Item #33284 [Op. 27]. Vier Stücke für gemischten Chor Op. 27. Arnold SCHOENBERG.
[Op. 27]. Vier Stücke für gemischten Chor Op. 27

[Op. 27]. Vier Stücke für gemischten Chor Op. 27

Wien: Universal-Edition [PN. U.E. 8549], 1926.

Small folio. Full dark green cloth, titling gilt to spine. 1f. (title, contents), 3-4 (texts), 5 (notes on performance), 6-35 pp.

Binding slightly rubbed. Light horizontal crease throughout.

First Edition. Rufer (E), pp. 46-48. GA B/18/2, pp. 22-23.

"Notwithstanding the twelve-tone language, the first piece in particular is strongly reminiscent of the choral settings handed down from the 19th century, with the intonation difficulties due to the dodecaphony compensated by markedly light rhythm deployment. The four-voice texture accords firmly with the tradition of tried-and-true balance of construction and sound, whereby the melodic idiom also adheres to those principles of simplicity; two row permutations are intertwined – the basic set and its inversion, transposed down a fifth. Intellectually, No. 2, Du sollst nicht, is closely related to Die Jakobsleiter and Moses und Aron. Schönberg biographers agree that this piece constitutes a significant step in his return to the Jewish faith. Whereas Die Jakobsleiter still constitutes an eclectic mix of ideas originating with Balzac, Strindberg and anthroposophy, this chorus propounds a recapitulation of the Jewish prohibition of images as a theological certainty.

For the third and fourth choruses Schönberg selected a favorite source of the Vienna School, the anthology The Chinese Flute by Hans Bethge. No. 3, Mond und Menschen, juxtaposes the constancy of the moon’s orbit and the vagabond uncertainty of human life. No. 4, Der Wunsch des Liebhabers, is attended by four instruments: mandolin, clarinet, violin and cello. The chorus and the instruments are closely interwoven; one instrument plays the melody in the form of the basic set or inversion while the other three accompany, the mandolin representing the Lover, its fulsome manner recalling the custom of serenading." Agnes Grond, the Arnold Schönberg Center.

Item #33284

Price: $250.00  other currencies

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