To complement last month's CCM, we return this month to J. S. Bach for another milestone work, the Goldberg Variations. For me, they always carry with them a majestic sense of the Wizard of Oz syndrome: when the aria returns, near an hour after the opening of the work, we have been through a grand journey to find its meaning. Though it comes back note-for-note, somehow we hear it very differently for having made the journey and having had it dissected to its essentials along the way.

The very first variation is a wake-up call; who knew there was so much there in such a thin texture, and with a little neighbor figure! Who knew, indeed, besides Bach, that is. This month's clip features an admirable and interesting recording by Vladimir Feltsman performing this variation.