!

The!Emancipation!of!Memory:!!!

Arnold!Schoenberg!and!the!Creation!of!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw"

!!!!!!

Jeremy!Adam!Eichler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!Submitted!in!partial!fulfillment!of!the!!

requirements!for!the!degree!of!!Doctor!of!Philosophy!

in!the!Graduate!School!of!Arts!and!Sciences!!!

COLUMBIA!UNIVERSITY!!

2015! !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

©!2015!Jeremy!Adam!Eichler!All!rights!reserved!

!

ABSTRACT!!

The!Emancipation!of!Memory:!!Arnold!Schoenberg!and!the!Creation!of!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw!

!!

Jeremy!Eichler!!!!

This!is!a!study!of!the!ways!in!which!the!past!is!inscribed!in!sound.!It!is!also!an!

examination!of!the!role!of!concert!music!in!the!invention!of!cultural!memory!in!the!wake!of!

the!Second!World!War.!And!finally,!it!is!a!study!of!the!creation!and!early!American!reception!

of!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw,!a!cantata!written!in!1947!that!became!the!first!major!musical!

memorial!to!the!Holocaust.!It!remains"uniquely!significant!and!controversial!within!the!

larger!oeuvre"of!its!composer,!Arnold!Schoenberg!(1874]1951).!!

Historians!interested!in!the!chronologies!and!modalities!of!Holocaust!memory!have!

tended!to!overlook!music’s!role!as!a!carrier!of!meaning!about!the!past,!while!other!media!of!

commemoration!have!received!far!greater!scrutiny,!be!they!literary,!cinematic,!or!

architectural.!And!yet,!!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw"predated!almost!all!of!its!sibling!memorials,!

crystallizing!and!anticipating!the!range!of!aesthetic!and!ethical!concerns!that!would!define!

the!study!of!postwar!memory!and!representation!for!decades!to!come.!It!also!constituted!a!

uniquely!personal!memorial!that!may!be!read!not!only!as!a!work!of!Holocaust!art!but!also!as!

a!profoundly!autobiographical!document,!one!that!sheds!light!on!constellations!of!

particularist!identities!often!hidden!beneath!the!“universalist”!veil!of!one!of!the!twentieth]

century’s!most!iconic!musical!figures.!Ultimately,!this!study!seeks!to!articulate!an!under]

examined!linkage!between!modernism!and!memory,!while!arguing!methodologically!for!the!

importance!of!sound!in!the!contemporary!practice!of!cultural!history.!

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TABLE!OF!CONTENTS!!LIST!OF!ILLUSTRATIONS………………………………………………………………………………………………...iii!!ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………………………………………..iv!!CHAPTER!ONE!!!Introduction:!Pasts!Resonant,!Resonances!Past…………………………………………………………1!!

Prelude:!Music!and!Goethe’s!Oak....……………………………………………………………………….1!Modernism,!Memory!and!Memorialization...………………………………………………………....5!Schoenberg’s!‘Convolutions’……………………………………………………………………………….12!The!Measure!of!a!Monument……...……………………………………………………………………….18!Memory]Art!and!Reception………………………………………………………………………………...22!Narratives!of!Revolution,!Horizons!of!Memory…………………………………………………….26!!!

CHAPTER!TWO!Memorials!in!Sound………………………………………………………………………………………………....31!!! Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………31!

Sound!and!‘the!Memory!Landscape’…………………………………………………………………….34!Five!Properties!of!the!Musical!Memorial……………………………………….……...…………..…38!American!Holocaust!Remembrance:!Chronologies!and!Forms……………………………...50!Memorialization!and!the!Politics!of!Aesthetic!Style………………………….............................59!

! !!CHAPTER!THREE!Arnold!Schoenberg:!Between!Emancipation!and!Memory........................…………………….66!!! Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………66!

Part!One:!‘Redemption!from!the!Disgrace’:!Becoming!a!German!Modernist….............71!! !!!Setting!the!Framework…………………………………………………………………………………….71!! !!!Roots!and!Reroutes………………………………………………………………………………………….77!! Part!Two:!Deutschtum!and!its!Discontents:!the!Path!toward!Moses"und"Aron…..…….89!! Part!Three:!From!Schönberg!to!Schoenberg:!The!Composer!in!Migration……………102!! !!!The!War!Years………………………………………………………………………………………………!115!!!!CHAPTER!FOUR!Night!Transfigured:!A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!in!Focus……………………………………………125!!! Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………….125!! The!full!text!of!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw………….…………………………………………………130!! Origins!of!a!Commission……………………..…………………………………………………………….132!! Survivor!as!Testimony………………………………………………………………………………………139!!! A!Survivor"as!Double………………………………………………………………………………………..144!! History!and!Memory!in!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw………………………………………………..152!! Resisting!Closure:!Schoenberg!and!Benjamin…………………………………………………….158!!!

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!CHAPTER!FIVE!Monument!Unveiled:!Two!Premieres!for!A!Survivor!from!Warsaw…………………………164!! !

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………….164!‘A!real!Viennese!musician!of!the!best!tradition’….………………………………………………170!Memory!Unsung:!Serge!Koussevitzky!and!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw…………………....174!Mr.!Frederick’s!‘Miracle’…………………………………………………………………………………...179!A"Survivor"in!New!York……………..………………………………………………………………………192!Beyond!the!premieres……………..………………………………………………………………………..199!

!!CONCLUSION!‘Art!as!its!unconscious!chronicle’!….……………………………………………………………………….204!!!BIBLIOGRAPHY!Archival!Collections!Consulted!and!Works!Cited……………………………………………….……210!!

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List!of!Illustrations!

