Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Following his death, Schoenberg's music was generally unappreciated, and it seems cruel to point out that his most frequently played work, Verklarte Nacht, is often accepted for the wrong reasons. To the listener who regards Schoenberg's 12-tone system as codified cacophony, Verklärte Nacht is proof that he could write real music when he had a mind to.
Schoenberg himself, however, never ceased to insist that his oeuvre was all of a piece, that later developments were foreshadowed in the early works. "I may say that for the present it matters more to me if people understand my older works," he wrote in 1923. "They are the natural forerunners of my later works, and only those who understand and comprehend them will be able to hear the latter with any understanding beyond the fashionable minimum. And only such people will realize that the melodic character of these later works is the natural consequence of my earlier experiments...I do not attach so much importance to being a musical bogeyman as to being a natural continuer of properly understood good old tradition!"
Two opposing strains of "good old tradition" are represented in Verklärte Nacht, written in three weeks in September 1899. On the one hand is the principle of developing variation, as seen in Brahms; on the other, the emotional power of the Leitmotif, as used by Wagner. Verklarte Nacht is, however, unabashed program music, following closely a poem from the collection Weib und Welt by Richard Dehmel, who had attracted a following of young Viennese intellectuals. Verklärte Nacht is by no means a “setting” of the poem, but it does follow the text closely, both in formal outline and in the point-by-point pictoralism. On a purely formal level, Schoenberg has found a neat solution to unifying a long span of music—a problem to which he would return repeatedly.
Recorded in 4k live in Orchestra Hall November 1, 2025 with conductor Tabita Berglund.
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Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Whether you’re a classical music fan looking for world premieres and symphonic masterpieces or are searching for an inspiring background soundtrack for relaxing, studying, working, or sleeping, the DSO has you covered. Located in Midtown Detroit, historic Orchestra Hall has been the eminent music venue of Southeast Michigan for over a century, hosting top artists, living composers, and diverse orchestral voices from around the world. Get tickets to join us in person or catch the riveting live stream for free at dso.org.
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Following his death, Schoenberg's music was generally unappreciated, and it seems cruel to point out that his most frequently played work, Verklarte Nacht, is often accepted for the wrong reasons. To the listener who regards Schoenberg's 12-tone system as codified cacophony, Verklärte Nacht is proof that he could write real music when he had a mind to.
Schoenberg himself, however, never ceased to insist that his oeuvre was all of a piece, that later developments were foreshadowed in the early works. "I may say that for the present it matters more to me if people understand my older works," he wrote in 1923. "They are the natural forerunners of my later works, and only those who understand and comprehend them will be able to hear the latter with any understanding beyond the fashionable minimum. And only such people will realize that the melodic character of these later works is the natural consequence of my earlier experiments...I do not attach so much importance to being a musical bogeyman as to being a natural continuer of properly understood good old tradition!"
Two opposing strains of "good old tradition" are represented in Verklärte Nacht, written in three weeks in September 1899. On the one hand is the principle of developing variation, as seen in Brahms; on the other, the emotional power of the Leitmotif, as used by Wagner. Verklarte Nacht is, however, unabashed program music, following closely a poem from the collection Weib und Welt by Richard Dehmel, who had attracted a following of young Viennese intellectuals. Verklärte Nacht is by no means a “setting” of the poem, but it does follow the text closely, both in formal outline and in the point-by-point pictoralism. On a purely formal level, Schoenberg has found a neat solution to unifying a long span of music—a problem to which he would return repeatedly.
Recorded in 4k live in Orchestra Hall November 1, 2025 with conductor Tabita Berglund.
🎵 Discover Classical Music with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra 🎵
Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Whether you’re a classical music fan looking for world premieres and symphonic masterpieces or are searching for an inspiring background soundtrack for relaxing, studying, working, or sleeping, the DSO has you covered. Located in Midtown Detroit, historic Orchestra Hall has been the eminent music venue of Southeast Michigan for over a century, hosting top artists, living composers, and diverse orchestral voices from around the world. Get tickets to join us in person or catch the riveting live stream for free at dso.org.
Stay in tune with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
- Visit our Website and explore events: dso.org
- Follow us on Instagram: @detroitsymphony
- Connect on Facebook: @detroitsymphony
- Join us on Tik Tok: @detroitsymphony
🔔 Subscribe and turn on notifications to be the first to experience our new releases.
#DSO #DetroitSymphonyOrchestra #IAMDSO #ClassicalMusic
Thank you for being a part of our musical journey. Like, comment, and share the magic!
