Search - Schoenberg, Turovsky :: String Quartet 2

Verklärte Nacht (1899) only hints at the atonal revolution that's to come in Schoenberg's music. Verklärte Nacht began as a string sextet, then was arranged for soprano and string orchestra in 1917--the version here. The work reflects the influence Wagnerian Romanticism had on the young composer, and is still mostly tonal. His String Quartet No. 2 (1907-08) is part of the shift away from tonality; there are sections of clashing tonalities, and the last movement does not have a key signature. Ode To Napoleon (1942) is for speaker, piano, and string orchestra. It uses a 12-tone row but allows for tonality in places. A good cross-section. --Paul Cook