Arnold-Schoenberg in Los-Angeles PDF

Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles
Author(s): Dorothy Lamb Crawford

Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 86, No. 1 (Spring, 2002), pp. 6-48
Published by: Oxford University Press
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American Musics
Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles
DorothyLambCrawford
I only teach the whole of the art ... As a composerI must believe in inspirationrather
than in mechanics.
-Arnold Schoenberg
ArnoldSchoenberghadjustturnedsixtywhenhe madethe suddende-

cisionin mid-September 1934to leavethe EastCoastforCalifornia.He
hadheld the mostprestigious postin his fieldin Germany,buthe wrote
his friendsthat in LosAngeleshe faced"acompletelyblankpage,so far
as mymusicis concerned."1 The previousOctoberhe hadbeenabruptly
notifiedby the Germangovernmentthathis lifetimecontractandsalary
in Berlinwereterminated.Withno otheralternative,he hadaccepteda
low salaryto teachat the brand-newMalkinConservatory in Boston,
withadjunctteachingin Manhattan.Strenuouscommutingin the harsh
winterclimatehadseverelydamagedhis health,andhe hadgoneto the
summerhomeof theJuilliardSchoolof Musicin Chautauqua, New York,
to recover.Owingto the depression, all his effortsto obtainan adequate
teachingsalaryat an establishedinstitutionon the EastCoasthadcome
to nothing.CarlEngel,presidentof G. Schirmer(his Americanmusic
publisher),hadsent lettersrecommending Schoenbergas a lecturerto
forty-seven institutions,but the resultswere meager.2 Prospectsforthe
financialsecurityhe wantedlookedso bleakthatSchoenberghadeven
contactedHannsEislerandthe conductorFritzStiedryaboutmaking
connectionsforhim in the SovietUnion. On 12 September,the daybe-
forehis birthday,he wroteto Stiedry(stillworkingin the USSR), "We
aregoingto Californiaforthe climateandbecauseit is cheaper."3 After
he wastemporarily settledin a rentedHollywoodhousewithhis wife,
Gertrud,and toddler,Nuria, he expressed(in a letter to Anton Webern)
his initial enthusiasmfor the beautyof his surroundings:"It is Switzer-
land, the Riviera, the Vienna woods, the desert, the Salzkammergut,
Spain, Italy-everything in one place. And along with that scarcelya
day,apparentlyeven in winter,without sun."4He recoveredhis health
and energyand could indulgehis intense desire to play tennis. By 1935,
LeonardStein (who would be his teaching assistantfrom 1939 to 1942)
The MusicalQuarterly86(1), Spring 2002, pp. 6-48; DOI: 10.1093/musqtl/gdg003

? 2002OxfordUniversityPress 6

in LosAngeles 7
Schoenberg
recalled,Schoenbergwas"fitandroly-poly," springy,fullof vitality,and

tanneda darkbronze.5
However,the resistanceto modemmusicin LosAngelesthathad
drivenHenryCowell'sNew MusicSocietyto SanFranciscogave
Schoenbergmajorproblems.Uponhis arrivalin New Yorka yearearlier,
his firstAmericanemployer,JosephMalkin,hadarranged extensivepub-
licity,which led to several In
receptions performances. LosAngeles
and
therewasno suchgreeting.His primacyas a culturalleaderin Europe
hadbeenenhancedby a devotedcircleof disciples-both studentsand
performers-who,followingthe traditionof master-apprentice training,
in manywaysinsulatedhim frommundanechores.Thishadenabled
him to carryout his oftenutopianorganizational plansin an authoritar-
ian manner.Fromthe firstyearsin California,memoriesof pastrepudia-
tionsandhis senseof his own importanceas a composermadehim hy-
persensitiveto anyslight,even if imagined.Whilehe wasacutelyaware
of his music'sneedfor"propaganda," ashe calledit, he hadlittle easein
the new Americanartof publicrelations.6Startingoverat his agein the
haphazard environmentof LosAngeles-at firstwithno institutional
backing-his assumptions andexpectationswereoftenfrustrated, and
his relationshipswerefrequentlydifficultas he struggledto makea living
forhis muchyoungerwifeandtheirgrowingfamily.
Otto Klemperer's positionwiththe LosAngelesPhilharmonic un-
doubtedly counted as an to
advantage Schoenberg. Yet the month after
his arrivalhe refusedan invitationto a banquethonoringKlemperer,
forhe felt thatthe organizers of the eventowedhim greaterrecognition
thana "walk-on" part.7At firsthe tooksomepainsto entertainthe soci-
ety matriarchs dominating Angeles'smusic,butin November1935
Los
his approachto the managerof the Philharmonic, BessieBartlettFraenkl,
wasperemptory in tone. He invitedherto attenda classof his at the
Universityof SouthernCalifornia(USC), because,he wrote,"Iknow
whatI amdoingthereis of the greatestimportanceforeverybodywho is
interestedin music.... Therewill certainlybe in perhapstwentyyearsa
chapterin the musicalhistoryof LosAngeles:'WhatSchoenberghas
achievedin LosAngeles';andperhapstherewill be anotherchapter,
asking:'Whathavethe peopleandthe societyof LosAngelestakenof
the advantageofferedby Schoenberg?' "8
Schoenbergassumedthathe wouldconducthis ownworksin Los
Angeles.(His Europeanroyaltieshaddiminishedto nothing,andhe
neededthe fees.)Klemperer offeredhim a guestprogramwiththe Phil-
harmonicin March1935,afterhimselfachievingthe previousDecember
an extraordinarily enthusiasticresponseto Schoenberg's 1917orchestra-
tion of Verklarte
Nacht.In his ownprogramSchoenbergrepeatedthat

8 TheMusicalQuarterly
work,offeredhis Bachtranscriptions in celebrationof the 250than-

niversaryof Bach's birth, and conducted Brahms'sThirdSymphony.His
performance of the Brahms was severelycriticized
forits leisurelytempo
(which"irritated andbaffledthe players"), andalthoughthe audience
the
applauded composerwarmly, one critichopedthat"weshouldhave
muchmoreSchoenbergto hear-with Klemperer conducting."9 The
followingDecemberSchoenbergagainmetwithdisasterconducting
the Philharmonic, this time in an all-Schoenberg programthat included
the fullorchestralarrangement (made April1935)of his Chamber
in
Symphonyno. 1, op. 9 (1906). PeterYatesremembered the musicians
in rehearsaldeliberately sabotagingthe music(whichtheydubbedthe
Jammersymphonie) byplayingwrongnotesand"horsingaround."10
LeonardStein suspectedthe playersweretipsyfromChristmasholiday
revelsandfoundSchoenberg's patienteffortsto educatethe orchestra
heartbreaking. 1
Schoenbergtookon no furtherconductingwiththe Philharmonic.
In his helpfulandstronglywordedpleafora 1936Philharmonic fund-
raising drive,he expressed what bothered him aboutAmerican culture:
"Asthe materialism of ourtimeseemsto endangerthe wholesphere
of spiritualculture,I believeit is the dutyof everymanto fightforthe
existenceof one of the mostvitalsymbolsof man'shigherlife.""12 He
conductedthe FederalSymphonyOrchestra,the goverment'seffort
to employout-of-work musiciansduringthe depression. Thismustnot
havehelpedhim financially, forthe concertswerefree,butmanyof the
programs offerednew music.Studiomusicians,eagerforchallenging
musicalexperiences,invitedhim to conducta readingorchestraorga-
nizedin Hollywood.Criticalresponseto his conductingremained
poor,13while critical acceptance of Klemperer'sperformancesof his
music with the Philharmonicemphasized"the Schoenbergluminosity
and romanticism."14
It soon became clear to Schoenbergthat his twelve-tone music
would not farewell in musicallyunsophisticatedLos Angeles. In No-
vember 1934 he confided (in his new and strugglingEnglish) to Carl
Engel in New York:"HaveI now to appearas only the composerof the
Verkldrte Nacht... or as the devil in person, the atonalist, the construc-
tor, the musicalmathematicianetc.? I hate this kind to considera com-
poseronly from the view-point of history instead to enjoy (or not) what
he says. I would like to learn your opinion about this matters."15 The
Third String Quartet (1927), played in March 1935 by the local Abas
Quartet,received a newspapernotice only. LeonardStein, who was at
that time beginning his lifelong devotion to new music, found it "the
strangestmusic I'd ever heard."16In January1938, Schoenberg's1933
Concerto (afterHandel) for String Quartetand Orchestra(in Klem-

in LosAngeles 9
Schoenberg
perer'sperformance with the Philharmonic andthe KolischQuartet)

struckthe criticIsabelMorseJonesas a "derangement" of Handel.She
wrote,"Itwasinterestingchieflyas evidenceof the progressof Schoen-
berg'sremarkable theoriesandit hadmomentsof fleetingbeauty.As a
musico-intellectual demonstration of Schoenberg's powersit wasa work
to studyandto marvelat ratherthanto revelin."17
Practicallynone of Schoenberg's musicwasavailablein libraries
or musicstoresin LosAngeles.In 1937Engelhelpedpropagandize for
Schoenbergby having Schirmer's publish a collection of writingsby
andaboutSchoenberg,editedby the LosAngelesimpresario MerleAr-
mitage.With this information, Jonesattempteda moreprobingdiscus-
sionof Schoenberg's musicalideasin the LosAngelesTimes.HerOctober
1938reporton the premiere(bymembersof the FoxStudioOrchestra)
of Schoenberg's recentlycompletedKolNidre,op. 39, expressedhernew
attitude:"Weareindeedon the thresholdof a profoundchangein musi-
cal art.... Schoenberg,likeEinstein,is essentiallya simplemanof
truth."18 In his ownwritingsexcerptedforthe Armitagebook,Schoen-
bergarticulatedhis philosophyof composing:
All I wantto dois to express mythoughts andgetthemostpossible con-
tentin theleastpossible Ifa
space.... composer doesn't writefrom the
heart,he simplycan'tproduce goodmusic.... I haveneverhada theory
in mylife.... I writewhatI feelin myheart-andwhatfinallycomeson
paperiswhatfirstcoursed through everyfibreofmybody.It isforthis
reasonI cannottellanyonewhatthestyleofmynextcomposition will
be.... Whatcanbeconstructed withthesetwelvetonesdepends onone's
inventivefaculty.Thebasictoneswillnotinventforyou.Expression is
limitedonlybythecomposer's creativeness andhispersonality....Inthe
timeof the[Chamber Symphony no. 1, 1906],I understood betterwhat
I hadwrittenandI hadmorepersonal pleasure withthat,thanwiththe
musicwhichfollowed. Thento compose wasa greatpleasure. Ina later
timeit wasa dutyagainstmyself.Itwasnota question ofpleasure.I have
a mission-atask.... I ambuttheloudspeaker of anidea.... All music,
in sofarasit is theproduct ofa trulycreativemind,isnew.... It isno use
to railatnewmusicbecause it containstoomanyideas.Musicwithout
ideasisun-thinkable, andpeoplewhoarenotwillingto usetheirbrains
to understand musicwhichcannotbefullygrasped atthefirsthearing,
aresimplylazy-minded. Every true work of artto be understood hasto
bethoughtabout;otherwise it hasno inherent life.... Theartistiscon-
tentwithaspiration, whereas themediocre musthavebeauty. Andyet
theartistattainsbeautywithoutwillingit,forhe isonlystriving after
truthfulness.19
The same book included an interview by the Los Angeles critic Jose
Rodriguez in which Schoenberg discussed his reliance on instinct. When
queried about feeling versus intellect in his music, he replied:

It mightastonishsomecriticsthatI amsomewhatthe creatureof inspira-

tion. I composeandpaintinstinctively.... I see the workas a wholefirst.
Then I composethe details.In workingout, I alwayslosesomething.This
cannotbe avoided.Thereis alwayssomelosswhenwe materialize....I
amsomewhatsadthatpeopletalkso muchof atonality,of twelve-tone
systems,of technicalmethodswhenit comesto mymusic.... I wishthat
mymusicshouldbe consideredas an honestandintelligentpersonwho
comesto ussayingsomethinghe feelsdeeplyandwhichis of significance
to all of us.20
Schoenbergtriedforthe remainder of his life to convincea wider

publicthatthis washis trueintentas a composer.21 He wrotesuccinctly
to the composerRogerSessions,"ThatI writein thisor thatstyleor
methodis myprivateaffairandis no concernto anylistener-but I
wantmymessageto be understoodandaccepted."However,his relative
isolationin LosAngeles(andKlemperer's illnessandsubsequentresig-
nationfromhis Philharmonic post) hindered informedandsympathetic
performances of his orchestral works.22 He lacked the performing skills
thatenabledsuchcomposersas BelaBart6k,PaulHindemith,Ernst
Krenek,IgorStravinsky, andErnstToch-as concertperformers-to
promote theirworks in personto Americanaudiences.With the excep-
tion of his own recordingof Pierrotlunairein LosAngelesforColumbia
(in 1940),23Schoenberg's workswerenot takenupby majorAmerican
recordingcompanies until afterhis death.Althoughhe receivedpresti-
giousandwell-paidcommissionsfromElizabethSpragueCoolidge,the
Koussevitzky foundation,andHarvardUniversity,all basedin the East
Coast,obtainingcommissionson the WestCoastwasdifficultandunre-
wardingin termsof feesandpublicity,andhe managedto get onlyfour.
The firstcamein 1938,whenSchoenbergcontactedLosAngeles's
mostinfluentialJewishleader,RabbiJakobSonderling.Schoenberghad
receiveddesperatepleasforhelpfromfriendsandrelativestrappedin
AustriaandGermany.Whilehe wrotemanytestimonialsforthesesup-
plicants,he wasunableto meetrequirements to guaranteetheirfinancial
stabilityin the United and
States, hoped to interest wealthymembersof
RabbiSonderling's congregation at the FairfaxTemplein providingthe
necessary affidavits.24To supportthis effort,his Kolnidre,op. 39, was
commissioned by the rabbi (whocollaborated withSchoenbergon the
text) forperformance a in Yom Kippurservicethatfall,a monthbefore
the disastersof Kristallnacht.25 Schoenberg's freetreatmentof its cantus
firmuschantpreventedits firstperformance in a synagogue,andso the
service, narrated by Sonderling, place the CoconutGrovenight-
took in
clubat the Ambassador Hotel.26G. Schirmerrejectedit forpublication
in 1941.The secondcommission,forthe PianoConcerto,op. 42 (1942),

in LosAngeles 11
Schoenberg
wasoriginallyto havebeen a "pianopiece"forwhichSchoenberg's

pupil,the pianistOscarLevant,putup$100. When the workgrewinto
a concerto,Levantgot coldfeet overSchoenberg's fee andperformance
requirements andwithdrew.27The fee waspaidby a wealthyUniversity
of California,LosAngeles(UCLA),studentof Schoenberg's, Henry
ClayShriver.Anotherpupil,NathanielShilkret,whohadbeena mem-
berof Schoenberg'sMalkinConservatory-sponsored Manhattanclass
in 1933-34,provideda thirdcommissionin 1945.He hadcometo Hol-
lywoodin the mid-1930sandcomposedforseveralfilmstudios,andwas
associatedwithVictorRecords.He commissioned the emigrecomposers
MarioCastelnuovo-Tedesco, DariusMilhaud,Stravinsky, Alexandre
Tansman,Toch, andSchoenberg to each writea single movement for
a suitefornarrator,
chorus,and orchestra on sections of the Bookof
Genesis.The workwasrecordedby VictorRedSealRecordsafterits
November1945performance.28 Shilkret'sown movement,"Creation,"
followedSchoenberg's five-minutePreludefortextlesschorusandfull
orchestra.29The composerseachreceived$300-except Stravinsky, who
held out for $1,000.30The Phantasyfor Violin, op. 47 (1949), was com-
missionedby the CanadianviolinistAdolfKoldofsky. A friendof Rudolf
Kolisch,he cameto LosAngelesin 1944,andplayedthe firstWest
Coastperformance of Schoenberg'sStringTrioin May1948at
"Evenings on the Roof."
ThisLosAngelesconcertseriesdidthe mostof anyAmericanmu-
sicalorganization to promoteSchoenberg's musicin a sustainedwaydur-
ing his California years. PeterYates,the founderof andcatalystforthis
enterprise,gatheredperformers andaudienceswillingto ventureoutside
the standardrepertory. Yateshadbeen inspiredin partby Schoenberg's
SocietyforPrivateMusicalPerformances. He wasparticularly interested
in undervalued geniusandcelebratedSchoenberg's residence in LosAn-
gelesfromthe firstseasonof his concertsin 1939-40. Yatesprogrammed
mostof Schoenberg's chamberworks,someseveraltimes.31His articles
on Schoenberg,whosedifficultpersonalityhe relishedandendeavored
to understand, appearedbeginningin 1940in the Californiaperiodical
ArtsandArchitecture, andfrom1949on in nationalpublications.Yates's
beliefin his audience'sabilityto understand Schoenberg's musicgradu-
allyencouraged otherperformances in LosAngeles.
In Yates'sfirstdiscussion(in 1939)withSchoenbergabouthis
works,the composerdeclaredthathis newlypublishedViolinConcerto
couldnot be performed by anyoneliving,asJaschaHeifetzhadsaidhe
couldnot playit.32JoseRodriguez hadreportedto Schoenbergthat"a
virtuoso" hadtoldhim the concertowouldbe unplayable untilviolinists
couldgrowa newfourthfinger.Rodriguez described
Schoenberg"laughing

