The Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9 (also known by its title in German Kammersymphonie, für 15 soloinstrumente, or simply as Kammersymphonie) is a composition by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg.
Schoenberg's first chamber symphony was finished in 1906 and premiered on 8 February 1907 in Vienna by the Rosé Quartet together with a wind ensemble from the Vienna Philharmonic, under the composer's baton. In 1913, Schoenberg again conducted the piece, as part of the famed Skandalkonzert, in which the heterodox tonalities of Schoenberg's Symphony and, more so, of his student Alban Berg's works incited the attendees to riot in protest and prematurely end the concert.
The piece is a well-known example of the use of quartal harmony.
Structure
The Chamber Symphony is a single-movement work which lasts approximately 20 minutes. Even though it is listed as one movement, the form can be considered as subdivided into as many as five continuous movements. Schoenberg himself outlined the following form using the rehearsal numbers as reference points:
Schoenberg claimed in later years that the work "was a first attempt to create a chamber orchestra."[5]
Schoenberg makes use of a "motto" theme constructed of fourths.[6] The "motto" theme helps delineate the structural articulation points in the piece.
The "motto" theme first appears in measure 5 and is framed by two cadences which introduce the two main key areas.
Cadence 1 in F major:
Cadence 2 in E major:
Schoenberg's concept of developing variation can be observed in the relationship of the Scherzo theme to the rising chromatic line in the 2nd Violin part in Cadence 1,
as well as in the relationship of the slow movement theme to Cadence 2.[7]
Schoenberg respected the classical arrangement of the musicians on stage, instructing that all strings should be seated in the front row, the winds in the second row, and all the bass sounds should be grouped together. Although this composition is commonly called a chamber work, its performance requires a conductor. Some critics and conductors have claimed that an ensemble formed of ten winds and only five strings is inherently unbalanced; however, some of the voices are doubled so that no instrument is playing one-on-one against another.[5][8]
Arrangements
The composer himself arranged this piece for piano four hands in 1906.[9] He also revised the composition for large orchestra in 1923 and again in 1935, which was catalogued as Op. 9b.[10] The latter was premiered in Los Angeles by Schoenberg himself.
Between 1922 and 1923, at Schoenberg's suggestion his disciple Anton Webern made an arrangement for this composition scored for violin, flute (or second violin), clarinet (or viola), cello, and piano;[12] this arrangement was intended to be played alongside Pierrot lunaire, which is similarly scored.
The overall duration of the piece is listed as 22 minutes, though in her survey of 11 recordings spanning 1949–1997, Kathleen McGuire finds a difference in duration of over seven minutes, ranging from Boulez's 19:37 to Jascha Horenstein's 26:51.[15] She notes that even in Boulez's comparatively fast recording Schoenberg's metronome marks are still not always achieved, suggesting that they are perhaps impossible to perform.
References
^P. A. S., "Music of the Week: Schönberg and Kreisler", The Observer (8 May 1921), p. 10
^Jennifer Ruth Doctor (1999), The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922–1936: Shaping a Nation's Tastes, Cambridge University Press, ISBN9780521661171, p. 425, note 44.
^Jennifer Ruth Doctor (1999) The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922–1936: Shaping a Nation's Tastes, Cambridge University Press, ISBN9780521661171, p. 339
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