Arnold Schoenberg: 02–05.01.2017; 09–13.09.2024

[Serial_Apologist]

I have amended the original thread title, I hope helpfully.

Thanks, that's good of you, Pulcinella.

[smittims]

I forgot to mention the 'Three Satires' which are hilarious:

'From now on I will write no more romantic. I hate it! Only purest classicism.'

and ' look, here comes kleine Modernsky! Quite the Papa Bach.'

Schoenberg's portrait of Mahler is reproduced in Josef Rufer's Catalogue (Faber: probably out of print but some libraries may have a copy).There are also,of course superb portraits of Schoenberg by Richard Gerstl, Egon Schiele and Oscar Kokoschka.

[vinteuil]

... nice factoid in The Times this morning - "The 150th anniversary of the birth of Arnold Schoenberg is marked today with a concert by the Hanover Band at the Savile Club in Mayfair. The Austrian composer was terribly superstitious, especially about the number 13, so it is ironic that the anniversary falls on Friday the 13th. So bad was his triskaidekaphobia that he numbered the bar after the twelfth in his compositions as 12a and adjusted the spelling of the title of his opera Moses und Aron to avoid it having 13 letters. Perhaps there was reason for his fear, though, since Schoenberg died on July 13, 1951 — another Friday — when he was 76. And if you add the digits of his age together … "

.

[Sir Velo]

Countering that fallacy, there would have been countless Friday 13ths through which Schoenberg lived without incident; allied to which he came unscathed through his 67th birthday; 58th; 49th etc etc...

[Serial_Apologist]

Countering that fallacy, there would have been countless Friday 13ths through which Schoenberg lived without incident; allied to which he came unscathed through his 67th birthday; 58th; 49th etc etc...

Famous last words?

[Serial_Apologist]

I was quite overwhelmed at the end of the week's listening, having heard the early, Brahmsian Nocturne, which I hadn't, before. I think Ms Molleson did full justice by one of my favourite composers - as with the Nocturne (and the Prelude to Genesis) there was much I had not heard before or even known about.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I was quite overwhelmed at the end of the week's listening, having heard the early, Brahmsian Nocturne, which I hadn't, before. I think Ms Molleson did full justice by one of my favourite composers - as with the Nocturne (and the Prelude to Genesis) there was much I had not heard before or even known about.

Agreed - one of the best COTW’s in ages . Interweaved the personal story with the music so well and what a range of music - incredible really. His music is so approachable really - and the way he charts the 20th century in Art - no one like him.
just one tiny nitpick she said at one point the “sanctity” of America rather than sanctuary - surprised that got through the editorial net,

[antongould]

Agreed - one of the best COTW’s in ages . Interweaved the personal story with the music so well and what a range of music - incredible really. His music is so approachable really - and the way he charts the 20th century in Art - no one like him.
just one tiny nitpick she said at one point the “sanctity” of America rather than sanctuary - surprised that got through the editorial net,

wonderful COTW IMVVHO ….. well done KM

[Serial_Apologist]

Agreed - one of the best COTW’s in ages . Interweaved the personal story with the music so well and what a range of music - incredible really. His music is so approachable really - and the way he charts the 20th century in Art - no one like him.
just one tiny nitpick she said at one point the “sanctity” of America rather than sanctuary - surprised that got through the editorial net,

My only nitpick would be with the fact that they only played part of the Handel concerto grosso reconstruction near the end of the final episode, and this was not mentioned. The whole thing lasts approximately 20 minutes. Here is the full work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qJ1KN1pVIU

It takes a certain matching kind of sense of humour to "get" this recreation, I believe, along with a number of the commentators on the above link. I well remember Richard Barrett saying how much he hated this and the Monn cello concerto reconstruction.

[smittims]

There've always been 'marmite' works, and Schoenberg was notoriously uncompromising . I love both the Cello concerto and the Handel 'rewrite' I also love Walton's 'Facade' but I've known people,who cover their ears and run screaming from the room.

Incidentally, Schoenberg also edited a perfectly straight Monn Cello Concerto, which was recorded by Jaqueline du Pre and Sir John Barbirolli; it's a delightful work.

[Ein Heldenleben]

There've always been 'marmite' works, and Schoenberg was notoriously uncompromising . I love both the Cello concerto and the Handel 'rewrite' I also love Walton's 'Facade' but I've known people,who cover their ears and run screaming from the room.

Incidentally, Schoenberg also edited a perfectly straight Monn Cello Concerto, which was recorded by Jaqueline du Pre and Sir John Barbirolli; it's a delightful work.

Facade - love the music , loathe the words or more precisely the way they are rhythmically spoken . Ruins a masterpiece …

[Serial_Apologist]

Facade - love the music , loathe the words or more precisely the way they are rhythmically spoken . Ruins a masterpiece …

But WAS IT THE FIRST EVER PIECE OF RAP, is the question?

(Pictures a Dame Edith by Banksy, framed in flashing lights behind a mixing desk!)

[Ein Heldenleben]

But WAS IT THE FIRST EVER PIECE OF RAP, is the question?

(Pictures a Dame Edith by Banksy, framed in flashing lights behind a mixing desk!)

Indeed . In the best rap the words work with the insistent beat. In Facade Words and Music cut across each other .

[oddoneout]

My only nitpick would be with the fact that they only played part of the Handel concerto grosso reconstruction near the end of the final episode, and this was not mentioned. The whole thing lasts approximately 20 minutes. Here is the full work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qJ1KN1pVIU

It takes a certain matching kind of sense of humour to "get" this recreation, I believe, along with a number of the commentators on the above link. I well remember Richard Barrett saying how much he hated this and the Monn cello concerto reconstruction.

Thank you for the link which I tried out - and was rather taken with the bits I heard. First reaction was that I would like to listen properly, and possibly more than once. Second reaction was that it was a far more worthwhile exercise than the Richter assault on Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which I now have to turn off if it turns up(yet again) on the radio, but which seems to be positively regarded.
It is possibly time I made an effort to investigate Schoenberg's work; I heard parts of the Proms Violin concerto performance and was quite surprised that I didn't recoil. A combination of disliking his early work(which I encountered a long time ago, perhaps at the time of the centenary of his birth?) and absorbing negative criticism from others means I have almost entirely avoided it.

[Serial_Apologist]

Thank you for the link which I tried out - and was rather taken with the bits I heard. First reaction was that I would like to listen properly, and possibly more than once. Second reaction was that it was a far more worthwhile exercise than the Richter assault on Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which I now have to turn off if it turns up(yet again) on the radio, but which seems to be positively regarded.
It is possibly time I made an effort to investigate Schoenberg's work; I heard parts of the Proms Violin concerto performance and was quite surprised that I didn't recoil. A combination of disliking his early work(which I encountered a long time ago, perhaps at the time of the centenary of his birth?) and absorbing negative criticism from others means I have almost entirely avoided it.

As always, when it comes to the new, it's all a matter of finding entry points that are right for you. The Violin Concerto would not have been my first port of call - I was first drawn to Pierrot Lunaire and the Five Orchestral Pieces Op 16 - but as with much of the post 1921 12-tone work I have eventually come to treasure it. Boulez was initially scathing, arguing that Schoenberg did not follow through on the implications of breaking with tonality, though he later retracted considerably on that viewpoint; but for me the most important change came about by virtue of how atonality forces a totally different way of listening, being no longer dependent on harmonic tension release in harmonic "consonance", thereby pre-empting musical predictability and listener expectations, while opening up a whole new realms of feeling and experience.