The simple surname Schönberg is invariably associated by many music lovers with a music considered even today difficult to listen to: the so-called atonality, and the twelve-tone system that he himself invented, and which gave rise a posteriori to the integral serialism that had such great popularity in the cultured musical creation of the second half of the 20th century. But, as Benet Casablancas never tires of reminding, composition with twelve sounds is only a technical question, almost an anecdote when we contemplate the varied and fertile musical career of Arnold Schönberg.
“He was looking for other languages and went through different creative stages, but never, in any of them, did he stop composing tonal music, not even in his latest works, and tonality is always present, patently or in the background,” he warns. the composer from Sabadell. “If Schönberg had only written the Transfigured Night or the Gurrelieder he would already be one of the greatest composers in the history of music. But, luckily for all of us, his production, rich and versatile, is lavish in masterpieces. The music lover should put aside prejudices and listen to and enjoy his music, and listen to it well performed, because it is absurd to judge him without having done so,” argues the essayist, who is also an essayist.
Casablancas regrets that Barcelona, which is considered the fifth Schönberg city in the world after Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, does not feature in its musical programs in 2024, when the 150th anniversary of its birth is commemorated. with a good presence of works by the author of Pierrot lunaire (1930-32), the satirical Ode to Napoleon (1942) or the oratorio Jacob's Ladder (1917-1922), which Stravinsky had in high esteem, many of them unreleased here.
“The panorama in Germany is very different: just look at the extraordinary programming that the Berlin Philharmonic will offer its audience this year. Of course, you cannot compare musical education in one country and another. Here we do not have his main essays either, and I am happy to announce that, with the collaboration of the family, we will soon be able to have them. And Acantilado will publish the crucial Berlin Diaries, a precious document, next fall,” he adds.
Because Schönberg is a protean figure - he continues - and to his extraordinary stature as a composer, one of the main creators of the 20th century, we must add other facets, that of a pedagogue, so celebrated (both in Europe and in the United States), inventor of all kinds of games and artifacts and, above all, that of a music theorist, in the field of harmony and form, the last link in a lineage that includes the names of Rameau, Fux, Sechter or Riemann.
“As a theorist, it is essential to understand music from Bach to Wagner, Brahms and post-romanticism. He is also a brilliant essayist –Casablancas insists–, as insightful as Stravinsky but more versatile and articulate than his Russian colleague. Finally, although more limited, we must highlight his pictorial work, whose most intense phase was highly appreciated by Kandinsky, and which culminates with his Visions, whose spiritual dimension (with roots in Swedenborg, Balzac and Strindberg) is shared by many creators of the time. ”says Casablancas. “The pictorial avant-garde of the 20th century cannot be understood without Schönberg's painting either.”
As a composer, we must highlight the parallels between Schönberg and Stravinsky, who would end up integrating serialism in his late work. “In fact,” Casablancas points out, “the twelve-tone method coincides with the rise of neoclassicisms. Both follow Jean Cocteau's dictum Le rappel à l'ordre (call to order) and the return to Bach, after the frenzy of the Ballets Russes and the expressionist brilliance, a more pertinent term to refer to the music of the period.
“In the end,” he concludes, “they are stages, like the one Picasso experienced in his return to the formal harmony of the classic, also evident in the serene light that bathes our noucentisme.”
