It occurred to me recently that arrangements/transcriptions are kind of the classical world's equivalent to cover songs. Somebody wants to play a bit of music that they didn't write and which is not necessarily written for the set of instruments they have at their disposal, so they arrange it. I mean, personally, I have always wondered what would happen if a band like Mercenary covered "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" by The Four Tops; I personally think that song is just reeking of metal-ness, especially in the 'ha's preceding the verses and the drum bit before the chorus.
Anyways, an arrangement is half of what we're dealing with on the Trio Jean Paul's recording of Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht (or "Transfigured Night"), originally for string sextet, but recorded here in a piano trio arrangement by Schoenberg's student Eduard Steuermann. For those who, at the very mention of Arnold Schoenberg, find themselves cringing and running in the opposite direction with images of free atonality and 12-tone madness swirling in your ears, I say fear not! This early work of his is not only tonal, but quite lovely in places, an undervalued aspect of Schoenberg's musical output that the Trio Jean Paul do an excellent job in bringing out in their recording. And for those who are all about some wild and wacky 20th century 'emancipated dissonance' Schoenberg, you should allay your fears as well; dig on this gem, and I promise you that I will return screaming for vengeance with some later Schoenberg soon.
Anyways, the work is what is known as a tone poem, which is where a composer tries to relay specific scenes and sensations and such through purely musical means. In this case, Arnie is taking the poem by the same name by Richard Dehmel. Some of the passion in the work may also be attributed to the fact that this bit of tune-age was begun and finished in the 3 weeks after Schoenberg met Mathilde von Zemlinsky, the sister of his teacher and his future wife.
The piece is broken into 5 sections relating to the structure of the poem. A couple are walking along when the woman tells the man she is pregnant with another man's child. Thus begins the stormiest section in the work, with a highly chromatic section relating to the turmoil of the man upon hearing this news. After much reflection, the man decides his love for the woman can overcome the situation, and swears to raise the child as his own. The poem and work derives its name from the final section, where the man claims his love will transfigure the child, making it his own.
The recent recording of the piano trio arrangement by the Trio Jean Paul presents the work in a very accessible manner. By reducing the number of different voices from 6 to 3, a listener can more easily hear the conversational and turbulent programmatic content. Plus, it seems like some of the harsher dissonances are smoothed out with the addition of the piano. What's more, it's paired with the original version of Brahms's 1st piano trio, another turbulent but oh so rockin' love song, only in the Brahms it is a man's private love song to his best friend's wife.
You can pick up the Trio Jean Paul's recording of the work at Amazon, and if you're looking for a good entry into Schoenberg (or Brahms), I would say this is as good a place as any. To be honest, I have probably listened to this album more than any metal recording released this year. If you're looking for some slightly more dissonant Arnie Schoen music, something that deals less with dramatic love stories and more with jagged dissonances and atonal jams, stay tuned, I am actually going to start updating this place again!
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