12 The MusicalQuarterly
like a pleasedchild"at this remarkandcontinuing,"Yes,yes.Thatwill

be fine.The concertois extremelydifficult,justas muchforthe headas
forthe hands.I amdelightedto addanotherunplayable workto the
repertoire.I wantthe concertoto be difficultandI wantthe little finger
to becomelonger.I can wait."33 Undauntedby this information, Yates
convinceda HollywoodBowlYoungArtists'Auditionwinnerto lear
the concertowithhis wife,the experienced(andEuropean-trained) pi-
anistFrancesMullen.When theytooktwo movementsto Schoenberg
t(on10 February 1940),the composerwaspleasedenoughwith their
workthathe arranged forthemto performone movementon NBC ra-
dio. He wrotekindlyon the youngviolinist'sscore,"NowI heardthisfor
the firsttimeandI amsatisfied,aboutyouandthe compositiontoo."34
Theseextremelycontradictory responsesillustratebothSchoen-
berg'sconcernforstudentsandhis angertowardthosewho crossedor
belittledhim.The pianistLeonardStein remembered that"Schoenberg
nevermadea fussabouthow well one performed his works.He realized
performers weredoingtheirbest.He'dbe gladif youcameto him before-
handto practice.He wouldn'thavemuchto say.He wasn'tgoingto
spendhis timegoadingthe performers."35 However,Stein alsoremem-
beredSchoenbergbearingsucha grudgeagainstHeifetzthateven in
the impecunious lastyearsof his lifehe refusedthe violinist'sfinancial
help.36 Such paradoxesin Schoenberg's attitudeswerebasicto the
complexityandintensityof his mind.Whilestudyingwithhim, Dika
Newlinrecordedin herdiariesmanyinstancesof the "unresolvable con-
tradictions" in his character.37 His daughter, Nuria,offersher analysis:
"Hewasgentleandhe wassevere,andhe wasangryandhe wassweet,
andhe washappyandhe wassad,andI thinkhe wasall of the things
thateveryoneelse is, to a muchmoreintensifieddegree.... Whenhe
wasangry,he wasmuchangrierthananyoneelse was.And whenhe was
happy,he wasmuchhappier."38 CarlEngelfoundthattherewasno one
moreherzlich or cordialthanSchoenberg.Yeteven Engel,alongwith
otherNew Yorkpublishers, critics,radio,andrecordingcompanies,re-
ceiveddosesof Schoenberg's frequentlyparanoidoutburstsof spleen.39
In LosAngeles,Europeans in the growingemigrecommunityoftenwere
treatedfrostilyby Schoenberg,whofelt thatthey,morethanAmericans
who lackeda sophisticated musicalbackground, shouldcertainlypayre-
spectto his stature.40 AnyonewhomSchoenbergsuspectedof acting
presumptuously towardhim felt his anger,whichcouldbe spikedwith
irony and wit. In 1948,at the beginningof his bitteraltercationwith
ThomasMannoverthe author's"pirating" of twelve-tonetheoryin the
novelDoctorFaustus,SchoenbergsentMannan invented"1988"ency-
clopediaarticle(bya musicologistnamed"HugoTriebsamen") which

in LosAngeles 13
Schoenberg
recordedthatThomasMann,the composer,wasthe realinventorof the

twelve-tonesystem,buthavingbecomea writerhe hadallowedits ap-
propriation by the thievishcomposerSchoenberg.41 (Mannhadindeed
pumpedSchoenberg formaterialon musicand the life of a composer
whenhe beganwritingthe novel in May1943.42)Schoenbergwasnot
onlyenragedaboutthe book'spossibleimpacton his musicalstature,but
alsoparticularly insultedthatthe composerin the novel wasafflicted
withsyphilis.MartaFeuchtwanger remembered Schoenbergin the
BrentwoodMarket,shoutingto herhis denialof the disease.She was
takenabackbutgladthathe wasspeakingin German.43
Mann'smajorsourceforhis novel'sinformationaboutSchoenberg's
twelve-tonemethodwasTheodorAdorno,a nearneighborof both
MannandSchoenbergin the 1940s.AlthoughAdoro felt he wasele-
vatingSchoenberg's reputationin his polemicThePhilosophy of Modem
Music,44 Schoenbergavoidedhim. Mann, who used Adorno's essayin
his novel,remembered that"muchas [Adomo]reveredSchoenberghe
hadno intercourse withhim."45 Schoenberg(whopersistedin calling
Adorno"Wiesengrund," Adorno'sJewishfather'sname)ventedhis feel-
ingsagainstAdornoin a personalmemotitled"Wgr." Thisbegan,"I
nevercouldbearhim,"andcriticizedthe bombast,pathos,andgrandios-
ity of Adorno'swriting.An unbridgeable chasmbetweenhimselfand
Adomo lay in the factthat in his bookAdomodiscussesSchoenberg's
dodecaphonic"system," whereasSchoenberghimselfdeclaredthat
"mineis no systembutonlya method.... One followsthe row,but
composeson the wholeas before."46 Schoenbergwroteto his European
studentJosefRufer,"Naturally [Adorno]knowsall abouttwelve-tone
music,buthe hasno ideaof the creativeprocess.... The bookwill give
manyof myenemiesa handle,especiallybecauseit is so scientifically
done."47 In his 1950will listingpossibleadvisorsto his wifeon the dis-
position his legacy,Schoenbergdemandedthat"Wiesengrund
of should
be excludedaltogether."48
On the otherhand,HannsEisler,whoseloyaltyto his teacherhad
resumedin the 1930s,wasa frequentguestof the Schoenbergsafterhis
1942moveto LosAngeles.Schoenberghadcorresponded withEisler
aboutcreatinga musicschoolin the SovietUnion justpriorto his move
to Californiaanddemonstrated his interestin Eisler'sfamilyby using
moneyconfiscated Germany orderEisler'sfather'sbookon philoso-
in to
phy soon aftersettling in Los Angeles.49As a tributefor his teacher's
seventieth birthday,Eislerdedicatedhis favoritechamberwork,Fourteen
Waysto DescribeRain, op. 70, to Schoenberg,who was very pleasedwith
it. A week afterEisler'sreunion with Bertolt Brecht in Hollywood, Brecht
commented in his journalon Eisler'srelationshipwith Schoenberg:

"sch6nberg is an old tyrantandeisler... tremblesandworriesabouthis

tie beingstraightor arriving10 minutesearly."50 On 29 July1942Eisler
took Brecht-aboutwhomSchoenbergknewlittle-to hearSchoenberg
lectureat UCLAon modemcomposition.Theywereinvitedafterward
to the Schoenberghome.Beforethe occasionEislerwarnedBrecht,who
wasknownforhis uncompromising rudeness,that if Brechtlost control
andmadeanymaliciouscommentsto Schoenberghe, Eisler,would
breakoff all relationswithhis longtimecollaborator. Brechtwasdeeply
impressed by the keennessof Schoenberg's intellectand so charmedby
his dry,sharpwit thathe sent Schoenberga poemin gratitudeforthe
visit,duringwhichSchoenberghadtold a storyof how he learnedfrom
a donkeythe easiestwayto climba hill.51
Eislerfelt that Schoenberg'shomelife withhis second,veryyoung
familywas"atwelve-tonehell"anda "messof disorganization."52 But
whenyoungRonaldSchoenbergneededan emergencyappendectomy
at the ageof five,Eisler,whowasearninga comfortable livingat the
timeforhis filmscores,offeredto lendSchoenbergthe necessarymoney.
He onlymanagedto get Schoenbergto acceptthis gestureby sayingthat
repaymentwouldnot be necessaryif SchoenbergwouldgiveEislersome
lessonsinstead,to whichSchoenbergreplied(withrelentlesslogic),"If
youstillhaven'tlearnedit I can'tteachyou."53 SchoenberghelpedEisler
a
get teachingposition at USC andrecommended him forseveralother
academicappointments, buthe becameverynervousoverEisler'spoli-
tics.54In 1944, when the witch hunt for leftists was alreadyunderway
in Hollywood,Schoenbergpubliclystatedthatpoliticswasa dangerous
gamebestleft to politicians,andthatartistswhodabbledin politics
shouldbe treatedlike immaturechildren.55 When it becameclearin late
1947thatEislerwouldbe deported,SchoenbergwroteJosefRufer,"IfI
hadanysayin the matterI'dturnhim overmykneelikea sillyboyand
givehim twenty-fiveof the bestandmakehim promiseneverto open
his mouthagainbutto stickto scribblingmusic.Thathe hasa giftfor,
andthe resthe shouldleaveto others.Ifhe wantsto appear'important,'
let him composeimportantmusic."56 AfterEisler'sdeportationin 1948
SchoenbergagainwroteRufer,"Wewho live in musichaveno placein
politicsandmustregardthemas somethingessentiallyaliento us."57
Eislermaintainedhis respect-even reverence-forSchoenbergand
soonafterhis deportationgavea lecturein Praguein which,whilehe
criticizedSchoenberg's attitudes,"
"petty-bourgeois he remarked:
Onecouldalmostsaythatthecharacteristicfeature
ofSchoenberg's
music
isfear.... Heis thelyriccomposer
of thegaschambersofAuschwitz,
of
Dachauconcentration camp,ofthecomplete ofthemanin the
despair

inLosAngeles 15
Schoenberg
streetunderthe heel of fascism.That is his humanity.It is proofof

Schoenberg's geniusandinstinctthathe gaveexpressionto all theseemo-
tionsat a timewhenthe worldseemedsafeforthe ordinarymanin the
street.Whateverone maysayagainsthim,he neverlied.58
Upon learningof Schoenberg'sdeath in 1951, Eislerexpressedan am-

bivalence echoed by severalof the closest of Schoenberg'sstudents:
"Schoenberg'sdeath shook me most profoundly.I have learnedfromhim
everythingI know... It was difficultto stand up to such a master."59
It was Schoenberg'sown awarenessof his masteryas a teacher that origi-

nally convinced him he could supporthis family in Los Angeles. How-
ever, he had no contacts with the two majoruniversities,UCLA and
USC, and the music divisions of both institutions were in a weak condi-
tion, both financiallyand academically,becauseof the depression.His
initial idea was to teach film composers,for film was the one industry
that was flourishingfinancially.He may have also had creative motives
partlyin mind, for in EuropeSchoenberghad long been seriouslyat-
tractedto film as an aspect of Gesamtkunstwerk. In particular,the staging
difficultiesin his one-act operaDie gliicklicheHandhad led him in 1913
to suggesta filmedversion, designedby OskarKokoschka,Wassily
Kandinsky,or Alfred Roller (Mahler'sfavoreddesignerat the Vienna
Opera).60Duringthe earlydevelopment of sound in film, Schoenberg
composedhis Accompaniment Musicto a FilmScene, op. 34 (1929-30)
and, at Klemperer'ssuggestion,consideredcreatinga film for it with the
Bauhausartistand designerLaszl6Moholy-Nagy.However,now that
economic survivalwas uppermostin his mind, it was his confidence and
interest in teaching that he leaned upon, and these strengthsdetermined
his life in America.
He knew, fromhis yearwith the Malkin Conservatory,that in
comparisonto his EuropeanpupilsAmerican music studentswere ill
prepared.He hoped film composerswould be better equippedto make
use of his teaching and better able to pay him a comfortableliving. This
turnedout to be partlytrue. Soon afterhis arrivalin October 1934 he
began advertisinghimself in local newspapersas a teacher.He gave
public lecturesin Hollywood61and soon developed a heavy schedule
of private teaching, which remainedlucrativeuntil a 1937 strike in the
film studios. Many of his private studentswere film composers,some of
whom must have been told, as was David Raksin (a self-taughtmusician
who came to Hollywood in his twenties to arrangemusic for Chaplin's

ModemTimes),"Firstyou must learn something about music."62Gerald

Strang,Schoenberg'steaching assistantfrom 1935 to 1939, commented
on Schoenberg'sworkwith film composers:
He wasverymuchrespectedamongmusicians.... Rightfromthe begin-

ningtherewasa steadystreamof peoplefromthe motionpictureindustry
whotookprivatelessonsfromhim.... He moreor lesschargedwhatthe
trafficwouldbearwiththe motionpicturepeoplein orderto makea liv-
ing.And in part,thisenabledhimthen to takeaswell talentedyoung
peoplewhocouldn'taffordto payhis prices.So a lot of youngAmericans,
whomhe didnot chargeat all, or chargeda pittance,benefittedindirectly.
Strangknew of no occasion when Schoenberghelped a composerwith

a film score, but he commented that the film composerswho sought
lessons with Schoenbergwere anxious to be recognizedin the concert
world and "werealwaysworkingon a symphony,a stringquartet,an
overture,or a concerto."63
Oscar Levant studiedwith SchoenbergfromApril 1935 through
1937.64Levant, a prodigyon the brinkof popularsuccessas an impudent
musicalknow-it-all on the radioshow "InformationPlease"and of his
subsequentcareeras the highest-paidconcert pianist in America, paid
tributeto Schoenbergin a characteristicallyAmerican manner:
Tomymind,Schoenbergis the greatestteacherin the world.The very

contactwithsucha personeitherbringsout somethingthat is in youor
letsyousee thatthereis nothingto be broughtout.Eitherway,it is help-
ful to knowwhereyoustand.Schoenbergnot onlypermitseachof his
pupilsto be completelyhimself,he insistson it. Fatherof the atonalsys-
tem,he is passionatein his reverenceforthe classicsandclassicform.
Fromhim I learnedthatmodernism is not merelya matterof hittingthe
keyswithyourelbowandseeingwhathappens;it is logical,andformed
withan utterlylogicalif unconventional development. No one hasto like
modemmusic,buteveryseriousmusicianowesit to himselfto keephis
earsopenandlistento whatis goingon.
Schoenbergset Levant, who thought musicallyin termsof the piano, to

studyingthe languageof stringsin the quartetsof Mozartand Brahms.
The piano trios of Schubert,on the other hand, were studiedfor the-
matic development. Schoenberg,Levant said, "taughtme to write piano
music for the piano, chambermusic for chambergroups,orchestralmusic
directlyfor the orchestra."65
Levant'sclose friendGeorge Gershwinmet Schoenbergafterhe
moved fromNew Yorkto BeverlyHills in the summerof 1936. Their
love of tennis and painting cemented a friendshipbetween the two mu-

inLosAngeles 17
Schoenberg
sicians.Gershwincan hardlybe categorizedas a studentof Schoenberg's,

