25. October 2024
Expo Window

ExpoWindow #8 – Arnold Schönberg’s 150th Birthday

by Jewish Museum Vienna, Arnold Schönberg Center, Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond
© Jewish Museum Vienna
Have you ever heard of twelve-tone music before? The music of Arnold Schoenberg, the inventor of this revolutionary method, can be heard in practically every concert hall around the world as well as on Spotify. New recordings of Schoenberg concerts played by internationally acclaimed conductors and orchestras are frequently released. On Spotify, Schoenberg has 450,672 monthly listeners. The following five works are currently the most popular:
 
1. Notturno for Strings and Harp [1896]; Performers: Daniel Hope, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Jane Berthe – 31,173,010 plays
2. Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4: I. Grave [1909]; Performers: Daniel Barenboim, Chicago Symphony Orchestra – 1,489,946 plays
3. Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4: IV. Adagio [1899]; Performers: Daniel Barenboim, Chicago Symphony Orchestra – 370,427 plays
4. 4 Pieces from 6 kleine Klavierstücke [1911]; Performers: Hans Abrahamsen, BIT20 Ensemble, Ilan Volkov – 360,843 plays
5. Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (Version for String Orchestra): V. Adagio (Bar 370) [1899]; Performers: Danish National Orchestra – 9,402 plays

In the overall ranking of classical music composers, Schoenberg stands well behind Mozart, Beethoven, and Mahler. Perhaps the reason for this may be his reputation as an experimental artist. His avantgarde works come across as atonal to an ear used to traditional harmonies.

His Spotify biography presents him as a rebel of the Viennese music scene: “Arnold Schoenberg remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of music. From the final years of the 19th century to the period following World War II, Schoenberg produced music of great stylistic diversity, inspiring fanatical devotion from students, admiration from peers like Mahler, Strauss, and Busoni, riotous anger from conservative Viennese audiences, and unmitigated hatred from his many detractors.” Through his multifaceted talents as a composer, theorist, writer, teacher, painter, and inventor, Schoenberg gained much attention already at an early age. While he had a considerable following of avid admirers, Schoenberg also encountered much resistance from his critics as his music provoked heated controversies within audiences.

“I write what I feel in my heart – and what ultimately ends up on paper
has effectively run through every fiber of my being.” (Arnold Schoenberg, 1937)

 
The Man behind the Music
 
150 years ago on September 13, 1874, Arnold Schoenberg was born in Vienna as the second oldest of four children to Samuel and Pauline Schoenberg. The Jewish family lived near the Augarten. Without much formal training, Schoenberg taught himself how to play the violin and began to compose music at just eight years old. He moved in the local artistic, literary, and music circles. Through which, he became acquainted with Karl Kraus, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka. These friendships shaped Schoenberg’s career and influenced the development of his music compositions. Stays in major European cities such as Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, and Amsterdam served as his inspiration as well.

 

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© Jewish Museum Vienna
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© Jewish Museum Vienna

View of the Lutheran City Church in Dorotheergasse, located thirty meters away from the Jewish Museum Vienna in Palais Eskeles, Photos: JMW
 
Similar to many of his friends and family members, Arnold Schoenberg converted to Protestantism on March 25, 1898.1 His baptism took place in the Lutheran City Church at Dorothergasse 18, located in the same street as the Jewish Museum Vienna today. At the turn of the century, a common trend among Viennese Jews was turning to Protestantism instead of Catholicism, which was the dominant form of Christianity in Austria-Hungary. The motivations for converting were diverse and varied from person to person: moving up the social and economic ladder, liberal or anticlerical views, better employment opportunities, avoiding antisemitic hostility, religious conviction, the drive to assimilate completely, or following the “Los-von-Rom Bewegung” (Away from Rome movement), which was shaped by radical German nationalist tendencies.2
 
More often than not, however, conversion to Christianity helped little. Schoenberg and his family constantly encountered antisemitic discrimination and attacks, especially concerning his music. The attacks came to a head in 1921 with the incident in Mattsee, Austria. Schoenberg arranged for him and his family to spend the summer months in the small town in the province of Salzburg. What began as a rather harmonious vacation, with Schoenberg hosting his friends and working on his compositions, eventually took a dark turn. Schoenberg was not aware that Mattsee was one of the towns in Austria who had already begun in the 1920s to market itself as a “judenfreien” (“Jew free”) summer holiday destination.