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Figure!1:!Manuscript!page!from!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw"with!dedication………………………129!

Figure!2:!The!conductor!Kurt!Frederick,!in!a!photo!from!1951………………………………………170!

Figure!3:!Program!page!from!the!Albuquerque!premiere!of!A"Survivor"from"Warsaw……...185!

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Acknowledgments!

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I!am!deeply!grateful!to!many!people!who!not!only!helped!me!bring!this!dissertation!

to!fruition!but!also!provided!guidance!and!mentorship!over!my!years!of!graduate!study.!At!

Columbia!University,!Volker!Berghahn!set!me!on!my!course!with!both!high!standards!and!

preternatural!kindness.!His!deep!knowledge!of!modern!German!history!was!a!source!of!

inspiration,!and!I’m!profoundly!grateful!for!his!unwavering!support!and!for!his!belief!in!my!

future!work.!Michael!Stanislawski!offered!incisive!and!elegant!guidance!to!new!paradigms!

in!the!study!of!Jewish!history,!and!helped!sharpen!my!critical!approaches!to!texts,!including!

my!own.!At!numerous!points!he!offered!advice!and!support!leavened!with!wit!both!sharp!

and!salutatory.!And!Walter!Frisch!was!deeply!generous!with!his!musicological!expertise,!his!

collegiality,!and!his!vast!understanding!of!both!German!modernism!and!Arnold!Schoenberg!

in!particular.!I!also!appreciated!that!a!conversation!we!began!on!campus!might!be!

continued!over!the!din!of!a!concert!intermission!at!Lincoln!Center!or!Carnegie!Hall.!!!

Elisheva!Carlebach!and!Marion!Kaplan!both!kindly!agreed!to!serve!on!my!committee!

and!provided!detailed!and!insightful!criticism!that!will!undoubtedly!strengthen!this!project!

as!it!continues!to!develop.!Christopher!Hailey!was!one!of!the!earliest!formal!respondents!to!

this!work,!and!one!of!the!most!steadfast!supporters!of!this!project!from!long!before!it!took!

its!present!shape.!And!Joseph!Auner!generously!shared!his!own!deep!knowledge!of!

Schoenberg,!offered!detailed!and!essential!comments!on!my!work,!and!suggested!many!

fruitful!points!of!entry!into!the!broader!interdisciplinary!field!of!sound!studies.!!

Among!the!faculty!with!whom!I!worked!during!my!years!of!graduate!study,!I!also!

owe!particular!debts!of!gratitude!to!Samuel!Moyn,!Andreas!Huyssen,!Lydia!Goehr,!Jay!

Winter,!and!Istvan!Deak,!for!the!examples!of!their!scholarship!and!the!gift!of!their!teaching.!

I!also!felt!extremely!fortunate!to!learn!informally!from!Peter!Gay!after!discovering!we!

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shared!interests!in!both!German!modernism!and!the!apple!crumb!cake!of!our!neighborhood!

diner.!And!I!might!never!have!embarked!on!this!journey!in!the!first!place!if!not!for!the!

profound!generosity,!encouragement!and!friendship!of!André!Aciman.!!

A!special!note!of!deep!thanks!is!due!to!James!Loeffler,!who!not!only!read!and!offered!

incisive!comments!on!each!chapter!of!this!dissertation!but!also!elevated!the!process!of!its!

creation!through!the!generosity!of!his!friendship!and!through!his!kindred!commitment,!

over!many!years,!to!an!exploration!of!that!strange!intellectual!landscape!at!the!border!of!

history!and!music.!I!am!truly!grateful!to!him.!I!am!also!grateful!to!a!number!of!friends!and!

professional!colleagues!for!support!along!the!way,!among!them!Sebastian!Ruth,!Minna!Choi,!

Nahanni!Rous,!Noah!Reinhardt,!Karthick!Ramakrishnan,!Sarah!Gershman,!Daniel!Silverberg,!

Jeff!Miller,!Justin!Davidson,!Elena!Park,!Nadine!Kreisberger,!Sebastian!Smee,!Anthony!

Tommasini,!James!Oestreich,!Alex!Ross,!Anne!Midgette,!Allan!Kozinn,!Jack!Schwartz,!Philip!

Kennicott,!Jonathan!Tepperman,!Michael!Kimmage,!Blake!Eskin,!Jonathan!Rosen,!Ra’anan!

Boustan,!Moshik!Temkin,!Daniel!Schwartz,!Noam!Pianko,!James!Parker,!Mark!Feeney,!Marty!

Baron,!Rebecca!Ostriker,!Steve!Smith,!Lloyd!Schwartz!and!David!Weininger.!!

If!this!project!was!begun!while!living!in!New!York,!it!was!completed!while!living!in!

Boston,!where!my!spirits!and!my!work!also!benefited!from!many!stimulating!and!helpful!

conversations!with!Anne!Shreffler,!Judith!Tick,!Alexander!Rehding,!Carol!Oja,!James!

Schmidt,!Michael!P.!Steinberg,!William!Keach,!Jonathan!Decter,!Dorothy!Lamb!Crawford,!

and!Simon!Rabinovitch.!I!was!also!grateful!to!both!Professor!Schmidt!and!Professor!Auner!

for!inviting!me!to!share!some!early!fruits!of!my!research!at!Boston!University!and!Tufts!

University,!respectively.!And!when!return!trips!to!New!York!were!required,!my!uncle!Jeffrey!

Steingarten!and!aunt!Caron!Smith!sustained!me!so!generously!with!a!warm!home,!excellent!

company,!and!nourishment!nonpareil.!!!

