by Ben Hogwood. Portrait of Arnold Schoenberg by Richard Gerstl, circa June 1905

On this day in 1874, 150 years ago, one of the most revolutionary – and divisive – composers was born in Vienna. Arnold Schoenberg gained notoriety for his groundbreaking style of composition that took him first to the outer limits of tonality, and then beyond.

Today he remains a musical figure guaranteed to split opinion within a room of classical music fans, and well beyond – though as we have seen at the BBC Proms this season, his music is a lot more approachable than you might think.

There will be a fair bit more about him on these pages in the next couple of months, including an interview with leading British soprano Claire Booth, who has made a striking new recording of his melodrama Pierrot Lunaire. For now, though, I urge you to enjoy two very contrasting videos of Schoenberg’s music.

The first is a performance of his Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, published as Op.19 in 1913 – after his break with tonality. They show a remarkable, compressed intensity, creating vivid pictures and emotion flying in the face of music that, having left conventional working behind, is alleged to be devoid of feeling. This performance from legendary pianist Glenn Gould totally refutes that:

Following that, here is one of Schoenberg’s early masterpieces, the deeply atmospheric Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night), published as the composer’s Op.4 in 1899:

Published post no.2,300 – Friday 13 September 2024