Into the Hanging Gardens - A Pianist's Exploration of Arnold Schönberg's Opus 15 by Friederike Wildschütz

Reflections on the Project “The Voice of the Piano: Performing early 20th century Lieder with Arnold Schönberg's "Das Buch der hängenden Gärten" as central work” Arnold Schönberg’s “Das Buch der hängenden Gärten”, Op. 15 (1908/09) could be considered the most important song cycle of the 20th century, yet in comparison to German Lieder from the 19th century, it is rarely performed, and existing research does not focus on the pianist’s perspective. The artistic research project “The Voice of the Piano” centred on exploring the work from a pianist’s viewpoint and articulating performer’s knowledge related to it. Key concerns were if it is possible and appropriate to approach Opus 15 through the poetry and “play the words”, if there is a particular “performative feel” to this repertoire related to either the poet or the composer and if Schönberg’s musical language in this cycle that is often considered the starting point of his so-called atonal period requires new skills and competencies from the pianist. To develop a better understanding of the cycle, Opus 15 was contextualised in three different ways. It was performed together with other Lieder with texts by Stefan George, other Lieder by Arnold Schönberg and other Lieder that were composed in 1908 and 1909. The project resulted in a concert for each of the contextualisations, a final concert and the reflections “Into the Hanging Gardens: A Pianist's Exploration of Arnold Schönberg's Opus 15”. The reflections trace the artistic process and elaborate on the three contextualisations and on how the pianist’s understanding of and approach to the work and its performance changed throughout the project. They reveal insights developed through an in-depth study of the poem texts, the music, relevant literature and recordings and through the practice and performance of the cycle.

Into the Hanging Gardens - A Pianist's Exploration of Arnold Schönberg's Opus 15

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Appendix B: Overview of Recordings of Opus 15

The following overview of recordings of Opus 15 supplements the online catalogue of the Arnold Schönberg Center, which is based on Shoaf’s Schoenberg Discography.1 Except for Bampton’s and Kahn’s recording, which is significant as both performers discussed the interpretation with Schönberg,2 all listed recordings were either made commercially, broadcasted on radio or presented as a part of academic publications.

Date3

Singer

Pianist

Songs (Duration)

Language

Label, number

19374/38?5

Erica Storm

Mosco Carner

5 (1:16)
12 (1:54)

German

Columbia (Australia) DO 1915;

Columbia (England) DB 1787;

Columbia CM 361 (DB 1303/CA 16713)

19496

Lucienne Marée,

soprano

Max Deutsch

1-15 (22:02)

French

Tape recording made by L. Smith

from his wire copy of the French radio broadcast.

Electronic reproduction. San Francisco,

Calif.: Digital Revolution, 2014

19497

Rose Bampton,

soprano

Erich Itor Kahn

1-15

German

Recording of a performance given at

Town Hall, New York City, December 4, 1949

(1953)8

Belva Kibler,

mezzo-soprano

Gerhard Albersheim

1-15 (27:30)

German

Lyrichord LL 42 mono
Lyric Art 42

19539

Margot Hinnenberg-Lefèbre,

soprano

Helmut Roloff

1-15 (23:48)

German

Deutsche Grammophon 16 129 mono;

Deutsche Grammophon 136 304 IMS stereo;

Deutsche Grammophon LPEM 19 304

195510

Suzanne Danco,

soprano

Hermann Reutter

1-15 (27:45)

German

Audite

(1955)?11

Lina Dauby,

soprano

Paul Collaer

1-15 (25:06)

German

L’Oiseau-Lyre DL 53006 mono

(196-)12

Ethel Casey,

soprano

Walter Golde

Carolina 712C-4060 mono

(196-)13

Unknown

(possibly Margot Hinnenberg-Lefèbre)

Unknown

13 (1:45)

German

Wergo WER 60 005 mono

(1962)14

Bethany Beardslee,

soprano

Robert Helps

1-15 (26:16)

German

Son Nova 2 mono ;

Son Nova 2 stereo

(1962)15

Colette Herzog,

soprano

Jacqueline Robin Bonneau

1-15 (24:30)

German

Critère CRD 146 mono;

Critère SCRD 146 stereo;

Critère SCRD 5146 stereo;

