Schoenberg, A.: Serenade / Variations for Orchestra / Bach Orchestrations

Featuring

Robert Craft
Stephen Varcoe
Charles Neidich
Alan R. Kay
Peter Press
David Starobin

Rolf Schulte
Toby Appel
Fred Sherry
Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble
Philharmonia Orchestra
Arnold Schoenberg
Johann Sebastian Bach

Did you know?

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Schoenberg, the composer, aimed to "resurrect an old classicism in order to make a new one possible" with his twelve-tone method of composition.

Performer Biography

Fred Sherry, the cellist, has introduced audiences to the music of our time through close associations with composers like Babbitt, Berio, and Carter, and was a founding member of Speculum Musicae and Tashi.

Compositional Technique

Schoenberg's Serenade, Op. 24, uniquely for his works, features the March movement without any tempo modifications from beginning to end.

Compositional Technique

In Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31, the BACH motive (B-flat, A, C, B-natural) is the principal theme, serving as an homage to J.S. Bach.

Compositional Technique

The Serenade, Op. 24, includes a mandolin and guitar in its septet instrumentation, which led one listener to describe its sound as 'Viennese strumming'.

Recording & Production

The Philharmonia Orchestra, featured on this album, is the world's most recorded symphony orchestra, with over a thousand releases to its credit.

Performer Biography

Robert Craft, the conductor on this album, had a historic association with Igor Stravinsky, serving as his constant companion, co-conductor, and musical confidant for over twenty years.