Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (; baptized 14 March 1727 – 13 April 1756) was a German virtuoso harpsichordist, organist, and composer of the late Baroque and early Classical period. He is best known for lending his name, as the probable original performer, to the renowned Goldberg Variations of J. S. Bach. Life Goldberg was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), (Crown of Poland), and was baptized there on 14 March 1727 at St. Mary’s Church, Gdańsk. Little is known for certain about his childhood, other than that he was an exceptionally talented performer, attracting the attention of Hermann Karl von Keyserling, the Russian ambassador to Saxony, around 1737. Goldberg was reported to have studied with both J. S. Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Bach’s eldest son, though the periods of study are not known; Goldberg may have studied with J. S. Bach as early as 1737, shortly after Keyserling recognized his talent in Danzig, and Goldberg may have studied with W. F. Bach at any time before 1745, since W. F. Bach was in Dresden throughout Keyserling’s tenure there as ambassador. The most famous part of Goldberg’s life is the portion, probably in 1741, recounted by J. S. Bach’s biographer Johann Nikolaus Fo