Arnold Schoenberg at Carnegie Hall

Few figures in classical music have sparked such violent reactions—both for and against—as Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951). A hero to modernists, the Devil incarnate to traditionalists, Schoenberg—along with his musical achievements—provokes controversy even today. He was full of contrasts: A mostly self-taught musician, he became an important and dedicated teacher, whose methods were based soundly within the tradition he was accused of destroying. He revered J. S. Bach, Brahms, and Wagner, and saw his own music simply as the logical extension of that tradition. (Schoenberg’s orchestrations of two Bach chorales—Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele, BWV 654, and Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist, BWV 631—received their world premieres at Carnegie Hall on December 7, 1922, with cellist Leo Schulz and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Josef Stransky.) Schoenberg urged his students to work logically and intuitively to find their own voice, and stressed process over systematic adherence to old rules. In turn, they clustered around Schoenberg like disciples, fiercely devoted to their teacher.

Schoenberg always depended upon teaching for his income, since his iconoclastic compositions rarely found favor with the public. In 1933, he lost his teaching position at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin when the Nazi-controlled government voted to remove Jewish elements from the academy. Realizing he could not remain in Europe, Schoenberg—nearly 60 years old at the time—immigrated to America in October 1933. He settled first in Boston, where his new teaching position kept him continually shuttling to New York for classes. But the harsh New England winter wreaked havoc with his asthma, and a year later he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived until his death in 1951.

Schoenberg was at Carnegie Hall only once—on April 1, 1934—when nearly two-dozen musicians gathered to honor renowned physicist Albert Einstein (1879–1955) in a concert titled A Tribute of Music to Science. At intermission, Einstein was presented with a scroll signed by 100 well-known musicians and inscribed, “To Albert Einstein, who, in his contributions to science, has advanced the march of civilization and in his devotion to art has drawn these two worlds nearer in the development of culture.” The concert concluded with a performance of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4.

A number of Schoenberg’s works received important premieres at Carnegie Hall, including the following:

Pelleas und Melisande (US Premiere) with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Josef Stransky: November 18, 1915
Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16, with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski: November 29, 1921
Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31 (New York Premiere), with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski: October 22, 1929
Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (US Premiere) with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Werner Janssen: March 21, 1935
Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38 (World Premiere), with the New Friends of Music Orchestra conducted by Fritz Stiedry: December 15, 1940
Ode to Napoleon (World Premiere) with narrator Mack Harrell, pianist Edward Steuermann, and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Artur Rodziński: November 23, 1944
Theme and Variations, Op. 43b (New York Premiere), with the New York Philharmonic conducted by George Szell: November 1, 1945
A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (New York Premiere), with narrator Adolph Andersen, the Princeton University Chapel Choir, and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos: April 13, 1950
Erwartung (US Premiere) with soprano Dorothy Dow and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos: November 15, 1951
Violin Concerto, Op. 36 (New York Premiere), with soloist Louis Krasner and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos: November 29, 1952