Variations for Orchestra (Schoenberg)

Variations for Orchestra

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Native name German: Variationen für Orchester
Other name Orchestral Variations
Key Atonal
Period 20th-century music
Genre Musical modernism
Style Twelve-tone technique
Form Variations
Composed 1926 (1926)–1928 (1928): Germany
Movements 12 sections
Premiere
Date December 1928
Location Berlin
Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler
Performers Berlin Philharmonic
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Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31 (1926–28) is an orchestral set of variations on a theme, composed by Arnold Schoenberg and is his first twelve-tone composition for a large ensemble. Premiered in December 1928 by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, it was greeted by a tumultuous scandal.[1]

The theme of the piece is stated in measures 34–57.[2] The orchestration includes a flexatone.[3] The piece features the BACH motif (B♭-A-C-B♮).[4][5]

Schoenberg opened a lecture on the composition with the following tyranny of the majority defense of less common aesthetics: "Far be it from me to question the rights of the majority. But one thing is certain: somewhere there is a limit to the power of the majority; it occurs, in fact, wherever the essential step is one that cannot be taken by all and sundry."[6]

The piece has been arranged for two pianos by Charles Wuorinen and this arrangement was set to a ballet, Schoenberg Variations (1996), by Richard Tanner of the New York City Ballet.[7]

Sections

  1. Introduction
  2. Theme
  3. Variation I: Moderato
  4. Variation II: Adagio
  5. Variation III: Mässig
  6. Variation IV: Walzer-tempo
  7. Variation V: Bewegt
  8. Variation VI: Andante
  9. Variation VII: Langsam
  10. Variation VIII: Sehr rasch
  11. Variation IX: L'istesso Tempo
  12. Finale

See also

Sources

  1. ↑ Frisch, Walter (1999). Schoenberg and His World, p.270. ISBN 9780691048611.
  2. ↑ Ennulat, Egbert M. (ed.) (1991). Arnold Schönberg Correspondence, p.216 & 231. ISBN 9780810824522.
  3. ↑ Daniels, David (2005). Orchestral Music: A Handbook, p.335. ISBN 9781461664253.
  4. ↑ Hoffer, Charles (2010). Music Listening Today, p.271. ISBN 9780495916147.
  5. ↑ Stein, Erwin (ed.). 1987. Arnold Schoenberg letters, p.206. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06009-8
  6. ↑ Schoenberg, Arnold (March 22, 1931). "Variations for Orchestra, Opus 31: Frankfurt Radio Talk", reprinted in Schoenberg, Nuria (ed) (1988). Arnold Schoenberg Self Portrait, p.41. Cited in Frisch (1999), p.99.
  7. ↑ Feisst, Sabine (2011). Schoenberg's New World: The American Years, p.240. ISBN 9780195372380.
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