Violin Concerto (Schoenberg)
Encyclopedia
The Violin Concerto by Arnold Schoenberg
dates from Schoenberg's time in the United States
, where he had moved in 1933 to escape the Nazis. The piece was written in 1936, the same year as the String Quartet No. 4
. At the time of its completion, Schoenberg was living in Brentwood, California
, and had just accepted a teaching position at the University of California, Los Angeles
.
writing upon his move to America and, though the Violin Concerto uses twelve-tone technique
, its neoclassical
form demanded a mimesis of tonal melody, and hence a renunciation of the motivic technique used in his earlier work in favour of a thematic structure (Rosen 1996, 101). The basic row of the concerto is:
A–B–E–B–E–F–C–C–G–A–D–F
While the row is not necessary for understanding any good twelve-note piece, an awareness of it in this concerto is useful because the row is very much in the foreground, and is quite obviously abstracted from Schoenberg's concrete melodic-thematic thinking (Keller 1961, 157).
It is in a three movement quick-slow-quick form, traditional for concerto
s:
The concerto was premiered on December 6, 1940, by the Philadelphia Orchestra
conducted by Leopold Stokowski
with Louis Krasner
as the soloist (Krasner had previously given the premiere of the Violin Concerto
by Schoenberg's pupil, Alban Berg
).
The concerto was first published in 1939 by G. Schirmer
.
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
dates from Schoenberg's time in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he had moved in 1933 to escape the Nazis. The piece was written in 1936, the same year as the String Quartet No. 4
String quartets (Schoenberg)
The Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg published four string quartets, distributed over his lifetime. These were the String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7 , String Quartet No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op. 10 , String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30 , and the String Quartet No. 4, Op...
. At the time of its completion, Schoenberg was living in Brentwood, California
Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
Brentwood is a district in western Los Angeles, California, United States. The district is located at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the south, the Santa Monica city limits on the southwest, the border of Topanga State...
, and had just accepted a teaching position at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
.
Style and form
Schoenberg had made a return to tonalTonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
writing upon his move to America and, though the Violin Concerto uses twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
, its neoclassical
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
form demanded a mimesis of tonal melody, and hence a renunciation of the motivic technique used in his earlier work in favour of a thematic structure (Rosen 1996, 101). The basic row of the concerto is:
While the row is not necessary for understanding any good twelve-note piece, an awareness of it in this concerto is useful because the row is very much in the foreground, and is quite obviously abstracted from Schoenberg's concrete melodic-thematic thinking (Keller 1961, 157).
It is in a three movement quick-slow-quick form, traditional for concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s:
- Poco allegro—Vivace. Opinion is divided about the form of the first movement. According to one authority, it is in sonata formSonata formSonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
(Keller 1961, 157), while another asserts it is a large ternary form, concluding with a cadenzaCadenzaIn music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display....
and a codaCoda (music)Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
(Mean 1985, 140). It employs a wide variety of row forms, often in families associated by hexachordal content (Mead 1985, 141). - Andante grazioso
- Finale: Allegro. The last movement is a rondoRondoRondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
with an unusually dynamic development. It only gradually becomes clear that the underlying character is that of a march. There is a second cadenza just before the end, which rounds off the whole work in cyclicCyclic formCyclic form is a technique of musical construction, involving multiple sections or movements, in which a theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device. Sometimes a theme may occur at the beginning and end Cyclic form is a technique of musical...
fashion (Keller 1961, 157).
The concerto was premiered on December 6, 1940, by the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
conducted by Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
with Louis Krasner
Louis Krasner
Louis Krasner was a renowned Ukrainian-born American classical violinist who premiered the violin concertos of Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg.-Biography:...
as the soloist (Krasner had previously given the premiere of the Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Berg)
Alban Berg's Violin Concerto was written in 1935 . It is probably Berg's best-known and most frequently performed instrumental piece.-Conception and composition:...
by Schoenberg's pupil, Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
).
The concerto was first published in 1939 by G. Schirmer
G. Schirmer
G. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...
.
Instrumentation
The orchestra calls for 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 3 oboes, piccolo clarinet, clarinet, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, glockenspiel, xylophone, bass drum, cymbals, tamtam, snare drum, triangle, tambourine, and strings.Sources
- Keller, Hans. 1961. "No Bridge to Nowhere: An Introduction to Stravinsky's Movements and Schoenberg's Violin Concerto". The Musical Times 102, no. 1417 (March): 156–58.
- Mead, Andrew. 1985. "Large-Scale Strategy in Arnold Schoenberg's Twelve-Tone Music". Perspectives of New Music 24, no. 1 (Fall-Winter): 120–57.
- Rosen, Charles. 1996. Arnold Schoenberf, with a new preface. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-72643-6.
Further reading
- Earle, Ben. 2003. "Taste, Power, and Trying to Understand Op. 36: British Attempts to Popularize Schoenberg". Music & Letters 84, no. 4 (November): 608–43.
- Hall, Anne C. 1975. "A Comparison of Manuscript and Printed Scores of Schoenberg's Violin Concerto". Perspectives of New Music 14, no. 1 (Autumn-Winter, 1975): 182–96.
- Klemm, Eberhardt. 1966. "Zur Theorie einiger Reihen-Kombinationen". Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 23, no. 3:170–212.