became completely blind.

Fortunately, Bach had already produced almost all the 1087 pieces included in the Bach Work Catalogue (BWV for Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis); he had tried practically all musical forms, with the exception of the opera, a genre he never tackled.  

Johann Sebastian composed four orchestral suites, of which suite No. 3 is one of the best known of all his orchestral production. This suite, also called Overture, consists of a succession of the dances of the time, whose French names —allemande, courante, bourrée, sarabande and others, ending with a gigue— reflect the influence of the French court during XVI and XVII centuries, period during which such structure was all the rage. The second movement of Suite No. 3 is an “air” that has become even more popular than the suite itself. Its musical beauty is sustained by a central melody that effectively interweaves with other melodic lines lead by a violin and a viola.

JS Bach. Air from Suite No. 3. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra



Following Bach’s death, these suites fell into complete oblivion. They were heard again, like so many of Johann Sebastian’s other work, only since February 1838, when Felix Mendelssohn conducted the complete Suite No. 3 in Leipzig.

There are many versions for different instruments for this “air”. One of these, arranged for violin and orchestra by a German composer during the 19^th century, was most influential in establishing the popularity of the piece. Transposing the “air” from the original D major key to G major, he made it possible to play the main melody on one string only, the G string of the instrument. Thus, the moniker, "Air on the G string" was born.

Back in the 60s, the jazz pianist Jacques Loussier completely “modernized" it, creating a radical change in the atmosphere of the piece. Accompanied only by a bass and percussion, this jazz version would have struck with astonishment poor Johann Sebastian.

Thanks to Mendelssohn, we can say Bach is still with us. Thanks to Jacques, we can say Bach is one of us.