BWV 988
E265831
BWV 988 is the catalogue number for Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a monumental set of keyboard variations and one of the most celebrated works in the Baroque repertoire.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| BWV 988 canonical | 4 |
| Aria with diverse variations, BWV 988 | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2425089 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: BWV 988 Context triple: [Goldberg Variations, catalogNumber, BWV 988]
-
A.
The Art of Fugue
The Art of Fugue is an unfinished late contrapuntal masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that systematically explores the possibilities of a single musical theme through a series of complex fugues and canons.
-
B.
BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis)
The BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis) is the standard thematic catalog that systematically lists and numbers the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
-
C.
Musical Offering
Musical Offering is a renowned collection of canons, fugues, and a trio sonata by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a theme provided by Frederick the Great and celebrated for its intricate contrapuntal writing.
-
D.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 is one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most famous organ compositions, renowned for its dramatic opening and iconic status in the Baroque repertoire.
-
E.
Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos are a celebrated collection of six Baroque instrumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach, renowned for their rich orchestration and inventive musical forms.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: BWV 988 Target entity description: BWV 988 is the catalogue number for Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a monumental set of keyboard variations and one of the most celebrated works in the Baroque repertoire.
-
A.
The Art of Fugue
The Art of Fugue is an unfinished late contrapuntal masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that systematically explores the possibilities of a single musical theme through a series of complex fugues and canons.
-
B.
BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis)
The BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis) is the standard thematic catalog that systematically lists and numbers the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
-
C.
Musical Offering
Musical Offering is a renowned collection of canons, fugues, and a trio sonata by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a theme provided by Frederick the Great and celebrated for its intricate contrapuntal writing.
-
D.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 is one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most famous organ compositions, renowned for its dramatic opening and iconic status in the Baroque repertoire.
-
E.
Brandenburg Concertos
The Brandenburg Concertos are a celebrated collection of six Baroque instrumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach, renowned for their rich orchestration and inventive musical forms.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
keyboard composition
ⓘ
musical work ⓘ set of variations ⓘ |
| approximateCompositionDate | early 1740s ⓘ |
| associatedWith | Count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk ⓘ |
| basedOn | bass line and harmonic progression of the opening aria ⓘ |
| cataloguedIn | BWV ⓘ |
| catalogueNumber | BWV 988 ⓘ |
| closingMovement | Aria da capo ⓘ |
| commonlyPerformedOn |
harpsichord
ⓘ
piano ⓘ |
| composer | Johann Sebastian Bach ⓘ |
| compositionForm | theme and variations ⓘ |
| contains |
arabesques
ⓘ
canons at increasing intervals ⓘ dance movements ⓘ fugues ⓘ overture-style variation ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Electorate of Saxony ⓘ |
| dedicatedTo | Johann Gottlieb Goldberg ⓘ |
| famousRecordingBy | Glenn Gould ⓘ |
| firstPublicationDate | 1741 ⓘ |
| firstPublisher | Balthasar Schmid ⓘ |
| genre |
Baroque music
ⓘ
keyboard variations ⓘ |
| hasPart |
30 variations
ⓘ
Aria ⓘ |
| hasVariation |
Variation 1 in G major
ⓘ
Variation 25 in G minor ⓘ |
| influenced | keyboard variation repertoire ⓘ |
| key | G major ⓘ |
| language | none (instrumental) ⓘ |
| movementCount | 32 including aria and its reprise ⓘ |
| notableFeature |
every third variation is a canon
ⓘ
symmetrical large-scale structure ⓘ thirty variations grouped in sets of three ⓘ virtuosic writing for two-manual harpsichord ⓘ |
| notableNickname | Black Pearl (for Variation 25) ⓘ |
| numberOfMovements | 30 variations plus aria ⓘ |
| openingMovement | Aria in G major ⓘ |
| originalInstrumentation | harpsichord with two manuals ⓘ |
| partOf |
Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis
ⓘ
linked to:
BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis)
|
| period | Baroque ⓘ |
| placeOfComposition | Leipzig ⓘ |
| placeOfFirstPublication | Nuremberg ⓘ |
| structure | aria, 30 variations, aria da capo ⓘ |
| title | Goldberg Variations ⓘ |
| workNumberInBWV | 988 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: BWV 988 Description of subject: BWV 988 is the catalogue number for Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a monumental set of keyboard variations and one of the most celebrated works in the Baroque repertoire.
Referenced by (5)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: BWV 988