The simple surname Schönberg is invariably associated by many music lovers with a music that is still considered difficult to listen to today: the misnamed atonality, and the dodecaphonic system that he himself invented, and that later gave rise to the integral serialism that he had so great predicament in the cultured musical creation of the second half of the 20th century. But, as Benet Casablancas never gets tired of reminding, the composition with twelve sounds is only a technical matter, almost an anecdote when we contemplate the varied and fertile musical career of Arnold Schönberg.
“He was looking for other languages ??and goes through various creative stages, but never, in any of these stages, does he stop composing tonal music, not even in his last works, and the tonality is always present, in a way patent or in the background”, 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 output, rich and versatile, is prolific in masterpieces. The music lover should put prejudices aside and listen and enjoy his music, and listen to it well interpreted, because it is absurd to judge him without having done so”, argues the essayist as well.
Casablancas regrets that Barcelona, ??which is considered the fifth Schönbergian city in the world after Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, does not have 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 held in high esteem, many of which without premiere here
“The panorama in Germany is quite different: just look at the extraordinary program that the Berlin Philharmonic will offer to its audience this year. It is clear that you cannot compare music education in one country and in another. We do not have his main essays here either, and I am happy to announce that, with the family’s cooperation, we will soon be able to have them available. And the publishing house Acantilado will publish the crucial Diarios de Berlin, a precious document, next autumn”, 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 theoretician, he is fundamental to understanding music from Bach to Wagner, Brahms and post-romanticism.
He is also a brilliant essayist – Casablancas insists – as perceptive as Stravinsky, but more versatile and articulate than his Russian colleague. Finally, although more limited, we must highlight his pictorial work, the most intense phase of which was highly appreciated by Kandinski, and which culminates in his Visions, the spiritual dimension of which (with roots in Swedenborg, Balzac and Strindberg) are shared by many creators of the time”, points out Casablancas. “The pictorial avant-gardes of the 20th century cannot be understood without Schönberg’s painting.”
As a composer, we must highlight the parallels between Schönberg and Stravinsky, who would end up integrating serialism into his late work. “In fact – points out Casablancas – the dodecaphonic method coincides with the rise of neoclassicism. 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 music of the period”.
“In the end – he concludes – they are stages, like the one experienced by Picasso in his return to the formal harmony of the classics, evident also in the serene light that bathes our noucentism”.