When love came for Schoenberg

One of my early tactics for exploring music was to simply find recordings with orchestra and chorus. I was in choir all through high school and college, so I was into works that featured a chorus. I found Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony and it fueled my search. Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 followed.

I was on a roll until I picked up a recording of Moses und Aron by Anton Schoenberg. The roll stopped, and I ducked Schoenberg for another twenty years. Apparently it was a traumatic event.

But while I still avoid Moses und Aron like the plagues of Egypt I have since become a fan of early Schoenberg pieces such as Verklärte Nacht and Pélleas und Melisande. While these pieces are somewhat unique, they still fall under the heading of Wagnerian when it comes to their chromaticism.

That's not standard for Schoenberg, who went on to found a new school of musical composition known as serialism. It was innovative and it has its adherents, but I find it to be of no use.

Verklärte Nacht in particular is so charming because Schoenberg was inspired to write it after falling in love with a woman. The piece is based on a poem of the same name.

The music is so full of Schoenberg’s truth that I find it to be almost overwhelming. Perhaps I need to find a summer a love. On second thought I’ll just listen to Verklärte Nacht again — less drama.