The first of this years twice yearly "Off Topic" articles comes to us via the so called Second Viennese School and this remarkable four disc set released at the end of last year. The entire 4 discs can be found on Spotify below. Should you not have access to this, but are still unsure whether this "is for you" and thus the price of the 4 cd boxset, the entire 4 albums can be downloaded as MP3s from Amazon for only £5.99! Also, included below is a playlist from Ulysstenetone, which may make as good an introduction as any to a few full works of the"SVS" - plus a little more (Mahler and Strauss included) . Sit back for a few hours and be delightfully "decadent" and "degenerate". Glass of wine (or beer), chaise lounge and cigarette holder, alas, not included.
Having been banned as “degenerate” during the Third Reich, by the end of World War II the experimental work of what is now called the Second Viennese School was, at best, on the fringes of German public perception. The three composers who made up the school as such were dead (Berg in 1935 and Webern in 1945) or self-exiled to the U.S. (Schoenberg). There were few performances of their work in postwar Europe and even fewer commercial recordings. So Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt, the editor of new music at the RIAS in occupied West Berlin, and Schoenberg’s conductor-colleague Josef Rufer, sought out musicians—many from the composers’ circle of students and friends—to record and broadcast some of the most important works of these three pivotal modernists. This was more than an act of national contrition for Stuckenschmidt and Rufer. They intended to revive the performing traditions that had been developing in Berlin in the 1920s and ’30s, and cultivate a new generation of performers. They hoped, as well, to create more interest in the listening public through greater familiarity.
Audite’s four-disc The RIAS Second Viennese School Project presents a selection of these RIAS performances recorded between 1949 and 1965. The pieces, written between 1906 and 1950, provide an overview of the arc of the school’s development from the quartal harmonies of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1, to the stricter 12-tone serial techniques of works like the Two Piano Pieces, op. 33a & b, to the still dodecaphonic but increasingly personal works like his Piano Concerto and String Trio. While these works are often collectively written off as austere and unapproachable, the reality revealed here is rather different. Though the uninitiated will still find some of the going rough—there are works by these composers that are still cutting-edge these many decades later—this compilation persuasively argues that wholesale dismissal of the oeuvre of these composers is intellectual laziness. Most of the music here is not all that taxing to ears attuned to music of the last century.
(Taken from the Fanfare Review: Ronald E. Grames)
The RIAS Second Viennese School Project Schoenberg / Berg / Webern
Release Date: 11/13/2012
Label: Audite Catalog #: 21412 Spars Code: DDD
Composer: Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton von Webern, Johann Strauss Jr.
Performer: Hans Bastiaan, Klaus Billing, Irmen Burmester, Hans-Peter Schmitz, ...
Conductor: Josef Rufer, Ferenc Fricsay, Winfried Zillig, Günther Arndt, ...
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin RIAS Symphony Orchestra, Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, ...
Number of Discs: 4
Works on This Recording
1. Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Hans Bastiaan (Violin), Klaus Billing (Piano), Irmen Burmester (Voice),
Hans-Peter Schmitz (Flute), Werner Haupt (Cello)
Conductor: Josef Rufer
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1912; Vienna, Austria
2. Chamber Symphony no 1 in E major, Op. 9 by Arnold Schoenberg
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1906; Vienna, Austria
3. Concerto for Piano, Op. 42 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Peter Stadlen (Piano)
Conductor: Winfried Zillig
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
4. Fantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Tibor Varga (Violin), Ernst Krenek (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
5. Book of the Hanging Gardens, Op. 15 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Suzanne Danco (Soprano), Hermann Reutter (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908-1909; Vienna, Austria
6. De profundis, Op. 50b by Arnold Schoenberg
Conductor: Günther Arndt
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1950; USA
7. Pieces (3) for Piano, Op. 11 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Eduard Steuermann (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1909; Vienna, Austria
8. Little Pieces (6) for Piano, Op. 19 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Eduard Steuermann (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911; Vienna, Austria
9. Pieces (5) for Piano, Op. 23 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Eduard Steuermann (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1920-1923; Vienna, Austria
10. Piece for Piano, Op. 33a by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Else C. Kraus (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928-1929; Berlin, Germany
11. Piece for Piano, Op. 33b by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Else C. Kraus (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931; Berlin, Germany
12. Trio for Violin, Viola and Cello, Op. 45 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Ernst Doberitz (Viola), Erich Röhn (Violin), Arthur Troester (Cello)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA
13. Suite for String Orchestra in G major by Arnold Schoenberg
Conductor: Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; USA
14. Lyric Suite for String Quartet by Alban Berg
Orchestra/Ensemble: Végh String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1926; Austria
15. Pieces (4) for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 by Alban Berg
Performer: Heinrich Geuser (Clarinet), Klaus Billing (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1913; Austria
16. Early Songs (7) by Alban Berg
Performer: Magda László (Soprano), Lothar Broddack (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1905-1908; Austria
17. Schliesse mir die Augen beide (I) by Alban Berg
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano), Hans Hilsdorf (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1907; Austria
18. Schliesse mir die Augen beide (II) by Alban Berg
Performer: Evelyn Lear (Soprano), Hans Hilsdorf (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1925; Austria
19. Passacaglia for Orchestra, Op. 1 by Anton von Webern
Conductor: Arthur Rother
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908; Vienna, Austria
20. Pieces (5) for Orchestra, Op. 10 by Anton von Webern
Conductor: Bruno Maderna
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911-1913; Austria
21. Pieces (4) for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 by Anton von Webern
Performer: André Gertler (Violin), Diane Andersen (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1910/1914; Preglhof
22. Der Zigeunerbaron: Schatz-Walzer, Op. 418 by Johann Strauss Jr.
Performer: Emil Hammermeister (Harmonium), Klaus Billing (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Bastiaan String Quartet
Period: Romantic
Written: 1885; Vienna, Austria
Notes: Arranger: Webern.
