Robert Craft performed a valuable service by recording the complete works of Arnold Schoenberg at a time when many of them were not otherwise available. Though the American conductor was Igor Stravinsky's dedicated musical amanuensis during the Russian composer's final decades, he was also devoted to the works of the Austrian composer, and these recordings testify to the degree of his devotion. Using world-class orchestras such as the Philharmonia and the London Symphony, Craft creates unfailingly precise readings of such ...
Read More
Robert Craft performed a valuable service by recording the complete works of Arnold Schoenberg at a time when many of them were not otherwise available. Though the American conductor was Igor Stravinsky's dedicated musical amanuensis during the Russian composer's final decades, he was also devoted to the works of the Austrian composer, and these recordings testify to the degree of his devotion. Using world-class orchestras such as the Philharmonia and the London Symphony, Craft creates unfailingly precise readings of such tremendously difficult works as Variations for Orchestra and Five Pieces for Orchestra. Using first-rank soloists like mezzo-soprano Jennifer Lane and bass Stephen Varcoe, Craft delivers uncannily accurate accounts of the Serenade and the one-act opera, Die glücklicke Hand. But beyond devotion and precision, Craft gives nothing to Schoenberg's music, and what's most conspicuously missing is feeling: dread in Die glückliche Hand, anxiety in Five Pieces, fury in A Survivor from Warsaw,...
Read Less
The best way to explore the music of an unfamiliar composer is to immerse oneself in it. This is particularly true for difficult and demanding music, such as the works of the 20th Century composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874 -- 1951) whose music still provokes a broad spectrum of critical reactions. With the advent of budget priced CDs, it is relatively easy for anyone with the time and desire to do so to hear and try to respond to Schoenberg's music.
Robert Craft is a conductor and scholar of note who has deep knowledge of Schoenberg's music as well as that of Stravinsky's. Over the years, he has recorded Schoenberg's music extensively, and the results of his efforts, together with that of supporting artists, have been made available on the budget-priced Naxos label. The five CD's in this set also are available individually, which encourages listening to each CD and work in detail. I supplemented my listening by reading Craft's extensive program notes on each work together with Malcolm MacDonald's book "Schoenberg" written as part of the Master Musicians series.
In approaching Schoenberg, it is worth remembering that all music speaks to the heart and the emotions. Schoenberg was a modernist who found a need to expand the language of musical expression. It does Schoenberg a disservice to regard him as a "cerebral" or "intellectual" composer. Similarly, in hearing the 12 tone pieces for which Schoenberg has become notorious, it is best to try simply to hear and respond to the music rather than to try to pick out the details of the tone row. Schoenberg developed his musical language as a tool for expression rather than as an academic exercise.
Each of the five CDs in this set includes a variety of types of works by Schoenberg. Thus the compilation gives a sense of the depth and breadth of Schoenberg's musical vision. I offer some comments as a guide to the types of works included in this set.
Throughout his life, Schoenberg was involved with transcribing the music of earlier composers. These works, in which Schoenberg combines another idiom with his own, present a way of making the composer accessible and showing his relationship with his predecessors. Thus this set offers the opportunity to hear Schoenberg's famous transcription of Brahms' piano quartet, opus 25, for orchestra together with his orchestral transcription of three Bach works for organ. Schoenberg also transcribed a Handel concerto into a highly difficult work for orchestra and string quartet and a harpsichord concerto by the early classical composer Monn into a cello concerto intended for Pablo Casals. All four of these works are included here.
Schoenberg's early music is sometimes described by the term "expressivist" and it follows heavily on late romanticism with elements of Mahler, Wagner, and Brahms. The instrumental compositions from this period include the Chamber Symphony no. 2, a remarkable work which Schoenberg completed late in his life, together with the five pieces for orchestra, opus 16. Vocal compositions from this "expressivist" period include the song-cycle "The Book of Hanging Gardens" setting poems by Stephan George, one of my favorites in this collection, the short opera "Die gluckliche Hand", and a transcription for chamber orchestra of an aria from Schoenberg's massive early work "Gurrelieder."
I want to turn to the music using in whole or in part the twelve tone method of composition. The Serenade for seven instruments and bass soloist makes use of twelve tones in one of its seven movements. Thus this work offers a good transition into hearing this music. The suite for piano opus 25 is Schoenberg's first complete work in 12 tones, and it helps to listen to it with the Baroque dance models in mind which inspired the piece. The wind quintet opus 26 remains a difficult and dense piece. And the two instrumental masterworks in 12 tones in this set are the Variations for Orchestra, opus 31, in which Schoenberg uses the notes for the name of Bach (B, A,C, B-flat) and the thornily romantic violin concerto.
Some of Schoenberg's late masterworks combining 12 tone with other techniques were impassioned vocal pieces. In particular "A Survivor from Warsaw" gives a grim portrayal of the Holocaust while Schoenberg's setting of Byron's poem "Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte" attack tyranny in all its guises. Other late vocal works, including the setting of Psalm 130 and the Prelude to Genesis reflect the religious character of Schoenberg's vision and his growing attachment in later life to Judaism.
With patience and effort, I have found this music rewarding. I am looking forward to hearing the successor volumes of Schoenberg and Craft on Naxos. For those readers who are interested, I am attaching a list of each individual CD included in this set.
Robin Friedman
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2
Schoenberg: Violin Concerto; A Survivor from Warsaw
Schoenberg: Five Pieces for Orchestra; Cello Concerto (after Monn); Piano Quartet (Brahms orch. Schoenberg)
Schoenberg: Serenade; Variations, Op. 31; Bach Orchestrations
Schoenberg: Concerto for String Quartet; Lied der Waldtaube; The Book of the Hanging Gardens
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.