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Arnold Schoenberg’s Journey
Winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award in Concert Music Books
Proposing that Arnold Schoenberg has been more discussed than heard, more tolerated than loved, Allen Shawn puts aside ultimate judgments about Schoenberg’s place in music history to explore the composer’s fascinating world in a series of linked essays―“soundings”―that are both searching and wonderfully suggestive. Approaching Schoenberg primarily from the listener’s point of view, Shawn plunges into the details of some of Schoenberg’s works while at the same time providing a broad overview of his involvements in music, painting, and the history through which he lived.
Proposing that Arnold Schoenberg has been more discussed than heard, more tolerated than loved, Allen Shawn puts aside ultimate judgments about Schoenberg’s place in music history to explore the composer’s fascinating world in a series of linked essays―“soundings”―that are both searching and wonderfully suggestive. Approaching Schoenberg primarily from the listener’s point of view, Shawn plunges into the details of some of Schoenberg’s works while at the same time providing a broad overview of his involvements in music, painting, and the history through which he lived.
368 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 10, 2024
FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD
FOR NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE.
- Me & Bobby McGee
I AM NEVER MERRY WHEN I HEAR SWEET MUSIC.
Shakespeare.
Schoenberg’s music sings of Freedom of Expression in an Unfree, Draconian Age: the Age of Twentieth Century Totalitarianism.
When we had nothing left to lose but our FREEDOM.
But Schoenberg was burnt out, furious, and faded at the end - and Very misunderstood to boot.
It was the Wrong Time to talk of Freedom.
But, then, 10 years after his death, the amorality of the Swinging Sixties had given freedom even more of a Bad Rap - as just Nothing Left to Lose.
He must have turned over in his grave, this beautiful, conflicted and decent man... whom, by the way, Thomas Mann unjustly Excoriated in Doctor Faustus!
Arnold Schoenberg is a composer whose music deserves to be much more widely heard than was then or is presently the case.
Or, perhaps, atonal modern music is a don’t-go-there type of bugaboo for you!
Relax... you’re not alone.
Do you know, for example, that in the McCarthyist fifties, like-minded Hollywood producers - and directors like Hitchcock - of noir-ish suspense and psychological films, PURPOSEFULLY instilled that attitude in us?
That’s right.
Remember the spiralling atonal insanity of the Vertigo soundtrack?
As in thirties Berlin, 50’s atonal composers were blacklisted through simple negative reinforcement of their weirdness, subliminally inserted - though Hitler’s modus operandi was negative labelling - and that aura of weirdness stuck even more, twenty years later.
Kids dancing the Twist and drinking Cokes defined the term ‘cool’ with dumb conformity - over and against the acutely intelligent musical nerds.
And it stuck throughout the Cold War and into Free Market Me-first-ism.
Nothing Left to Lose!
Even Christianity is uncool to us now, in the saccharine sound of pop Christian music. That’s what the Religion of Agape-Love has come to.
After all, guys, we’ve ANESTHETIZED our Hearts as WELL as our brains now!
And we’re too cool for rules... OR the factual truths of religion (see Schoenberg’s quote in my notes)!
Where does that leave us Millenium-Agers?
Very much in the dark - as was perhaps intended by the Government-funded Brain Trusts of the Thirties, in their more emasculating moments - Mediocrity Rules.
For we are now threatened by a new “coolly” abysmal ignorance of our roots, at the very heart of society.
And so have to re-energize our Hearts.
But - Schoenberg can do that quite handily and abruptly.
Through his stark, but personally compassionate REALISM.
AND he‘s so much easier to listen to now, as the author says - bombarded as we are constantly by aggressive sounds.
You know, the widespread racial and religious crisis that led to the bloodbath of WWII was NOT resolved by more Liberal attitudes in society.
Wanna know the truth?
It was quite the opposite - it was resolved by the birth of Cool, and JUST NOT GIVING A D*MN ABOUT THE WORLD.
Politicians constantly tell us to remember the lessons of history.
Why - just so we can get another tired new slogan from them?
Enough trite formulas, guys!
No, Schoenberg is right, and this book tries to tell you why.
It’s because he wants to thaw our frozen HEARTS.
BEFORE they pass their (and our) Expiry Dates..
Yep. It’s so simple - JUST TRY TO HAVE A HEART, GUYS!
FOR NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE.
- Me & Bobby McGee
I AM NEVER MERRY WHEN I HEAR SWEET MUSIC.
Shakespeare.
Schoenberg’s music sings of Freedom of Expression in an Unfree, Draconian Age: the Age of Twentieth Century Totalitarianism.
When we had nothing left to lose but our FREEDOM.
But Schoenberg was burnt out, furious, and faded at the end - and Very misunderstood to boot.
It was the Wrong Time to talk of Freedom.
But, then, 10 years after his death, the amorality of the Swinging Sixties had given freedom even more of a Bad Rap - as just Nothing Left to Lose.
He must have turned over in his grave, this beautiful, conflicted and decent man... whom, by the way, Thomas Mann unjustly Excoriated in Doctor Faustus!
Arnold Schoenberg is a composer whose music deserves to be much more widely heard than was then or is presently the case.
Or, perhaps, atonal modern music is a don’t-go-there type of bugaboo for you!
Relax... you’re not alone.
Do you know, for example, that in the McCarthyist fifties, like-minded Hollywood producers - and directors like Hitchcock - of noir-ish suspense and psychological films, PURPOSEFULLY instilled that attitude in us?
That’s right.
Remember the spiralling atonal insanity of the Vertigo soundtrack?
As in thirties Berlin, 50’s atonal composers were blacklisted through simple negative reinforcement of their weirdness, subliminally inserted - though Hitler’s modus operandi was negative labelling - and that aura of weirdness stuck even more, twenty years later.
