Today’s Advent piece may be a
bit of a surprise—a reworking of two traditional carols by a composer you might
not ordinarily associate with something calm or Christmassy.
As I
said last year, Michael Praetorius’ “Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen” is my
all-time favorite carol. And I’m quite the traditional purist when it comes to it.
Also, I’m not a huge fan of Arnold Schoenberg’s atonality.
So this is a step out of the
traditional, perhaps a step into the uncomfortable, but it’s not bad. Have a
listen; see what he’s put together for us:
Although born a Jew, in 1898 Schoenberg
converted to Lutheranism as both a cultural and defensive move—turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century
Vienna had strong strains of anti-Semitism flowing through it. In 1933 he
reverted back to Judaism, but he enjoyed celebrating Christmas, and he liked
the music. Ergo this and other pieces that don’t entirely rip the top of your
head off with musical clashes.
Schoenberg had held a teaching
post at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin since 1926. With Hitler’s rise
to power in 1933, he left Europe for the United States, teaching at both the
University of Southern California and at UCLA. He remained there until his
death, and it breaks my heart to think that in our current anti-Semitic and
xenophobic political climate, it’s likely that refugees like him could be
refused entry to this country.
But Germany would welcome him.
Anyhow—set all that aside for
now and just listen to something familiar and unfamiliar.
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Why can't I post this to Facebook?
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