buthe wasworkingon a stringquartetat the timeandmayhavebrought
it to Schoenbergon 28 May1937.66On 12July,the dayafterGershwin's
tragicsuddendeathfroma braintumor,Schoenbergexpressedhis re-
spectforGershwin's musicin a radioeulogy,whichbegan:
GeorgeGershwin wasoneof theraremusiciansforwhommusicwasnota
matterofgreaterorlesserability.
Musicforhimwastheairhe breathed,
foodthatnourished him,drinkthatrefreshed
him.Musicwasthatwhich
he felt,andmusicwasthefeelingthathe received. ofthissort
Originality
isonlygrantedto thegreat,andwithoutdoubthe wasa greatcomposer.67
AlfredNewman,whowasat TwentiethCentury-Foxfrom1935
andwasits musicdirectorfrom1939to 1959,studiedwith Schoenberg
from1936through1938andthereaftermaintaineda socialrelationship
withhim (includingfrequenttennisdates)through1940.Newmanwas
a keyHollywoodfigureforSchoenberg; he talkedSamuelGoldwyninto
allowing the KolischQuartetto record the fourSchoenbergstringquar-
tets on a UnitedArtistssoundstagein 193768andprovidedthe Twenti-
eth Century-Foxorchestrato performthe premiere of KolNidrein 1938.69
In 1938Newmaneven askedSchoenbergto presentthe Oscarforbest
filmscorealongwitha shortspeechat the AcademyAwardsceremony.70
Othersfromthe filmcapitalwho studiedbrieflywithSchoenbergwere
HugoFriedhofer, who attendeda seminarat USC in 1935;EdwardPow-
ell andDavidRaksin,who met SchoenbergthroughLevantandhad
lessonsbetween1935and 1937;LeonardRosenman,who latercom-
posedthe firsttwelve-tonefilmscore;71 andFranzWaxman,whobegan
lessons August1945,althoughSchoenbergthen becameveryill and
in
couldnot continue.Twomembersof Paramount's musicdepartment, the
songwriter RalphRainger and the Leo
lyricist Robin studiedmore exten-
sively with Schoenbergbetween 1936 and 1939.72
Schoenberg-likeHindemithandStravinsky-wastemptedto in-
vestigatethe kindof salarya filmcomposercouldcommand,andin Los
Angeleshis studentswereveryoftenthe key to composingpossibilities.
RobinandRaingermayhavearranged an introductionto BorisMorros,
headof the musicdepartmentat Paramount Studios,whereSchoenberg
hadappointments in 1936,1937,and 1938.73Anothercontactcame
throughthe pianistEdwardSteuermann's sister,SalkaViertel,whowas
then writingscriptsforGretaGarboat Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In Janu-
ary1936 an appointment was made for Schoenberg to meetwith MGM's
IrvingThalberg, who wasproducing a filmed version of TheGood Earth,
PearlS. Buck'sbest-sellingnovel aboutChinesepeasants.SalkaViertel
wroteaboutthe encounter:

18 TheMusical
Quarterly
A lot of protocolwenton beforethe meetingwasarranged anda studio

carsentforthe Schoenbergs.... At 3:30therewasstillno signof the
Schoenbergs.... Schoenberghadfoundit perfectlyreasonable thathe
shouldbe shownaroundthe studiobeforedecidingto workthere.We sat
downin frontof Thalberg's desk,Schoenbergrefusingto partwithhis
umbrella.... I stillsee himbeforeme, leaningforwardin his chair,both
handsclaspedoverthe handleof the umbrella,his burning,genius'seyes
on Thalberg,who,standingbehindhis desk,wasexplainingwhyhe
wanteda greatcomposerforthe scoringof TheGoodEarth.Whenhe
cameto: "LastSundaywhenI heardthe lovelymusic[Verklarte Nacht]you
havewritten..." Schoenberginterrupted sharply:"Idon'twrite'lovely'
music."... SchoenberghadreadTheGoodEarthandhe wouldnot under-
takethe assignmentunlesshe wasgivencompletecontroloverthe sound,
includingthe spokenwords.74
Thalbergproposeda $30,000salary,butSchoenberg's demandforsuch

artisticcontrolnaturallycauseda delayin the discussion,duringwhich
GertrudSchoenbergsuggestedthe (then) unheard-offee of $50,000,
whichendedthe negotiation.75 Gertrudwroteherbrother,the violinist
RudolfKolisch,that theywereprettysurecomposingforthe filmstudio
wasnot forArnold,76 andSchoenbergwroteto AlmaMahler-Werfel,
"Itwouldhavebeenthe end of me."He regrettedthe lossof the money,
sincehadhe managedto win it, sucha sumwouldhaveallowedhim to
completehis operaMosesundAron,the oratorioDieJakobsleiter, and
sometheoreticalworkshe hadbegun.77 However,he wasinterested
enough in the filmproject to make sketchesforit in two notebooks.78 In
July of the same year,the director William Dieterle approached Schoen-
bergaboutcollaborating in a filmbiography of Beethoven.Schoenberg
repliedthathe couldnot join the projectbecause"itwouldnot be in
keepingwith whatpeopleareentitledto demandof me, namelythat I
shouldcreateoutof myownbeing."79Schoenberg's truefeelingsabout
the Hollywoodfilmindustrywerepublishedin an April1940articlein
ArtsandArchitecture titled"Artandthe MovingPictures." It effectively
endedthe possibilitythathe wouldhaveanyfurtherappointments with
filmstudios.In it he recalledhavingexpectedfromthe adventof sound
in filma renaissance of the arts,dealingwiththe highestproblemsof
mankind.He hadin mindforthis excitingnewmediumaudienceswho
couldreciteby heartwholepagesof Shakespeare, Schiller,Goethe,and
Wagner.He didnot expectthe "vulgarity, sentimentality, andmereplay-
ing for the gallery"that followed. Movingpictures had now becomea
mere"industry, mercilesslysuppressing everydangerous of art."
trait
Filmswere"cutdownto thatzeropointwhichallowsfora happyend-
ing,"intendedonlyfor"ordinary people."He concludedthatwaysmust

inLosAngeles 19
Schoenberg
be foundto satisfythe demandsof the morehighlyeducated,as well as

the demandsof artitself.80
Afterthe publicationof this article,Schoenberg's interactionswith
the filmindustrydwindled.YetSchoenbergurgedKolischto findwork
playingin studioorchestras duringdifficulttimesin his brother-in-law's
career,andGertrudSchoenbergattemptedto sell a moviescript,when
theyfacedleanyearsthemselvesin the 1940s.81BothSchoenbergs
maintainedfriendlysocialcontactwith the Dieterles,SalkaViertel,
andthe Komgolds,who arrivedin Hollywoodthe samemonthas the
Schoenbergfamily.GertrudSchoenberghadbeen a closefriendof
ErichWolfgangKomgoldwhentheywereteenagersin Vienna,and
theirchildrenbecamefriendsin LosAngeles.82Eventhe icy relationship
betweenSchoenbergandErich'sfather,the formerViennesecriticand
enemyto musicalmoderismJuliusKomgold,melted.The elderKom-
goldwrotethat in California"Schoenberg behavedmorelikea bour-
geois husband and tender fatherthan a musical revolutionary. He could
be veryamiable.... He seemed to have growntolerant,verytolerant,
andtoleranceis not one of the characteristics of a realrevolutionary."83
In May1936,the prospectof a facultyappointmentat UCLAen-
couragedthe Schoenbergsto buytheirownhomenearbyin Brentwood,
wheretheyemployeddomestichelp andbeganholdingSundayafter-
noon gatheringsthatwereknownforexcellentcoffeeandViennesepas-
tries.Klemperer, whostudiedprivatelywith Schoenbergin California
beginningin April 1936,wasa frequentguest.When in town,members
of the KolischQuartetwouldbe there,joiningthe visitingpianistsEd-
wardSteuermann, ArturSchnabel,andRichardBuhlig,who wasper-
formingSchoenberg's pianomusicin his recitalsin CaliforniaandNew
Yorkat the time.Krenek,whosedesireto live in Californiabroughthim
forlate-summer visits,frequentlypaidhomageto Schoenbergwith a
visit on his birthday.84AdolphWeiss,a finebassoonistandSchoenberg's
firstAmericanstudentin Berlin,wasa memberof Schoenberg's circle
after1938.The composersEdgardVarese,JosephAchron,andLouis
Gruenberg cameforfrequentsocialengagements.85 Amongmanyothers
occasionallyentertainedby the SchoenbergswereErnstTochandhis
wife,Lily;the architectRichardNeutraandhis wife,Dione;Thomas
andKatiaMann;VickiBaumandherhusband,the conductorRichard
Lert;MaxReinhardt's son,Gottfried;FranzWerfelandAlmaMahler-
Werfel;the actorsHarpoMarxandPeterLorre;andan old friendfrom
Schoenberg's earlymusic-making daysin Vienna,HugoRiesenfeld.
Once Schoenbergbeganteachingat UCLA,membersof the music
departmentandthe administration of the universitywereinvitedto
the Sundayafternoonsin Brentwood.Schoenbergalsoproudlyhosted

formalcelebrationsof his UCLAstudents'compositionalachievements.

Theirmusicwouldbe performed, andtheywouldhavethe opportunity
to minglewith a selectgroupof Schoenberg's
distinguished musician
friendsoverthe Vienneserefreshments.86
ManycommentsfromSchoenberg's Americanstudentsecho Oscar
Levant'spraiseforSchoenbergas "thegreatestteacherin the world,"87
one who investedextraordinary careandenergyin his workandwhose
methodswereunique.Butbecausehe recognizedthatthe abilityto com-
poseis inbornandcannotbe taught,Schoenberg's attitudewasparadox-
ical.He frequentlymadethis commentabouthis own teaching:
I alwayscalledit one of mygreatestmeritsto havediscouraged the great-

est majorityof mypupilsfromcomposing.Thereremain,fromthe many
hundredsof pupils,only6-8 whocompose.I findsuchwhoneedencour-
agementmustbe discouraged, becauseonlysuchshouldcomposeto whom
creationis a "must,"a necessity,a passion,suchaswouldnot stopcompos-
ing if theywerediscouraged a thousandtimes.88
Rather than encouraginghis pupils,he showed them that "Idid not

think too much of their creative ability ... All my pupilsdifferfrom
one another extremely.... They all had to find their way alone, for
themselves."89He did not attempt to teach a style or to give his students
"tricks."Gerald Strangdescribedthe acute analyticalability that lay
behind the way in which Schoenbergwas a "destructiveratherthan a
constructivecritic"for his students:"He had the knack ... of putting
his fingeron the reasonwhy something went wrong.... Schoenberg
recognizedthat nine times out of ten the weaknesswas a resultof some-
thing that happened earlier,and could go back and say [why].This must
have had some influence on the criticismand self-criticismof the people
who workedwith him."90
John Cage, at age twenty-two, was among a groupof three private
students,who, joining together to save on their fees, studiedat the
Schoenberghome on Canyon Cove in Hollywood in the fall of 1934. In
spite of the harsh criticismhe received, Cage believed that "Schoenberg
was a magnificentteacher,"one who put his students in touch with
musicalprinciples.
I studiedcounterpointat his homeandattendedall his classesat USC

andlaterat UCLAwhenhe movedthere.I alsotookhis coursein har-
mony,forwhichI hadno gift.... He toldme thatwithouta feelingfor
harmonyI wouldalwaysencounteran obstacle,a wallthroughwhichI
wouldn'tbe ableto pass.Myreplywasthatin thatcaseI woulddevotemy
life to beatingmyheadagainstthatwall-and maybethatis whatI've

in LosAngeles 21
Schoenberg
beendoingeversince.In all the timeI studiedwithSchoenberg,he never

once led me to believethatmyworkwasdistinguished in anyway.He
neverpraisedmycompositions, andwhenI commentedon otherstudents'
workin classhe heldmycommentsupto ridicule.And yet I worshipped
him likea god.91
Peter Yateslater passedon to Cage Schoenberg'srecollection of Cage as

"an inventor of genius. Not a composer,no, not a composer,but an in-
ventor. A greatmind."92Bernice AbrahmsGeiringer,a memberwith
Cage and George Tremblayof the initial threesome,rememberedthat
Cage'srelationshipwith Schoenbergwas "affable."Cage was very verbal,
she recalled,precisein his counterpointexercises,and analytical;he "had
one of the clearestminds, and he came unencumbered.He just went his
way."Like Tremblay(who was alreadywell trainedas a musician) and
Cage, she continued to studywith Schoenbergat USC, then at UCLA.
She discoveredthat "Schoenbergdid not teach composition.... You
had to reallyknowwhat precededyou. Youjust didn't start with yourself.
Youhad to have the most disciplinedbackground.... What he was re-
ally focusing on was a foundation."She was one among severalwho
testifiedthat-contrary to the impressionsof those who did not know
him-Schoenberg was a very emotional person and extraordinarilyper-
ceptive. She had been encouragedby her piano teacher to compose, yet
her family situation was difficult.She rememberedSchoenbergadvising
her, "MissAbrahms,you'renot made of glass."93
Pauline Alderman, a memberof USC's music facultywho was one
of Schoenberg'sfirstprivate students in Hollywood, arrangedhis invita-
tion to teach in USC's summerschool in 1935.94Becausethe president
of USC, Rufusvon KleinSmid,ruled the universitylike an "absolute
monarch"and stronglydisapprovedof moder music,95the summerap-
pointment led only to a part-timeposition (the Alchin Chair in Com-
position) in the academicyear 1935-36, and another summerappoint-
ment the following summer.In 1936 UCLA, which, thanks to its state
support,was a much richer institution than USC, a private institution,
"discovered"Schoenberg,and with Klemperer'srecommendationoffered
him a tenuredappointmentas professorof composition at a beginning
salaryof $4,800.96
The USC summerteaching gave Schoenberga greatdeal of trou-
ble, for he found himself teaching a class of thirty to fortypublic school
and college teachers,middle-agedand older,who were in the class to
earn a few credits that would improvetheir salaryschedules.97Strang,
who came to studywith Schoenbergon scholarshipfrom the San Fran-
cisco Bay area,where he had workedfor Cowell'sNew Music Society,

felt that Schoenbergwas"completely at a loss"in thatsituation."He

hadno ideawhatgradesmeant,or whatkindof expectationshe could
askof his students."His Englishwasnot adequateto a classsituation,
andStrangvolunteeredto sit besidehim andsupplynecessarywords.
Schoenberggot Stranganotherscholarship(withfundsfromSamuel
Goldwyn)forthe fallsemester.LeonardStein enrolledon the adviceof
his pianoteacher,RichardBuhlig,andvolunteeredto playmusicalex-
amplesfromBeethovenpianosonatas.BothStein andStrangwentto
UCLAin 1936to continuewith Schoenberg,Strangas Schoenberg's
teachingassistant.Stein tookon thatroleat UCLAfrom1939to 1942.
BothStrangandSteinhelpedSchoenbergwritehis textbooksuntilhis
deathin 1951andin manywayssuppliedthe aidSchoenberg's European
studentshadundertakenearlier.Besidecorrectingstudents'papers,
Strangsaid,he helpedresolveSchoenberg's personalproblems,advised
him on the purchaseof his house,andactedas a chauffeur. Thisroleof
amanuensis enabledStrangto see Schoenberg's difficultiesandadjust-
ments in his new situation:
Itwasin manywaysa veryfrustrating periodforhimandforeverybody
else.Hehadcometo uswiththereputation ofbeingextraordinarily diffi-
cultto getalongwith,beingveryautocratic, verydomineering andintol-
erant.Buttheeffectofbeingsocompletely dislocatedandhavingto find
thesewaysthrough aneducational systemwhichwassocompletely foreign
to alltheEuropean modelsthathehadbeenaccustomed to,apparently
madehimmuchlessdomineering thanhehadbeen.I neversawanyof
that.Hewassensitive. wereeasilyhurt.Hewasconstantly
[His]feelings
misunderstanding people'smotives.He wasresentful,forinstance,ifsome-
oneononeofthefaculties onwhichhe taughtgavea partyanddidn'tin-
vitehimandMrs.Schoenberg....Ifhesawsomebody oncampus [who]
didn'tcomeandshakehandswithhim,he thought he haddonesomething
to offendthem.Or-vice versa-perhaps theywereintending to offend
him.All thiskindofpersonal made
sensitivity it very forhim,but
difficult
somebody hadto actas a buffer
and a That
bridge. was my forthefirst
role
two-and-a-halfto threeyearshe wasin Southern California.98
StrangandStein bothcommentedthatneitherUSC norUCLAal-
lowedSchoenbergthe influencehe deserved.AlthoughSchoenberg
neverreachedthe salaryhe hopedforat UCLA,his newpositionhelped
him withstandthe reductionin his privateteachingin 1937,when (be-
causeof a "littlecatastrophein Hollywood")his filmstudentsstopped
their lessons owing to cancellation of their film contracts.99
In the 1930s UCLA was converting from its past as a school of
teacher education and becoming a real university.Strangfelt that
UCLA had hired Schoenbergas an outstandingand controversialinter-

