# Schoenberg



## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

I have just downloaded a quartet composed in 1897 by a young Arnold Schoenberg (23 years old) It is a little gem of late romantic work. Its played by rhe Brodsky Quartet-not a favorite group of mine, but I think the only recording of the work. The other "big" work on the CD is Zemlinsky Quartet #1, which is another outstanding late Romantic work. Both men where still under the influence of Brahms, and there was no indication yet of how their composing styles would change in the coming years. Never the less, if you like this kind of music they are very worthwhile.


----------



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

Schoenberg/Zemlinsky seems a logical pairing bearing in mind the connections between the two men and how the string quartet output of one man mirrored the other in certain ways (same quantity of numbered quartets, similar composition timeline) but which quartet is it, the 'official' no. 1 in A major from 1896 or the chronological first in E minor from three years earlier? I've also got a recording of two of Zemlinsky's early symphonies from the 1890's - nice and well-constructed as they are it's still a shame he never wrote any more later on (if we don't count the well-regarded Sinfonietta).


----------



## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

Its the E minor.


----------



## Sator (Jan 23, 2011)

Personally, I don't think Schoenberg's compositional style changes much at all. His later compositions all mirror Brahms in some way. His Variations for Orchestra is his first 12 tone orchestral work as the St Anthony Chorale Variations is the first major orchestra work by Brahms. There are structural similarities even between the Schoenberg Violin and Piano Concertos and those of Brahms. The more familiar you become with Schoenberg's later style, the more and more Brahmsian he sounds.


----------

