Table Of ContentSchoenbergandRedemption
SchoenbergandRedemptionpresentsanewwayofunderstanding
Schoenberg’sstepintoatonalityin1908.Reconsideringhisthresholdand
earlyatonalworks,aswellashistheoreticalwritingsandarangeofprevi-
ouslyunexploredarchivaldocuments,JulieBrownarguesthatSchoenberg’s
revolutionarystepwasinpartaresponsetoWagner’snegativecharges
concerningtheJewishinfluenceonGermanmusic.In1898andespecially
1908Schoenberg’sJewishidentitycameintoconfrontationwithhiscom-
mitmenttoWagnerianmodernismtoprovideanimpetustohisradical
innovations.Whileacknowledgingthebroaderturn-of-the-century
Viennesecontext,Browndrawsspecialattentiontocontinuitiesbetween
Schoenberg’sworkandthatofViennesemoralphilosopherOttoWeininger,
himselfanideologicalWagnerian.Shealsoconsiderstheafterlifeofthe
composer’sideologicalpositionwhen,inthelate1920sandearly1930s,the
conceptof‘redeeming’GermancultureofitsJewishelementstookavery
differentturn.
JULIEBROWNisAssociateProfessoratRoyalHolloway,UniversityofLondon.
Shehaspublishedarticlesandbooksonearlytwentieth-centurymusic,
includingBartókandtheGrotesque:StudiesinModernity,theBodyand
ContradictioninMusic(2007);hereditedcollectionWesternMusicandRace
(2007)wasawardedtheAmericanMusicologicalSociety’sRuthA.Solie
Award(2008).Shealsopublishesonscreenmusic,withanincreasing
specialisminthesonicdimensionofearlyfilmexhibition:sheiscontributing
editor(withAnnetteDavison)ofTheSoundsoftheSilentsinBritain(2013).
NewPerspectivesinMusicHistoryandCriticism
Generaleditors:JeffreyKallberg,AnthonyNewcombandRuthSolie
Thisseriesexplorestheconceptualframeworksthatshapeorhaveshapedthe
waysinwhichweunderstandmusicanditshistory,andaimstoelaborate
structuresofexplanation,interpretation,commentaryandcriticismwhich
makemusicintelligibleandwhichprovideabasisforargumentabout
judgementsofvalue.Theintellectualscopeoftheseriesisbroad.Some
investigationswilltreat,forexample,historiographicaltopics,otherswill
applycross-disciplinarymethodstothecriticismofmusic,andtherewillalso
bestudieswhichconsidermusicinitsrelationtosociety,cultureandpolitics.
Overall,theserieshopestocreateagreaterpresenceformusicintheongoing
discourseamongthehumansciences.
Publishedtitles
LeslieC.DunnandNancyA.Jones(eds.),EmbodiedVoices:Representing
FemaleVocalityinWesternCulture
DowningA.Thomas,MusicandtheOriginsofLanguage:Theoriesfromthe
FrenchEnlightenment
ThomasS.Grey,Wagner’sMusicalProse
DanielK.L.Chua,AbsoluteMusicandtheConstructionofMeaning
AdamKrims,RapMusicandthePoeticsofIdentity
AnnetteRichards,TheFreeFantasiaandtheMusicalPicturesque
RichardWill,TheCharacteristicSymphonyintheAgeofHaydnand
Beethoven
ChristopherMorris,ReadingOperaBetweentheLines:OrchestralInterludes
andCulturalMeaningfromWagnertoBerg
EmmaDillon,MedievalMusic-Makingandthe‘RomandeFauvel’
DavidYearsley,BachandtheMeaningsofCounterpoint
DavidMetzer,QuotationandCulturalMeaningintheTwentiethCentury
AlexanderRehding,HugoRiemannandtheBirthofModernMusical
Thought
DanaGooley,TheVirtuosoLiszt
BonnieGordon,Monteverdi’sUnrulyWomen:ThePowerofSonginEarly
ModernItaly
GaryTomlinson,TheSingingoftheNewWorld:IndigenousVoiceintheEra
ofEuropeanContact
MatthewGelbart,TheInventionofFolkMusicandArtMusic:Emerging
CategoriesfromOssiantoWagner
OliviaA.Bloechl,NativeAmericanSongattheFrontiersofEarlyModern
Music
GiuseppeGerbino,MusicandtheMythofArcadiainRenaissanceItaly
RogerFreitas,PortraitofaCastrato:Politics,Patronage,andMusicintheLife
ofAttoMelani
GundulaKreuzer,VerdiandtheGermans:FromUnificationtotheThird
Reich
HollyWatkins,MetaphorsofDepthinGermanMusicalThought:From
E.T.A.HoffmanntoArnoldSchoenberg
DaviniaCaddy,TheBalletsRussesandBeyond:MusicandDanceinBelle-
ÉpoqueParis
BrigidCohen,StefanWolpeandtheAvant-GardeDiaspora
NicholasMathew,PoliticalBeethoven
JulieBrown,SchoenbergandRedemption
Schoenberg and Redemption
Julie Brown
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AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Brown,Julie(JulieA.),1963–,author.
Schoenbergandredemption/JulieBrown.
pages cm.–(Newperspectivesinmusichistoryandcriticism)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-521-55035-2
1. Schoenberg,Arnold,1874–1951–Criticismandinterpretation.
2. Redemption. I. Title.
ML410.S283B76 2014
780.92–dc23
2013040439
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ForŠtěpánKaňa
So the time of the emancipation had come, and every young Jew at that time ...
longedtoberedeemedfrombeingheldinastateofcontemptforwhichhewasnotto
blame, and because he wished to be accepted into the community of revered and
admiredhumanbeingswhomheregardedashigherbeings...
Thehopefor‘redemption’wascruellydisappointed...
Manyofushavebecomeconsciousofourguiltonlythroughourmisery[Not],and
only few among us can bring ourselves to recognize it completely, to confess to it
fully,andtoattempttoexonerateourselvesbyendeavouringtoreverseeverything
[allesrückgängigzumachen].
(Schoenberg,‘EveryyoungJew’,2February1934)
Description:Schoenberg and Redemption presents a new way of understanding Schoenberg's step into atonality in 1908. Reconsidering his threshold and early atonal works, as well as his theoretical writings and a range of previously unexplored archival documents, Julie Brown argues that Schoenberg's revolutionary