23. Das Spitzentuch der Königin: Rosen aus dem Süden Waltzes, Op. 388 by Johann Strauss Jr.
Performer: Emil Hammermeister (Harmonium), Klaus Billing (Piano)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Bastiaan String Quartet
Period: Romantic
Written: 1880; Vienna, Austria
Notes: Arranger: Schoenberg. 24. Fantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47 by Arnold Schoenberg
Performer: Rudolf Kolisch (Violin), Alan Willman (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
It goes with out saying that despite Wagner's antisemitic writing, many of Wagner’s closest associates were Jews—young
musicians who became personally devoted to the composer, and provided
indispensable help to his work and career. They included Hermann Levi, a
rabbi's son who conducted the premiere of Wagner’s Parsifal;
Angelo Neumann, who produced Wagner's works throughout Europe; and
Joseph Rubinstein, a pianist who lived with the Wagner family for years
and committed suicide when Wagner died.
The Gift
Published by the Wagner Journal and arguably central in assisting an understanding of Wagner's thought and work:
The first of this years twice yearly "Off Topic" articles comes to us via the so called Second Viennese School and this remarkable four disc set released at the end of last year. The entire 4 discs can be found on Spotify below. Should you not have access to this, but are still unsure whether this "is for you" and thus the price of the 4 cd boxset, the entire 4 albums can be downloaded as MP3s from Amazon for only £5.99! Also, included below is a playlist from Ulysstenetone, which may make as good an introduction as any to a few full works of the"SVS" - plus a little more (Mahler and Strauss included) . Sit back for a few hours and be delightfully "decadent" and "degenerate". Glass of wine (or beer), chaise lounge and cigarette holder, alas, not included. 
Back in 1997 "Media Café" released its now legendary "Ring Disc". A single CD Rom for PC that contained, in admittedly mono sound, the entire Solti Ring cycle, an English/German libretto that ran in time to the audio, a full piano score, detailed analysis of the work, characters, score and leitmotifs and much more. The disc remains a marvel of Ring scholarship and the best example of how computer media can be used to to investigate and increase ones appreciation and understanding of work such as Wagner's. Sadly, it has been long "officially" discontinued - despite the fact it still runs well in modern operating systems
Running well and without fault on the Ipad, the rather attractive looking app, provides a general overview to not only the Ring, but to Wagner, Bayreuth and the performance history of the Ring. However, it needs to be noted, with the exception of the Ring, these topics are covered only briefly - or at least maybe considered so to anyone with a knowledge of Wagner and his work. But as the app is really geared to investigate the leitmotifs, this is understandable. Nevertheless, those new to Wagner or who are just discovering his work, will find this background more than useful. A full list of all of the features can be found below, but let us now come to the where this app truly shines: its investigation of the leitmotifs and their use and development within the Ring.
As an example, if we turn to Die Walkure, and click on the "Renunciation" leitmotif, we find a brief overview to it, a sound sample of its use and then can, if we wish, trace its development within each drama. We could, if we wanted for example, listen to it when it is first heard in Die Walkure and then listen to it's first appearance in Das Rheingold. Here noting its use in both. We can then simply scroll down to note and listen to its use in Gotterdamerung. And so on for each leitmotif. It is worth mentioning that the authors note each leitmotif's development but also that we should be careful assuming that a particular leitmotif always has a particular emotional value - such as "good" or bad" - attached to it. So, using this example, in Das Rheingold, when the the Renunciation leitmotif is first used it is with deeply negative connotations - the renunciation of love that must be given by that person that wishes to seek the absolute power of the forging of the Ring. However, in Die Walkure it is used to announce Siegmund's renunciation of his past "woeful life". Thus given its place within the text, its emotional meaning shifts substantially. Nothing in Wagner is as simply or as straight forward as it can first seem.
"She might begin with "Margaret" and "Norma," if she liked, for in singing these popular operas she would acquire the whole of her voice, and also the great reputation which should precede and herald the final stage of her career. "Isolde," "Brunnhilde," "Kundry," Wagner's finest works, had remained unsung—they where merely howled. Evelyn should be the first to sing them. His eyes glowed with subdued passion as he thought of an afternoon, some three years hence, in the great theatre planned by the master himself, when he should see her rush in as the Witch Kundry"
Readers will we are sure, recall Dr Jamie McGregor's Wagner/Tolkien paper "Two Rings To Rule Them All" which we reprinted here some time ago. Dr McGregor, who really is an impassioned wagnerite, is now presenting a very unusual and special event on the 22 May: a one man presentation of the Dutchman - just as Wagner himself famously once did for his friends. Should you be in Grahamstown on the 22nd, we think it would be plainly silly to miss this unique event. 
Imagine, if you will, that you are a young 26 year old artist living in Paris in 1840. And not any old artist mind, but a
composer of long, sprawling operas. You have just completed one such opera
that will soon make your name and provide you with some economic
stability - but which you will eventually, at least publicly, reject -
called Rienzi .
If you were Richard Wagner you might turn, among other things, to earn a very meager living by correcting proofs of other peoples operas. Indeed, if you were Richard Wagner you might end up doing so on Donizetti's La favorita. But what if you were Richard Wagner, living in such conditions, and given the opportunity to earn, using your far from meager talents, the princely sum of 500 francs to prepare a piano vocal score and arrangements for various instrumental combinations, of said opera. Would you do it? Of course you would. 
