Editing Goldberg Variations (section)

=== Variatio 21. Canone alla Settima ===
{{listen|type=music|help=no|filename=Goldberg Variations 22 Variatio 21 Canone alla Settima.ogg|title=Variatio 21 Canone alla Settima|description=Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano}}
The second of the three minor key variations, variation 21 has a tone that is somber or even tragic, which contrasts starkly with variation 20.<ref name=Lederer>Lederer, Victor. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cWZGBqb5iMMC&pg=PA121 Bach's Keyboard Music]'', p. 121 (Hal Leonard Corporation, 2010).</ref> The bass line here is one of the most eloquent found in the variations, to which Bach adds [[chromatic interval]]s that provide tonal shadings.<ref name=Lederer /> This variation is a canon at the seventh in {{time signature|4|4}} time; [[Kenneth Gilbert]] sees it as an [[allemande]] despite the lack of [[anacrusis]].<ref name=gilbert>Notes to Kenneth Gilbert's recording of the variations.</ref> The bass line begins the piece with a low note, proceeds to a slow [[lament bass]] and only picks up the pace of the canonic voices in bar 3:
<score>
\new PianoStaff <<
 \new Staff \relative c'' {
  \key g \minor
  r2 r16 a bes c d c bes a |
  g8 d' g, c~ c16 fis, g a bes a g fis |
  g8 r r g as g as a |
 }
 \new Staff <<
  \new Voice \relative c' {
   \key g \minor \clef bass \voiceOne
   r16 bes c d es d c bes a8 es' a, d~ |
   d16 g, a bes c bes a g a8 r r a |
   bes8 a bes b c16 d es d c bes a g |
  }
  \new Voice \relative c {
   \voiceTwo
   g4 g' fis f |
   e4 es d16 a bes c d8 d, |
   g16 d' e fis g f e d c8 b c cis |
  }
 >>
>>
</score>
A similar pattern, only a bit more lively, occurs in the bass line in the beginning of the second section, which begins with the opening motif inverted.