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This!project!would!not!have!been!possible!without!the!expert!assistance!of!several!

archivists.!I’m!especially!grateful!to!Eike!Fess!and!Therese!Muxeneder!of!the!Arnold!

Schönberg!Institute!as!well!as!to!the!staffs!of!the!music!division!of!the!Library!of!Congress,!

the!New!York!Philharmonic!archive,!Harvard!University’s!Houghton!Memorial!Library,!and!

the!University!of!Southern!California’s!Feuchtwanger!Memorial!Library.!I!wish!to!thank!

Lawrence!Schoenberg!for!permission!to!include!images!from!the!manuscript!score!of!A"

Survivor"from"Warsaw."And!I!also!wish!to!thank!the!family!of!Kurt!Frederick!–!and!

specifically!Elizabeth!Young!and!Byron!Derringer!–!for!so!generously!entrusting!me!with!

documents,!images!and!recordings!collected!over!the!course!of!Mr.!Frederick’s!remarkable!

life!in!music.!!!!

A!number!of!institutions!have!supported!both!this!project!and!my!development!as!a!

scholar!more!broadly.!The!bulk!of!my!years!at!Columbia!were!made!possible!through!a!

Richard!Hofstadter!Fellowship!from!the!History!Department,!for!which!I’m!deeply!grateful.!

A!Center!for!Jewish!History!Dissertation!Fellowship!also!provided!financial!support,!access!

to!archival!sources,!and,!under!Hasia!Diner’s!leadership,!engaging!intellectual!community.!

Columbia’s!Institute!for!Israel!and!Jewish!Studies!also!provided!key!support,!as!did!the!

advice!and!friendship!of!its!director,!Jeremy!Dauber.!I!am!also!grateful!to!the!German!

Academic!Exchange!Service,!for!funding!that!made!possible!a!summer!of!study!in!Berlin.!

And!to!Avaloch!Farm!Music!Institute!and!Michael!and!Anne!Spalter,!for!providing!the!

welcome!refuge!required!to!bring!this!project!to!its!completion.!

Final!thanks!and!deepest!gratitude!goes!to!my!family:!to!my!loving!and!endlessly!

supportive!parents,!Lois!and!Joel;!my!brother!and!sister]in]law,!Gabriel!and!Chiara;!my!

young!children,!Jonah!and!Ezra,!who!do!not!yet!understand!this!project!but!offered!

boundless!patience,!encouragement!and!enthusiasm!right!up!to!the!moment!of!submission;!

and!to!my!wife!Karen,!who!inspired!and!challenged!me,!and!who!believed!in!this!work!and!

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supported!me!so!selflessly!in!the!vicissitudes!of!its!birth.!She!has!imbued!this!project,!and!

everything!else,!with!not!just!a!sense!of!possibility!but!also!a!sense!of!meaning.!It’s!to!my!

family!that!I!dedicate!this!dissertation.!

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For"my"family!

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Chapter(1((

Introduction:((Pasts(Resonant,(Resonances(Past(!

(

Prelude:(Music(and(Goethe’s(Oak(

(

In!the!climactic!sequence!at!the!heart!of!Mieczslaw!Weinberg’s!1968!

Holocaust!opera,!The$Passenger,!a!Polish!prisoner!of!Auschwitz!named!Tadeusz!is!

discovered!to!be!a!violinist.!He!is!immediately!ordered!to!deliver!a!performance!

before!the!camp!commandant,!who!is!in!the!mood!to!hear!his!favorite!tune,!a!tawdry!

waltz!of!presumably!low!origins.!Tadeusz!is!ceremoniously!brought!before!the!

commandant!and!an!array!of!camp!officials,!violin!in!hand.!With!audience!tensely!

silent,!he!sets!bow!to!string!and!begins!his!performance—but!to!everyone’s!shock!it!

is!not!the!waltz!that!emerges!from!his!violin!but!the!piercing!DJminor!chord!that!

opens!Bach’s!Chaconne,!one!of!the!spiritual!pinnacles!of!German!music.!!

The!commandant,!in!a!recent!staging!of!this!opera,!looks!stunned!and!

confused.!As!Tadeusz!plays!on,!one!by!one!the!members!of!the!opera!orchestra!join!

in!from!offJstage,!playing!the!Chaconne!in!unison.!This,!as!the!audience!is!

presumably!meant!to!believe,!is!a!mutiny—an!act!of!highJminded!cultural!rebellion.!

Tadeusz!has!ambushed!his!oppressors!with!an!emblematic!masterpiece!of!German!

high!culture.!The!implicit!statement!is!that!simply!revealing!the!vertiginous!beauty!

of!Bach!–!uncorrupted!and!pure!–!in!the!darkness!of!Auschwitz!constitutes!the!

bearing!of!a!spiritual!weapon!against!those!in!power,!a!regime!that!had!so!

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barbarously!betrayed!the!Enlightenment!promise!at!the!heart!of!German!high!

culture.!!

Seen!today,!this!scene!may!momentarily!seduce!a!viewer!with!the!simplicity!

of!its!fantasy.!Yet!just!as!quickly!it!collapses!beneath!the!weight!of!history.!The!

Nazis,!too,!of!course!fully!embraced!Bach!and!the!other!great!German!composers,!

from!Mozart!and!Beethoven!to!Wagner!and!Bruckner.1!They!attempted!to!purge!this!

tradition!of!“alien”!elements,!at!the!same!time!as!they!appropriated!its!prestige!

while!surrounding!it!with!their!own!ideological!infrastructure—a!kind!of!musical!

analogue!of!Goethe’s!oak,!the!poet’s!tree!around!which!the!camp!of!Buchenwald!was!

constructed.!!