in LosAngeles 23
Schoenberg
nationalfigurewho wouldenhancethe reputationof the newlyemerg-

ing academicinstitution.At firstSchoenbergwasgivenhopethathe
wouldbe allowedto develop(andbe directorof) the theoryandcompo-
sitionprogram of the musicdepartment. With the sameforceandzeal
he hadfruitlesslyappliedto the rescue of European Jewry,he drewup
memosandplans.HisJuly1937planforgraduatestudentsin the UCLA
musicdepartmentoutlinedSchoenberg's principlesof artisticcommit-
ment:a devotion"onlycomparable to thatto religionor to the father-
land";anda respectforlawsof morality,whicharestricterthanthose
of everydaylife.He deeplybelievedthat"[a]rtists haveto be modelsfor
ordinaryeveryday citizensand have to behave accordingly. It has to be
one of the foremosttask[s]of everyschoolof artto developthe character
of the students.... [Artists]belongto the leadersof mankind."'00
Fromthe startSchoenberg's classeswereoverlarge.In 1937,teach-
ing twenty-fivestudentsin composition,twenty-fivein analysis,and
sixtyin counterpoint,he petitionedRobertG. Sproul,the presidentof
UCLA,forsalariesforteachingassistantsandalsorequestedfundsto
builda libraryof scoresforstudentsin analysisandcomposition.101 With
prodigious energy, intellect,and self-assurance, Schoenberg envisioned
new educationalstructures. He proposeda conservatorylike domain
withinthe musicdepartment, whichhe calleda "MusicClub."102 It
wouldcontaina numberof divisionshe called"schools": an orchestra
school,a schoolforconducting,anda schoolof orchestration, whose
pupilswouldorchestrate piecesforthe conductorsandthe chamberor-
chestraandwouldattendrehearsals of the Philharmonic andthe Federal
Symphony Orchestra. There would also be a choirschool anda school
forcopyists.Therewouldbe a fixedtimewhenstudentswouldlistento
recordedworkswhilefollowingscores.Thesesameworkswouldbe per-
formedin concertsby prominentlocalartistsof Schoenberg's choice,103
in whichthe choirandthe orchestrawouldalsoperform.
Schoenbergalsoattemptedto elevatethe university's musical
to a
training European level. His projected "Curriculum for Composers"
(1941-42) wasintendedto "sharpen prerequisites" in orderto separate
the moretalentedstudentsfromthoseaimingonly to fulfillaveragere-
quirements: "Itseemsto me thata greatnumberof talentedstudentsto
be foundin this communitycouldbe stimulatedto takea moreserious
attitudetowardsartif theywereforcedto,"he wrote.His suggestedplan
forthisprocessinvolvedprogression throughsix undergraduate courses
in harmony,counterpoint,andanalysis,to the seventh,"Composition
forComposers" (withthe consentof the instructor).Graduateclassesfor
composerswouldbe in differentaspectsof composition.104 Followingthe
preceptsof the greatViennesemusicologistGuidoAdler,Schoenberg

wantedto requireof graduatestudentsa thoroughknowledgeof specific

works.He recommended thatstudentsbe informedof whattheymust
study fortheir oralexaminations andwhattheyshouldexpectto be
asked.105 The committeeforsuchan examinationshouldconsistof not
onlythreemembersof the musicfaculty,butalsoone memberfromthe
artdepartmentandone fromphilosophyor physics.The theoryor com-
positionstudentshouldundertakea thesison a problemof composition,
includinganalysis,comparison of two or moreworksin regardto the
problem, and an independentinvestigation,idea,or theory,with illustra-
tions.106 Schoenbergoftenexpressedhis opinionthatto be a composer
one shouldstudyintensivelyfora minimumof five-sometimeshe
demandedeight-years.
AnotherradicalvisionSchoenbergdevelopedforUCLAin 1940
wasa facultyforumof the artsandaesthetics.He hopedto engageteach-
ing colleaguesfromthe sciencesandthe humanitiesin regulardiscus-
sionsas to whateffectrecentchangesin technology,sociology,and
economicsmightbe havingon the artsandaesthetics.He foresaw
culture-altering changesovertakinga societythatneglectedfullcommu-
nicationbetweenartsandsciences.Amongthe problemshe predicted
andsoughtthe helpof his colleaguesto solvewasthe possible"endof
art,"causedby the erosionof a classstructureandthe consequentinabil-
ity of artiststo resistthe temptationto satisfythe demandsof the broad
masses.107
None of theseplanswererealizedduringSchoenberg's tenureat
UCLA.Instead,the hiringemphasisin the musicdepartmentturned
towardmusicologists, andstaffpositionswerenot developedto achieve
the graduateprogramin compositionSchoenberghad in mind."The
situationat UCLAwasalwaysveryfrustrating to him,"saidStrang;
Schoenberg did not "fit"
in at UCLA. But he "had an active,wirymind
whichwasconstantlygrabbingholdof andtusslingwithsomething.If it
wassomethingwhichhe couldn'tresolve. .. his tendencywasto pushit
asideandconcentrateon somethingelse."108
AlthoughSchoenbergwasunableto convertto his viewsthe ad-
ministrations of eitheruniversityin LosAngeles,his influenceon his
studentswasconsiderable andlong-lasting.He sawclearlythathe
neededto adapthis expectationsto Americanlevelsof musicalback-
ground.He foundtalent,inventiveability,andoriginalityin American
students,but it washis opinionthatthe generallevel of theirmusicedu-
cationwas"superficial andexternal."109In a 1938articleSchoenberg
foundhis students'musicalexperienceakinto "Swisscheese-almost
moreholesthancheese."'10 Becauseof this,he wrote,"Ihadto change
manyof my ideaswhichI developedwithinalmostfortyyearsof teach-

in LosAngeles 25
Schoenberg
ing."11lHis curriculum at UCLAcoveredharmonyandbasicanalysisfor

his
beginners(taughtby assistant),compositionforbeginners,counter-
pointforbeginners,structural functionsof harmony,analysisof larger
forms,andorchestration. He askedbeginningstudentsin composition
to writecompleterondos,whichhe presentedat his homewithformality
andpridein carefullyplannedcelebrations. Usingapprovedradiobroad-
castsof concertmusic,he alsoassignedstudentlisteningreports.For
thesehe workedout, in carefuldetail,rigorousandcomprehensive
questionnaires.
LeonardSteinfoundthatwhileSchoenberg's musicalexamples
andexercisesremainedin manywayssimilarto thosehe hadusedforhis
European pupils,112 his teachingandhis theorytextswrittenin America,
whilemaintaininghis basicprinciples,wereadjustedtowardthe needsof
"beginners." Schoenberggrewproudof his abilityto teachnoncom-
posers and even boastedto Stein thathe couldteachcomposingto ta-
blesandchairs.113 Stein said,"Iwasappalledat the poorsortof material
thatstudentswouldturnin ... andSchoenbergwouldalwaystryto turn
themaroundinto something,patchthemup.... He workedhis head
off."Schoenbergwouldgive eachstudenta separateexamandwould
usuallychangethe gradeSteingaveon an examto somethingbetter.
"Hecountenancedmediocrity. He knewwhatto expectfromthese
students."114 Indeed, perhapsthe mostsurprising
in of his paradoxical
attitudes,Schoenbergdeclaredseveraltimesthe worthinessof support
forthe artistwho mightnot achievegreatcreativemastery.By 1939he
haddevelopedhis ideaof "eartrainingthroughcomposing" to helpbe-
ginnersin the understanding of music:"Justas almostanyonecan be
trainedto draw,paint,writean essayor delivera lecture,it mustalsobe
possibleto makepeoplewitheven lessthanmediocregiftsusethe means
of musicalcompositionin a sensitivemanner.... Everygoodmusician
shouldsubmitto suchtraining."'15 In a 1940editionof MusicandDance
in California,he publishedan article,titled"Encourage the Mediocre,"
thatwasaimedat "theprotectors, patrons,[and] customersof
the the
the arts."In it he pointedout that"[i]tis the mediocreartiston whoma
rapidexpansionof culturalgoodsdepends,morethanon the geniuswho
givesthe impulseandproducesmomentumandacceleration." He noted
thatwhilepeopleof moderatemeansarewillingto buylandscapesor
orderportraitsfromsecond-ranking painters,too fewcareto payto hear
concertsor acquirerecordings of worksby contemporary composers.
"Isthereno wayto do justiceto sincereartists?" he asked.116
It washis view thatmusicalstudymustbe basedon the worksof
the masters.His teachingdealtwith the profundity withwhichgreat
composers of the pastcarried out their ideasand inquiredinto the many

waystheyhandledmusicalproblems.Steinfelt thatSchoenberg's ideas

werecontinuingto evolve.The mannerin whichhe taughtharmony
consideredthe ambiguityandmultiplemeaningsof chords."Insteadof
modulatingfromkeyto key,he is considering[thestructural functionsof
harmony] in termsof regions of one Stein
key:monotonality," explained.
"This[processof discovery]occupiedhim as muchas his composition
did:Howandwhy.Principlesof composition.A kindof middleground
betweenpracticeandtheory,whichis not easyto explain.... He wasn't
interestedin puretheory,butin the explanationof whycertainthings
happenedin composition.He alwaysstartedin a veryintuitiveway;
throughthe writingitself."117
His studentswerestunnedby Schoenberg's "improvisations"on
a givenproblem,writtenat tremendous speedon the blackboard in
the styleof Beethoven,Haydn,Mozart,or Brahms.The composerLeon
Kirchnerremembers feelingso awedby this thatat firsthe thoughtit
hopeless to become a composer.The students'exerciseswereto be done
in thesestyles;Schoenbergneverdrewon his ownmusic."Onehadto
masterthe past,andthe formsout of whichthe presentcame.... What
wasterrifying washis acuteanalysisof a student'sweakness.He would
correct,immediately, in whateverpersonalstylethe studentwas
using.... It tookme yearsto reallyunderstand deeplywhatSchoenberg
taught. At the time I would think I understood,buttherewassuch
depthto it, it tooka longtimeto realizeits implications."118 Although
he studiedwith Schoenbergforonlytwoyearsat UCLA(1937-38and
1940-41), Kirchnerfelt thatSchoenberg's influencewasformativefor
him.Schoenberg's commandof musicaltraditionandhis music'scon-
nectionto the pastencouraged Kirchnerto followhis own individual
line of thinkingregardless of musicalfashionsandtrends;as a composer
he ultimatelychosenot to be a serialist."AlthoughSchoenbergwasex-
tremelysystematic,he defiedanddeniedsystem,"Kirchnersays.He re-
memberedSchoenbergbeingannoyedat the phrase"thetwelve-tone
'system'." "Hesomehow,inherentlyor intuitively,realizedthat therewas
no systemin whichtherecouldbe a finalformula.... The [twelve-tone
technique]is onlyone parameter in his work:somethingwhichI respect
very much. But beyond that there arethe otherqualities[suchas]his
immensemusicality.... Behindthattwelve-tonerowis a giantmusical
mind."119
Schoenbergbelieved that modernism,like composing,"cannotand
ought not to be taught. But it might come in a naturalway,by itself, to
him who proceedsgraduallyby absorbingthe culturalachievements of
his predecessors."120
Although he was persuadedby his firststudentsat
USC to give an in-class analysis,and UCLA askedhim to give a public
lecture on the "Methodof Composingwith Twelve Tones"in March

inLosAngeles 27
Schoenberg
1941,he avoidedthe subjectin class.Fromthe timeof his arrivalin

Americahe hadbeentormentedby thoseinquisitiveabouthis "trade-
marks": the twelve-tonecomposer,the atonalist.121
DikaNewlin,
studying with Schoenberg in the same as
period Kirchner,remembered
Schoenberg's irritationwhenstudentsapproached him with theirown
twelve-toneefforts.He confessedthathe couldnot teachor correct
others'workin this method,forit "seemedto be a matterso personalto
him ... whichhe himselfhadbeenableto attainonlyafterprofound
thoughtanddeepinwardstruggle." ForSchoenbergit wasa boneof con-
tentionthat in 1940his publisher,G. Schirmer,publishedKrenek's
Studiesin Counterpoint,"aslendervolume ... in which certain twelve-
tone principlesareset forthin a ratherschematicmanner."122 In a 1939
letterto Krenekaboutteaching,Schoenberghadremarked, "American
youngpeople'sintelligenceis certainlyremarkable. I amendeavoringto
directthis intelligenceinto the rightchannels.Theyareextremelygood
at gettingholdof principles,butthen wantto applythemtoo much'on
principle.'And in artthat'swrong."123
LouHarrisonwasone LosAngelespupilwhodidobtainSchoen-
berg'shelp in composinga twelve-tonework.He studiedprivatelywith
Schoenbergin 1941-42,supporting himselfby playingthe pianoat
LesterHorton'sdancestudio.He hadhearda performance by the pianist
FrancesMullenof Schoenberg's PianoSuite,op. 25, andwasdetermined
to composeanddedicateto herhis own twelve-tonePianoSuite.He
reacheda pointof blockagein his workandnervedhimselfto askfor
Schoenberg's help.PeterYatesrecordedHarrison's descriptionof
the lesson:
I playedthePrelude.
Therewasa ratherlongmomentofsilence,andthen
he askedthoughtfully,
"Isit twelve-tone?" I simplysaid,"Yes."Hereached
forthepage,saying,"Itisgood!It isgood!"...BythetimeI hadplayed
to thepointofblockage in Movement III,heplunged directlyin,already
awareofmystructure,and,withsplendid illuminating instructions,
per-
manently ofnotonlythatparticular
disposed butalsoanyof the
difficulty
kindthatI mighteverencounter.
YatesreportedthatHarrisonfollowedSchoenberg's instructionthatthe
tone-rowis not a composingformula.124 HarrisonlatertoldVivianPerlis
thatSchoenbergwasa verygreatinfluenceon him, "insomewaysmore
of an influence[thanhis mentorCharlesIves]becauseSchoenbergrep-
resentsthe morefundamental control.... It wasthis senseof orderthat
I needed from Schoenberg."125
In informalwaysthosewithrelativelyeasyaccessto Schoenberg
learnedfromhim by takingopportunities
to inquireabouthis composing.

