# Schoenberg's op 45 Trio



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Anyone enjoy this trio? What is your favourite bit? Have you heard anyone do it really nicely? 

It sounds to me like very psychological music, full of very unusual emotions being expressed and juxtaposed, even in the episodes. Painfully expressive. It was the Corda Quartet recording which helped me to see this. 

Why does it end in such an unexpected way? 

The way the textures change sounds to me almost modern - I mean like more recent complex music by Ferneyhough, but that's just an informal impression of course.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Definitely one of my favorite works by Schoenberg. And one of his most forward looking as your observation suggests.

The drama in the music certainly has a lot to do with the medical crisis S. had undergone in the hospital just prior to composition. He said as much during an interview I believe.


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## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

I remember being a bit puzzled with the work the first time I heard it, but since then I've certainly grown to like it a lot! I'd really love to hear it live in a chamber concert one day - same goes for the string quartets.

The recording I'm most familiar with is the one done by members of the LaSalle Quartet. There are also a few versions in YouTube I've heard, but can't remember the performers now.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

This is programme music, though he never published the programme. He was clear in letters that it represented his experiences around the time of his heart attack and recovery. The music is extremely, deliberately, fragmented, and it must really challenging I think to make into a coherent story, because the changes can seem like random jolts. Maybe the point is that there is no narrative. I'm not sure.

At the moment I don't know whether it's a work of genius or a train wreck. I'm completely disoriented by it.

But I like these sort of challenges


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Eureka!

The Koldofsky Trio gave the West Coast Premier of op 45 and according to Sabine Feist's book on Schoenberg in America, the composer was pleased with the way the played it. Their style is noticeably more reflective and less dramatic than what we have become used to from Juilliard, La Salle etc. I like what they do a lot - as with Steuermann, the composer's taste and my taste seem to be more or less in alignment. Once again, HIP is good.


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