Editing Goldberg Variations (section)

=== Variatio 23. a 2 Clav. ===
{{listen|type=music|help=no|filename=Goldberg Variations 24 Variatio 23 a 2 Clav.ogg|title=Variatio 23 a 2 Clav|description=Performed by Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka on piano}}
Another lively two-part virtuosic variation for two manuals, in {{time signature|3|4}} time. It begins with the hands chasing one another, as it were: the melodic line, initiated in the left hand with a sharp striking of the G above middle C, and then sliding down from the B one octave above to the F, is offset by the right hand, imitating the left at the same pitch, but a quaver late, for the first three bars, ending with a small flourish in the fourth:
<score>
\new PianoStaff <<
 \new Staff \relative c'' {
  \key g \major \time 3/4
  r8 g b'16 a g fis e d cis b |
  a16 g fis8 a'16 g fis e d cis b a |
  g16 fis e8 g'16 fis e d cis b a g |
  fis16 e d8 r r16 e32 fis g a b cis d8 |
 }
 \new Staff \relative c'' {
  \key g \major
  g8 b'16 a g fis e d cis b a g |
  fis8 a'16 g fis e d cis b a g fis |
  e8 g'16 fis e d cis b a g fis e |
  d8 \clef bass r16 c!32 b a g fis e d8 r r16 c! |
 }
>>
</score>
This pattern is repeated during bars 5–8, only with the left hand imitating the right one, and the scales are ascending, not descending. We then alternate between hands in short bursts written out in short note values until the last three bars of the first section. The second section starts with this similar alternation in short bursts again, then leads to a dramatic section of alternating thirds between hands. [[Peter Williams (musicologist)|Williams]], marvelling at the emotional range of the work, asks: "Can this really be a variation of the same theme that lies behind the adagio no 25?"{{cite quote|date=March 2021}}