LeonardStein askedwhethertherewasa definiteextramusical program

in the FirstStringQuartet.DikaNewlinrecordedSchoenberg's reply,
whichwas"Ohyes,verydefinite-but private!"126 Strangalsonoted
that"Schoenberg wascertainlydevotedto the ideathatmusicexpresses
the feelingsandattitudesof the composer."127In herdiary,Newlin
recordedSchoenbergasking,"Howcan youcomposewithoutwriting
yourown life?"128 Stein wasworkingcloselywithSchoenbergat the
timeof the composer's near-fatalheartattackin the summerof 1946.
Whenhe returnedto workon his StringTrioa monthafterhis illness,
SchoenbergtoldStein aboutreflectionsof his experiencesof "deathand
restoration" in thatwork.Stein cameto the conclusionthatSchoenberg
had "avery programmaticmind."129Both Strangand Stein were closely
involved with the writingof Schoenberg'sFundamentals of MusicalCom-
position,in which he encouragesthe student to keep in mind a special
character,a poem, a story,or even a moving picture to stimulatethe
expressionof definite moods while composingeven the smallestexer-
cises.130On the other side of the coin, PaulineAldermanremembered
Schoenbergremarkingthat a composerneeds to be able to write a canon
as easily as he would write a letter;following Brahms'sexample, he wrote
one every morning,to keep in practice.131At a social occasion the
young Viennese composerEricZeisl askedwhy Schoenbergkept up the
practiceof writingcomplex double canons which no one would ever
hear. Schoenbergsaid, "Thatis for the satisfactionof the inner logic."
Inspirationfrom this single remarkhelped Zeisl'smasteryof largeforms,
which had been a strugglefor him as a composer.132
The challenges of teaching occupied Schoenberguntil the end of his

life, as he set down his principles(with the help of Strangand Stein) in
texts for students.The prefaceto his StructuralFunctionsof Harmony
recordedhis "dissatisfactionwith the knowledgeof harmonyof my stu-
dents of compositionat the Universityof Califoria, Los Angeles."133
The fourbookshe workedon in California(the otherswere "Preliminary
Exercisesin Counterpoint,""Fundamentalsof MusicalComposition,"
and "Modelsfor Beginnersin Composition")were all intendedfor the av-
erageAmerican universitystudent.They gave him many yearsof trouble
but were clearly importantenough to the legacy he intended to leave
that he was willing to sacrificemuch time fromhis own composition.
A part of his effortto educate was his concern about the climate
for the arts in America:How, he asked,would music studentsbe able to

inLosAngeles 29
Schoenberg
makea living?His opinionsaboutmusicin America(expressedin radio

andnewspaperinterviewson the WestCoastandin severalessaysun-
publishedin his lifetime)wentlargelyunnoticedby the musicalestab-
lishmentin New York.In 1934he pointedout thathighconcertand
operaticketpricesandthe emphasison box-officereturnsnarrowedboth
the classof concertgoers andthe compassof musicalrepertoryavailable
to musicstudentsin the UnitedStates.134In his lettersSchoenbergof-
ten expressedhis feelingsaboutthe American"commercial racket."135
In 1945,afterhe had from
retired UCLA, his comments "No
sharpened:
seriouscomposerin this countryis capableof livingfromhis art.Only
popularcomposersearnenoughto supportoneselfandone'sfamily,and
and "Ifit is art it is not for the masses.And if it is
then it is not art";136
forthe massesit is not art."137
The all-pervasiveAmericanartof adver-
tisingprovokedSchoenberg's remarkin a 1946 letterto his old friend
OskarKokoschkathathe waslivingin a "worldin whichI nearlydie of
In a 1948articleforthe newsletterof the Leagueof Com-
disgust."138
posers, challengedthe moralityof the marketplace.
he Whywasit the
aimof composers,artists,andwritersto producesomethingsimilarto
the lastsuccesson the stage,the movies,the radio,novels,andmusic?
Has originalitylost its appreciation?Does it interferetoo much with the

commercialsuccess?One can understandthat fearfor one's life may cause
a man to bow to dictatorship... but must one tolerate the moraland
mental basenessof people who bow to the mere temptation of profits?...
Is it aestheticallyand morallyadmissibleto accommodateto the listener's
mentality and preference?If so, is there not a limit how far such accom-
modation is allowed to go? Does such accommodationpromote the artis-
tic cultureof a nation? Does it promote morality?Is it not more healthy to
give a nation a chance to admireits heroes than to applaudthe fleeting
successof an ephemeron?139
Suchremarkswerea partof his dutyas a teacher,Schoenbergfelt. This

callingdemandedthe highestethicalstandard.He hadalwaystriedto
convincehis students"thatthereis sucha thingas artisticmoralityand
whyone mustneverceaseto cultivateit and,conversely,to opposeas
forcefullyas possible anyone who commits an offense against it."140
3
The tremendousenergySchoenberggave to teaching "the whole of the
took a toll on his health to which he had difficultyadmitting. In
art"141
her student diary Dika Newlin noted many occasions when he would

continueteachingalthoughhe wasin no conditionto do so. Nuria

SchoenbergNono felt thatherfather'sgreatinterestin teachingwas
"whatreallysavedhim andkepthim strongandaliveduringall of the
timehe washerein the States.... Retirement[in 1944,at the ageof
seventy]wasone of the worstthingsthathappenedto him."142 Beyond
losing the activityof teachingand contacts,
university the pensionhe
hadaccruedin onlyeightyearson the UCLAfacultywas$38 per
month,at a timewhenthe childrenof his secondfamilywerethirteen,
eight,andfour.143 He continuedto holdclassesin his home,butthe
stateof his healthandthe relativepovertythe familyfoundthemselves
in preventedhim fromgoingout to eventsor concerts.Duringthat
periodof undistinguished leadershipof the LosAngelesPhilharmonic,
he remembered Mahlerandlost interestin the orchestra.144 The deaths
of his closefriendsandstudentsin Europeburdenedhim.CarlEngel's
deathin 1944endeda relationshiphe hadcometo dependuponand
severedhis lifelineto the New Yorkmusicalestablishment. The rejec-
tion of his applicationfora Guggenheimfellowshipin 1945,combined
withhis complaintthathe hadbeensystematically excluded(bythose
whoranthe Philharmonic andthe HollywoodBowl)fromLosAngeles's
publicmusicallife,contributedto his withdrawal into bitterness.145
NuriaSchoenbergNono remembers whenthe Sundayafternoongather-
ings,rather thandrawing him out, reinforced
his intellectualloneliness.
Aftera whilemyfatherrealizedthatthesepeoplewerecominghereto
meeteachotherandnotto talkwithhim.... Daddywouldbesitting...
maybecompletely alone,nottalkingto anyone,andsohe decidedone
timethatweweren't goingto dothisanymore.... Fora longtimeon
Sunday afteroonsattwoo'clock... wewouldgetin thecaranddrive
around theblock... whilethesepeoplecameandfoundno oneathome
andwentaway.146
Afterhis recoveryfroma seriousheartattackin the summerof
1946,Schoenberg's spiritsrallied.He continuedteachingprivatelyand,
in spiteof a longcatalogof serioushealthproblems,recoveredhis
In responseto an awardof $1,000 from the National Institute
"gusto."147
of ArtsandLetters,he gavethe creditforhis accomplishments to his
opponents,saying that whilehe neverunderstoodit, it was theirenmity
thathelpedhim to continueswimmingagainstthe tidewithoutgiving
up.148The criticVirgilThomsonprintedSchoenberg's speechin his
columnin the NewYorkHeraldTribune, adding,"[The statement]shows
its and
indeed,through passionate disjointedphraseology, how deeply
touchedthe greatmanis by the belatedrecognitionof his professional
colleagues,not one of whomhe considershis musicalequal.... Coming

inLosAngeles 31
Schoenberg
fromthe conquerorat the end of a longaestheticcivil war,it is a sortof

GettysburgAddress."149 The Los Angeles music critic LawrenceMorton
took it upon himself to call on Schoenberg in Brentwoodin orderto
show him the Thomson article, which had not been forwardedfrom
New Yorkto Schoenberg.Morton later wrote Thomson:
Sincehis eyesarenot too strong-he mustsavethemforhis writingand

composing-he askedme, in his verygentleandpolitemanner,to readit
to him.I musttell youthatthe old gentlemanwastouched,verydeeply
moved;so muchso thatI didnot darelookat himwhileI read,forfearof
losingmyownvoice,in the emotionof seeingthe tearswell up in his
eyes.... I thinkyoushouldknowhowmuchjoyyourcolumnbroughtto
a manwhohasknownmuchlessjoy thanhis geniusshouldhaveearned
him.150
Los Angeles'scelebrationof the composer'sseventy-fifthbirthday

in 1949 emphasizeda growth of understandingand appreciationfor
Schoenberg'smusic. After programsof his workpresentedby Yates's(by
then well-established)"Eveningson the Roof" and the newly formedlo-
cal branchof the InternationalSociety for ContemporaryMusic (under
the chairmanshipof Krenek,who had settled in Los Angeles), Morton
wrote in a review that
[LosAngeleswas]giventhe opportunity of reviewingwithina fewshort

weeksalmostthe wholescopeof Schoenberg's art,exceptforhis dramatic
andchoralmusic,froma songof Opus1 to the violinPhantasy composed
thisyearforAdolphKoldofsky....The repertoire mighthavebeense-
lectedto illustratea formalcriticalanalysisof the developmentof Schoen-
berg'sart.... Therewereno criesof anguishandno anti-modernist
demonstrations. On the contrary,therewasrealenthusiasm.... History
will recordus as the audiencethatapplauded, howeverbelatedly.151
Albert Goldbergnoted in the LosAngelesTimes,"Thereis a largeand

willing public for [Schoenberg's]music in our town.... There were more
people on hand and more enthusiasmover what they heard than the
most sanguineprophetwould have daredto predict."'52
Orchestralworkswere offeredby the newly formedLos Angeles
ChamberSymphonyOrchestra(which presentedSchoenberg'sChamber
Symphonyno. 1) underthe Germanemigreconductor Harold Byms153
and by the Los Angeles Philharmonicundera Los Angeles native, Al-
fredWallenstein, who had succeededKlempereras music directoraftera
series of interim guest conductors.The "Liedder Waldtaube"from the
Gurrelieder was the only SchoenbergworkWallenstein attempted in his
thirteen-yeartenure (1943-56). This neglect by the Philharmonicadded

to Schoenberg's bitterness,expressedin a letterof gratitudeto his many

well-wishers,bothEuropeanandAmerican,whichbegan,"Tobecome
recognizedonlyafterone'sdeath !"He recognizedthathe couldnot
for and
hope "plain lovingunderstanding" of his workin his lifetime,as
he hadfelt "commanded to expresscertainideas,unpopular onesat that,
it seems,but ideaswhichhadto be presented."154
As SchoenbergfoundEuropeaninterestin his compositionsgrowingin

the postwarperiod,he wrote,"Thereis nothingI longformoreintensely
... thanthatpeopleshouldknowmytunesandwhistlethem."155 What
happened was the Leonard
opposite. Stein comments,"Schoenberg was
not responsible forthe twelve-toneconcepttakingover.Peoplelike
[Rene]Leibowitz[whoseSchoenberg et sonecolewaspublishedin 1947]
wouldcomein the latefortiesandexplainhis musicto him!"156 At the
timeLeibowitzwasreinterpreting Schoenberg's serialismforyoungEuro-
peancomposerswhohadbeendeprivedof modernism forthe duration
of the war.In 1948Leibowitzencouraged Adomoto completethe man-
uscripton Schoenberg's methodthathadprovidedso muchmaterialfor
ThomasMann'sDoctorFaustus.157 In 1949Adornopublishedhis Philos-
ophie derneuen Musikin Germany. sameyear,on a visit sponsored
The
by the U.S. Departmentof State,the GermancriticHansHeinzStuck-
enschmidttoldthe LosAngelesTimesthatSchoenberg's twelve-tone
was
system beingwidelyadoptedby youngcomposers bombed-outin
Germany"becauseit givesthema senseof order."158 GertrudSchoen-
bergtold MiltonBabbittthatby the timeof his deathin 1951Schoen-
bergwasagainbaffledby the accusationsthathe wasa "mathematical
composer... Myhusbanddidn'tknowanymathematics, anddidn't
even knowof whattheywereaccusinghim."159 Schoenberghimself
hadsaidin 1949,"Iamstill morea composerthana theorist.When I
compose,I tryto forgetall theoriesandI continuecomposingonlyafter
havingfreedmymindof them.It seemsto me urgentto warnmyfriends
againstorthodoxy."160
The ironyof America'perceptionthatSchoenbergwasthe influ-
ence behindpostwarconposers'conformityto serialismis thatthiswasa
developmenthe didnot ultimatelyintend.Whilehis ViolinandPiano
Concertos,the FourthStringQuartet,the Genesisprelude,the String
Trio,the Phantasy,andA Survivor fromWarsawareserialworks,in his
'California periodSchoenbergalsocomposeda numberof worksin
whichhe yieldedto his "longingto returnto the olderstyle,"whichin-
cludedtonality.(Schoenberglistedthe SuiteforStringOrchestra; the

in LosAngeles 33
Schoenberg
SecondChamberSymphony,op. 38; the ThemeandVariationsfor

Band,op. 43; and"severalothers"ashis tonalworks.161 "Others" could
includeKolNidre,op. 39; Variationson a RecitativeforOrgan,op. 40;
andThreeFolksongs,op. 49, formixedchorus.)The intensityof his
teaching,whichtookmorehoursof his life thanit hadin Europe,and
the depthof his homageto andanalysisof the worksof earliermasters
in responseto the needsof his Americanstudentsmightseemto have
influencedthis change.However,in replyingto questionson the subject
fromJosefRufer,whomhe particularly trusted,Schoenbergwrotethat
forhim composinghadalwaysmeant"obeyingan innerurge,"even
whenthatmeantchangingstylesto accommodate his "upsurgeof a
desirefortonality."162 This wasbutanotherdimensionto his creative
work,whichwasalwaysdevelopingin surprising ways.Thereis a notable
easing of serial restrictionsin Schoenberg's American twelve-tone
works.He alsousedtonalvocabulary serial in works when he felt the
meaningdemandedit (in the OdetoNapoleon,op. 41, his protestagainst
dictatorialtyranny;andin the PianoConcerto,op. 42, the programof
whichoutlinesthe emotionsof beinguprootedfromone'shomeland).In
his textedworks(approximately halfof thosecomposedin LosAngeles)
Schoenberg continued exploringnew expressiveusesof Sprechstimme
andnarrationto projecthis meaning,rightup to his lastwork,the frag-
menttitled"ModemPsalmno. 1,"op. 50c, a settingof his ownwords
forchoruswithspeakerandorchestra.163
In his lastpubliclecture,presented29 November1949at UCLA,
Schoenbergdiscussedhis "evolution," not his revolution.He paid
tributeto thosewho educatedhim musically,fromhis earlymusician
friendsto his compositionalmentorsBrahms,Bruckner, Liszt,Mahler,
RichardStrauss,Wagner,andHugoWolf.Lackinga basisin traditional
theory,he hadlearnedto relyon "themiraculous contributionsof the
subconscious ... the powerbehindthe humanmind,whichproduces
miraclesforwhichwe do not deservecredit."Thisevolvedinto a belief
thatseems(if we lookbeneathall Schoenberg's paradoxesandcomplex-
ity) deeply consistent throughout much of his life:"WhatI believe,in
fact,is that if one hasdonehis dutywith the utmostsincerityandhas
workedout everythingas nearto perfectionas he is capableof doing,
then the Almightypresentshim with a gift,with additionalfeatures
of beautysuchas he nevercouldhaveproducedby his talentsalone."164
Beautyin Schoenberg's musiccomesto the earsof the Americanpublic
as
only performers gradually growto be at easewith its accompanying
challenges. It does not come to the earthroughsystematicanalysis,
butthroughawareness of the intuitiveexpressivity-theimplicit
romanticism -in his musicalideasandlanguage.

