Chamber Symphony No. 1

The Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E flat major op 9 is a pioneering work of the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. The first of the two versions, Op 9a, for 15 solo instruments, was completed on 25 July 1906 in Rottach -Egern and premiered on February 8, 1907 in the Great Hall of the Vienna Musikverein by the Rosé Quartet and members of the Vienna Court Opera. Another performance on 31 March 1913, together with other works of the "Second Viennese School ", became a scandal (scandal Concert 1913).

The first Chamber Symphony at the end of Schoenberg's early, late Romantic tonal creative period and marks a turning point towards works in free tonality. The second version, op 9b, for large orchestra was first performed, conducted by Schönberg, 1935 in Los Angeles.

The play differs in several characteristics from the conventional, classical-romantic symphony from:

  • Instrumentation: The original version calls for 15 solo instruments, the string parts and flute and oboe are so easily occupied. Only later in several revisions Schoenberg tried to adapt his work to the standard orchestral operation to allow more performances. Schoenberg conducts with op 9 an then from the 1920s is observed with many composers tendency (for example, in Paul Hindemith's chamber music op 36 or Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat ), works instead for large orchestra for smaller, situationally - individually assembled occupations to. Write The individual compilation shows here is that the horns and clarinets are triple manned relatively strong in contrast to the only singly occupied flute, oboe and English horn twice. This causes together with the amplified by the contrabassoon in the bass bassoon a hard, metallic and nasal sound of the horn section. The partially deep, dark sound of the brass section is enhanced by the solo compared to a conventional board composition ( about five first and four second violins, four violas, four cellos and a double bass) proportionately relatively more occupied with deep playing instruments string section.
  • Spatial positioning: Schoenberg writes here in a contemporary unusual way, the exact spatial formation of groups of instruments before. Front have to stand on the left and right of the conductor, the strings behind the stationed in a number of woodwind (including the woodwind group associated English horn ), and the back are arranged centrally, the two horns.
  • Form: While traditional symphony is usually applied in four sets and ever larger forms have been developed since Beethoven ( to Gustav Mahler's works several hours ), the Chamber Symphony limited to a single 22 -minute set. Schoenberg has all the thematic functions that occur ( exposition, development, recapitulation, different tempos and rhythms, contrapuntal interweaving of different themes ... ) in a symphony concentrated in one sentence.
  • Melody / harmony: The piece has two main motives. First, a ( introduced by the horn at the beginning ) " Fanfare " from rising fourths ( the later so-called " Fanfare of the New Music "). Here is a five-stage fourth chord by successive occurrence of the tones C - F - B - It - As established in the various instruments. This vertical quartal harmony solves the composer then by the horizontal Quart sequence C - F - B - It - Ace - Des in the horns in a triad harmony.
  • Secondly, a (first occurring in the Cello) whole-tone scale melody.
  • The importance of these two sections / principles and their mutual relationship for the full works confirmed Schoenberg himself with the following words:

Both are structures that are the major -minor tonal Listen largely alien. Although is mapped as a basic key of E major work, but the outdated functional harmony stretches is already resolved - which, you know where Schoenberg's further development would lead him to task the major-minor tonality and free - atonal, expressionist works.

Fourth chords and melodik and whole-tone scales and chords, from the very Impressionism, such as the works of Claude Debussy, known, were later to a common stylistic device in musical expressionism and subsequently in the jazz harmonies.

The musical events in the Chamber Symphony is extremely condensed many topics evolve in parallel, happened resolutions of dissonances imperceptibly or are already masked by newly matriculated dissonances. The tonal references ( ie the fact that melodies and harmonies can be related to an underlying harmony central ) seem to be stretched to breaking. Formal is the piece in E major, but you lose on certain routes each key awareness. The overall impression is nervous, very " expressive " and extremely colorful in tonal richness.

Schoenberg says 1937 looking back over the meaning of the first Chamber Symphony on the development of his own musical language:

" After I finished the composition of the Chamber Symphony, it was not only the expectation of success that filled me with joy. It was something different and more important. I thought that I would have found my own personal style of composition, and expected that all problems [ ... ] would be solved, so that a way out of the confusing problems would be rejected, in which we were young composer entangled by the harmonic, formal, orchestral and emotional changes of Richard Wagner. "

The Chamber Symphony is now one of the classics of modern and has various inspired composers in the 20th century.

Work on the second chamber symphony, a sister plant, Schoenberg began shortly after the completion of the first. It was completed, however, until much later, in October 1939, in exile in America.

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