Musik als Geschichte – Geschichte als Musik

Inspired by some seemingly incidental notes in the drafts of Arnold Schönberg's Piano Concerto op. 42, pianist and composer Stefan Litwin set out in search of extra-musical interpretations of this twelve-tone composition. By carefully studying the score, deciphering the "leitmotifs" and considering the combination of numbers, he came to the conclusion that it is a sonic autobiography of Schönberg, whose four movements describe the decisive stages of his life - his youth in Vienna, the threat of National Socialism, war and exile in California.

"I've read the analysis and it's fascinating. I'm sure he [Schoenberg] didn't do many of these things consciously. Some will have been intuitive, or due to the fact that he had such a deeply 'stored' memory of his earlier works, and also due to his emotions, which were part of his inner being, his history/biography." Nuria Schoenberg-Nono

contents