The Greatest Opus One Ever?

Berg by Schoenberg

A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but the title may not be far off the mark,  provided we don't take Bach's last word on the keyboard suite, the Six Partitas as his Opus one as the composer intended. Glenn Gould argued that many composers's first works are their best, and he used the Berg sonata op.1 as a major example. It is also one of his favourite pieces, so we have three recordings from him in this playlist, placed at the beginning, followed by interpretations from fourteen other pianists, arranged alphabetically. At the end, two recordings of the string sextet arrangement and an orchestra version.

Here's the Spotify playlist: Berg Piano Sonata Op.1 (21 tracks, total time: 3 hours) And Analysis of Piano Sonata, Op. 1 (1907-8) by Andrew Kuster. Tomorrow is the first day of the Year of the Rabbit,  an especially great time to enjoy this great opus one :)

P.S. I recently updated my Schoenberg Op.1-50 playlist.

Second Viennese School: Schoenberg, Berg & Webern

I made a Schoenberg playlist of his opus 1-50 before, and the classical library of Spotify has since grown a lot, Moses und Aron is now available, so do many of his works without opus number, like an early string quartet in D major. So I put together the other works of Schönberg along with the complete works of his two most important pupils, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern, and made this Spotify playlist: Second Viennese School (329 tracks, 22.7 hours).

I also put in some of Schoenberg's interesting arrangements, like the intimate and angelic chamber version of Mahler's Das Lied Von Der Erde, and orchestration of Bach's St. Anne Prelude and Fugue, BWV 552. At the end of the playlist there are 4 Johann Strauss II waltzes transcription by Schoenberg, Berg and Webern respectively.

Some links: the wiki page and the Google Directory of the Second Viennese School, the libretto of Berg's Woyzeck, the poems used in Webern's lieder, and New Grove Second Viennese School on Google Books. To my knowledge the libretto of Lulu is still under copyright so it's not online yet, I booked The Cambridge Opera Handbook to Lulu but I doubt it will offer the full libretto. Anyone offers a online resource will be much appreciated.

If you want to recommend interesting works by lesser known composers of the Second Viennese School, please post your comment here and I will add into the playlist. Looking forward to suggestions:)

Arnold Schönberg: Complete Works With Opus Numbers on Spotify

Arnold Schönberg: Complete list of compositions with opus numbers:

2 Gesänge [2 Songs] for baritone, Op. 1 (1898)
4 Lieder [4 Songs], Op. 2 (1899)
6 Lieder [6 Songs], Op. 3 (1899/1903)
Verklärte Nacht [Transfigured night], Op. 4 (1899)
Pelleas und Melisande, Op. 5 (1902/03)
8 Lieder [8 Songs] for soprano, Op. 6 (1903/05)
String Quartet no. 1, D minor, Op. 7 (1904/05)
6 Lieder [6 Songs] with orchestra, Op. 8 (1903/05)
Kammersymphonie [Chamber symphony] no. 1, E major, Op. 9 (1906)
String Quartet no. 2, F-sharp minor (with Soprano), Op. 10 (1907/08)
Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 (1909)
2 Balladen [2 Ballads], Op. 12 (1906)
Friede auf Erden [Peace on earth], Op. 13 (1907)
2 Lieder [2 Songs], Op. 14 (1907/08)

15 Gedichte aus Das Buch der hängenden Gärten [15 Poems from The book of the hanging gardens] by Stefan George, Op. 15 (1908/09)
Fünf Orchesterstücke [5 Pieces for Orchestra], Op. 16 (1909)
Erwartung [Expectation], monodrama in one act, [for soprano and orchestra], Op. 17 (1909)
Die glückliche Hand [The lucky hand], drama with music, for voices and orchestra, Op. 18 (1910/13)
Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke [6 Little piano pieces], Op. 19 (1911)
Herzgewächse [Foliage of the heart] for Soprano, Op. 20 (1911)
Pierrot lunaire, Op. 21 (1912)
4 Lieder [4 Songs] for Voice and Orchestra, Op. 22 (1913/16)
5 Stücke [5 Pieces] for Piano, Op. 23 (1920/23)
Serenade, Op. 24 (1920/23)
Suite for Piano, Op. 25 (1921/23)
Wind Quintet, Op. 26 (1924)
4 Stücke [4 Pieces], Op. 27 (1925)
3 Satiren [3 Satires], Op. 28 (1925/26)
Suite, Op. 29 (1925)

String Quartet no. 3, Op. 30 (1927)
Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31 (1926/28)
Von heute auf morgen [From today to tomorrow] opera in one act, Op. 32 (1928)
2 Stücke [2 Pieces] for Piano, Op. 33a (1928) & 33b (1931)
Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene [Accompanying music to a film scene], Op. 34 (1930)
6 Stücke [6 Pieces] for Male Chorus, Op. 35 (1930)

Violin Concerto, Op. 36 (1934/36)
String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37 (1936)
Kammersymphonie [Chamber symphony] no. 2, E-flat minor, Op. 38 (1906/39)
Kol nidre for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 39 (1938)
Variations on a recitative for Organ, Op. 40 (1941)
Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte for Voice, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 41 (1942)
Piano Concerto, Op. 42 (1942)
Theme and variations for Band, Op. 43a (1943)
Theme and variations for Orchestra, Op. 43b (1943)
Prelude to “Genesis” for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 44 (1945)
String Trio, Op. 45 (1946)
A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (1947)
Phantasy for Violin and Piano, Op. 47 (1949)
3 Songs, Op. 48 (1933)
3 Folksongs, Op. 49 (1948)
Dreimal tausend Jahre [Three times a thousand years], Op. 50a (1949)
Psalm 130 “De profundis”, Op. 50b (1950)
Modern psalm, Op. 50c (1950, unfinished)

Here's the Spotify playlist: Arnold Schönberg: Op. 1-50, sorted by opus numbers. (Op. 18, 20, 27, 28, 32, 39 and 44 are not available in Spotify at this moment)  Both the original version and orchestral version of Verklärte Nacht and Chamber Symphony No.1 are included.

Also some important works without opus numbers not in the playlist but definitely worth hearing, like the Gurre-Lieder, and the unfinished opera, his master work, Moses Und Aron (not in Spotify for now).

The self portraits above are from: Arnold Schönberg Center.