Grimal & Les Dissonances: Brahms & Schoenberg

演出简介

In an article from 1947 which remains justly celebrated today, Schoenberg retraced the history of “progress toward the total liberation of musical language which was initiated by the progressive Brahms.” The composer recounted two years later that he was an unconditional “Brahmsian,” having inherited from Brahms what he called “development by variation” or an “attraction for odd‐numbered measures.”

Listening to Brahms’ Third Symphony through the ears of Schoenberg, one hears anew the melodies which have become embedded in numerous popular songs (the theme of the Poco allegretto has been adapted numerous times, for example, from Serge Gainsbourg to Frank Sinatra). On the other hand, one can also lend a new ear to Schoenberg through the prism of Brahms, notably in the revived tonality of the former’s Second Chamber Symphony.