Violin Concerto, Op.36 (for violin and piano) by Arnold Schoenberg
Revised edition. Piano reduction by Felix Greissle. Edited by Clovis Lark and Nicholas Greer. Published by Schirmer
Austrian-American composer, teacher, and theorist Arnold Schoenberg profoundly shaped the landscape of classical music in the 20th century. His early attempts to extend the legacies of Brahms and Wagner led to hyper-romantic masterpieces like the string sextet ''Transfigured Night''. As a member of the Second Viennese School of practice along with Alban Berg and Anton Webern, he made expressionist explorations in atonality and later developed the influential and oft-debated twelve-tone technique of composition, in which each pitch of the octave is considered equal.
Schoenberg composed his Violin Concerto, Op.36 (1936) following his emigration to the United States to escape the Nazi regime. Though it continues his innovative work with twelve-tone technique, it is also composed in the grand classical tradition of Beethoven and Brahms, incorporating sonata form, clearly-delineated themes, and thematic development. Musicians at its premiere praised it as ''utter perfection'' and without a single ''trite or hackneyed phrase''. It is widely considered to be among the most difficult violin concertos for performers in technique and musicianship, but has recently made inroads in the standard repertory, championed by such violinists as Hilary Hahn, Augustin Hadelich, and Jack Liebeck. This revised edition from Schirmer gives adventurous violinists a clear and easy-to-read presentation of this towering concerto. Master level, Grade 6.
