This Week in Classical Music: September 9, 2024. Schoenberg 150. Last week we celebrated the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth.This week is no less important: September 13th marks the 150th anniversary of one of the most consequential composers in the history of Western music, Arnold Schoenberg.Schoenberg was born in Leopoldstadt, a heavily Jewish district of Vienna, in 1874.Two years ago we published a series of four entries about him, here, here, here, and here, so we won’t go into the details of his life today.Even though Schoenberg’s music is still played only occasionally, especially pieces from his atonal and twelve-tone phases, it's generally accepted that he was a seminal figure in the history of music, and, given that it’s such an important date, many institutions around the world celebrate his anniversary with festivals and performances.Vienna, his birthplace, is exceptional in this regard, setting up exhibitions, a film festival, and many concerts.On Schoenberg’s birthday, September 13th, and the following day, the Vienna Symphony, three choruses and soloists, all under the direction of Petr Popelka, will perform his Gurre-Lieder, an oratorio in three parts, composed between 1900 and 1903 but finished in 1911 (Gurre-Lieder, together with Verklärte Nacht, is considered the most important of Schoenberg’s pieces from his tonal, late-Romantic period).Germany, where Schoenberg lived for years, mounted more events and performances than any other country, they’re spread among many cities.California, Schoenberg’s home for the last 16 years of his life, also celebrates the event with several concerts.The Chicago Symphony, on the other hand, completely ignored the anniversary.In general, Europe seems to be much more interested in Schoenberg than the US.Even in war-torn Ukraine, they plan to have two Schoenberg concerts, both in Kyiv. New recordings are also being made.Fabio Luisi, the Italian conductor who leads three orchestras at the same time - the Danish National Symphony, the Dallas Symphony and the NHK Symphony in Japan, is embarking on the most ambitious project.He plans to record all of Schoenberg’s symphonic output with the Danish NSO and distribute it on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
We’ll celebrate Schoenberg’s anniversary with two different pieces, his Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16, from 1909, and Four Orchestral Songs for soprano and large orchestra, composed between 1913 and 1916.Opus 16 was written while Schoenberg was still working within the tonal idiom, although by then he was already using “extreme chromaticism.”This music is clearly beyond the Romanticism of his earlier works.Here it is, performed by the London Symphony, Robert Craft conducting.
The admittedly more difficult Four Songs are the last ones from Schoenberg’s free atonal period, the one that followed his Romantic beginnings.After that, and for a long period, he wrote music using his own newly developed twelve-tone technique (at the end of his life he would sometimes revert to tonal compositions).The singer in this recording is the mezzo Catherine Wyn-Rogers.Robert Craft is again the conductor, in this case leading the Philharmonia Orchestra.
A note: while we’re celebrating Arnold Schoenberg, we remember that this week is rich in important birthdays, Henry Percell and Girolamo Frescobaldi’s among them, and also Clara Schumann’s and Arvo Pärt’s, who will be 89 on September 11th.
Arnold Schoenberg 150, 2024
This Week in Classical Music: September 9, 2024. Schoenberg 150. Last week we celebrated the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth. This week is no less important: September 13th marks
the 150th anniversary of one of the most consequential composers in the history of Western music, Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg was born in Leopoldstadt, a heavily Jewish district of Vienna, in 1874. Two years ago we published a series of four entries about him, here, here, here, and here, so we won’t go into the details of his life today. Even though Schoenberg’s music is still played only occasionally, especially pieces from his atonal and twelve-tone phases, it's generally accepted that he was a seminal figure in the history of music, and, given that it’s such an important date, many institutions around the world celebrate his anniversary with festivals and performances. Vienna, his birthplace, is exceptional in this regard, setting up exhibitions, a film festival, and many concerts. On Schoenberg’s birthday, September 13th, and the following day, the Vienna Symphony, three choruses and soloists, all under the direction of Petr Popelka, will perform his Gurre-Lieder, an oratorio in three parts, composed between 1900 and 1903 but finished in 1911 (Gurre-Lieder, together with Verklärte Nacht, is considered the most important of Schoenberg’s pieces from his tonal, late-Romantic period). Germany, where Schoenberg lived for years, mounted more events and performances than any other country, they’re spread among many cities. California, Schoenberg’s home for the last 16 years of his life, also celebrates the event with several concerts. The Chicago Symphony, on the other hand, completely ignored the anniversary. In general, Europe seems to be much more interested in Schoenberg than the US. Even in war-torn Ukraine, they plan to have two Schoenberg concerts, both in Kyiv. New recordings are also being made. Fabio Luisi, the Italian conductor who leads three orchestras at the same time - the Danish National Symphony, the Dallas Symphony and the NHK Symphony in Japan, is embarking on the most ambitious project. He plans to record all of Schoenberg’s symphonic output with the Danish NSO and distribute it on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
We’ll celebrate Schoenberg’s anniversary with two different pieces, his Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16, from 1909, and Four Orchestral Songs for soprano and large orchestra, composed between 1913 and 1916. Opus 16 was written while Schoenberg was still working within the tonal idiom, although by then he was already using “extreme chromaticism.” This music is clearly beyond the Romanticism of his earlier works. Here it is, performed by the London Symphony, Robert Craft conducting.
The admittedly more difficult Four Songs are the last ones from Schoenberg’s free atonal period, the one that followed his Romantic beginnings. After that, and for a long period, he wrote music using his own newly developed twelve-tone technique (at the end of his life he would sometimes revert to tonal compositions). The singer in this recording is the mezzo Catherine Wyn-Rogers. Robert Craft is again the conductor, in this case leading the Philharmonia Orchestra.
A note: while we’re celebrating Arnold Schoenberg, we remember that this week is rich in important birthdays, Henry Percell and Girolamo Frescobaldi’s among them, and also Clara Schumann’s and Arvo Pärt’s, who will be 89 on September 11th.