Schönberg Verklärte Nacht part 1

[synsei1]

Isn't there a big orchestra version score of this piece? I think I heard it, a long time ago by Pierre Boulez with NY Philharmonic.

[123jsbach]

I have not. You need to learn to read between the lines. My source also tellls me that Schoenberg was secretly a communist. He played the bongos at all the communist gatherings at the Whitehouse.

[TheGringopobre]

maestro

[ninbin34]

in bucuresti?

[ivanmikyska]

The audience should shut the cock up already!

[witness124]

Inside every atonal composer, there's a tonal one waiting to get out. And vice versa

[kenalebla]

@witness124 That's a great statement, especially for this piece. Schönberg, as you probably know, started with very Romantic tonal music before creating and dedicating himself to his atonal system. Stravinsky, also began with tonal music then moved to tonally based atonal music before finally, in his last period, moving to his own twelve-tone system.

If you're not familiar, check out Schönberg's tonal music and Stravinsky's 12-tone. It's a real treat the first time!

[gsmonks]

What a gorgeous piece of music! I'm a latecomer to Schoeberg's work, but as a jaded old listener this comes as an enormous breath of fresh air. I'm going to order the sheet music and memorise it.

[PiXeLeS95]

es música buena, pero ojalá que no existiera, que nos obligan a hacer trabajos de esto.

[Maxxp95]

I can't seem to find any basic information on this piece, can anyone provide that for me? Tempo? Key? Time signature? If anyone can that would be great.

[berrik500]

@Maxxp95 Very dramatic performance of Schönbergs masterpiece.

[TheRD1993]

hä i life in schönbergh but is't in germany;)

[JoesCheapThrills]

I remember picking this cd up on a whim at the local library. Never heard of Schoenberg just decided to pick it up. I am glad I did Verklarte Nacht has to be the most amazing piece of work I've had the pleasure of listening too.

[JackieMab]

Playing standing is an old hand-me down tyrrany from Hans Von Bulow, who insisted that everyone but the cellists do so. Like another poster said, it is also tied to standard chamber music practice. It has nothing to do with sound and more to do with tradition / discipline.

[Nightsurf59]

Ah...that explains it. Thanks for the edification!.

[bckm54]

i am unaware that the musicians had to stand to perform this piece, but it's been MANY YEARS since I've heard or played it, and I don't remember standing to do so. Anyone know for sure?

[Nightsurf59]

My question would be, will requiring the musicians to stand benefit the performance in any way?. I think not. The practice seems unnecessarily puritanical and needlessly austere. If space is an issue than secure access to a venue with larger and /o deeper stage.

[kenalebla]

They are most likely standing because it's a chamber ensemble. The tradition of standing during a performance with these numbers dates back to the Baroque period and many small ensembles continue the tradition (there may have even been a Baroque piece on this program as well).

They do seem tight, so maybe it was a spacing issue too. Sometimes it isn't possible to easily secure another venue.

[LJBSasha]

@kenalebla: Most certainly it's time to get rid of that particular tradition - why should chamber or solo musicians have it any harder than those in a symphony?

[kenalebla]

@LJBSasha Most chamber music today; even that of the Baroque period, which this is not; is performed seated. It's fairly common to see Baroque music performed standing (for those that can) today, but less common to see a modern piece like this played standing.

In any event, it's usually at the preference of the musicians, not for the sake of tradition. So, if you see an ensemble standing, they would have collectively agreed on that and prefer to play that way when possible.

[P1B1U1H1]

@Nightsurf59 Try standing still for ten minutes holding your hands out in front of you. You'll recognize the malevolence fairly quickly. This is where Cheney got the idea of waterboarding. .

[ArtSongAlliance]

wonderful interpretation, per usual! lovely to hear you , Cristian!

[noogan3]

what a true master of sound and feeling Schoenberg is a wonderful example of breaking the rules

[asilagy]

Broke Rules? He invented them.....

[Nightsurf59]

He broke the old ones..and created his own......he didnt belong to the system..he split from the whole program and created his own sonic universe.

[milenecthefirst]

No he didn't. Schoenberg and the Neudeutsche Schule didn't split with the system, he's a logical consequence of that what was happening in the late Romantic period with the whole extended harmony of Liszt, Wagner, and - more clearly - Skriabin. Of course he invented new "rules" (but what a foul word that is), but saying he split from the whole program is a huge mistake (just listen to this Verklarte Nacht, and you clearly hear his Romantic influences).

[Steinway12345]

Please tell me that was cellos, not timpani at 8:16. I'll be pissed if they messed with the instrumentation.

[cristianflorea]

no timpani, what you say?

[RogueRotting360]

@Steinway12345 Sounds like contrabasses to me.

[Ainigma]

@Steinway12345 no timpanis here.. what you mean?

[123jsbach]

@Steinway12345 as long as its not the bongos again. Schoenberg and his bloody bongos.

[LJBSasha]

@123jsbach: I never heard about Arnold Schönberg using bongo-drums, of all things!!!

