In 1900, Schoenberg began a song cycle for soprano, tenor and piano, intending to enter it for a composing competition. A year later he found he had composed a massive cantata for five soloists, a narrator, three male choruses of four parts each, an eight-part mixed chorus, and an orchestra of about 150. The poems that had inspired such a vast work were frawn from a collection by the Danish poet, Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847-85), itself based on medieval legends. Both the text, and Schoenberg's response to it, reflect the powerful influence of Wagnerism at the fin-de-siècle to which few young com,posers, writers and artists were immune.
Esa-Pekka Salonen on Classic FM
Esa-Pekka Salonen is interviewed by Anne-Marie Minhall in the Classic FM studios.
Vienna
An in-depth look at the Philharmonia's concert series City of Dreams.
Podcasts
Tugan Sokhiev discusses performing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
