Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau (After H. Andersen) [Live]

Alexander von Zemlinsky was a major figure in early 20th-century Vienna, closely connected to both Mahler and Schoenberg – but his own music has seldom received the recognition it merits. Since 1995, however, his impressive tone poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) has made a return to the repertoire. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, it glisteningly evokes the sea. Marc Albrecht conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Featuring

Marc Albrecht
Radio Filharmonisch Orkest
Alexander von Zemlinsky

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Notable Performances

The 1905 premiere of Zemlinsky's Die Seejungfrau was part of the final concert of the Vereinigung schaffender Tonkünstler ('Society of Creative Musicians'), which he co-founded with Arnold Schoenberg and Oskar Posa.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded live at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam from November 10 to 12, 2018.

Compositional Technique

Antony Beaumont's critical edition of Die Seejungfrau, performed on this album, restores the 'merwitch music' that Zemlinsky had previously cut from the work.

Critical Reception

Despite being initially misunderstood as merely 'charming,' Zemlinsky's Die Seejungfrau was received with greater enthusiasm at its premiere than Arnold Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande.

Composer Biography

Arnold Schoenberg, a fellow composer and Zemlinsky's brother-in-law, considered Alexander Zemlinsky a "great composer" and believed his time would come.

Composition History

After only three performances, Zemlinsky withdrew the score of Die Seejungfrau, and it was not fully restored and published until the early 1980s by scholars.

Composition History

Alexander Zemlinsky's Die Seejungfrau ('The Mermaid') is his only work in the symphonic poem genre and is based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.