After!the!war,!it!was!in!fact!precisely!this!German!high!culture,!and!its!

underlying!assumptions,!to!which!many!of!the!most!penetrating!analysts!of!Nazism!

turned.2!In!their!Dialectic$of$Enlightenment,$Theodor!Adorno!and!Max!Horkheimer!

discovered!the!roots!for!the!modern!age!of!catastrophe!in!the!basic!structural!

organization!of!Western!society.!Elsewhere,!Adorno!took!aim!directly!at!the!grand!

culture!this!society!had!spawned.!As!he!summarized:!

Auschwitz!demonstrates!irrefutably!that!culture!has!failed.!That!this!could!happen!in!the!midst!of!the!traditions!of!philosophy,!of!art,!and!of!

the!enlightening!sciences!says!more!than!that!these!traditions!and!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!These!connections!have!been!thoroughly!explored!in,!for!instance:!Erik!Levi,!Mozart$and$the$Nazis:$How$the$Third$Reich$Abused$a$Cultural$Icon!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2010);!Michael!H.!Kater!and!Albrecht!Riethmüller,!eds.,!Music$and$Nazism:$Art$under$Tyranny,$1933F1945!(Laaber:!Laaber,!2003).!!2!For!a!thoughtful!survey!of!how!German!high!culture!and!the!Holocaust!have!been!“coJ

implicated”!by!postwar!analysts!of!Nazism,!including!some!of!those!mentioned!in!this!

introduction,!see!the!title!essay!in!Steven!E.!Aschheim,!Culture$and$Catastrophe:$German$and$Jewish$Confrontations$of$National$Socialism$and$Other$Crises!(New!York:!New!York!University!Press,!1996),!1J30.!See!also!Celia!Applegate,!"Saving!Music:!Enduring!

Experiences!of!Culture,"!History$and$Memory!17,!no.!1J2!(2005).!

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their!spirit!lacked!the!power!to!take!hold!of!men!and!work!a!change!in!

them.!There$is$untruth$in$those$fields$themselves,!in!the!autarky!that!is!emphatically!claimed!for!them.”3!!

!

!Discerning!the!nature!of!that!“untruth”!was!a!task!taken!up!not!only!by!

Adorno!but!also!by!Thomas!Mann!during!his!American!exile,!a!period!largely!spent!

as!a!resident!of!southern!California.!In!his!writing!and!his!speeches!at!the!Library!of!

Congress,!Mann!chose!music$as!the!central!metaphor!through!which!to!explain!his!

own!country’s!romance!with!the!demonic,!its!obsession!with!depth,!with!the!flight!

inward!and!away!from!the!civilizing!reach!of!a!pragmatic!democratic!politics.!Most!

notably,!in!his!novel!Doctor$Faustus,!the!major!fictional!work!of!his!American!exile,!

Mann!placed!at!its!center!the!character!of!Adrian!Leverkühn,!a!fearless!modern!

composer!who!sought!to!“take!back”!or!rescind!Beethoven’s!Ninth!Symphony—

because!it!was!a!lie.!!

In!Mann’s!complex!novel,!music!has!more!than!one!metaphorical!meaning.!It!

is!a!site!of!demonic!seduction!but!it!is!also—in!its!modernist!reinvention—a!

medium!for!critical!engagement!with!the!“untruths”!of!bourgeois!culture!that,!in!

Mann’s!telling,!led!to!the!Third!Reich!in!the!first!place.!(We!may!note!here!that!

Mann’s!“privy!counselor”!in!the!writing!of!Doctor$Faustus$was!Adorno!himself,!also!a!

resident!of!southern!California!at!that!time.)!But!perhaps!most!saliently!for!the!

purposes!of!this!study,!music!has!yet!a!third!role!in!Doctor$Faustus:!as!a!medium!of!

mourning!and!of!memory.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3!Theodor!W.!Adorno,!Negative$Dialectics,!trans.!E.B.!Ashton!(New!York:!Continuum,!1983),!366J7.!Italics!added.!!

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In!the!novel,!Leverkühn’s!life!owes!many!of!its!details!to!the!biography!of!

Friedrich!Nietzsche,!but!the!descriptions!of!his!fiercely!independent!and!critically!

engaged!music!were!inspired!by!another!source.!Leverkühn,!in!this!fictional!tale,!

writes!music!according!to!the!stringent!rules!of!“the!method!of!12!tones!related!only!

with!one!another.”!The!actual!inventor!of!that!12Jtone!method,!as!it!turns!out,!also!

lived!in!Los!Angeles!at!the!time.!Indeed,!having!glimpsed!some!of!the!thematic!

landscape!surrounding!this!study,!we!have!now!arrived!at!the!figure!at!its!center.!!

“Arnold!Schönberg,!dem!Eigentlichen”—”To!Arnold!Schoenberg,!the!true!

one”—is!how!Mann!inscribed!the!copy!of!his!novel!he!presented!to!the!composer.!

Whether!Mann’s!lofty!phrase!was!meant!as!a!gesture!of!tribute!or!as!a!kind!of!

anticipatory!placation,!it!did!not!work.!Problems!with!Schoenberg’s!eyesight!

prevented!him!from!reading!Doctor$Faustus!himself,!but!he!learned!enough!through!

intermediaries!to!become!furious!that!his!12Jtone!method!had!been!appropriated!

and!placed!in!the!hands!of!Mann’s!syphilitic!musician!aligned!with!the!devil.!A!war!

of!letters!spilled!onto!the!pages!of!the!Saturday$Review$of$Literature,!with!Mann!

ultimately!consenting!to!place!an!explanatory!note!at!the!back!of!all!future!additions!

of!Doctor$Faustus,!attributing!the!12Jtone!method!to!Schoenberg,!its!rightful!creator.!!!