Musidisc RC 691 stereo

196316

Carla Henius,

soprano

Aribert Reimann

1-15 (25:35)

German

Bärenreiter Musicaphon BM 30 L 1523 mono;

Bärenreiter Musicaphon BM 30 SL 1523 stereo

196517

Helen Vanni,

mezzo-soprano

Glenn Gould

1-15 (28:47)

German

Columbia M2L 336 (ML 6216/17) mono;

Columbia M2S 736 (MS 6816/17) stereo;

CBS BRG 72459/460 (MET 2012)

196918

Yonako Nagano,

soprano

Michio Kobayashi

1-15 (28:54)

German

Angel (Japan) AA 8784

(1971?)19

Mati Palm,

bass

Tarsina Alango

11 (2:23), 14 (0:49)

Melodiia 33SM 02789/790 stereo

197420

Jan DeGaetani,

mezzo-soprano

Gilbert Kalish

1-15 (24:28)

German

Nonesuch H 71320 stereo;

Nonesuch 9 79237-2 stereo AAD;

Nonesuch NON 7559-79237-2 stereo AAD

(ca. 1975)21

Anke Schulz-Eggers,

mezzo-soprano

Aribert Reimann

1-15

German

„Lied des Zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts“

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg

(1976?)22

Irène Jarsky,

soprano

Martine Joste

1-15

Valois MB 1430 stereo

197823

Roswitha Trexler,

soprano

John Tilbury

1-15 (24:25)

German

Eterna 8 27 173 stereo

(1979)24

Erika Sziklay,

soprano

Jenö Jandó

1-15 (27:21)

German

Hungaroton SLPX 12040 stereo

(1981)25

Charlotte Lehmann,

soprano

Werner Genuit

1-15 (26:08)

German

EMI His Master’s Voice 1C 065-46 356 stereo

(1983)26

Brigitte Fassbaender,

mezzo-soprano

Aribert Reimann

1-15 (27:01)

German

EMI Electrola His Master’s Voice

1C 067-146 685-1 T stereo;

EMI His Master’s Voice 1466.851 stereo

(1987)27

Linda Larson,

soprano

Steve Larson

2 (1:32)

Perspectives of New Music 25 stereo

1988/8928

Susanne Lange,

mezzo-soprano

Tove Lønskov

1-15 (30:12)

German

Kontrapunkt 32028/030 stereo DDD

(1990)29

Ingrid Schmithüsen,

soprano

Thomas Palm

1-15 (33:02)

German

Canterino CNT 1013 stereo DDD

199030

Phyllis Bryn-Julson,

soprano

Ursula Oppens

1-15 (27:54)

German

Music & Arts CD-650 stereo DDD

199231

Julie Kaufmann,

soprano

Irwin Gage

1-15 (26:49)

German

Orfeo C 305 931 A stereo DDD

199432

Rosemarie Landmann,

mezzo-soprano

Ulrich Eisenlohr

1-15 (28:09)

German

ARS FCD 368 340

200133

Jennifer Lane,

mezzo-soprano

Christopher Oldfather

1-15 (26:38)

German

Naxos 8.557520 stereo DDD

200234

Sarah Connolly,

mezzo-soprano

Iain Burnside

1-15 (24:10)

German

Black Box BBM1072 stereo DDD

(2006)35

Melanie Heinz,

mezzo-soprano

Josef Anton Scherrer

1-15 (27:21)

German

panOfon – MS10604CD

200736

Alison Wells,

mezzo-soprano

Firebird,

musical group

1-15 (25:56)

German

Hatfield, Hertfordshire: UH recordings.

“Of Dragonflies and Moonbeams”

200837

Leila Pfister,

mezzo-soprano

Judit Polgar

1-15 (27:00)

German

Oehms Classics OC 818

2009-201138

Konrad Jarnot,

baritone

Urs Liska

1-15 (30:15)

German

Capriccio C7120

201239

Christian Gerhaher,

baritone

Gerold Huber

1-15 (25:14)

German

Sony Classical 88691935432,

LC 06868

2014 (2017)40

Aylish Kerrigan,

mezzo-soprano

Dearbhla Collins

1-15 (27:41)

German

Métier Records

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