As the oldest document in our Archive, Arnold Schönberg’s smallpox vaccination certificate is from the early summer of 1876. Issued in Vienna and regularly taken to different homes in Europe and the US, the certificate returned to Vienna with the composer’s Estate around 120 years after the vaccination took place.
Arnold Schönberg’s Waltzes for string orchestra will be performed to an international audience on January 1, 2022. Members of the Vienna Philharmonic will play these early pieces composed by the “conservative revolutionary” in the film during the interval of the New Year’s Concert.
“I want: The utmost unreality!” Arnold Schönberg’s drama with music in one act “Die glückliche Hand” (1910–13) – a model of musical expressionism – was premiered in Vienna’s Volksoper as many as eleven years after its completion.
Around 1920, Arnold Schönberg tried out a game for four armed forces with his coalition or alliance chess, inspired by the World War I military arsenal. We have summarized the basic rules and game variants, the figures’ moves and their distribution, and also prepared 3D scans of the figures. Try it yourself!
“Please don’t advertise! I have no wish for publicity! I do not wish to be one of those people who stop at nothing to promote themselves. You must understand this!” Sending an insistent plea to concert agent Emil Gutmann at the end of September 1912, Schönberg urgently requested that the final rehearsal of his “Pierrot lunaire” be attended solely by invited guests, and not open to music critics.
The transcription of the 60+ diaries and calendars from the years 1900 and 1910–1951 owned by Arnold Schönberg which have survived in the composer’s estate has now been completed in time for the 147th anniversary of the composer’s birth on September 13.
“It is astonishing: Görgi has entered the Akademie and is learning: ... the horn; also the piano, as well as (with Kolisch) the violin privately. He is presently very interested and proficient.”
52 countries, 809 towns and cities, 3953 addresses, 1260 companies, 2655 senders and recipients of letters, 21783 catalog numbers: Arnold Schönberg’s correspondence from the years between 1891 and 1951 contains a wealth of background information on his works and biography, and also on his life in Europe and the USA.
Arnold Schönberg owned over 400 phonograph records of his own compositions, others’ works and spoken-voice recordings. Professional productions and audio documentaries reflect the complex of reproduction aesthetics and recording techniques in the first half of the 20th century, as well as documenting the life and work of a composer active in several countries on two continents.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Arnold Schönberg’s death, his testaments from the years 1915–1950 that have survived in the Estate have now been made available in our image archive in a digitized and transcribed form. Predominantly formulated without any legal assistance, the testaments include artistic insights besides the habitual inheritance aspects.
The 100th anniversary of Arnold Schönberg’s birthday (13 September 1874) was celebrated in a variety of ways in Vienna; the city itself commissioned the Austrian artist Fritz Wotruba to design a monument to the composer at the Central Cemetery.
On July 13, 2021 it will be the 70th anniversary of Arnold Schönberg’s death. We are taking this day of remembrance as an opportunity to present previously unpublished film material that grants an insight into the day of the composer’s funeral on July 17, 1951 in Los Angeles.
“For me, it was as if the sun had ceased to shine.” These are the last words René Leibowitz wrote in a letter of condolence to Arnold Schönberg’s widow after his death on 13 July 1951. Now, on the composer’s 70th memorial day, we present some selected documents from the telegrams and letters Gertrud Schönberg received, expressions of consolation and homage.
On the occasion of our online exhibition "Centenary: The Mattsee Incident. Arnold Schönberg and summer retreat antisemitism in the Salzkammergut" we have integrated the related newspaper clippings into the library database.
The pandemic has permanently changed the way we experience culture. Online events have become a reliable, widely accepted alternative for concert halls. However, digital offerings cannot replace the live experience for audiences or performers.
Arnold Schönberg's pictorial œuvre comprises approximately 350 work numbers. A majority of the paintings, drawings and designs were created in Vienna between 1906 and 1911: self-portraits, portraits, impressions and fantasies, caricatures, nature pieces, as well as studies and figurines for stage works.
The Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Center presents selected papers of the symposium held at the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna in October 2019. One focus was a one-day roundtable on sketching in Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg on the threshold of atonality and during the transition to twelve-tone composing.
Between December 29, 1936 and January 8, 1937, the Kolisch Quartet made a complete recording of Arnold Schönberg’s string quartets. At cost price, selected persons, including Jascha Heifetz and George Gershwin, purchased one of the 25 sets with 23 records each. On March 14, the Arnold Schönberg Center will broadcast Schönberg's 4th String Quartet, op. 37, with digital copies of recordings from its own collection.
“Please find enclosed some of the reviews published to date. You will observe that besides the utmost goodwill shown towards your creative work, opposition is still widespread.” (Emil Gutmann concert bureau to Arnold Schönberg, October 11, 1912)
Arnold Schönberg’s study in his house at Brentwood Park/Los Angeles is on display as a replica at the Arnold Schönberg Center. The room has the same dimensions as the composer’s original study (16 sq. m./172,2 sq. ft.) and contains a variety of objects that document the original environment for his intellectual work.