And!yet,!despite!their!disagreements!over!the!liberal!use!of!intellectual!

property,!Mann!and!Schoenberg!had!been!engaged!in!surprisingly!parallel!pursuits!

from!the!disorienting!comfort!of!their!California!exile:!Both!were!memorializing!the!

war!in!art.!Both!were!addressing!the!failures!of!a!vaunted!German!cultural!tradition!

by!creating!works!cast!from!its!own!materials!that!would!at!the!same!time!reshape!

them!toward!newly!critical!purposes.!Mann’s!narrator,!in!Doctor$Faustus,!describes!

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Leverkühn’s!final!composition!as!an!“ode!to!sorrow.”!Schoenberg’s!own!memorial!in!

sound—the!first!work!by!a!major!composer!to!address!the!Holocaust!in!music—was!

entitled!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw.$!

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Modernism,(Memory(and(Memorialization((

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On!its!most!basic!level,!this!is!a!study!of!the!ways!in!which!the!past!is!

inscribed!in!sound.!The!first!natural!question!may!be:!whose!past?!In!the!case!of!A$

Survivor$from$Warsaw,$the!answer!begins!with!Schoenberg!but!does!not!end!there.!I!

take!pains!in!my!reading!of!the!composer’s!biography!to!attend!to!both!his!radical!

individualism!but!also!the!profound!ways!in!which!he!was!very!deeply!enmeshed!in!

the!culture!of!his!times,!a!figure!whose!life!and!art!emblematize!the!productive!

tensions!and!the!actual!fruit!of!that!cultural!flowering!that!goes!today!by!many!

names:!German!modernism,!GermanJJewish!modernism,!or!simply!modernism.!

It!is!curious,!the!art!historian!T.J.!Clark!has!observed,!that!historians!of!

Romanticism!or!the!Scientific!Revolution!seldom!feel!obliged!to!define!their!terms!

but!those!who!study!modernism!must!continuously!do!so.4!Clark!himself,!in!a!highly!

suggestive!description,!casts!modernism!as!a!set!of!ruins!whose!architecture!we!can!

no!longer!truly!understand.!The!issue,!says!Clark,!is!not$that!we!are!today!living!in!

another!age!altogether,!but!that!are!we!are!living!precisely!in!the!age!that!

modernism!predicted.!Clark’s!insight!is!that!the!movement!in!the!arts!that!today!we!

call!modernism!was!coeval!with!modernization!itself—it!was!art’s!response!to!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4!T.!J.!Clark,!Farewell$to$an$Idea:$Episodes$from$a$History$of$Modernism!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!1999),!7.!

! 6!

modern!world!during!the!seminal!period!of!that!world’s!emergence.!Modernism!in!

Clark’s!view!is!on!some!level!“unreadable”!today!because!the!modernists!

themselves,!he!writes,!“had!a!truck!with!a!modernity!that!was!not!yet!fully!in!

place.”5!In!this!sense,!modernism!contained!within!it!a!kind!of!liminality,!a!residue!of!

the!old!concealed!by!its!fevered!attention!to!the!new.!And!yet,!when!we!look!back!at!

modernist!art!today,!we!have!no!choice!but!to!do!so!from!the!vantage!point!of!our!

own!postJindustrial,!postJsecularized,!postJAuschwitz!world,!one!that!represents,!in!

this!view,!the!victory!and!the!tragedy!of!the!forces!of!modernization!itself.6!!!

Clark’s!reading!may!be!best!known!for!his!metaphor!of!modernism!as!“our!

antiquity,”!an!endlessly!perplexing!yet!endlessly!usable!past,!one!we!may!turn!to!in!

the!way!that!the!Romantics!turned!to!the!ruins!of!Rome.7!Such!a!positioning!helps!

explain!why!some!earlyJmodernist!art!retains!its!unique!charisma!today,!why!we!

return!to!it!seeking!inspiration!from!an!earlier!time!that!“had!not!yet!lost!its!power!

to!imagine!other!futures.”8!In!this!art,!it!seems,!there!remained!the!glimmer!of!the!

hope!that!secularization!had!denied!from!religion.!The!Frankfurt!school!thinkers!

described!this!hope!simply,!with!a!phrase!borrowed!from!Stendhal:!la$promesse$du$

bonheur.!!

But!what!if!Clark’s!thesis!is!not!so!much!wrong!as!rather!incomplete?!We!

may!add!that!the!very!modernist!art!in!which!Clark!finds!the!evidence!of!our!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5!Ibid.,!3.!

6!Ibid.!

7!Ibid.!

8!The!phrase!comes!from!Andreas!Huyssen,!writing!on!the!phenomenon!of!contemporary!

nostalgia!for!ruins,!which!he!views!as!“part!of!a!much!broader!discourse!about!memory!and!

trauma,!genocide!and!war.”!See!Andreas!Huyssen,!"Nostalgia!for!Ruins,"!Grey$Room!23!(2006).!

! 7!

contemporary!estrangement!from!the!past!also!contains!within!its!repertoire!of!

gestures,!a!way!of!making!the!past!manifest!in!the!present,!a!sense!of—to!use!

another!word!for!the!same!phenomenon—memory.!!!

Memory!of!course!sits!uneasily!with!modernism,!an!artistic!phenomenon!

that!so!often!defined!itself!by!virtue!of!its!revolutionary!impulse,!its!inclination!to!

break!with!the!past,!to!imagine!itself!free!of!history,!to!insist!on!its!own!newness.!

Tonality,!in!Anton!Webern’s!elegantly!scornful!metaphor,!had!been!an!overripe!fruit!

ready!to!drop!from!the!tree.!For!Adolf!Loos,!ornament!was!crime.!!

