Ron Chaplin:

>Recently, I've been listening to a collection on Musical Heritage Society
>(534926M) of works by Schoenberg, Berg and Webern performed by Karajan and
>the Berlin.
>
>Having, in the past, had a difficult time "getting into" 20th century
>music, I am pleasantly surprised that I enjoy two of the Schoenberg works:
>Pelleas un Melisande and Verklarte Nacht.  Berg and Webern are, so far,
>another story.  Berg seems more percussive and Webern more in a minor key
>than Schoenberg.

All three are wonderful composers.  If you liked Pelleas and Mellisande,
why not try Gurrelieder and the first Chamber Symphony? I'm surprised you
feel that way about Berg.  Berg is one of the most lyrical composers ever
to have written - works such as his Lyric Suite, Altenberg Lieder, or the
3 Orchestral Pieces have an astonishing lyrical sweep, most of all because
of Berg's incredible harmonic vision.

I love you're assessment of Webern as being in more of a minor key.  I can
see what you mean entirely.  I think what gives his music this feel is its
refinement and crystalline structure.  There is not a spare note in Webern,
even in the over-ripe Passacaglia (deliciously over-ripe).  All his output
is beautiful - like listening to musical sculptures.

>Here's the reason for this post.  I remember reading somewhere that only a
>expert can identify a particular Baroque composer without knowing the
>music being played.  Can the same be said about the composers of the New
>Vienna School? Their music seems so much alike to me.  BTW, are there
>other composers in the School?

Who on earth said that?!  It is surely plain that Bach, Handel, Purcell,
Vivaldi and so on all have utterly different characters.  Perhaps, if you
had never heard Bach before you wouldn't recognise him, but you need not be
an expert.  Just a musician - and we are all that.  As I hope my comments
above show, the music of the 2nd Viennese School is greatly varied in
character.

As to there being other members of the school.  There weren't as such, but
there were a number of other composers who were closely involved including
Mahler and Zemlinsky.

Robin Newton
[log in to unmask]