Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte op. 41. Verses 16–19

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Catalog slip

Title	Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte op. 41. Verses 16–19
Title addition	First West Coast Performance 75th Birthday Concert
Playing time	00:03:05
Authors	Schönberg, Arnold [Komponist/in] [GND] Byron, George Gordon Noel [Librettist/in] [GND]
Contributors	Schallert, William [Rezitator/in] [GND] Koldofsky, Adolph [Violine] [GND] Selmont, David [Violine] Figelski, Cecil [Viola] [GND] Reher, Kurt [Violoncello] [GND] Stein, Leonard [Klavier] [GND] Fraenkel, Wolfgang [Dirigent] [GND] Magnadisc [Label] Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik [Veranstalter]
Date	1949.09.13 [Aufnahmedatum] 1941.12.07 [Bezugsdatum]
Place	Pearl Harbour [Ortsbezug]
Keywords	Musik ; E-Musik ; Publizierte und vervielfältigte Aufnahme
	20. Jahrhundert - 40er Jahre
Type	audio
Format	SCS [Schallplatte, Schellack]
Language	Englisch
Signature	Österreichische Mediathek, e11-00358_b01_k02
Media type	Mp3-Audiodatei

Attack on Pearl Harbor, Official U.S. Navy photograph NH 50930, Imperial Japanese Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Content

Arnold Schönberg’s “Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte” op. 41 was written during times of acute threat by National Socialist tyranny. The composer felt confident about the composition even in his initial reflections on the work, “that this piece must not ignore the agitation aroused in mankind against the crimes that provoked this war.” Schönberg’s assistant at the time, Leonard Stein, explains the link between the work and the historical circumstances: “The events of December 1941 – Pearl Harbor and the Declaration of War – had, of course, stirred up tremendous excitement. I had spent the afternoon of December 7th [1941] at Schönberg’s home discussing with him the implications of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The next day we heard Roosevelt’s ‘day of infamy’ speech, declaring war on Japan, broadcast in Royce Hall at UCLA. Perhaps it was at that moment that Schönberg conceived the idea for what was to be his first musical statement on the war.”

The conclusion of the composition is intended as a commitment to the ideal of a victorious democracy, symbolized by the figure of George Washington. As an allusion to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 op. 55 “Eroica,” following an emphatic intensification, the music leads into an E flat major chord that is organically derived from the work’s twelve-tone structure. The recording, which was made at a concert of the League of Composers in honor of Schönberg’s 75th birthday, begins when the Sprechstimme enters in verse 16 of the poem – and ends with enthusiastic applause from the audience.
(Text: Arnold Schönberg Center)

Collection history

Sammlung Schönberg

Im Rahmen einer Kooperation mit dem Arnold Schönberg Center sichert die Österreichische Mediathek seit April 2019 die Schallplattensammlung des Komponisten digital. Der Nachlass Arnold Schönbergs steht seit 1998 im Arnold Schönberg Center in Wien zur Verfügung.

Die Sammlung umfasst über 400 Schallplatten mit eigenen Kompositionen, fremden Werken sowie vereinzelten Sprachaufnahmen. Professionelle Produktionen stehen neben dokumentarischen Mitschnitten. Schönberg war technischen Neuerungen aufgeschlossen und nutzte Medien zur Tonaufzeichnung auf vielfältige Weise. Die frühesten Audio-Dokumente gehen auf Arnold Schönbergs Zeit in Berlin und sein zunehmendes Engagement für den Rundfunk zurück, dessen Potenzial zur Verbreitung aktueller Musik er bereits früh erkannte. Frühe Tonträger der Sammlung entstanden oft als Versuchsaufnahmen im Kontext von Radioübertragungen. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden seine Schallplatten wichtiges Kommunikationsmittel im Kontakt mit Europa.

2011 wurde der Schönberg-Nachlass von der UNESCO in das Weltdokumentenerbe-Register (Memory of the World) aufgenommen.

Zur Sammlungsgeschichte siehe auch <link>https://www.schoenberg.at/images/stories/bilder_statische_artikel/archiv/ethikbewahrens.pdf<link>

In cooperation with the Arnold Schönberg Center, the Österreichische Mediathek digitally preserved the composer's record collection in April 2019. Arnold Schönberg’s Estate was made available at the Arnold Schönberg in 1998, after the collection had been moved from Los Angeles.

The composer owned over 400 phonograph discs with his own compositions, works by other composers, and also the occasional voice recording. Professional productions are found alongside documentative recordings. Schönberg was open to technical innovations and used sound recording media in various ways. The earliest audio documents stem from the composer’s time spent in Berlin and his increasing commitment to the radio, whose potential for broadcasting contemporary music to a larger audience was recognized by Schönberg at a very early stage. Early sound storage media from Schönberg’s collection often contain test recordings for radio broadcasts and only excerpts of the compositions played. And after the war, phonograph discs were an important means of communication with Europe.

In 2011 Schönberg’s Estate was inscribed onto the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

For the history of the collection see also <link>https://www.schoenberg.at/images/stories/bilder_statische_artikel/archiv/ethikbewahrens.pdf<link>

Location in the digital collection

Keywords

Musik ; E-Musik , Publizierte und vervielfältigte Aufnahme

Part of the collection

Sammlung Schönberg

The medium in online exhibitions

This medium is used on these pages:

This medium is used on this page:
Arnold Schönberg – Biography