The First World War was not merely a global military conflict; it also had far reaching implications for civilian life. It called upon women to become a fundamental part of the war effort, carrying out domestic labor, waged industrial labor,

If Gurre-Lieder was a cantata and The Book of the Hanging Gardens a song cycle, then we must separate out one more large cycle for examination. It’s not song as we might recognize it from Schubert and Schumann, but rather

The two big song cycles the Gurre-Lieder and the Book of the Hanging Gardens are actually even larger than normal. Gurre-Lieder is actually a cantata. The title means “Songs of Gurre,” referring to Gurre Castle in Denmark and the songs

We don’t generally think of Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) as a song composer but he wrote them from his earliest days as a composer in the early 1890s until the early 1930s. The poets that he set were some of the

In January 1911, the painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was in Munich and went to a concert. He and the other members of the Munich New Artists’ Association heard something that changed Kandinsky’s whole artistic theory. The concert was of music

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) rightfully considered himself the musical successor to both Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms. Simultaneously extending their traditionally opposed German Romantic styles, Schoenberg started work on a song cycle for soprano, tenor and piano in 1900. For his

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht op.4 La Nuit transfigurée / Transfigured Night V. Adagio (molto tranquillo) From Berg: Lyric Suite / Schoenberg: Transfigured Night (2014) Released by Harmonia Mundi Schoenberg: Transfigured Night op.4The First World War, that crucible of every kind of

Just the mention of Arnold Schoenberg strikes fear in the hearts and ears of most listeners. But can you guess what struck the fear of god into Arnold Schoenberg? Somewhat ironically, the composer experienced a paralyzing fear of the number