Yet!we!might!say,!extending!Clark’s!thesis,!that!modernism!needed!memory!

precisely!because!of!how!acutely!it!came!to!understand!the!pernicious!sides!of!

modernization!itself:!the!industrialization!of!war,!the!destruction!of!organic!

community,!the!crisis!even!in!the!very!nature!of!experience!itself.!Here!is!Walter!

Benjamin’s!succinct!and!poignant!summary!of!that!dislocation,!a!description!of!what!

we!might!call!the!cultural!shell!shock!of!everyday!life!for!soldiers!on!the!battlefields!

of!World!War!I:!!

A!generation!that!had!gone!to!school!on!a!horseJdrawn!streetcar!now!stood!

under!the!open!sky!in!a!countryside!in!which!nothing!remained!unchanged!

but!the!clouds,!and!beneath!these!clouds,!in!a!field!of!force!of!destructive!

torrents!and!explosions,!was!the!tiny,!fragile!human!body.9!

!

Even!at!the!time,!modernism’s!wiser!figures!saw!through!the!era’s!fantasies!

of!new!beginnings.!Toward!the!end!of!his!life,!the!composer!Ferruccio!Busoni,!who!

cast!himself!as!guru!to!the!brash!young!musical!moderns!of!interwar!Berlin,!

observed!that!“the!newcomers!deceive!themselves,!too,!in!thinking!they!can!break,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!9!“The!Storyteller,”!as!translated!and!published!in!Walter!Benjamin,!Illuminations,!ed.!Hannah!Arendt,!trans.!Harry!Zorn!(New!York:!Schocken!Books,!1986),!84.!

! 8!

or!have!broken,!with!all!their!predecessors.!This!is!not!the!case,!in!spite!of!their!

unshakable!conviction,!for!every!child!has!a!mother!to!whom!it!is!still!attached!by!

the!navel!even!after!birth.”10!

Busoni!was!of!course!speaking!about!musical!reinvention,!but!the!modernist!

fantasy!of!the!erasure!of!origins!was!not!confined!to!the!domain!of!music.!It!

extended!to!the!inner!sanctum!of!identity!itself.!!As!a!young!WagnerJbesotted!

composer!at!the!turn!of!the!twentiethJcentury,!Schoenberg,!a!child!of!the!1867!

emancipation!of!AustroJHungarian!Jews,!converted!to!Protestantism,!strove!to!

modify!his!own!speech!and!personal!mannerisms,!and!threw!the!full!and!

considerable!weight!of!his!own!spiritual!beliefs!into!the!cause!of!both!German!

culture!and!German!cultural!nationalism.!

Until!roughly!1921,!Schoenberg!was!apparently!confident!enough!in!his!own!

emancipation!that!he!was!ready!to!repurpose!the!word!itself!as!a!metaphor!for!his!

musical!revolution:!the!leap!into!atonality,!and!with!it!the!casting!aside!of!the!

system!of!tonal!relationships!that!had!governed!music!since!the!era!of!the!Baroque.!

He!described!his!move!as!“the!emancipation!of!dissonance,”!a!phrase!that!has!ever!

since!remained!indelibly!linked!to!his!own!musical!estate.!!

The!title!of!this!dissertation,!in!adapting!the!iconic!phrase!to!acknowledge!

this!retrospective!impulse,!seeks!to!open!up!a!set!of!questions!about!the!

revolutionary!cast!of!modernism!more!broadly,!its!purported!distance!from!the!

past,!and!its!ability!to!erase!particularist!footprints!with!the!trailing!cloak!of!its!own!

universalism.!And!of!course!we!are!focused!here!not!just!on!modernism!in!general!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!10!Ferruccio!Busoni,!The$Essence$of$Music,$and$Other$Papers!(London:!Rockliff,!1957),!43.!

! 9!

but!musical$modernism!as!such,!a!genre!that!has!remained!largely!unexamined!by!

the!broader!field!of!memory!studies.!Indeed,!presentJday!historians!have!built!up!an!

extensive!literature!examining!modes!of!public!and!personal!commemoration!in!the!

wake!of!the!Great!War,!and!in!the!years!following!World!War!II!and!the!Holocaust.11!

What!is!readily!apparent,!however,!is!that!this!historiographic!literature!on!postwar!

memory!and!commemoration!has!largely!excluded!music!from!its!field!of!

consideration.!It!is!one!goal!of!this!dissertation!to!contribute,!as!a!cultural!historian,!

to!a!newer!wave!of!musicological!efforts!to!write!music$into!the!history!of!postwar!

memory.12!!

Music’s!place!in!this!history—and!more!broadly,!its!status!as!a!carrier!of!

meaning!about!the!past—is!the!subject!of!Chapter!2.!In!that!chapter!I!develop!an!

original!framework!for!approaching!what!I!call!“memorials!in!sound.”!This!involves!

both!sketching!a!modern!genealogy!of!this!genre,!and!identifying!its!own!

proprietary!properties;!that!is,!ways!in!which!musical!memorials!differ!from!other!

types!of!memoryJart.!My!approach!seeks!to!both!build!on,!and!depart!from,!the!ways!

that!scholars!of!memory!have!approached!sculptural!or!architectural!monuments.!I!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!Both!classic!and!more!recent!accounts!are!referenced!at!greater!length!in!Chapter!2,!but!

see,!for!instance!Paul!Fussell,!The$Great$War$and$Modern$Memory!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!1975).!J.!M.!Winter,!Sites$of$Memory,$Sites$of$Mourning:$The$Great$War$in$European$Cultural$History!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!1998).!Peter!Novick,!The$Holocaust$in$American$Life!(Boston:!Houghton!Mifflin,!2000).!Hasia!R.!Diner,!We$Remember$with$Reverence$and$Love:$American$Jews$and$the$Myth$of$Silence$after$the$Holocaust,$1945F1962!(New!York:!New!York!University!Press,!2009).!12!For!examples!of!this!newer!wave!of!musicological!scholarship,!see!Joy!Haslam!Calico,!

Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!in$Postwar$Europe!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!2014);!Tina!!Frühauf!and!Lily!E.!Hirsch,!eds.,!Dislocated$Memories:$Jews,$Music,$and$Postwar$German$Culture!(2014);!Amy!Lynn!Wlodarski,!"The!Sounds!of!Memory:!German!Musical!Representations!of!the!Holocaust,!1945JJ1965"!(Ph.D.!Dissertation,!

University!of!Rochester,!Eastman!School!of!Music,!2006);!and!Martha!Anne!Sprigge,!

"Abilities!to!Mourn:!Musical!Commemoration!in!the!German!Democratic!Republic!(1945J

1989)"!(Ph.D.!Dissertation,!The!University!of!Chicago,!2013).!

! 10!

also!argue!for!the!pertinence!of!a!separate!literature!emerging!from!the!newer!field!

of!sound!studies.!Part!of!the!experiential!uniqueness!of!the!musical!memorial!in!live!

performance,!I!suggest,!emerges!both!from!the!properties!of!sound!as!such,!and!

from!the!confluence!of!multiple!temporalities!as!framed!within!a!musical!

composition!in!a!moment!of!live!performance.!!

Chapter!2!also!sets!the!stage!for!analyzing!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$by!

locating!the!year!of!its!composition!–!1947!–!against!the!backdrop!of!recent!

historiographic!debates!on!the!chronology!of!postwar!memory!in!the!United!States!

and!abroad.!!And!this!chapter!concludes!with!a!section!on!the!shifting!cultural!and!

political!meanings!of!dissonance.!Recent!years!have!indeed!seen!new!attention!

being!directed!toward!the!history!of!the!senses,!one!that!acknowledges!the!

profound!ways!that,!as!Martin!Jay!has!stated,!they!stand!“at!the!unstable!crossroads!

of!nature!and!culture.13!The!visual,!auditory,!or!olfactory!inputs!of!individuals!and!

societies!may!not!have!evolved,!but!how!we!perceive!the!information!they!transmit!

has!changed!profoundly.!Within!this!new!interest!in!the!history!of!the!senses,!we!

may!locate!a!“sonic!turn,”!that!is,!a!focus!by!historians!on!the!way!hearing!itself!is!

culturally!determined.14!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!13!See!Martin!Jay,!"In!the!Realm!of!the!Senses:!An!Introduction,"!The$American$Historical$Review!116,!no.!2!(2011):!309.!14!Historians!working!in!this!field!have!taken!on!subjects!as!varied!as!the!soundscapes!of!

rural!nineteenthJcentury!France,!habits!of!concert!listening!in!Paris,!and!music’s!role!in!

international!relations.!See,!respectively,!Alain!Corbin,!Village$Bells:$Sound$and$Meaning$in$the$NineteenthFCentury$French$Countryside,!trans.!Martin!Thom!(New!York:!Columbia!University!Press,!1998);!James!H.!Johnson,!Listening$in$Paris:$A$Cultural$History!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!1995);!Jessica!C.!E.!GienowJHecht,!Sound$Diplomacy:$Music$and$Emotions$in$Transatlantic$Relations,$1850F1920!(Chicago:!University!of!Chicago!Press,!2009).!For!a!review!article!and!an!anthology!surveying!a!far!wider!swath!of!this!

historiography,!see,!respectively:!Sophia!Rosenfeld,!"On!Being!Heard:!A!Case!for!Paying!

Attention!to!the!Historical!Ear,"!The$American$Historical$Review!116,!no.!2!(2011);!and!Mark!

! 11!

This!sonic!turn!has!included!reflections!on!shifting!cultural!attitudes!toward!

the!ideas!of!silence!and!noise,!respectively,!and!even!toward!the!question!of!

precisely!where!we!mark!the!boundary!between!noise!and!its!presumed!

sublimation:!music.!This!subject!becomes!particularly!germane!in!the!case!of!Arnold!

Schoenberg's!decisive!break!with!tonality,!a!move!may!be!dated!to!the!final!

movement!of!his!second!string!quartet,!which!features!a!soprano!setting!of!a!poem!

by!Stefan!George,!one!whose!opening!line!is:!Ich$fühle$luft$von$anderen$planeten.15!

Schoenberg’s!move!of!course!proved!famously!controversial!as!many!

listeners,!weaned!on!the!musical!grammar!of!the!nineteenth!century,!found!no!

sympathy!for!the!atmosphere!on!Schoenberg’s!new!planet.!Even!Mahler!himself!

confessed!that!his!own!comprehension!had!been!stretched!beyond!its!limits.16!This!

is!not!the!place!to!rehearse!the!subsequent!history!of!antipathy!to!Schoenberg’s!

atonal!or,!later,!12Jtone!music.!It!is!my!contention,!however,!that!A$Survivor$from$

Warsaw,!by!putting!Schoenberg's!12Jtone!language!to!the!service!of!illustrating!a!

scene!in!a!concentration!camp,!heralded!what!may!be!considered!a!breakthrough!in!

the!audience!perception!of!his!music.!It!did!so!in!part!by,!for!the!first!time,!providing!

