Piano Concerto (Schoenberg)

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Arnold Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, Op. 42 (1942) consists of four interconnected movements: Andante (bars 1–175), Molto allegro (bars 176–263), Adagio (bars 264–329), and Giocoso (bars 330–492) (Alegant 2002–2003, 74). It features use of the twelve-tone technique and only one tone row, though he does at points take some liberties with the permutation of the row.^{[citation needed]} The opening melody of the concerto is thirty-nine bars long and presents all four modes of the tone row in the following order: basic set, inversion of retrograde, retrograde, and inversion. Both of the inversions are transposed.^{[citation needed]} The concerto was the result of a commission from Oscar Levant (Anon. n.d.).

The manuscript contains markings at the beginning of each of the four movements, suggesting an autobiographical connection between this work and the composer. The markings are "Life was so easy", "Suddenly hatred broke out", "A grave situation was created", and "But life goes on", each matched with a suitable expression in the music (Anon. n.d.). These markings were not included in the final published version, as Schoenberg disapproved of this kind of fixed musical interpretation: they were to guide his composition of the work, and not to provide a programmatic reference for the listener.^{[citation needed]}

Lou Harrison said, "One of the major joys ... is in the structure of the phrases. You know when you are hearing a theme, a building or answering phrase, a development or a coda. There is no swerving from the form-building nature of these classical phrases. The pleasure to be had from listening to them is the same that one has from hearing the large forms of Mozart. ... This is a feeling too seldom communicated in contemporary music, in much of which the most obvious formal considerations are not evident at all. ... The nature of his knowledge in this respect, perhaps more than anything else, places him in the position of torch-bearer to tradition in the vital and developing sense" (Miller and Lieberman 1998, 22).

The composition is around 20 minutes long. Its first performance was given February 6, 1944 at NBC Orchestra's Radio City Habitat in New York City, by Leopold Stokowski and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, with Eduard Steuermann at the piano (Anon. n.d.).

Sources

Alegant, Brian. 2001. "Cross-Partitions as Harmony and Voice Leading in Twelve-Tone Music", p. 14-25, Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring), pp. 1–40.
Alegant, Brian. 2002–2003. "Inside the Cadenza of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto". Intégral 16/17:67–102.
Anon. n.d. "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra op. 42". Arnold Schönberg Center. (Accessed 19 December 2010)
Miller, Leta E., and Frederic Lieberman. 1998. Lou Harrison: Composing a World. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511022-6.
Schoenberg, Arnold. 1944. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Op. 42 (score). Los Angeles: Belmont Music Publishers.
Schoenberg, Arnold. 1975. Style and Idea: Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg, edited by Leonard Stein with translations by Leo Black. New York: St. Martins Press. Reprinted, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. ISBN 0-520-05286-2 (cloth); ISBN 0-520-05294-3 (pbk)

External links

Piano Concerto at Schoenberg.org

v t e Arnold Schoenberg

Orchestral	Pelleas und Melisande, Op. 5 Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16 Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31 Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38

Concertante	Violin Concerto, Op. 36 Piano Concerto, Op. 42 Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (1933)

Chamber	String quartets (1897, Opp. 7, 10, 30, 37) Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 Wind Quintet, Op. 26

Instrumental	Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19 Suite for Piano, Op.25

Operatic	Erwartung, Op. 17 Die glückliche Hand, Op. 18 Moses und Aron (1930-32) Von heute auf morgen, Op. 32

Oratorio	Gurre-Lieder (1900-1911) Die Jakobsleiter (1917-22) Prelude to Genesis Suite, Op. 44 A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46

Vocal	Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, Op. 15 (1908/09) Herzgewächse, Op.20 Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 Four Orchestral Songs, Op. 22

Other pages	List of compositions Sprechstimme Students 6-20 6-Z44

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Piano Concerto (Schoenberg)

Sources

Further reading

First movement

First, third, and fourth movements

External links