Since its much anticipated release on May 28th of this year, the Open Goldberg project has gained a vast amount of attention, and press interest spanning Europe. The initiative has enabled the pianist Kimiko Ishizaka to record a new interpretation of the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach, in a project entirely funded by Goldberg fans. In the ‘Spiegel’, the project’s funding has sparked debate: unlike previous recordings, this version is free ‘for all, for ever’. It highlights the move by the Director of the project, Robert Douglass, to create a better link between classical music and the internet, which he says ‘lags behind’, requiring a ‘new way’ for classical music to be released legally and fairly.
Whilst the issue of copyright is at the core of the project, the ‘beautiful music and beautiful art’ is not to be forgotten (newsbloggers.ch) The music itself has clearly been a success, one that Jessica Duchen’s blog highlights: ‘In its first three days Open Goldberg had 200,000 listens and 50,000 downloads’. The recording quality of the release has also gained praise, with ‘Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’ noting that ‘its technical sound is on the highest level’.
The recording can be listened to on SoundCloud, and is ‘available for anyone to download, own and use without limitations’ – its greatest quality according to ‘Wired Magazine’.
(Written on June 7, 2012 )
Kimiko Ishazaka and Robert Douglass will be featured at Munich’s Classical:NEXT conference on 31st May, where they will provide a demonstration of the Open Goldberg Project. Audience members will have the capability to see every note played via their partners’; MuseScore and SampleSumo’s unique technology.
Previously, the public domain Goldberg Variations scores and recordings were extremely hard to locate or non-existent. The Open Goldberg Project (OGP) desired to produce a public domain score and recording that is easily accessible to all. MuseScore.com is creating a public version of the score using open source software, based on an open peer review process.
Thanks to Robert Douglass’ vision, the project is realised! Through the use of crowd-funding via Kickstarter, the OGP raised over $20,000. Embracing technology – from raising funds to online publishing to open peer review and sourcing – is a distinguishing feature of the project.
The score and recording will be available for digital download on 28th May 2012.
For more information on the Variations and the free download please visit the OPG website here
For more information on Classical:NEXT please visit their website here
For information on the new technolgy used please visit MuseScore’s website here and SampleSumo’s here
(Written on May 18, 2012 )
- Intern
- Tags: Classical:NEXT, crowd funding, free download, Goldberg Variations, J.S. Bach, Kickstarter, Kimiko Ishazaka, MuseScore, Open Goldberg Project, peer review, public domain score, Robert Douglass, SampleSumo