Early and Unknown String Works [Limited Edition]

Arnold Schoenberg (Composer), Rangzen Strings (Orchestra), Rangzen Quartet (Orchestra), Christina Fong (Performer), Christopher Martin (Performer), Heather Storeng (Performer) | Format: DVD Audio

Product Details

• Performer: Christina Fong, Christopher Martin, Heather Storeng
• Orchestra: Rangzen Strings, Rangzen Quartet
• Composer: Arnold Schoenberg
• DVD Audio (January 5, 2007)
• Please Note: This is a DVD-Audio disc which is playable on most DVD players as well as all DVD-Audio players. Click here for additional information regarding compatibility.
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: OgreOgress productions
• ASIN: B000LXIMYM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #507,990 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

... some comments on a recording from the OgreOgress label, entitled Arnold Schoenberg: Early and Unknown String Works. OgreOgress, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, first came to my attention for several fine discs of previously unrecorded works of Morton Feldman: Violin and String Quartet, Early and Unknown Piano Works, and the complete music for violin and piano. The Schoenberg release, which was released last year, is available from the CD Baby outlet in either DVD Audio or MP3 format. The program follows Schoenberg's development from the very beginning to the very end of his career. The first part of the disc is given over to duets, trios, quartet pieces, and music for string ensemble in popular genres: polka, waltz, march, 'song without words,' and so on. They are hearty, pleasant, and generally unremarkable - though impressive in light of the fact that the composer may have been as young as eight when he wrote the first of them. The violinist Christine Fong, members of the Rangzen Quartet, and the Rangzen Strings play in a properly easygoing, almost folkish manner. In the Romance in D Minor (after 1882), the harmony takes a startlingly dissonant turn in places, though Viennese lyricism still predominates. Fragments of a D-minor quartet from 1901-1904 (distinct from the First Quartet in the same key) show Schoenberg well advanced in his harmonic quest, exploring ever more tangled contrapuntal thickets. Amid increasing complexity, it's a bit of a shock to hear the pure, suspended D major of a quintet sketch from 1905; it shares some of the magical atmosphere of the ending of Verklärte Nacht. It would seem that Schoenberg doubled back before moving ahead, perhaps not so conscious of the historical inevitability of his mission as his disciples would later claim.

The latter part of the disc contains not complete works but sketches and fragments by the mature Schoenberg: brief indications for a twelve-tone quartet from 1926, a quartet from the post-1927 period, and a Fifth String Quartet from 1949. (You can see much of the manuscript material ... [online] at the Schoenberg Center.) Again, the composer appears to grope forward rather than stride ahead. There is a tonal tinge to the 1926 material; this work would have begun in something very much like C minor, though it quickly spins away into ambiguous realms. The post-1927 fragment is in straight-ahead C major; it's so studiously simple that Schoenberg scholars initially dated it to the period around 1900. The 1949 sketches again skirt tonal regions at the outset before moving in a harsher, more expressionistic direction. One has to wonder how Schoenberg might have reacted to the more extreme developments of the 1950s avant-garde, particularly to the coming of Stockhausen and Boulez. This music seems to hint that the always contrary Schoenberg might have emphasized ever more strongly his 'classical' inheritance.

Fong and the Rangzens are exemplary throughout; they render even the briefest snippets of music with expressive conviction, somehow suggesting the larger structures that Schoenberg never wrote down. There are highly informative notes by none other than Severine Neff. --Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise, December 15th 2007

Product Description

Eleventh in a series with previously unreleased works by well-known composers, this 70-minute 96kHz|24bit Audio DVD features the world premiere recordings of 22 string works (8 complete, 15 fragments) by Arnold Schoenberg.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schoenberg, Early & Unknown String Works, November 28, 2008

By 

William Taylor (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Early and Unknown String Works (DVD Audio)

Schoenberg's string chamber music (the four numbered quartets, the early D major quartet, and the late string trio) includes some of the twentieth century's most significant compositions--think of the impact of the second quartet, for example. Schoenberg's estate, mostly held in the Schoenberg Center in Vienna, contains a number of early works, fragments and torsos that, while often referred to in discussions of the composer's music, have mostly remained unperformed. This hi-rez recording brings all this music to life, from the stuttering early waltzes to Schoenberg's thematic ideas for a projected fifth quartet, the chronological ordering enabling the listener to overhear the composer in his workshop. An inspired project that only an independent company would undertake, graced by strong, confident performances and that tactile 96/24 sound (is there a hi-rez recording of one of the numbered quartets?). Severine Neff's judicious liner notes complete a fascinating album that throws new light on Schoenberg's musical evolution.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schoenberg's Connection With His Past, November 28, 2008

By 

frankp93 "frankp93" (Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Early and Unknown String Works (DVD Audio)

For all of the "bad boy of modern music" reputation that saddled Schoenberg, particularly in his native Vienna, the composer insisted throughout his life that his work was not a total break with the past, but rather an inevitable progression and extension of many of its ideas and techniques.

This recording features a selection of pieces and fragments written in Schoenberg's earliest years as a composer and, importantly, an amateur player of the cello and viola. Schoenberg was not a conservatory-bred composer, but began by imitating the pieces in his lessons and those he performed with friends. Popular waltzes, folk tunes, and the Romantic repertoire of the day inspired him in these largely self-taught efforts.

The works are performed beautifully and, ironically I suspect, with far greater expertise than Schoenberg and his pals could ever have dreamt of at the time. But the value in hearing these pieces - aside from their straightforward musicality - is they provide at least a window, however speculative, into the man's connection to tradition and understanding of what it meant to be a musician of his time.

A minor but important point to note is the format of this recording is an audio DVD. If you want to listen on a CD player, you'll need something like Cinematize to extract the tracks to CD.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fong Plays Schonberg!!!, December 3, 2008

By 

Jeff Redmond (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Early and Unknown String Works (DVD Audio)

The Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra's very own Christina Fong has once again excelled, along with the Rangzen Quartet and Strings. Whereas the Austrian composer Arnold Schonberg is widely known throughout the classical music world, his early works are not so much so. This Audio DVD is not just a joy and delight to listen to. It is a wonderful opportunity to hear and experience Schonberg's hitherto unknown compositions. This truly remarkable production is most definitely a collector's item! Experience and enjoy..... {:-)