One day, a couple of antisemites from the local community demanded to see proof that Schoenberg was not a Jew. Although Schoenberg had converted, he either could not or refused out right to present such evidence. The locals grew so acrimonious toward him that Schoenberg ultimately felt compelled to leave his summer residence. The incident significantly affected him. It was the impetus for him to engage more with his Jewish background and explore biblical Jewish themes in his music compositions. Along with his engagement with Zionism, this reconnection with Judaism culminated in his reconversion.

With the painter Marc Chagall as his witness, Arnold Schoenberg officially returned to the Jewish faith in Paris on July 24, 1933.3 The Neues Wiener Tagblatt, a Viennese newspaper, interpreted his reconversion as a political statement about the persecution of Jews in Germany. Schoenberg answered with the following statement: “A change of religion may only happen for religious or national purposes. It would be disgraceful to attribute any other intention behind such a decision. No one would say this of me if they actually appreciated my character, especially as a well-known composer.”4 With this reply, he tried to depoliticize his decision by emphasizing the personal convictions behind it. That being said, however, Schoenberg often spoke about the political situation of Jews and was a strong supporter for the erection of a Jewish state.   
 
When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Arnold Schoenberg experienced severe hatred towards Jews like never before. After having worked for six years as Professor of Composition at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, Schoenberg lost his professorship in September 1933 due to “racial reasons.” He recognized the hopelessness of the situation and emigrated with his second wife Gertrud and his daughter Nuria to the United States. There, he taught in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles. In 1941 he became a US citizen and died ten years later on July 13th.

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© Jewish Museum Vienna
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© Jewish Museum Vienna

View of the permanent exhibition at the Jewish Museum Vienna; Self-portrait of Arnold Schoenberg, 1910, on loan from the Arnold Schönberg Center, Vienna, Photo: JMW 

Happy Birthday, Arnold Schoenberg! The 150th Anniversary Year at the Arnold Schönberg Center
 
Throughout 2024 cultural institutions across the globe have been celebrating Arnold Schoenberg’s 150th birthday. With a plethora of concerts, publications, CDs, exhibitions, and multimedia projects, Arnold Schoenberg is honored as the most influential composer and music theorist of the twentieth century. Taking place on four continents, various events have been organized to commemorate the Schoenberg anniversary: from Vienna across Europe to Seoul, Sydney, and New York. Everyone can experience his music. The Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna houses the composer’s archive, which is open to the public. The Center honors Schoenberg through many concerts and the special anniversary exhibition Listening to Love with Schönberg (May 29, 2024 – February 14, 2025).

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Film stills from Arnold’s Wish

Statement by Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond on their work Arnold’s Wish
 
“‘One day my melodies will be whistled in the streets.’ This quote is attributed to Arnold Schoenberg by Alban Berg. We were inspired by this wish, not only since whistling is hardly heard in the streets anymore, but also by the idea that Schoenberg’s music would resonate so strongly with a wide audience that his songs would actually be whistled.” With these words, Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond describe the impulse behind their project Arnold’s Wish. It is one of the many ways to engage with the work of artists and their influence on one’s own work, “in order to fulfill a wish posthumously.” But how does one go about this? What gift would Arnold Schoenberg be excited about today? In order to make Schoenberg’s wish come true, Anderwald + Grond decided to have Schoenberg’s melodies whistled at each place where he had lived or that was important to him.
 
Arnold Schoenberg and his atonal melodies were not readily taken up by popular music. In a 1947 letter to composer and conductor Hans Rosbaud of Graz, Schoenberg modestly expressed this hope: “I would wish for nothing more (if at all) to be perceived as a better kind of Tschaikowski – for goodness sake: just a bit better, that would be enough.” Laconically he added: “At most, people would know and whistle my tunes.”
 
Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond have made “Arnold’s Wish” tangible. Already during the installation of their artwork in the Jewish Museum’s ExpoWindow in Dorotheergasse, passersby started to whistle. Whether they were whistling the maestro’s melodies could not be said for sure.

1 See Therese Muxenender: Arnold Schönberg und Jung-Wien (Wien 2018), 93.
2 See Astrid Schweighofer: Religiöse Sucher in der Moderne. Konversionen vom Judentum zum Protestantismus in Wien um 1900, 49- 63.
3 Union Libérale Israélite, Paris, July 24, 1933, Arnold Schönberg Center Database, https://xn--schnberg150-tfb.at/index.php?option=com_sppagebuilder&view=page&id=3 (October 1, 2024).
4 Arnold Schönberg to the Neues Wiener Tagblatt, August 12, 1933, Arnold Schönberg Center Database, https://repo.schoenberg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-asc-T021935 (October 1, 2024)