“Bach: The Goldberg Variations” is the debut album of Canadian classical pianist Glenn Gould. An interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations (BWV 988), this record launched Gould's career as a renowned international pianist, and becameone of the most well-known piano recordings. The recordings were made in 1955 at Columbia Records 30th Street studio in Manhattan over four days between June 10 and 16. Bach's Goldberg Variations—a set of 30 contrapuntal variations beginning and ending with an aria—were outside the standard piano repertoire. The work was considered esoteric and technically demanding, requiring awkward hand crossing at times when played on a piano . Gould's album both established the Goldberg Variations within the contemporary classical repertoire and made him an internationally famous pianist.