An importantaspect of Schoenberg'scharacterremainedessentially
European.He was an elitist, who believed in fightingfor "spiritualcul-
ture,"mankind's"higherlife,"the spiritualand intellectual realmof
Geistigkeit.The American idea of marketforces-which necessarily
lower the aspirationsof the individualin orderto satisfythe greatest
numberof consumers-remained alien to him, as was the Southern
Californiacultureof entertainmentand hedonism. In 1950 Albert Gold-
berg askedLos Angeles'semigrecomposershow separationfrom their
homeland had affectedthe characterand qualityof their work. By then,
suspectingthat he would not live to complete his spiritualtestament in
MosesundAron and Die Jakobsleiter, Schoenberghad withdrawnto com-
pose his last choral psalms,worksreflectingthe tender acceptance fore-
shadowedat the close of the workbased on his earlierbrushwith death,
the String Trio.Stravinsky,who had so often been transplanted,gave
Goldbergthe briefresponse,"Ido not think that this subject is really
worth a column of yourpen." Schoenberg,thinking back over his efforts
to continue composingwhile giving so much of himself to teaching,
repliedwith some resignation-but addeda final fightinggesture:
If immigration
to Americahaschangedme-I amnot awareof it. Maybe
I would have finished the third act of MosesandAaronearlier.MaybeI
wouldhavewrittenmorewhenremainingin Europe,butI think:nothing
comesout,whatwasnot in. And two timestwoequalsfourin everycli-
mate.MaybeI hadfourtimesfourtimesharderto workfora living.ButI
madeno concessionsto the market.165
Notes
1. Schoenberg,"Circularto My Friendson My Sixtieth Birthday,"in StyleandIdea:Se-
lectedWritingsof Arold Schoenberg,ed. LeonardStein, trans.Leo Black (Berkeley:Uni-
versity of CaliforniaPress, 1984), 28. This circularwas written in November 1934.
2. Engel, also a composer,had come to the United States in 1905. Schoenbergmet him
throughElizabethSpragueCoolidge.
3. Schoenbergto FritzStiedry,12 Sept. 1934,quotedin Arold Schoenberg,
1874-1951:
in Begegnungen,
Lebensgeschichte ed.NuriaSchoenberg Nono (Klagenfurt:
Ritter,1992),
311.
4. SchoenbergNono, 310.The housewasat 5860CanyonCove,betweenGriffithPark
andthe HollywoodBowl.
5. LeonardStein,interviewbyVivianPerlis,LosAngeles,28 June1975,OralHistory,
American Music, YaleUniversity.

in LosAngeles 35
Schoenberg
6. "Propaganda" occursfrequentlyin Schoenberg'scorrespondencewith Engel. He

even refersto "aGoebbels in yourfirm"who should be able to undertake"propaganda"
for one of his projects.Schoenbergto Carl Engel, 19 Oct. 1943, Engel Correspondence,
SchonbergCenter, Vienna. Schoenberg'sunpublishedletters, diaries,and paperswere
consulted while the Schoenbergarchive was housed at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute
in Los Angeles.
7. Schoenbergto Klemperer,8 Nov. 1934, ArnoldSchoenberg Letters,ed. ErwinStein,
trans.Eithne Wilkins and ErnstKaiser(Berkeley:University of CaliforniaPress, 1987),
192. For a while SchoenbergmaintainedseveralgrudgesagainstKlempererfor slights in
Berlin;in this letter he remarked,"Ihave no reason to show you more respect than you
have shown me." But by 1936 he decided Klempererwas behaving admirablyby obtain-
ing much-neededconducting fees from the Philharmonicfor him and by recommending
his appointmentto UCLA.
8. Schoenbergto Bessie BartlettFraenkl,26 Nov. 1935, Arold Schoenberg
Letters,
195-96.
9. Miguel de Reul, LosAngelesDailyNews, 22 Mar. 1935.
10. Peter Yates,Eveningson theRoof, 1939-1954, interviewby Adelaide Tusler,Jan.
1967 (Los Angeles: Oral History Program,University of California, 1972), 66; and
LeonardStein on Schoenbergas teacher,panel, "Schoenbergin Hollywood,"BardMusic
Festival,"Schoenbergand His World,"22 Aug. 1999. The program,presentedin Bovard
Auditoriumon the USC campus,was sponsoredby the college music fraternity.
11. "[H]ewas indeed usedto that [badbehavioron the partof orchestralplayers]... it
happened [in Europe]all the time,"commented RudolfKolisch. LeonardStein and
RichardHoffman,"Reminiscences:A SchoenbergCentennial Symposiumat Oberlin
College (March 2, 1974),"Journalof theArnoldSchoenberg Institute(hereafterJASI) 8,
no. 1 (1984): 71-72; also Stein, BardMusic Festival, 22 Aug. 1999.
12. LosAngelesHeraldExaminer,15 Apr. 1936.
13. "As a conductor,Dr. [sic] Schoenberg is a firstrate composer."RichardSaunders,
HollywoodCitizenNews, 15 Apr. 1937, aftera FederalSymphonyOrchestraconcert.
In "Reminiscencesof Schoenbergas Conductor,"JASI 2, no. 2 (1978): 109, the violist
MarcelDick describesSchoenberg'sconducting in the 1920s in Vienna: "Eyescautiously
glued to the score, his head was so bent down that his armswere level with his head.
His hand motions were meticulousbut dry.His hands communicatednothing but the
tempo-not even the downbeat and upbeat.There was no eye contact with the players
and certainlyno expressivechoreography."LeonardStein felt Schoenberg'sbaton tech-
nique in Los Angeles was good and that he was a methodical conductor;BardMusic
Festival, 22 Aug. 1999.
14. IsabelMorseJones, review of EmanuelFeuermann'sperformanceof Schoenberg's
Concerto for Cello and OrchestraafterM. G. Monn (1933), LosAngelesTimes,2 Mar.
1936. Jones also reported,regardinga performanceof the "Songof the Wood Dove" from
the Gurrelieder,that the audience was visibly moved by the "hauntingmelody and the
marvelsof the Schoenbergorchestration,rich in color and poetic content";LosAngeles
Times,23 Sept. 1936. Klempererconductedthe Philharmonicin both these performances.
15. Schoenberg to Engei, 7 Nov. 1934, SchonbergCenter, Vienna.

16. LeonardStein, talk for the Schoenbergseminars,10 Dec. 1987, Arnold Schoen-
berg Institute, Los Angeles. The performancewas in a programat the University of
Southern California.
17. IsabelMorseJones, LosAngelesTimes,9 Jan. 1938.
18. IsabelMorseJones, LosAngelesTimes,9 Oct. 1938. Schoenberghad compared
himself to Einstein in Schoenberg,ed. Merle Armitage (New York:G. Schirmer,1937),
249.
19. Armitage,Schoenberg,249-57. Schoenberg'sessay"HowOne Becomes Lonely"
(11 Oct. 1937), expressessome similarideas:"Iknew I had the duty of developing my
ideas for the sake of progressin music, whether I liked it or not; but I also had to realize
that the great majorityof the public did not like it. However I rememberedthat all my
music had been found to be ugly at first;and yet... there might be a sunrisesuch as is
depicted in the final chorus of my Gurrelieder. There might come the promiseof a new
day of sunlight in music such as I would like to offer to the world."Schoenberg,Styleand
Idea, 53.
20. Armitage,Schoenberg,144-55. Jose Rodriguezheld the position of music critic for
Script,a BeverlyHills publication that modeled itself on the New Yorker.
21. Schoenbergto Roger Sessions, 3 Dec. 1944, ArnoldSchoenberg Letters,223. Among
numerousother interviewsand writingson this point, see "Heartand Brain in Music"
(1946), in Styleand Idea, 53-76.
22. Schoenbergwas annoyed that in Los Angeles Klempererperformedonly his tonal
works:VerklirteNacht, the Suite for String Orchestra,partsof Gurrelieder, the arrange-
ment of Brahms'sQuartet in G minor (which Klemperersuggestedto Schoenberg), the
Handel Concerto, the Cello Concerto, and the Second ChamberSymphony.Klem-
perer'schoices were conditioned by the limitations of the Philharmonicaudience. For
New Yorkershe planned to conduct the Violin Concerto and Pierrotlunairein 1940, but
his illness prevented it. He admiredthe String Trio but found "no point of contact"with
the Piano Concerto and the Ode to Napoleon.See Otto Klemperer,MinorRecollections,
trans.J. Maxwell Brownjohn(London:Dennis Dobson, 1964), 46.
23. Schoenbergconducted;it was the only workhe recordedin America. He was per-
suadedby the more experiencedconductor,his friendFritzStiedry,to take slowertempi
than he thought right. Schoenbergto Moses Smith, directorof ColumbiaMasterworks,
30 Sept. 1940, quoted in SchoenbergNono, 370. The performerswere Stiedry'swife,
ErikaStiedry-Wagner(recitation), RudolfKolisch (violin and viola), Stefan Auber
(cello), EdwardSteuermann(piano), LeonardPosella (flute and piccolo), and Kalman
Bloch (clarinet and bass clarinet).
24. WalterH. Rubsamen,"Schoenbergin America,"MusicalQuarterly37 (Oct. 1951):
476.
25. At approximatelythe time of this performancein October 1938, Schoenbergwrote
his final political document, the "FourPoint ProgramforJewry,"in which he summedup
his argumentsagainstthe boycott of Germany(as counterproductive)and for the trans-
portationof 7,000,000 EuropeanJewsout of Europe,the creation of a United Jewish
Party,and the foundationof an independentJewishstate in a territoryother than Pales-
tine. He sent the article to Thomas Mann (in Princeton,N.J.) for advice on publication,
but the article remainedunpublished.See Alexander L. Ringer,Arold Schoenberg: The

in LosAngeles 37
Schoenberg
Composeras Jew (Oxford:Clarendon, 1990); and E. Randol Schoenberg,"Amold

Schoenbergand Albert Einstein:Their Relationshipand Views on Zionism,"JASI 10,
no. 2 (1987): 149.
26. The time and the place from Stein, BardMusic Festival, 22 Aug. 1999. Stein re-
membersbeing askedto coach the rabbifor his entrances.Schoenbergwrote Paul Dessau
on 22 Nov. 1941 about choosing the melody from ancient fragmentaryphrasesand ex-
pressedhis desire that it should not be sentimental in mood. See JosefRufer,Das Werk
ArnoldSchonbergs(Kassel:Birenreiter, 1959), 48.
27. SchoenbergNono, 385.
28. The performanceand the recordingwereby Werer Janssen'sSymphonyOrchestra.
29. Castelnuovo-Tedesco,who harboredno love for Schoenberg'smusic, enjoyed the
fact that Schoenberg'spreludewas intended to describechaos. Castelnuovo-Tedesco,
"Una vita di musica,"part 2, 94-95. I am gratefulto LorenzoTedesco for providing
portionsof this unpublishedmanuscriptto me.
30. Stravinskyto Hugo Winter (AMP), 5 Mar. 1944, in Stravinsky,SelectedCorrespon-
dence,vol. 3, ed. RobertCraft (New York:Knopf, 1985), 291.
31. There were nine all-Schoenberg"Roof"programsbetween 1940 and 1954; on this
series severalworkswere given West Coast premieres,and one a worldpremiere.See
"PeterYatesand the MusicalModerists," in Dorothy L. Crawford,EveningsOn andOff
theRoof:PioneeringConcertsin LosAngeles, 1939-1971 (Berkeley:University of Califor-
nia Press, 1995); Crawford,"PeterYatesand the Performanceof SchoenbergChamber
Music at 'Eveningson the Roof',"JASI 12, no. 2 (1989): 175-201.
32. Peter Yatesto Peyton Houston, 15 Apr. 1939, Peter YatesArchive, Special Collec-
tions, Mandeville Library,University of California,San Diego.
33. Jose Rodriguez,interview in Armitage,Schoenberg,149.
34. The radioperformance(by Helen SwabyRice and FrancesMullen) took place
in early 1940, beforeLouisKrasner'sworldpremiereof the concerto with Leopold
Stokowskiand the PhiladelphiaOrchestra.For a fuller account, see Crawford,"Peter
Yatesand Schoenberg."
35. LeonardStein, interview by author,7 July 1988.
36. Stein found Schoenberg'spride in the case of Heifetz (and others) embarrassing;
the refusalof Heifetz'shelp occurredin 1948-49. Stein, interview,28 June 1975.
37. See Dika Newlin, Schoenberg Diariesand Recollections,1938-76 (New
Remembered:
York:Pendragon,1980), 108.
38. Nuria SchoenbergNono, interviewby Vivian Perlis,Los Angeles, 21 Feb. 1977,
Oral History,American Music, YaleUniversity.
39. Schoenberg'sletter to Engel (6 Feb. 1941) insults Engel and claims that his pub-
lisher believes in his futurebut has no concern for his "present."Engel Correspondence,
SchonbergCenter, Vienna. For other instances, see Paul S. Hesselink, "Variationson
a Recitative for Organ,Op. 40: Correspondencefrom the SchoenbergLegacy"JASI 7,
no. 2 (1983): 141-96, on negotiations about the Variationsfor Organ,op. 40; Thomas
McGeary,"The PublishingHistoryof Styleand Idea,"JASI 9, no. 2 (1986): 181-203,
on negotiations with the publisherPhilosophicalLibraryabout StyleandIdea;David E.

Smyth, "Schoenbergand Dial Records:The Composer'sCorrespondencewith Ross

Russell,"JASI 12, no. 1 (1989): 68-73, on dealingswith Dial Records.Also see Arnold
Schoenberg Correspondence: A Collectionof Translated
andAnnotatedLettersExchangedwith
GuidoAdler,PabloCasals, EmanuelFeuermann,andOlin Downes, ed. EgbertM. Ennulat
(Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow,1991) on controversieswith the New YorkTimescritic Olin
Downes; Schoenberg'sbitternessabout the "suppression" of his worksby the conductors
ArturoToscanini, Serge Koussevitzky,and BrunoWalter;and his tangle with Aaron
Copland, which includes complaintsabout CBS and G. Schirmer.Schoenberg'scorre-
spondence with RudolfKolisch in the Houghton Libraryat HarvardUniversity includes
other grievances.
40. GerhardAlbersheim, a German-bornpianist with a doctorate in musicologyfrom
the University of Vienna, rememberedSchoenberg'shosting meetings of the American
MusicologicalSociety at his Brentwoodhome in 1942 and characterizedhim as an "un-
happy,inharmonic,and frustratedpersonality."Albersheim, interviewby Clare Rayner,
Basel, Switzerland,5 Aug. 1975, Special Collections, CaliforniaState University,Long
Beach. Paul Pisk, Schoenberg'sstudent for twenty yearsand (at the recommendationof
Carl Engel) teaching at the nearbyUniversity of Redlands(Calif.) from 1937, saw little
of his formermentor.Some of his (guarded)comments in an interviewwere:"Schoen-
berghad a tendency to be so ... absolute.... In personalmattershe wanted so much
adoring.... [He] was very demanding... I learnedeverythingI know fromhim." Pisk,
interview by Rayner,Hollywood, 23 Jan. 1975, Special Collections, CaliforniaState
University,Long Beach.
41. Schoenberg,"A Text from the Third Millennium"(Feb. 1948), reproducedin
H. H. Stuckenschmidt,ArnoldSchoenberg: His Life, World,andWork,trans.Humphrey
Searle (New York:Schirmer,1978), 547-48. See also Lettersof ThomasMann, 1889-
1955, trans.RichardWinston and ClaraWinston (Berkeley:Universityof California
Press, 1990), 396. The name Hugo Triebsamenwas derivedfrom the names of two musi-
cologists Schoenbergresented,Hugo Riemann and WalterRubsamen.Mann responded
to Schoenberg'sarticle on 17 Feb. 1948. The affairescalatedwith the appearanceof
Schoenberg'sindignant letter to the editorsof the SaturdayReviewof Literature,pub-
lished on 1 Jan. 1949, protestingMann'sappropriationof his intellectual property.A
year later Schoenbergdeclared"an intermediatestage of neutrality,"but Mann and
Schoenberg,who had previouslyenjoyed friendlyrelations,never saw each other again.
See Arold Schoenberg Letters,354-55, 278; and Thomas Mann'sletter to Stucken-
schmidt dated 19 Oct. 1951; quoted in Stuckenschmidt,523.
42. See Thomas Mann, The Storyof a Novel: The Genesisof Dr. Faustus,trans.Richard
Winston and ClaraWinston (New York:Knopf, 1961); the originalGermanversion was
publishedin Amsterdamin 1949. Mann also took every opportunityto consult other
musical emigres,such as Stravinsky,Krenek,Toch, Eisler,Klemperer,and his old friend,
BrunoWalter,on musicalmattersin his novel.
43. MartaFeuchtwanger,An EmigreLife:Munich,Berlin,Sanary,PacificPalisades,in-
terview by LawrenceWeschler (Los Angeles: Oral HistoryProgramUniversity of Cali-
foria, 1976), 1068. Paul Pisk commented that Schoenbergwas a puritanwho could not
understandsuch depravity.Pisk, interview,23 Jan. 1975.
44. Adorno'soriginalessayon Schoenbergwas written in the early 1940s. In a letter to
RudolfKolisch dated 18 June 1948, Adomo discusseshis alterationsof the text and his
decision to write a "relativelynegative"essayon Stravinsky,therebyexpandingthe work

in LosAngeles 39
Schoenberg
to a book, which was publishedin Germanyin 1949. RudolfKolisch Papers,Houghton

