Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Op. 4 / Trio, Op. 45

Arnold Schoenberg (Composer), Juilliard String Quartet (Performer), Walter Trampler (Performer), Yo-Yo Ma (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Juilliard String Quartet, Walter Trampler, Yo-Yo Ma
• Composer: Arnold Schoenberg
• Audio CD (January 12, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027PI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,606 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2 very distinct eras of Schoenberg..., August 7, 2005

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Op. 4 / Trio, Op. 45 (Audio CD)

This CD presents an opportunity to hear Schoenberg's justly famous and beautiful "Verklärte Nacht" in its original score for string sextet (the relatively more lush arrangement Schoenberg wrote for chamber orchestra - in 1917 and updated in 1943 - typically receives more performances in recordings and concert halls). Here the nuances of the piece along with its gorgeous harmonies, melodies, and counter melodies explode and reveal themselves more so than in the later re-arranged versions. "Verklärte Nacht" stands as one of the greatest achievements of early twentieth century music. As many have pointed out, it stands on the threshold of romanticism and the "new" tonalities of the twentieth century. Schoenberg experimented with dissonance in this piece and disturbed audiences at the time (though audiences today may wonder what was so offensive). In sextet, these dissonances have slightly more punch and are not as hidden behind a curtain of strings. Not only that, the piece still maintains its emotional impact even at this level of instrumentation.

The other piece on this disc journeys to the later half of Schoenberg's life. Schoenberg wrote "Verklärte Nacht" in 1899 near the beginning of his composing career (it carries the very early Opus number 4, which makes it even more remarkable). In contrast, the String Trio was written in 1946. The intervening years development between the Opus 4 and the Opus 45 shout forth rather saliently. The String Trio utilizes Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique. It is a wild piece, and a masterpiece of its genre. It followed a traumatic event in Schoenberg's late life. When he was 72 he suffered a severe asthma attack that caused his heart to stop. He had to be revived with an injection directly into his heart. A couple days of delirium followed. Schoenberg said that this trio played out the entire event musically (and called it his "delirium trio"). Just where the specific events occur in the piece are left to speculation, but nonetheless the story fits the mood of this incredible work.

This disc presents two incredible works of Schoenberg and also showcases his amazing development through the twentieth century by pure contrast of the works alone. And best of all, each piece receives an incredible performance from the always amazing Juilliard String Quartet (with two guests: the inimitable Yo-Yo Ma on Cello and Walter Trampler on viola).

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent playing of two great masterpieces, December 23, 2004

By 

Jonathan P. Higgins (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Op. 4 / Trio, Op. 45 (Audio CD)

I'll start out talking about the last work first, but please read the whole review. The String Trio Op.45 is one of the great works of the genre. One might see it in several ways. If one is tied to a "traditional" sense of melody and tonality, this piece is probably perplexing. For those who enjoy exploring new possibilities in sound, this is one of the most imaginitive works you could ever listen to - there's a surprise around every corner, and it's amazing that so many sounds come out of 3 instruments.
Verklarte Nacht is from much earlier in Schoenberg's career, during the last flowerings of the Post-Romantic style. This recording gives us the original string sextet version. I think the solo playing allows Schoenberg's beautiful melodies to sing much more than in the more commonly recorded string orchestra arrangement he did himself. While the beauties of the String Trio may take a while for some people to warm up to, Verklarte Nacht is about as "pretty" as you can get, even though you have to work through the turbulent first half before you get to the sweet stuff. And when it's sweet, it's very sweet. Schoenberg didn't take the "transfigured" part lightly. The last half is pure heaven and the coda will send shivers up your spine. It's one of my absolute favorite works.
The performances are wonderful.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plush readings of two modern landmarks, November 3, 2009

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Op. 4 / Trio, Op. 45 (Audio CD)

These are deluxe readings, in vivid sound, from performers who know how to make Schoenberg sound luscious and rich. On that score, the original sextet version of Verklarte Nacht receives a thoroughly admirable reading, if a bit short on postromantic fervor. Ensemble is excellent, and the presence of two virtuosos in the person of violist Walter Trampler and cellist Yo-Yo Ma makes the sonority as plush as possible. But for many listeners the String Trio from 1946, being late Schoenberg, will inspire caution if not outright distaste.

Contrary to earlier reviews, the String Trio isn't a wild work. It's among the composer's most gentle and reflective. By the end of his life Schoenberg was long past the lurid expressionism of 1908-1913, out of which came neurotic, nearly hysterical works that audiences still run away from, like Erwartung and Pierrot Lunaire. The String Trio may be serial, but Schoenberg's style had made peace with tonality and triads, not as the basis for his harmony but as useful expressive devices. The narrative of his near-death experience helps the listener enter into the work, which is marked by a fierce violin pizzicato at the moment when the needle was plunged into Schoenberg's arrested heart (he referred to it as the needle of death). The delirium he entered gives us musical wisps of waltzes and other memories of his early years in Vienna.

But most important is the fact that the work was written in white-hot inspiration, which was always Schoenberg's way at his most successful. He needed a united conception of sound, timbre, rhythm, and mood to hold together each piece. The fact that the harmonies depended on complexly intellectual theory is beside the point for us in the audience, who were never expected, even by the composer, to follow such intricacies. We were meant to respond to each work on its own terms. In this case, the String Trio's reflective inner quality, the blended sound of strings that form a single instrument, and a recurrent triple rhythm create easy anchors for entering the listening experience. The performance by the Juilliard is rich in sonority and dramatized quite romantically -- not the only way to play the work but an accessible way to be sure. In all, this is a disc where early and late Schoenberg offer equally enjoyable rewards.