Iconoclast of modern music

by Nicole Findlay

Nearly a century ago, Arnold Schoenberg electrified the chamber music world with his iconoclastic atonal compositions. By abandoning tonality and replacing it with a new system of his own making, Schoenberg secured a unique place in the history of music. His new conception of atonality is the fundamental cause for which Schoenberg has been alternately canonized a modernist visionary and damned as a kind of “Satan of modern music.”

James Wright, music professor in the School for Studies in Art and Culture, has organized an event that will introduce the composer to Ottawans. In partnership with the Ottawa International Chamber Music festival, Wright is producing a celebration of Schoenberg’s life and contributions that is in part reunion, performance and scholarly reflection.

Wright’s interest in Schoenberg culminated in an award winning book, Schoenberg, Wittgenstein, and the Vienna Circle, published by Verlag Peter Lang of Switzerland. After a chance meeting with one of Schoenberg’s sons, Wright decided to organize the multi-pronged event.

Born in Vienna in 1874, Schoenberg would emigrate from Vienna to the United States in 1933. The self-taught composer’s influence would be felt in both Europe and North America and in spheres extending beyond music to visual artists, mathematicians, writers and even game developers.

Among the activities planned for the July 26-29 event are an international scholarly symposium, a series of concerts, a “Coalition Chess” match played by opponents located in Europe and North America, and a multi-media touring exhibit that traces Schoenberg’s life. The latter exhibit was a serendipitous opportunity that led Wright to drive to Boston on New Year’s Eve to transport the exhibit back to Ottawa, to the chagrin of customs officials who assumed Wright was attempting to smuggle a fortune of art works. Housed in Christ Church Cathedral from July 26 to 29, the exhibit will move on to McGill and then the University of Calgary.

Schoenberg as mentor

In 1944, Eldon Rathburn, an aspiring, young composer from St. John, New Brunswick, won an American composition competition. The prize included a trip to Los Angeles where his piece “Symphonette” was performed by Alfred Wallenstein and the L.A. Philharmonic.

Following the performance, Rathburn was then invited back to the home of the one of the competition’s three adjucators – Arnold Schoenberg. During the dinner, Rathburn met Schoenberg and his three young children and to their delight, gave an impromptu performance on the family piano.

Schoenberg’s legacy lives on in his three children, Nuria Schoenberg-Nono, Ronald Schoenberg and Lawrence Schoenberg. Now in their 60s and 70s, Nuria, Ronald and Lawrence will travel from the States and Europe to present “Family Life in Los Angeles: Reminiscences.” Through their presentation, Schoenberg’s children will provide symposium attendees with a glimpse into the composer’s private life. Schoenberg’s children will once again dine with Rathburn, 62 years after his original visit to their childhood home in LA.

The 91-year-old, Ottawa-based Rathburn has written a new work for Chamber Ensemble titled “Diabolus in Musica”. The composition will be premiered on the evening of Friday, July 27 at a concert held at Christ Church Cathedral together with works by other Canadian composers influenced by Schoenberg, including John Beckwith, Jean Papineau-Couture, and John Weinzweig.
Schoenberg as game designer – Coalition Chess

Among Schoenberg’s inventions was a variation on the traditional game of Chess. Coalition Chess adds to the original game’s complexity by expanding the number of players to four who partner to form two opposing alliances. In addition, the board has been expanded and in Schoenberg’s invention, adds two sets of pieces that adds to the complexity of the two-team strategy component.

The game’s complexity has earned it a small group of followers. However, mounting a game is a rare occurrence as its adherents share a passion for play, but are spread out across the globe.

Wright brought the challenge to Michel Paquette, a Carleton doctoral candidate in computer science. Paquette has since adapted the game to the Internet.

He will present his work as a symposium participant on July 29. Paquette will present an overview of the multiplayer, Internet-based, computerized gaming environment he has developed as a virtual forum for the international gamers to meet and play. In his talk, Paquette discuss game structure and rules, complexity, cooperation and implementation challenges.
Schoenberg compositions visually interpreted -‘Painting ‘I Feel the Air of Another Planet’
Dennis Spiteri, Melbourne, Australia

Just as Schoenberg left his mark on the music world, visual artists have also felt his influence. Dennis Spiteri, an Australian based painter whose work is influenced by classical music, is one example.

Early in his career, Spiteri developed an interest in classical music. Among the composers whose work influenced his own painting were Beethoven and Schoenberg. In his large abstract painting entitled “I feel the air of another planet”, Spiteri has interpreted the third movement of Arnold Schoenberg’s Second string quartet.

Spiteri’s painting is replicated in on the brochure produced for the July symposium. The artist himself is making the long journey from Australia to attend the Schoenberg retrospective and deliver an address on July 29. His presentation will describe Schoenberg’s impact on his development as a painter, particularly as he was navigating a time of crises in the development of his work. In addition, Spiteri will address the influence of the Second Viennese School – of which Schoenberg was a part, on the German Expressionist group, and how this relationship compared to the interconnection between art and music in Australia.