Library,HarvardUniversity.
45. Mann, Storyof a Novel, 103.
46. Schoenbergmemo, dated Dec. 1950, Arnold SchonbergCenter, Vienna. See Jan
Maegaard,"Sch6nberghat Adoro nie leiden k6nnen,"Melos41 (Oct. 1974): 262-64.
In the 1920s Schoenberghad askedAdomo to join him in writinga lexicon of notions
of composition theory.Adomo had declined, claiming that he was no musicianbut a
philosopher.It annoyed Schoenbergthat Adoro, the "nonmusician,"insisted on having
his compositionsanalyzedby Schoenbergduringthe family'sSundayafternoonsocial
gatheringsin Brentwood,where Adomo also lived from 1941 to 1948.
47. Schoenbergto JosefRufer,5 Dec. 1949; quoted in Stuckenschmidt,508. On 8 Feb.
1949 Schoenbergsent a postcardto Nicolas Slonimsky,whose Thesaurusof Scalesand
MelodicPatternshad been publishedin 1947: "I lookled] throughyourwhole book and
was very interestedto find that you might in all probability[have]organizedevery possi-
ble successionof tones. This is an admirablefeat of mental gymnastic[s].As a composer
I must believe in inspirationratherthan in mechanics."SlonimskyCollection, Music
Division, Libraryof Congress.
48. Stuckenschmidt,513.
49. Stuckenschmidt,413.
50. Bertolt Brecht,Journals,ed. John Willet, trans.Hugo Rorrison(New York:Rout-
ledge, 1993), entry for 27 Apr. 1942.
51. SchoenbergNono, 387. See also Brecht'sentry for 29 July 1942, in Journals,and
Eisler,interviewby Hans Bunge, 5 May 1958, in HannsEisler:A Miscellany,ed. David
Blake (Edinburgh:HarwoodAcademic Publishers,1995), 413-15; Eisler,"BertoltBrecht
and Music"(1957), in HannsEisler:A Rebelin Music, ed. ManfredGrabs,trans.John
Peet (Berlin:Seven Seas, 1978), 172-73.
52. Eisler,interview,in HannsEisler:A Miscellany,414.
53. Brecht, 29 July 1942.
54. SchoenbergrefusedLion Feuchtwanger'srequestto help Eislerafterhis grueling
three-dayinterrogationand threatenedprosecutionby the House Un-American Activi-
ties Committee in September 1947. Duringthe periodof Eisler'ssubsequentarrestand
deportationin March 1948, Schoenbergdid not join in sponsoringthe farewellconcerts
for him.
55. Arold Schoenberg,"A DangerousGame,"ModernMusic22, no. 1 (Nov.-Dec.
1944): 3-5. As early as 1934 Schoenbergspoke publiclyabout his wish to abstainfrom
politics: "Idid not come in [sic]this marvelouscountryto speakfrom terrors,but only to
forget them";"Driveninto Paradise,"speech for a reception in Los Angeles, 9 Oct. 1934,
quoted in Sabine Feisst,"Schoenbergand America,"in Schoenberg and His World,ed.
WalterFrisch(Princeton:Princeton University Press, 1999), 297.
Letters,252.
56. Schoenberg to Rufer,18 Dec. 1947, Arold Schoenberg
Letters,255.
57. Letter to Rufer,25 May 1948, Arold Schoenberg
58. Eisler,lecture for the Second InternationalCongressof Composersand Music Crit-
ics in Prague,May 1948, in HannsEisler:A Miscellany,160-61.

59. FromEisler'snotes for his opera,Dr. Faustus,which Eislercompleted the day

Schoenbergdied; in HannsEisler:A Miscellany,255.
60. Letterto Emil Hertzka,autumn 1913, ArnoldSchoenberg
Letters,43.
61. The seriesof three lectures,which was held on Mondayevenings in Hollywood,
coveredJ. S. Bach'sArt of Fugue,The Well-Tempered Clavier,and his own Third String
Quartet.At $250 for the series,these were too expensive for Peter Yates,who was teach-
ing in a Civilian ConservationCorpscamp in the San Berardino mountainsbut at the
same time learningeverythinghe could about Schoenberg'sactivities and ideas. Spurred
by this new interesthe began his own studyof The Art of Fugueand obtained Schoen-
berg'spiano pieces, opp. 25 and 33, for FrancesMullen to learn. Yates,letter to Peyton
Houston, 26 Mar. 1935, Peter YatesCollection, Special Collection, Mandeville Library,
University of California,San Diego.
62. David Raksin, interview by author, 14 Jan. 1997, Van Nuys, Calif.
63. GeraldStrang, interviewby William Weber,22 July 1975, Special Collections,
CaliforniaState University,Long Beach.
64. Levant had come to Hollywood fromNew Yorkin 1929 and workedsporadically
for RKO as a songwriterin those years,makingfrequenttripsback to New Yorkfor stage
and concert engagements.His Nocturne was playedon Schoenberg'sprogramby the
WorksProgressAdministrationorchestrain 1937 and publishedin Henry Cowell'sNew
Musicorchestraseries.
65. Rose Heylbut, "The Odysseyof OscarLevant"[interviewwith Levant upon the
publicationof his firstbook, A Smatteringof Ignorance],Etude(12 Dec. 1940): 316. In
1939 Levant facilitatedSchoenberg'spresentationfor membershipin the American
Society of Composers,Authors, and Publishers(ASCAP), which gathersperformance
royaltiesfor its members.
66. Schoenberg'sdate book notes a single hour-longmeeting on that date with Gersh-
win at 3 P.M.between lessonsfor Levant and Robin. In 1933 Gershwinhad contributed
student scholarshipfundsfor studywith Schoenbergat the Malkin Conservatoryin
Boston.
67. Quoted in SchoenbergNono, 340. In 1938 Schoenbergwrote another tributein a
memorialbook for Gershwin:"An artist is to me like an apple tree:When his time
comes, whether he wants it or not, he burstsinto bloom and startsto produceapples.
And as an apple tree neither knows nor asksabout the value expertsof the marketwill
attributeto its product,so a real composerdoes not ask whether his productswill please
the expertsof seriousarts.He only feels he has to say something:and says it.... [Gersh-
win] expressedmusical ideas;and they were new-as is the way in which he expressed
them."GeorgeGershwin,ed. Merle Armitage (London and New York:Longman's,
Green, 1938), 98.
68. David Raksinrememberedthat this took place on sound stage numberseven, and
that George Gershwinpaid the musicians.Panel, "Schoenbergin Hollywood,"Bard
Music Festival,"Schoenbergand His World,"22 Aug. 1999. Schoenberg'sdate book has
an entry for an appointmentwith Newman at United Artists'studio, Wednesday,3 Jan.
1937, at 10 A.M. duringthe periodwhen the Kolisch Quartetwas performingprogramsof
the late Beethoven quartetscombined with the four Schoenbergquartetsat Royce Hall,
UCLA.

in LosAngeles 41
Schoenberg
69. The concertmasterof Newman'sFox orchestraat this time was Schoenberg'sfriend

the composerJosephAchron.
70. Schoenbergwas unable to attend the ceremonybut sent his speech, in which he
expresseda hope (similarto Eisler's)that "therewill soon come a time, when the severe
conditions and laws of moderistic music will be no hindrance any more towarda recon-
ciliation with the necessities of the moving picture industry."Quoted in Frisch,Schoen-
bergand His World,302.
71. Cobweb,Rosenman'ssecond film score (afterEastof Eden)for MGM, in 1955. In
1947 Rosenman came to CaliforniafromNew Yorkespeciallyto study in a privateclass
at Schoenberg'shome. He was very critical of what he was taught, for he felt Schoenberg
was teaching sixteenth-centurycounterpointwithout using the rules as they were used in
the sixteenth century.He found commutingto Brentwoodfrom Hollywood difficultand
soon droppedthe class. Like others, Rosenman commented that "Schoenbergdid not
teach composition."LeonardRosenman, interviewby author,25 Jan. 1997, Los Angeles;
also at BardMusic FestivalSymposium,"Schoenbergand His Legacy,"Lincoln Center,
New York,20 Nov. 1999.
72. Rainger(who also spelled his name Ranger) studied in 1936-37; Robin studiedfor
a longer period, 1936-39. In the Schoenbergdate books Robin'sfirstname is not given,
but David Raksin and LeonardStein assumethis was the lyricistfavoredat Paramount
by ErnstLubitsch,who pairedhim with Ralph Rainger.(Leo Robin wrote the lyricsto
the song "Thanksfor the Memories.")In 1940 Schoenbergattended a performanceof a
workby Robin, possiblythe resultof lessons with Schoenberg.
73. Schoenberg'sdate books show that the firstwas an appointmentat Paramounton
25 June 1936. Schoenbergcanceled a March 1937 appointmentat Paramountbut may
have kept a date at the studio a year later.With his Europeanmusicaltrainingand expe-
rience, BorisMorroswas more awarethan other studio music directorsof Schoenberg's
importance,and put out rumorsor direct publicityabout filmsSchoenbergwas suppos-
edly contractedto score. The composerGeorge Antheil, who moved to Hollywood in
late summerof 1936 and was himself scoringa Cecil B. DeMille picture at Paramount,
wrote in "On the Hollywood Front,"ModemMusic 14, no. 2 (Jan.-Feb. 1937): 105-8,
that "Schoenbergis engagedby Paramountto score Soulsat Sea."The project, like
others, never materialized.
74. Salka Viertel, The Kindnessof Strangers(New York:Holt, Rinehart, and Winston,
1969), 207-8.
75. Rubsamen,472.
76. GertrudSchoenbergto Kolisch, 11 Jan. 1935 (a probablemisdate), RudolfKolisch
Papers,Houghton Library,HarvardUniversity.According to other reportsthe yearwas
1936.
77. GertrudSchoenbergto Kolisch, 11 Jan. 1936; and Arnold Schoenbergto Alma
Mahler-Werfel,23 Jan. 1936, Arold Schoenberg
Letters,197.
78. In the SchonbergArchive at the Arnold SchdnbergCenter in Vienna. One page is
reproducedin Rufer,Das WerkArold Schonbergs,facsimile 24.
79. Italics Schoenberg's.Alternatively,SchoenbergsuggestedKlempereras musical
director,with himself as musical advisorfor the project,but the film was not made.
Schoenberg to Charlotte Dieterle, 30 July 1936, ArnoldSchoenberg Letters,198-99.

The Dieterles filed affidavitsguaranteeingthe financesof the Schoenbergswhen they

appliedfor U.S. citizenship in November 1935. Dieterle, who had been trainedby Max
Reinhardt,directedhigh-mindedbiographicalfilmsfor WarnerBrothers:The Storyof
LouisPasteur(1936), The Lifeof EmileZola(1936), andJuarez(1939). In 1939 he di-
rected The Hunchbackof Notre Damefor RKO, providingCharlesLaughtonwith one of
his strongestroles. Like Schoenberg,he publishedhis criticismof the film industryin
1940 and was graduallydroppedby the studios.
80. This essay is reprintedin Styleand Idea, 153-60.
81. LettersfromArold and GertrudSchoenbergto Kolisch, 16 Jan. 1939; 21 Aug.
1943; 2 June 1950; RudolfKolisch Papers,Houghton Library,HarvardUniversity.
82. ErichKorgold's wife, Luzi,recordsthat when the Schoenbergsand the Korgolds
firstsaw each other at a social affairfor the Philharmonic,Gertrudinsisted they dropthe
familiar"du"they had all used in adolescence, in favorof the formal"Sie."In Vienna,
JuliusKomgold had introducedSchoenbergto the Kolisch familyby recommending
RudolfKolisch to him as a student. See LuziKomgold, ErichWolfgangKorgold: Ein
Lebensbild(Vienna: ElisabethLafite, 1967), 69, 71.
83. JuliusKomgold, The HollywoodMusician,Nov. 1946; quoted in BrendonCarroll,
The LastProdigy:A Biographyof ErichWolfgangKorgold (Portland,Ore.: Amadeus Press,
1997), 292.
84. Krenek,interviewby Clare Rayner,Palm Springs, 11 Feb. 1975, Special Collec-
tions, CaliforniaState University,Long Beach.
85. The Russian-bornLouisGruenberghad conducted the 1923 American premiereof
Pierrotlunairein New York.Schoenberghad become acquaintedwith Gruenbergwhen
he was a student of FerruccioBusoni in Berlin. In 1936, afterGruenberg'soperaThe Em-
perorJones, basedon the play by EugeneO'Neill, had been successfullyproducedat the
MetropolitanOpera,he moved to Californiato compose for films,winning Oscarsfor
at least two of his scores. (Schoenberg'sdate books recordappointmentswith Gruenberg
in 1937-38.) EdgarVarese,who had also given importantNew Yorkperformancesof
Schoenberg'sworksin 1914 and 1925 and was living in Hollywood, came in 1938-39
for severalafternoonappointmentswith Schoenbergand a dinner engagement.The
Polish-bornJosephAchron had a distinguishedcareerin Russiaas a concert violinist
until he immigratedto America in 1925. He moved to Hollywood in 1934, performed
in studio orchestras,and continued his composingand concert careers.He premiered
his Second and Third Violin Concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonicin 1936 and
1939. Schoenbergformeda committee to promoteAchron'scompositions (with Gruen-
berg,Eisler,Toch, and Weiss) soon afterAchron'sprematuredeath in 1943 at the age of
fifty-seven.
86. Newlin, Schoenberg
Remembered,173-83.
87. Among them, LeonardStein, BardMusic FestivalSymposium,20 Nov. 1999; also
Leon Kirchner,in conversationswith the author,Cambridge,Mass.
88. Schoenbergremarkappendedto a letter fromAlfred Leonard,presidentof the Los
Angeles Music Guild, 9 July 1945, in which the guild promotesthe objective that "com-
posersmight be encouraged."Arnold SchonbergCenter, Vienna. In his essay"The
Youngand I" (1923), he made the same remarkabout his Europeanteaching; in "The
Blessingof the Dressing"(1948), on a similartheme, he addstwo Americans,Gerald

in Los Angeles 43
Schoenberg
StrangandAdolphWeiss,to his veryshortlist of pupilswhobecamecomposers.

