The aria from Anna Magdalena Bach’s notebook from 1725

The name Goldberg Variations, which is often used today, only originated in the 19th century.

This wording was first selected in the biography published in 1802 by Johann Nikolaus Forkel entitled Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben Kunst und Kunstwerke.Für patriotische Verehrer echter musikalischer Kunst (a book titled Life of John Sebastian Bach; with a critical view of his compositions.) and was based on an anecdote about Count Hermann Carl von Keyserling and his personal harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who was a very talented student of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Johann Sebastian Bach and who is said to have used this work as part of a nocturnal recital to lift the count’s spirits.

Forkel wrote in his biography of Bach in 1802
(first English translation in 1820):

“For this model, according to which all variations should be made, though for reasons, easily understood, not a single one has been made after it, we are indebted to Count Kaiserling [sic!], formerly Russian Ambassador at the Court of the Elector of Saxony, who frequently resided in Leipzig, and brought with him Goldberg, who lived in the house with him, passed the night in an adjoining room, to play something to him when he could not sleep.”

“The Count once said to Bach, that he should like to have some harpsichord pieces for Goldberg, which should be of a soothing, and rather cheerful character, that he might be a little amused by them in his sleepless night.”

“The Count always called them his variations.”

Forkel goes on to write:

“Bach was, perhaps, never so well rewarded for any work as for this; the Count made him a present of a golden goblet, filled with a hundred Louis d’ors. But their worth, as works of art, would not have been paid, if the present had been a thousand times as great.”

However, two interesting facts cast doubts on the accuracy of this report.

For one thing, the published score of this Clavier Ubung [also Clavir Ubung, Clavier-Übung or Clavierübung (exercise for the clavichord practice)] does not include any dedication, such as an official tribute or homage, to Keyserling. 

For another thing, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg was only 13 years old in 1740 and therefore probably technically not capable of competently performing this complex work. However, a special talent, disciplined learning and a pronounced awareness of music in connection with the former spirit of the age do not make the idea unimaginable. 

Forkel may possibly have applied a later, romantic concept and perception of art, dating from the early 19th century, to Bach’s motifs. As J. S. Bach traveled to Dresden with his cousin and secretary Johann Elias Bach in 1742 and stayed with Keyserling, it is conceivable that the count, who was a friend and patron of Bach’s, had been given a printed copy of the score that had originally been intended for purposes other than to comfort him.

Forkel’s report certainly does not contradict the obvious conclusion that the composition was, from the beginning, planned as the fourth part of the previous Clavierübungen.

This cannot be assumed without controversy, as the printed score of the Clavier Ubung of 1741, unlike parts two and three and the Clavier Ubung published in 1731, did not comply with Bach’s consecutive numbering system.

However, similar title pages, which differ only in some spellings and scarcely at all in formulation, strongly suggest the cohesive nature of all the Clavierübungen.