No, it's 'celli and double-basses at that point.

Very nice performance, but for sheer grandeur and magnificence - without losing any of the drama! - Herbert von Karajan with the Berliner Philharmoniker on Deutsche Grammophon almost certainly can never be beaten!!! That surely has to be the gold-standard with this piece!!!

[123jsbach]

@LJBSasha Ach God! At every opportunity, every party, there was Schoenberg trying to convince people of the benefits of replacing the timps with the bongos. Everyone would be like, "Oh no, heres Arnold. Dont mention the timps." He always got onto the topic tho.

[LJBSasha]

@123jsbach: Nothing of the sort appears in the Wikipedia article nor in anything else I've read about him! Are you mixing him up with somebody else? Even if that were true, WHEN did he supposedly start thinking like that? Any works where he uses them? Can you document what you've said?

[123jsbach]

@LJBSasha Like Youtube, Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information, as anyone can go and re-write articles and history. Dont believe everything you read! ;)

[LJBSasha]

@123jsbach: Attacking one source of information that however is meant to be respectable is insufficient - let's see what proof YOU have in your favour, please!

[123jsbach]

@LJBSasha Its honestly true-you only have to be a registered member to write articles for Wikipedia-LIKE ON YOUTUBE! It is not necessarily authentic information you read.

[LJBSasha]

@123jsbach: You've only spoken re. Wikipedia. What of YOUR sources? What about my other questions? [Also, repeating a lie however many times doesn't make it any truer...]

[kenalebla]

@LJBSasha I thnk 123jsbach was joking about the bongos! Although, if I'm not mistaken, Schönberg uses bongos on some of his larger orchestral works, but I don't own any of those scores and am too lazy to check IMSLP...

Schönberg actually taught composition to bongoist (?), composer, and producer Don Ralke at UCLA. Ralke, among many other things, was a producer on William Shatner's epic musical release "The Transformed Man;" or, if you like, Verklärte Mann.

[Faroukh46]

@Steinway12345 Do you see any timpani on the video??? Do you hear any timpani??? O.o

[aimcek]

Lucky people hearing this live. What a rich sound. Wow.

[gerkov77]

All theese constantly coughing bastards should be banned from concerts, and be sended to Hostpital!Grrrr!

Great music!

[unundada]

we count that as a

cough ;)

woeful recording :(

[darkdemonded]

sent*

[fliegen75]

@gerkov77 Indeeeeed

[wavescrashinginside]

possibly one of the most romantic work made

[wavescrashinginside]

Dehmel's powerful poem is about a man and a woman walking through a dark forest on a moonlit night, wherein the woman shares a dark secret with her new lover; she bears the child of a stranger. The mood of Dehmel's poem is reflected throughout the composition in five sections, beginning with the sadness of the woman's confession; a neutral interlude wherein the man reflects upon the confession; and a finale, the man's bright acceptance (and forgiveness) of the woman:

[verohosp48]

thank you for your comment on the poem, I discovered this piece when I was 15 but forgot its literary origin.

[wavescrashinginside]

beautiful and sublime the piece and the performance.

[PhilosopherEight]

The pinnacle of Western Diatonic Harmonic Development, and the most rapturous example of the heart of German Expressionism.

MAGIC

Karajan's version is the most transcendantly glowing recording of this I've ever heard.

[choyouna]

be gooseflesh all over play! very nice

[vvozzeck]

Very good playing especially the tuning which is otherwise a killer in the piece even more than the technique.

[snoipn]

great. this always gives me chills. i heard some things i've never heard in some other renditions ... though could have been better microphone quality :D. thanks for uploading anyway

[hiccupofirony]

thanks so much

[301250]

An excellent rendition of this passionate, non-dissonant work of Schoenberg by this group, but I still crave to listen to the original version for string sextet, especially the performance by the Sante Fe sextet(if I am not mistaken). Can anyone please tell me whether a recording of theirs exists? Thank you. sd goh (malaysia)

[hiccupofirony]

I know, I haven't heard the sextet of this work in a very long time myself. Who you say made the best CD of it ?? I need to pick one up. I have 3 full string orchestra versions already!

[301250]

Hi! Hiccupofirony. Yup, I got the Julliard String Qrt with guests Walter Trampler on viola, YoYo Ma on cello (1992)and they are excellent but The Hollywood Qrt on Testament label (albeit mono) which I heard at a friend's place is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Also Karajan's orchestral version with his Berlin forces takes you to another world. sd goh (malaysia)

[301250]

Just to correct the confusion here, HCof Irony. I meant that I crave to hear the SanteFe's prfm. which I heard on Radio3(UK) years, years ago, which has the edge over the Julliard, fine as the latter's is. By the way, Karajan's prfm.if you don't already have it,can be obtained on the DG's 'The Originals' series (still in print?)and it's coupled with an equally magical and stupendous Pelleas et Melisande. sd goh (malaysia)

[jgke]

if you can't find that particular recording, there is a video of the sextet version on youtube

[301250]

Thanks mate I will check it out soonest.