Kids dancing the Twist and drinking Cokes defined the term ‘cool’ with dumb conformity - over and against the acutely intelligent musical nerds.
And it stuck throughout the Cold War and into Free Market Me-first-ism.
Nothing Left to Lose!
Even Christianity is uncool to us now, in the saccharine sound of pop Christian music. That’s what the Religion of Agape-Love has come to.
After all, guys, we’ve ANESTHETIZED our Hearts as WELL as our brains now!
And we’re too cool for rules... OR the factual truths of religion (see Schoenberg’s quote in my notes)!
Where does that leave us Millenium-Agers?
Very much in the dark - as was perhaps intended by the Government-funded Brain Trusts of the Thirties, in their more emasculating moments - Mediocrity Rules.
For we are now threatened by a new “coolly” abysmal ignorance of our roots, at the very heart of society.
And so have to re-energize our Hearts.
But - Schoenberg can do that quite handily and abruptly.
Through his stark, but personally compassionate REALISM.
AND he‘s so much easier to listen to now, as the author says - bombarded as we are constantly by aggressive sounds.
You know, the widespread racial and religious crisis that led to the bloodbath of WWII was NOT resolved by more Liberal attitudes in society.
Wanna know the truth?
It was quite the opposite - it was resolved by the birth of Cool, and JUST NOT GIVING A D*MN ABOUT THE WORLD.
Politicians constantly tell us to remember the lessons of history.
Why - just so we can get another tired new slogan from them?
Enough trite formulas, guys!
No, Schoenberg is right, and this book tries to tell you why.
It’s because he wants to thaw our frozen HEARTS.
BEFORE they pass their (and our) Expiry Dates..
Yep. It’s so simple - JUST TRY TO HAVE A HEART, GUYS!
December 30, 2008
If you are brave enough to tackle the music of Arnold Schoenberg, then there is no reason not to have a helpful guide along the way. Schoenberg is an unlucky composer in that his full oeuvre can be appreciated only after a significant investment from his audience. Usually, those without the will power give up. But Allen Shawn takes us on a very personal and enthusiastic journey through Schoenberg's life, giving the push some of us need to get our brain around the difficult bits of his Art. Many of the common questions are addressed, such as: why did Schoenberg write atonal music; why did serial music end up the way it did; or was he just pulling our collective legs? The book will inspire you to listen, truly listen, to his music. And it is time well spent because Schoenberg was a gifted composer and one of the great musicians of our time.
December 28, 2019
Not sure what I was looking for but this had trouble holding my interest.
March 25, 2017
Rereading this book takes me back to the summer of 2007 when I first read it. As then I enjoyed every moment of its readable and eve witty text. The author discusses Schoenberg's music and life together in a way that makes them both vivid and informative. He analyzes the music in detail, leaving the reader with an appreciation for the revolutionary impact of Schoenberg's passionate musical genius.
Along the way the cultural environment of the composer is explored and you learn about composers who influenced and helped Schoenberg. It was a revelation to this reader that Schoenberg was a painter as well. In this endeavor he benefited from his friendship with Gustav Klimt who also was interested in music. The book is organized into thirty essays in roughly chronological order. They cover major periods of development in the musical life of the composer, culminating with retrospective discussions of his impact on musical life and other composers. The discussion of Stravinsky was illuminating in its showing his development in comparison with Schoenberg. A bibliographic essay augments the value of this study for those who want to further explore Schoenberg's music and life.
With its focus on the listener's point of view it is one of the best books on music and artistic culture that I have encountered. The survey of both music composition and the life of musical genius is deep enough to inform without too much esoteric detail. I would recommend it to all who want to better understand both Schoenberg and the development of early twentieth century culture.
Along the way the cultural environment of the composer is explored and you learn about composers who influenced and helped Schoenberg. It was a revelation to this reader that Schoenberg was a painter as well. In this endeavor he benefited from his friendship with Gustav Klimt who also was interested in music. The book is organized into thirty essays in roughly chronological order. They cover major periods of development in the musical life of the composer, culminating with retrospective discussions of his impact on musical life and other composers. The discussion of Stravinsky was illuminating in its showing his development in comparison with Schoenberg. A bibliographic essay augments the value of this study for those who want to further explore Schoenberg's music and life.
With its focus on the listener's point of view it is one of the best books on music and artistic culture that I have encountered. The survey of both music composition and the life of musical genius is deep enough to inform without too much esoteric detail. I would recommend it to all who want to better understand both Schoenberg and the development of early twentieth century culture.
June 30, 2008
There are several works by Schoenberg amid my CD collection. But there is no work by him that I can claim to like or enjoy very much (save the occassional airing of parts of the Gurrelieder). So he's hardly a composer I can claim to have any interest in. In any event, this book was a good story and a good look at a composer that some consider the most important of the 20th century (I, of course, disagree.) But he had an interesting career.
February 1, 2009
A perfect introduction to a very thorny man. I think Allen Shawn is completely right that Shoenberg would be appreciated by more people if he were listened to more "naively," with less of an ear towards theory and more towards the music's effect and emotional life. Shawn's writing is clear and easy to follow, regardless of musical background, and clearly comes from a love for the music and a fascination with the man.
May 26, 2012
Before he became a best selling memoirist, the composer brother of Wallace, and son of New Yorker William wrote this quirky and sensible musical biography of the 20th century's greatest composer. Next to Glenn Gould, Shawn is the most articulate advocate of Schoenberg's singular importance. There are also some lovely samples of Schoenberg's wall art. Like e.e cummings, he might have enjoyed a successful career in visual art had he never written a line in his other creative language.
October 17, 2022
man what the hell. i did not understand a word of this
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews