# Favorite work of schoenberg



## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

Hi. I am a big fan of the music i currently own of schoenberg. Can someone clue me in on examples of his most prized work?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I'd have a difficult time choosing just one:

First period: Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E, String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, 4 Lieder Op. 2
Second period: Book of the Hanging Gardens, String Quartet No. 2 in F# minor, Pierrot lunaire
Third (Berlin) period: Moses und Aron, Violin Concerto, Suite op. 25, String Quartet No. 3
Fourth (American) period: Piano Concerto, choral works op. 50, String Trio, String Quartet No. 4


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

A thread with the same subject was started recently. I say as last time Gurrelieder and Erwartung.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Ooooh there are so many gems. His choral music isn't mentioned much, so I'll mention it here!

Some of my favourites out of all his music are....
Suite op. 29, the serenade, A Survivor from Warsaw, Piano Concerto, the second and third String Quartets, Ode to Napoleon, Pierrot Lunaire, String Trio, Chamber Symphony no. 1, Kol Nidre, Five Pieces for Orchestra.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

1. Pierrot Lunaire
2. String Quartet #2
3. Chamber Symphony #1
4. Violin Concerto
5. Piano Concerto
6. Gurrelieder

- String Trio
- Chamber Symphony #2
- Verklärte Nacht
- The other string quartets
- A Survivor from Warsaw
- String Quartet in D #0


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## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

I appologize. Did not see it. Thanks for all of the suggestions, guys


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

At the moment:

Daa-da-daaaa (daa-da-daa)
Daa-da-daaaa (daa daa, da daah)
Daaa da daaaaaaa....
Daa daada daah


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## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

I just ordered this:
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/a...le_modern_peter_eotvos__phyllis_bryn_julson_/

Gonna order some more in a couple weeks


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## Guest (Nov 12, 2015)

I can't pick just one. I can't even pick two. I'm sorry. I just can't.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

nathanb said:


> I can't pick just one. I can't even pick two. I'm sorry. I just can't.


Neither can I.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

KenOC said:


> Neither can I.


:lol:

Oh, c'mon now, Ken. What about the Brahmsian String Quartet in D? Or the Gurrelieder? Or just doesn't float your boat whatsoever?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DiesIraeCX said:


> :lol:
> 
> Oh, c'mon now, Ken. What about the Brahmsian String Quartet in D? Or the Gurrelieder? Or just doesn't float your boat whatsoever?


Is that that very early string quartet? I thought it sounded like Dvorak. Charming piece. We all have to start somewhere.

Some early piano things sound like Brahms and yet don't. Some of the early songs are lovely. Guess I like Schoenberg before he became Schoenberg.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Is that that very early string quartet? I thought it sounded like Dvorak. Charming piece. We all have to start somewhere.


Yes, it's the early string quartet, sometimes numbered as #0.

I confess that when I first heard some of Schoenberg's "atonal" works (Sorry, Mahlerian, I just had to get my point across!), I seriously thought the sound on the speakers were messed up, haha. I didn't understand why it sounded so different, but for some reason, I cannot for the life of me replicate what I initially heard. Did the wiring of my brain realign themselves to hear his music as "normal"? I admit that I did "try" to appreciate it, and it worked.

Side note to my side note: I found Debussy a much, _much_ tougher nut to crack than Schoenberg, for completely different reasons.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Suite Op. 29 for me please. The work speaks to me even though I haven't bothered trying to figure out its structure -- and even though it seems to puzzle Manxfeeder whose taste often runs parallel with mine.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

DiesIraeCX said:


> Did the wiring of my brain realign themselves to hear his music as "normal"?


Maybe. After Room 101, Winston Smith loved Big Brother.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DiesIraeCX said:


> Yes, it's the early string quartet, sometimes numbered as #0.
> 
> I confess that when I first heard some of Schoenberg's "atonal" works (Sorry, Mahlerian, I just had to get my point across!), I seriously thought the sound on the speakers were messed up, haha. I didn't understand why it sounded so different, but for some reason, I cannot for the life of me replicate what I initially heard. Did the wiring of my brain realign themselves to hear his music as "normal"? I admit that I did "try" to appreciate it, and it worked.
> 
> Side note to my side note: I found Debussy a much, _much_ tougher nut to crack than Schoenberg, for completely different reasons.


I don't find atonal and 12-tone Schoenberg intimidating. It simply has little appeal. Debussy? He can be _too_ easy to appreciate. Rather like Monet.


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## TradeMark (Mar 12, 2015)

Some of my favorites:
Verklarte Nacht
Erwartung
Pierrot Lunaire
5 pieces for orchestra
The Book of the Hanging Gardens
Suite for Piano
String quartets 2 and 3
Variations for Orchestra
Violin Concerto
Piano Concerto
Chamber Symphony 2


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

DiesIraeCX said:


> :lol:
> 
> Oh, c'mon now, Ken. What about the Brahmsian String Quartet in D? Or the Gurrelieder? Or just doesn't float your boat whatsoever?


I've never been able to get through Gurrelieder in one sitting. I find it really boring. Maybe someday.

Schoenberg isn't really one of my favorite composers, but I like Verklarte Nacht, the piano concerto, violin concerto, Variations for Orchestra and most of the solo piano pieces.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Mahlerian's list is impressive to the point where I'd find it hard to boil it down any further; in fact, I'd be tempted to add to it. 

Gun-to-my-head-so-I'd-better-choose-five time:

In no real order: String Quartet no.3, Pierrot lunaire, Piano Concerto, Serenade, Erwartung.

But it could change tomorrow.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I pick just one; Gurrelieder


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Favourites:
- Verklärte Nacht
- Gurre Lieder
- Piano Pieces op.11
- Suite op.25
- Piano Concerto
- Violin Concerto


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

I've never heard a Schoenberg's work that I dislike, even if in the first listening is difficult to catch something is atractive enough to me.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Pierrot Lunaire and the String Trio.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

String Quartet no. 1
String Quartet no. 2
5 pieces for orchestra

Not mentioned already: Herzgewächse


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Piano Concerto
Violin Concerto
5 pieces for orchestra


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Verklärte Nacht, in either version.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

I like Verklärte Nacht very much and I'm neutral towards a few other pieces I've heard. 
As long as it doesn't have that vomit inducing sprechgesang I may like more of his music at some point.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

I don't get what others find so repulsive about sprechgesang. It's hardly any more repulsive than "normal" opera-style singing...


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)




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## sharik (Jan 23, 2013)

Open Lane said:


> schoenberg. Can someone clue me in on examples of his most prized work?


Gurre Lieder and Moses Und Aron.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Five Pieces for Orchestra; Serenade; Chamber Symphony No. 2; Herzgewasche; Piano & Violin Concertos. Also, his orchestration of Brahms' G minor Piano Quintet, effectively creating a "fifth symphony" for Brahms.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Dim7 said:


> I don't get what others find so repulsive about sprechgesang. It's hardly any more repulsive than "normal" opera-style singing...


Too close to musical theater for me. I feel like I'm listening to Rex Harrison in _My Fair Lady_ -- or rather the Prince in Monty Python and Holy Grail. I'm not knocking those who enjoy that sort of thing, but -- life is short.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Weston said:


> Too close to musical theater for me.


The intent was in part to replicate the style of performance in cabarets, and the work was written for a non-operatic performer, so this isn't completely off the mark.

Schoenberg did write plenty of works for conventional singing technique alone, though, including his various lieder, the opera Erwartung, the song Herzgewaechse, and most of his choral music.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

My favorite, and the most melodious of his works, is the _Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B-flat _. It is a work freely composed after the Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 7 by the great George Frideric Handel.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ArtMusic said:


> My favorite, and the most melodious of his works, is the _Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B-flat _. It is a work freely composed after the Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 7 by the great George Frideric Handel.


It doesn't have half as many melodies as the Violin Concerto or the String Quartets pack into just as short a timespan, which also surpass it in beauty.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Transfigured Night - my connection strongly enhanced by a 'romantic' interval in my dim past.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> It doesn't have half as many melodies as the Violin Concerto or the String Quartets pack into just as short a timespan, which also surpass it in beauty.


Not to my ears, the violin concerto fails in melodic construction by all measures. It's interesting to see Schoenberg had to resort to arranging a Baroque concerto for melodic color but he nonetheless capably blended it with atonal construction.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ArtMusic said:


> Not to my ears, the violin concerto fails in melodic construction by all measures. It's interesting to see Schoenberg had to resort to arranging a Baroque concerto for melodic color but he nonetheless capably blended it with atonal construction.


Your ears are not the sole arbiter of what qualifies as great melodies, thankfully, or we'd have to be without the beauties of the Violin Concerto, which far surpass the Concerto for String Quartet.

