Seventy-five years ago today... Schoenberg and Reality have a rare meeting.
From Facebook
A letter to Schoenberg
-
robcat2075
- Posts: 1747
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:58 pm
A letter to Schoenberg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
-
CheeseTray
- Posts: 104
- Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:11 pm
Re: A letter to Schoenberg
There is a great book about Arnold Schoenberg by Harvey Sachs. (Arnold Schoenberg: Why He Matters). Its not a long read (275-ish pages) and really paints and interesting portrait of his struggles to stay true to his vision and deal with people's dislike of his music. Interestingly, he inspired a great deal of loyalty in some very prominent musicians. Enlightening read.
https://www.amazon.com/Schoenberg-Why-M ... C76&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Schoenberg-Why-M ... C76&sr=1-1
-
robcat2075
- Posts: 1747
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:58 pm
Re: A letter to Schoenberg
I've not read the book but I think I've seen the movie version. I recall a last scene where he's shaking his fist at the audience...CheeseTray wrote: Wed Oct 15, 2025 10:56 am There is a great book about Arnold Schoenberg by Harvey Sachs. (Arnold Schoenberg: Why He Matters). Its not a long read (275-ish pages) and really paints and interesting portrait of his struggles to stay true to his vision and deal with people's dislike of his music. Interestingly, he inspired a great deal of loyalty in some very prominent musicians. Enlightening read.
"Stop laughing at me! STOP LAUGHING!! I'll show you! You'll be sorry you didn't recognize my genius!
"I and my minions will descend upon the music world like toxic spores... into every university music faculty... every prize jury... every grant committee! We will enforce new music-making so awful that no one will be able to headline a concert as a "world premiere" anymore! Audiences will learn to run screaming from the words "living composer"! Record companies will be so desperate for new classical music to sell that they'll start mining 500-year old Renaissance music!
"Yes, you'll be sorry you didn't recognize my genius!! You'll be sorry... YOU'LL BE SORRY...
"YOU... WILL... BE... SORRY!!!"
(maniacal laughter continues over fade-to-black)
-
Kbiggs
- Posts: 1553
- Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2018 11:46 am
- Location: Vancouver WA
Re: A letter to Schoenberg
Off topic, but tangentially related:
I wonder sometimes why there’s so much distaste, disgust, and hate (?) thrown at Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Boulez, et al. Ditto with any sort of “modern” music, e.g., just about anything that’s not tonal and doesn’t have a V-I or IV-I cadence at the end. “Ew! That sounds so harsh!” “Ew! That’s too hard to play!” “Ew! Why can’t we play some Haydn or Mozart or [insert any pre-Modern composer here].”
Musicians and audiences alike approach modern music with so much angst. In college, and even a few years after, I spent some time listening to “The Trio” and other atonal composers. Just listening to it and becoming familiar with it really opened my ears at the time.
Yes, it’s different. Yes, it’s dissonant. It’s supposed to be: it’s expressive of the inter-war years in Europe with its’ ups and downs in culture, politics, economics, and art. Allow your mind and your ears to expand. Get familiar with the history of the times, then tell me it’s not representative of the age.
Rant over…
I wonder sometimes why there’s so much distaste, disgust, and hate (?) thrown at Schoenberg, Berg, Webern, Boulez, et al. Ditto with any sort of “modern” music, e.g., just about anything that’s not tonal and doesn’t have a V-I or IV-I cadence at the end. “Ew! That sounds so harsh!” “Ew! That’s too hard to play!” “Ew! Why can’t we play some Haydn or Mozart or [insert any pre-Modern composer here].”
Musicians and audiences alike approach modern music with so much angst. In college, and even a few years after, I spent some time listening to “The Trio” and other atonal composers. Just listening to it and becoming familiar with it really opened my ears at the time.
Yes, it’s different. Yes, it’s dissonant. It’s supposed to be: it’s expressive of the inter-war years in Europe with its’ ups and downs in culture, politics, economics, and art. Allow your mind and your ears to expand. Get familiar with the history of the times, then tell me it’s not representative of the age.
Rant over…
Kenneth Biggs
I have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.
—Mark Twain (attributed)
I have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.
—Mark Twain (attributed)
-
James
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2022 4:37 am
Re: A letter to Schoenberg
Thank you for the post! Times change - It reminds me of an extremely bad review of "Moby Dick", a book which is now a "classic". Then there was Van Gogh whose paintings were not wanted...