Schoenberg, Vol. 2

Featuring

Robert Craft
Jennifer Frautschi
Jesse Mills
Richard O'Neill
Fred Sherry
Christopher Oldfather

Jennifer Lane
Arnold Schoenberg
Halsey Stevens
Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble
Fred Sherry String Quartet
Miscellaneous

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet is exceptionally demanding for the solo instruments, rivaling Beethoven's Great Fugue in difficulty.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Schoenberg advised young composers to study masters like Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Bach, as he learned much from them, particularly Mozart for his string quartet writing.

Composition History

Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, after Handel, was composed in 1933 while he was forced to flee Berlin and reconvert to Judaism.

Composer Biography

Arnold Schoenberg, the composer, was also a painter, using it as a way to express emotions and ideas, similar to his music.

Critical Reception

Despite the difficult circumstances of its creation, Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet is considered one of his happiest, most high-spirited, and tuneful works.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Schoenberg believed that in his George songs, including The Book of the Hanging Gardens, he achieved an ideal of expression and form he had sought for years, breaking from past aesthetics.

Performer Biography

Robert Craft, the conductor on this album, had a historic 20-year association with Igor Stravinsky as his constant companion, co-conductor, and musical confidant.