Schoenberg didn't *resort* to doing anything, because he hardly lacked in melodic skill. He even wrote his own neo-Baroque music.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

ArtMusic said:


> Not to my ears, the violin concerto fails in melodic construction by all measures. It's interesting to see Schoenberg had to resort to arranging a Baroque concerto for melodic color but he nonetheless capably blended it with atonal construction.


Step 1. Learn the facts about music, composers and perception
Step 2. Listen to the music again

And finally, you will no longer write pseudo-facts and people will be able to read your posts without thinking that ArtMusic believes that ArtMusic is the authority of all knowledge on Schoenberg and his music! Yay!


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I go with Gurrelieder! Like Wagner, Gurrelieder has endless libido. The only thing that can stop this unlimited supply of energy is the universe becoming something else entirely, a world of pure sunrise without individuality.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> Your ears are not the sole arbiter of what qualifies as great melodies, thankfully, or we'd have to be without the beauties of the Violin Concerto, which far surpass the Concerto for String Quartet.
> 
> Schoenberg didn't *resort* to doing anything, because he hardly lacked in melodic skill. He even wrote his own neo-Baroque music.


I disagree and as far as I'm concerned, my ears count for me. His _Sechs kleine Klavierstücke_, Op. 19 do better as far as melodic construction are concerned, definitely above average in his entire oeuvre. Though my favorite is his Handel arrangement. I agree about his neo-Baroque music, which set him inspiration for melodic invention.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Step 1. Learn the facts about music, composers and perception
> Step 2. Listen to the music again
> 
> And finally, you will no longer write pseudo-facts and people will be able to read your posts without thinking that ArtMusic believes that ArtMusic is the authority of all knowledge on Schoenberg and his music! Yay!


I _do_ write facts but *mostly* my own opinion.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

ArtMusic said:


> I disagree and as far as I'm concerned, my ears count for me. His _Sechs kleine Klavierstücke_, Op. 19 do better as far as melodic construction are concerned, definitely above average in his entire oeuvre. Though my favorite is his Handel arrangement. I agree about his neo-Baroque music, which set him inspiration for melodic invention.


You seem to have certain subjective criteria which melody can be placed on a scale of good to bad. Unfortunately, this places certain pieces in a more negative light because of different intentions of the composer in question.....


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Gurrelieder. I would like to know more works of his like that.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

regenmusic said:


> Gurrelieder. I would like to know more works of his like that.


His early tone poem Pelleas und Melisande might be to your taste.

To me, Gurrelieder is very clearly a Schoenberg work. All of the melodies, the harmonies, and so forth are pure Schoenberg and nobody else; it's just couched in a thicker Wagnerian orchestral idiom than the later works.


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## Epilogue (Sep 20, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Debussy? He can be _too_ easy to appreciate. Rather like Monet.


To quote somebody who did in literature what no Anglophone was able to do in classical music in the time of Debussy and Schoenberg - that is, equal the best of France and Germany -

"There is, to be sure, a damned insipid medium -"

-----

I adore everything from the free atonal period (God knows there's hardly an excessive quantity of it), but the last movement of the 2nd string quartet hits a particularly soft spot.


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## Epilogue (Sep 20, 2015)

isorhythm said:


> I've never been able to get through Gurrelieder in one sitting.


Then just listen from the "Hunt of the Summer Wind" to the end. That's a small investment of time and probably the very best part anyway.


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## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)

His string quartets! I can't choose just one!


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Appendix said:


> Then just listen from the "Hunt of the Summer Wind" to the end. That's a small investment of time and probably the very best part anyway.


Yeah I've done that, I do like the end.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

isorhythm said:


> I've never been able to get through Gurrelieder in one sitting. I find it really boring. Maybe someday.


I would not have listened through it if it wasn´t because I heard it on the radio. First I didn´t know what it was so I had no opportunity to judge it beforehand. I just heard what I thought was great music.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

I like Gurrelieder a lot more on the piano.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Mahlerian said:


> The intent was in part to replicate the style of performance in cabarets, and the work was written for a non-operatic performer, so this isn't completely off the mark.
> 
> Schoenberg did write plenty of works for conventional singing technique alone, though, including his various lieder, the opera Erwartung, the song Herzgewaechse, and most of his choral music.


The Boulez set of Schoenberg choral music is on my want list, but it's currently a little pricey. I may overcome my aversion and get into Pierrot Lunaire someday. I'm not ruling it out. It will be in headphones though. I live in Nashville.


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