Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande & Verklärte Nacht

Featuring

Rafael Payare
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Arnold Schoenberg

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Arnold Schoenberg's works on this album, "Pelleas und Melisande" and "Verklärte Nacht," showcase his post-Romantic transition period, synthesizing influences from Brahms and Wagner.

Critical Reception

At the 1905 premiere of "Pelleas und Melisande," one critic recommended committing Schoenberg to an insane asylum and keeping music paper out of his reach.

Compositional Technique

Schoenberg's "Verklärte Nacht" combines the late 19th-century trends of one-movement sonata form, exemplified by Franz Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, and the one-movement symphonic poem.

Compositional Technique

Richard Dehmel, the poet of "Verklärte Nacht," praised Schoenberg's sextet, stating he forgot to follow the text's motives because he was so enthralled by the music.

Composition History

When Schoenberg composed his symphonic poem "Pelleas und Melisande" in 1902, he was unaware that Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy were also working on musical adaptations of Maeterlinck's drama.

Recording & Production

This album is part of a larger artistic project by Rafael Payare and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal to explore the aesthetic of Germanic post-Romantic repertoire, following recordings of Mahler and Richard Strauss.