See
Styleand Idea, 386.
89. "TheBlessingof the Dressing,"
385.
90. Stranginterview,22 July1975.
91. JeffGoldberg,"JohnCageInterviewed," Transatlantic
Review(May1970):55-56;
quotedin ConversingwithCage,ed. RichardKostelanetz(NewYork:Limelight,1988),
8-9. CagefirstheardSchoenberg'smusicin Berlinin 1930andsubsequently began
composingworkswithtwenty-five-note rows.In 1931,whilepreparinga lectureon
SchoenbergforSantaMonicahousewives,he consultedthe pianistRichardBuhlig,
whoultimately"wasmoreenthusiasticaboutmymusicthan[theartcollectorsGalka
ScheyerandWalterArensberg] wereaboutmypainting." He studiedcompositionfor
abouta yearwithBuhlig(hisSonataforClarinet,publishedby Peters,wascomposed
duringhis studywithBuhlig).Buhligintroduced himto HenryCowell,whoadvisedhim
to studywithSchoenbergbutin preparationto workwithSchoenberg's firstAmerican
pupilin Europe,AdolphWeiss.Weiss'stutelagein harmony(in New Yorkin 1933)did
not inspireCage.His turnto percussion
musicwasa wayof freeinghimselffromhar-
mony.JohnCage,interviewbyauthor,PomonaCollege,Calif.,12 Dec. 1988.
92. Yatesto Cage,8 Aug. 1953,CageArchive,MusicLibrary,
Northwestern
University.
93. BemiceAbrahmsGeiringer,interviewbyAndreaCastillo-Herreshoff, SantaMon-
ica,Calif.,29 Nov. 1993,Arold SchonbergCenter,Vienna.Mrs.Geiringerbecamea
concertpianist.KarlGeiringer,the Viennese-bormusicologistwhomshemarriedin
1987,beganstudywithSchoenberg, buttheydidnot likeeachotherandcameto a part-
ingof the ways.
94. PaulineAlderman,WeBuilda SchoolofMusic(LosAngeles,privatelyprinted,
1989),125-33.An inaccuracyreportsSchoenbergteachingat USC duringthe entire
academicyearof 1934-35,ratherthan 1935-36.
95. Alderman,WeBuilda Schoolof Music,84 and113.
96. At the time,Schoenberg's royaltieshadshrunkto $13, accordingto MauriceZam,
"HowSchoenbergCameto UCLA,"JASI3, no. 2 (1979):223.Schoenberghopedto be
ableto earna salaryof around$10,000.HisUCLAsalaryincreasedoverthe yearsto
$5,400.
97. PaulineAldermanestimateda classof fifteento twenty-five.
She remembered the
classanalyzingstringquartets,composingstringquartetmovements,andthenassem-
blinga compositeclassquartet,whichwasperformed. Alderman,"IRemember Arold
Schoenberg,"in Facets(LosAngeles:Universityof SouthernCalifornianewsletter,
1976),49-58.
98. Strang,interview,22 July1975.
99. Schoenbergto Engel,27 Mar.1938,ArnoldSch6nbergCenter,Vienna.InJune
Schoenbergwarnedhis son-in-lawawayfromHollywood,sayingthathis earningswere
of whatI wasearningaboutfifteenmonthsago."Letterto Felix
presently"two-fifths
Greissle,7 June1938,ArnoldSchoenbergLetters,205.
MD [doctorate]
of a MusicDepartment
100. "Planforthe organization at UCLA,"
dated1 July1937;quotedin SchoenbergNono, 364.

101. Schoenbergto PresidentRobertG. Sproul, 2 Oct. 1937, ArnoldSchoenberg

Letters,
202-3.
102. Memos and letters concerning UCLA, Arold SchonbergCenter, Vienna.
103. Among them the pianistsSteuermann,Buhlig, and Olga Steeb, and the violinists
Achron and LouisKaufmann.JohannaKlemperer,the wife of Otto Klemperer,was
among his choice of sopranos.
104. Schoenberg,memo, "Curriculumfor Composers,"Arold SchonbergCenter,
Vienna.
105. Schoenberg,memo to WalterRubsamen(5 Mar. 1941) discussingoral examina-
tions in the music department;Arold Sch6nbergCenter, Vienna.
106. Schoenberg,memo on requirementsfor a master'sdegreeat UCLA; Arold
SchonbergCenter, Vienna.
107. Documents, including a letter from Schoenbergto UCLA facultycolleagues,
14 Mar. 1940, in the Arnold SchonbergCenter, Vienna. There are lists of facultyand
departments,a "Prospectusfor Conferenceson Esthetics"[sic],and a memo outlining
Schoenberg'spurpose.
108. Strang, interview,22 July 1975.
109. Schoenberg,"WhyNo Great American Music"(28 June 1934), in Styleand Idea,
176.
110. Schoenberg,"Teachingand Modem Trendsin Music,"in Styleand Idea, 376.
111. "Ihave realizedthat the greatestdifficultyfor the students is to find out how they
could compose without being inspired.... It seems to me the only way to help is if one
shows that there are many possibilitiesof solving problems."Schoenbergto Douglas
Moore at ColumbiaUniversity, 16 Apr. 1938; quoted by Stein, BardMusic Festival
Symposium,20 Nov. 1999.
112. See LeonardStein, "Schoenberg'sPupils,"forewordtoJASI 8, no. 1 (1984): 3;
RosemaryHilmar,"AlbanBerg'sStudies with Schoenberg,"JASI 8, no. 1 (1984): 8-9.
113. Stein, BardMusic FestivalSymposium,20 Nov. 1999. In another discussionon
Schoenberg in Hollywood (BardMusic Festival, BardCollege, 22 Aug. 1999), the image
Stein quoted was "afork and a knife."
114. Stein, interview,28 June 1975.
115. Schoenberg,"EartrainingthroughComposing"(1939), in StyleandIdea, 379.
116. Schoenberg,"Encouragethe Mediocre,"in MusicandDancein California,ed. Jose
Rodriguez(Hollywood:Bureauof MusicalResearch, 1940), 9-13.
117. Stein, interviewby author,Hollywood, Calif., 22 Jan. 1997.
118. Leon Kirchner,interviewby author,11 Apr. 1997.
119. Leon Kirchner,BardMusic FestivalSymposium,Lincoln Center, New York,
20 Nov. 1999.
120. Schoenberg,"Teachingand Moder Trendsin Music"(30 June 1938), in Styleand
Idea, 377.

in Los Angeles 45
Schoenberg
121. Schoenberg,"Proteston Trademark,"

New YorkTimes, 15 Jan. 1950; reprintedin
Frisch,307-8.
122. Dika Newlin, "Schoenbergin America, 1933-1948," MusicSurvey1, no. 5
(1949): 131. In her student diary,on 11 Dec. 1940, Newlin recordedSchoenberg'ssaying
about himself "thathe can't teach twelve-tone writingat all.... He writes it instinc-
tively and not theoretically,and could not help himself if he made a mistake,let alone
helping someone else."Newlin, Schoenberg Remembered, 290.
123. Schoenbergto Krenek, 1-12 Dec. 1939, Arold Schoenberg
Letters,210.
124. Yates,paperson Lou Harrison,Peter YatesCollection, University of California,
San Diego.
125. Lou Harrison,interview by Vivian Perlis,Aptos, Calif., 24 Mar. 1970, Oral His-
tory,American Music, YaleUniversity.
126. Newlin, Schoenberg
Remembered,193. The date of her entry was 6 Mar. 1940.
127. Strang, interview,22 July 1975.
128. Newlin, Schoenberg Remembered, 286, 2 Dec. 1940. The remarkwas made in
connection with Schoenberg'spreparationsto conduct the volunteer orchestraof studio
musiciansin a readingof his tone poem PelleasundMelisandeon 22 December.
129. Stein, BardMusic FestivalSymposium,22 Nov. 1999. Furthertestimony to this
aspect in Schoenberg'steaching is recordedby Lovina May Knight, "ClassesWith
Schoenberg:JanuarythroughJune 1934,"JASI 12, no. 2 (1989): 137-63.
130. Schoenberg,Fundamentals of MusicalComposition,ed. Gerald Strang and Leonard
Stein (London:Faberand Faber,rev. ed. 1983), 95.
131. Alderman,49-58.
132. GertrudeS. Zeisl, EricZeisl:His LifeandMusic(Los Angeles: Oral History,Uni-
versityof California, 1959; interviewby Malcolm S. Cole), 356. Zeisl wanted to study
privatelywith Schoenberg in Los Angeles but felt he could not affordthe fees. Zeisl's
daughterBarbaralater marriedSchoenberg'sson Ronald.
133. The book resultedfrom the new class he developed to follow a course in "conven-
tional"harmonyteaching. Schoenberg,StructuralFunctionsof Harmony,ed. Leonard
Stein (New York:Norton, rev. ed. 1969), vii.
134. Schoenberg,"FirstCaliforniaBroadcast,Fall 1934";quoted in Frisch,299.
135. Schoenbergto Kolisch, 12 Apr. 1949, ArnoldSchoenberg
Letters,270.
136. Schoenbergto Henry Allen Moe, 22 Feb. 1945, ArnoldSchoenberg
Letters,233.
137. Schoenbergto William Schlamm, 1 July 1945; quoted in Stuckenschmidt,472.
138. Schoenbergto OskarKokoschka,3 July 1946, ArnoldSchoenberg
Letters,242.
139. "Musicand Morality,"The Composer'sNews-Record7-8 (Fall-Winter 1948-49);
reprintedin Frisch,306.
140. The full quote: "Iwas alwaysan impassionedteacher.I have alwaysfelt the urge
to find out what is most helpful to beginners,how to imbue them with a sense of the
technical, intellectual and ethical prerequisitesof our art;how to convey to them that
there is such a thing as artisticmoralityand why one must never cease to cultivate it

and, conversely,to oppose as forcefullyas possible anyone who commits an offense

against it." Schoenbergto O. Partosh,accepting an appointmentas HonoraryPresident
of the IsraelAcademy of Music, 26 Apr. 1951; quoted in Ringer,245.
141. "Iam not one of those who can teach ... a numberof effective tricks in a short
time. I only teach the whole of the art."Schoenbergto LeonardMeyer,5 Dec. 1940,
Arnold SchoenbergCollection, Libraryof Congress.
142. SchoenbergNono, interview,21 Feb. 1977.

143. Schoenbergletter applyingto Henry Moe for a Guggenheimfellowship, 22 Jan.
Letters,231. In his originalnegotiations with the university,
1945, Arold Schoenberg
Schoenbergwas apparentlynot fully awareof the basisof his pension.
145. Schoenbergto LeopoldStokowski,2 July 1945; quoted in LeonardStein, "Sto-
Fanfare:FurtherCorrespondence,"JASI 3, no. 2 (1979): 220.
kowski and the Gurrelieder
147. Schoenbergwrote to the New YorkTimescritic Olin Downes (in a remarkable

letter expressinghis furyat Downes'sdismissiveremarksabout Mahler'sSeventh Sym-
phony) that he himself alwaysdependedon his "personalgusto"to supporthis own judg-
ment. Letter to Downes, Dec. 1948, ArnoldSchoenberg Letters,260. His health problems
includedfailing eyesight, asthma,heart disease,possiblekidney disease, and diabetes,
which broughton dizzinessand fainting spells. See RichardHoffman,"Schoenbergest
vivant,"JASI 1, no. 2 (1977): 65-67; RichardHoffmanwas GertrudeSchoenberg's
young relative (and Arold Schoenberg'slast privatepupil) fromNew Zealand;he
helped with Schoenberg'scare from 1947 to 1951.
148. "Ihad the feeling as if I had fallen into an ocean of boiling water... I have per-
haps only one merit:I never give up.... These were not bad men who felt this way-
though, of course I never understoodwhat I had done to them to make them as mali-
cious, as furious,as cursing,as aggressive."Schoenberg'srecordedmessageto the
National Institute of Arts and Letters,22 May 1947, Arold Schoenberg Letters,245.
149. VirgilThomson, "HistoricRemarks,"New YorkHeraldTribune,1 June 1947. Two
yearslater,on 11 Sep. 1949 in the HeraldTribune,Thomson took up Schoenberg'sangry
comments (in a series of four Los Angeles broadcastsin celebrationof his seventy-fifth
birthday)about the "suppression" of his worksby conductors.He quoted Schoenberg's
remarks:"Youcannot change the naturalevolution of the artsby a command;... you
cannot force real artiststo descend to the lowest possiblestandard... to avoid presenta-
tion of new ideas. Even Stalin cannot succeed and Aaron Copland even less."This state-
ment was a misjudgmenton Schoenberg'spart,provokedperhapsby Eisler'srecent de-
portationby the JusticeDepartment,and certainlyby Stalin'sdemand that music be
simple. Also festeringbeneath this comment was Schoenberg'slong-held opinion that
Nadia Boulanger's"reactionary"teaching-which had long influencedso many Ameri-
cans beginning with Copland-was so harmfulto American music that the damage
would take a generationof teaching to repair.See Schoenbergcorrespondencein Ennu-
lat, 259-71; also Schoenbergto G. F Stegmann, 26 Jan. 1949, Arold Schoenberg Letters,
267; also "The Blessingof the Dressing,"385-86, and "A Text from the Third Millen-
nium,"in Stuckenschmidt,548, in which Schoenbergrefersto "BudiaNalanger."

in Los Angeles 47
Schoenberg
150. LawrenceMorton to VirgilThomson, 15 June 1947, Morton Collection, CharlesE.

YoungResearchLibrarySpecial Collections, University of California,Los Angeles.
151. LawrenceMorton, "Music,"Arts andArchitecture,Jan. 1950. Morton went on in
this article to give his own analysisof Schoenberg'srhythm.Schoenbergwrote him po-
litely that the article was very pleasant and satisfiedhim that Morton was a musician
with unusuallythoroughknowledge, but that he had never occupied himself with the
question of rhythm in the mannerMorton'sanalysissuggested.Schoenbergto Morton,
15 Feb. 1950, Morton Collection, University of California,Los Angeles. In addition to
the premiereof the Phantasy,the ISCM programalso included the String Trio, the Ode
to Napoleon,and early songs, and the mayorof Los Angeles sent a letter of recognition
and congratulationto Schoenberg.The "Roof"programincluded Pierrotlunaire(in En-
glish), the Second StringQuartet,Verkltirte Nacht, and a piano arrangementof the Monn
Cello Concerto.
152. LosAngelesTimes,20 Sep. 1949.
153. HaroldByrs, bor in Hanover in 1903, studiedat the Berlin Hochschule and the
Stem Conservatoryand servedas an assistantat the Berlin Staatsoperbefore taking con-
ducting positions in severalGerman cities. He emigratedin 1936.
154. Schoenberg, "Erstnach dem Tode anerkanntwerden,"16 Sep. 1949, Peter Yates
Collection, University of California,San Diego. On the back of the copy sent to Peter
Yates,Schoenbergexpressedhis appreciationfor Yates'stwo "excellent"articles in the
New YorkTimesand Art andArchitecture.
155. Schoenbergto Hans Rosbaud,12 May 1947, Arold Schoenberg
Letters,243.
156. Stein, interview,22 Jan. 1997.
157. Adomo to Kolisch, 18 June 1948, RudolfKolisch Papers,Houghton Library,Har-
vardUniversity.
158. Albert Goldberg,"The Sounding Board,"LosAngelesTimes,24 Apr. 1949.
159. Milton Babbitt,"CelebrateSpeech" (1974), inJASI 1, no. 1 (1976): 10. Babbitt
added,"Ithen did not know and still do not know whether she was admonishingme or
ministeringto me." Babbittwas instrumentalin interpretingSchoenberg'swork in math-
ematical termsto Americans. BryanR. Simms writes that Babbitt"looksfor an explana-
tion of musicalformswithin the elements and operationsof the system itself, ratherthan
within traditionalmusic."Simms, "Schoenberg:The Analyst and the Analyzed,"in The
ArnoldSchoenberg Companion,ed. Walter Bailey (Westport,Conn.: Greenwood, 1998),
244.
160. "MyEvolution"(Schoenberg'slast public lecture, presentedon 29 Nov. 1949 at
UCLA), in Styleand Idea, 91-92. In the summerof 1949 Schoenberghad been invited
to teach at Darmstadtbut was recoveringfrompneumonia and was unable to travel. In
his stead, Leibowitztaught a courseon twelve-tone composition, using Schoenberg's
works.
161. Schoenberg,"On revient toujours"(1948), in StyleandIdea, 109.
162. Schoenbergto Rufer,25 May 1948, Arold Schoenberg
Letters,255.
163. Schoenberg'stext is a ferventlypersonalprayer:"Who am I that I should believe
my / Prayera necessity?... Yet I praybecause I do not want to lose / The sublimefeeling

of unity,/ Of union with you. / Oh you, my Lord,yourmercyhas grantedus / Our prayer,

as a bond, / A sublime bond between us. As a / Bliss that gives us more than any fulfill-
ment."Translationfrom PierreBoulez,cond., (Sony Classical,S2K44571). Schonberg:
Das Chorwerk,with the BBC Orchestra,Singers,and Chorus.Although the text was
completed, the music remaineda fragment;RudolfKolisch transcribedit into full score.
It ends as the chorussings, "YetI pray...."
164. Schoenberg,"MyEvolution,"in StyleandIdea, 86.
165. Albert Goldberg,"The TransplantedComposer,"LosAngelesTimes, 14 May 1950.


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