Schoenberg: Violin Concerto - Verklärte Nacht

Violinist Isabelle Faust provocatively pairs two works by Arnold Schoenberg: the early string sextet Verklärte Nacht, and the later, serial Violin Concerto. The earlier work is written in a rich, late Romantic style, while the concerto is among his most elegant and melodic serial compositions. Faust is joined by Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and for Verklärte Nacht by a stellar ensemble including Antoine Tamestit and Jean-Guihen Queyras.

Featuring

Daniel Harding
Isabelle Faust
Anne Katharina Schreiber
Antoine Tamestit
Danusha Waskiewicz
Christian Poltéra

Jean-Guihen Queyras
Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester
Arnold Schoenberg

Did you know?

1/6

Composer Biography

Arnold Schoenberg's career was marked by contradictions, evolving from a Romantic, tonal composer to an atonal, revolutionary one.

Compositional Technique

Schoenberg's twelve-note music, or dodecaphony, is a non-hierarchical technique using all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, aiming to free music from the traditional duality of dissonance and consonance.

Composition History

Schoenberg completed his post-Romantic symphonic poem, Verklärte Nacht, in just three weeks, demonstrating a feverish and concentrated manner of composing.

Recording & Production

This album features two distinct recording sessions: Verklärte Nacht was recorded in September 2018 at Teldex Studio Berlin, and the Violin Concerto in January 2019 at Berwaldhallen, Stockholm.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Schoenberg's inner conflict between the Classical cult of numbers and the Romantic longing for freedom forms the essence of his poetic style.

Critical Reception

In Schoenberg's time, new works were premiered in generalist concerts where radical pieces were played alongside amiable ones, often leading to scandal.