Karim Said: My Schoenberg Top Five
Pianist Karim Said selects his favourite recordings of music by Arnold Schoenberg in an exclusive IDAGIO playlist, and explains what makes them so compelling and rewarding.
Read more…Ode to Napoleon
Edward Steuermann's recordings of Schoenberg are very important, not only because he studied with the great composer, but also because he belonged to that pioneering generation of modernists at the turn of the last century who were redefining beauty in music. As a performer/composer who worked closely with the Second Viennese School – in fact he premiered several of its works – his interpretations came out of a deep rooted and organic understanding of this music. The 'Ode to Napoleon' is a captivating work that gives new meaning to Lord Byron's words when one considers Hitler's placement in Europe at the time of its composition (1942).
This is a joint venture in a rare live recording from 1944 by the American-Polish conductor Artur Rodziński, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Steuermann (piano). It has a freshness and novelty about it, reflected in the group effort to tackle a work that was very new at the time. Rodziński took over conductorship of this orchestra in 1943, succeeding Barbirolli and Toscanini – two famously passionate conductors, steeped in the music of the very 19th century romantic tradition that Schoenberg claims to have grown out of as a composer. I particularly enjoy the lushness and expressionism of the strings in the opening (as scary and eerie at it is), the atmospheric use of harmonics and the almost percussive word painting of 'desolate' (minutes 3:59'- 4:02) in the piano . Steuermann's lyrical tone in the beautiful solos that underline the ode is exactly the sort of subtlety and sophistication that I love about performances by artists of this era.
Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
I got to know this work intimately while attending West-Eastern Divan Orchestra rehearsals at the Salzburg Festival in 2007, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. I remember being amazed at how carefully he took the piece apart, balancing different elements of this complex score to create a very clear texture and emphasising the main melodic lines constantly. This made the work approachable and coherent to me as a listener, and it is with these qualities in mind that I chose this recording by Pierre Boulez. Furthermore, I find Boulez's signature coolheaded composer's insight as performer – highlighting the importance of gesture and drama over sentimentality – very potent, especially in this work.
The piece needs a certain degree of effort from the listener, who would do well to create mental images while listening to the haunting ostinato of the introduction, for example, or indeed the frightening tremolos that start the 'Finale'. A sense of narrative helps; one goes through the romanticism of the cello line in the theme, to the elegant dance-like rhythms of the first variation, to the percussive yet expressive use of the mandolin alongside the flute melody in the fourth variation, the stimulating conversation between wind parts in the very fast eighth variation – which I find both dark and playful – and the majestic French horn parts in the ninth variation. This work is a blank canvas for the listener's imagination.
Piano Concerto
Glenn Gould is one of my favourite artists. I grew up listening to and learning from his legendary recordings of the Goldberg Variations, as most pianists do. However, I find his interpretations of renaissance and second Viennese music equally captivating. In fact he has been a role model in many ways, especially as a recording artist. Following this live recording of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto with the score is a very good idea – there is an uncompromising determination about this performance, especially with regard to the application of the various performance instructions. I especially enjoy the Viennese charm of the opening, the distorted melodies accompanied by beautifully executed fast gestures in the first movement and the characteristic rhythmic tightness in the last movement. I recommend listening out for the amazing dialogue between piano and brass at around minute 1'36" in the third movement, followed by a deeply moving piano solo from minute 1'48". I think this solo has the perfect combination of almost self-conscious persistence in the theatrical gestures and pure lyricism and romanticism in the phrasing. A very emotionally invested performance indeed.
Orchestral Transcription of Bach, J S: Prelude & Fugue for Organ in E flat major, BWV552 'St Anne'
Orchestrated in 1928/9, towards the end of Schoenberg's time in Europe, this work is a true showcase for the composer's creative skills as an arranger. I chose to include this piece on a list of otherwise original works because I find that this particular orchestration changes the piece's fundamental character, turning it into a work in its own right. However, there are times when I feel he emulates the sound of the organ, such as the final chords of both the prelude (starting at 8'38") and the fugue, with sustaining qualities that are very well brought out in this recording by Ozawa and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. The performance is extremely well balanced, and it's full of transparency and clarity in the sound.
I'm particularly excited by the celeste, harp and glockenspiel in minutes 3'30" to 3'40", the way Schoenberg lightens the texture of the orchestration with solo violin writing at around 4'15" and the way the violins join the piccolo line on a long note at 7'07"; this is an unusual point in the phrase for that sort of movement between parts.
I love the way he uses percussion instruments in this arrangement, with a clear reference to Brahms's orchestral style to my ears. The cymbal crash around 2'08" has a powerful effect, marking the melodic entry in the strings as an important structural point, just before a change of colour and mood by using the triangle at 2'30". I also love the trombone writing at around 12'26", which paves the way to the end of the work with pomp and grandeur.
Three Pieces for Piano op. 11
"My music must be brief. Concise! In two notes: not built, but 'expressed"' – those were Schoenberg's words to his friend, the pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924) in 1909. He wrote them as he completed his Three Pieces for Piano op. 11. In that correspondence, Schoenberg yearns to "strive for complete liberation from all forms, from all symbols of cohesion and logic", which, especially as far logic is concerned, is rather an unexpected statement to make when one considers his highly methodical, almost Beethovenian development of the opening theme of the first piece. His intended "liberation from all forms" is only really true in the third piece, with its angular melodic outbursts and short phrases.
My first experience of Mitsuko Uchida performing Schoenberg was at a concert in London's Royal Festival Hall, where she performed the Piano Concerto. I found her dedication to and characterisation of this music very inspiring, just as I do when listening to her recording of Op. 11. She brings out the inherent gloom in the waltz-like first piece, the slightly murky, Mahlerian orchestral sonorities in the second and the dramatic outbursts in the theatrical third piece with unbelievable characterisation in the sound, as well as clarity in both the palette of colours she produces and the structure. This is an exceptional recording.