Schoenberg's!emancipated!musical!dissonance!with!a!historical!referent:!that!is,!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

M.!Smith,!ed.!Hearing$History:$A$Reader!(Athens:!University!of!Georgia!Press,!2004).!For!evidence!of!the!“sonic!turn”!as!regards!memory!studies!with!reference!to!the!Holocaust!in!

particular,!see!Leslie!Morris,!"The!Sound!of!Memory,"!The$German$Quarterly!74,!no.!4!(2001).!

15!“I!feel!air!of!another!planet.”!See!also!Chapter!3,!footnote!41.!!

16!According!to!Schoenberg,!Mahler!responded!to!his!First$Quartet!by!stating,!“I!have!conducted!the!most!difficult!scores!of!Wagner;!I!have!written!complicated!music!myself!in!

scores!of!up!to!thirty!staves!and!more;!yet!here!is!a!score!of!not!more!than!four!staves,!and!I!

am!unable!to!read!them.”!See!Schoenberg’s!essay!“How!One!Becomes!Lonely,”!reprinted!in!

Arnold!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea:$Selected$Writings$of$Arnold$Schoenberg,!ed.!Leonard!Stein,!trans.!Leo!Black!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!1984),!42.!!!

! 12!

paroxysm!of!social!dissonance!represented!by!the!Holocaust!itself.!By!marking!this!

new!breakthrough!in!what!we!might!call!the!public!legibility!of!12Jtone!music—a!

moment!in!which!this!idiom!went!from!being!coded!by!lay!listeners!as!“noise”!to!

being!perceived!as!a!communicative!“music”—this!dissertation!hopes!to!contribute!

to!the!work!of!scholars!focused!on!the!history!of!listening,!and!more!broadly!to!

those!historians!seeking!to!map!the!precise!contours!of!what!has!been!called!“the!

audible!past.”17!

!

Schoenberg’s(‘Convolutions’(

Yosef!Yerushalmi!once!aptly!described!Schoenberg’s!life!as!“a!particularly!

fascinating!exemplar!of!the!convolutions!of!Jewish!modernity.”18!Chapter!3!presents!

my!own!reading!of!Schoenberg’s!biography!and!the!evolution!of!his!identity.!This!

entails!an!account!of!Schoenberg’s!highly!vexed!and!vicissitudinous!relationship!to!

Judentum$and!Deutschtum!as!such,$a!pairing!he!could!ultimately!neither!disentangle!

nor!dissolve,!despite!his!best!efforts.!As!we!will!see,!Schoenberg!through!the!

decades!was!prone!to!grandly!sweeping!declarations!of!allegiance!to,!first,!the!

supremacy!of!German!culture!and,!later,!the!transcendent!peoplehood!of!the!Jews.!

The!first!challenge!for!historians!is!to!resist!Schoenberg’s!own!penchant!for!the!

essentializing!gesture,!a!tendency!which!may!itself!be!seen!as!a!kind!of!

internalization!of!the!racialist!categories!of!thinking!so!common!in!the!intellectual!

and!cultural!milieus!in!which!he!came!of!age.!As!we!will!see,!despite!his!fervid!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!17!This!is!the!title!of!Jonathan!Sterne’s!insightful!study.!See!Jonathan!Sterne,!The$Audible$Past:$Cultural$Origins$of$Sound$Reproduction!(Durham:!Duke!University!Press,!2003).!18!Yosef!Hayim!Yerushalmi,!"The!Moses!of!Freud!and!the!Moses!of!Schoenberg:!On!Words,!

Idolatry,!and!Psychoanalysis,"!The$Psychoanalytic$study$of$the$child!47!(1992).!

! 13!

declarations!of!intent,!the!components!of!his!complex!cultural!identity!were!not!

something!that!Schoenberg!could!simply!trade!in,!or!swap!out!wholesale,!even!with!

the!steadily!mounting!external!pressures!of!the!1920s.!!

In!examining!the!evolution!of!Schoenberg’s!identity,!I!therefore!turn!to!

newer!models!of!“situational!ethnicity”!that!emphasize!the!porous!and!protean!

nature!of!identity!formation!and!expression!over!time.19!My!reading!also!

emphasizes!the!fluid!nature!of!not!just!identity!as!such!but!of!the!tropes!used!in!its!

own!selfJnarrations.!Specifically,!I!draw!attention!to!ways!in!which!Schoenberg,!

after!being!confronted!by!rising!levels!of!antiJSemitism!in!the!1920s,!repurposed!

toward!new!ends!some!of!his!own!musical!concepts!and!his!notion!of!his!destiny!as!

a!leader!of!German!music.!His!early!conviction!that!antiJSemitic!attitudes!would!lead!

to!actual!violence!against!the!Jews!prompted!an!intense!process!of!politicization!

from!the!midJ1920s!onward.!He!came!to!see!himself!as!a!MosesJlike!political!figure!

who!could!lead!European!Jewry!to!safety!in!its!hour!of!need.!And!yet,!at!the!same!

time!as!he!pursued!his!fantasy!of!disentangling!Jews!(and!himself)!from!European!

culture!(as!expressed!for!instance!in!his!Zionist!propaganda!play!Der$Biblische$Weg!

and!later!writings),!he!continued!his!ascent!to!one!of!the!most!prestigious!academic!

posts!in!the!German!musical!establishment,!succeeding!Busoni!as!leader!of!a!master!

class!at!the!Prussian!Academy!of!the!Arts.!It!was!during!this!period!that!he!penned!

his!biblical!opera!Moses$und$Aron,$also!treated!in!Chapter!3.!$$

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!19!For!more!on!situational!ethnicity!see!Till!van!Rahden,!Jews$and$Other$Germans:$Civil$Society,$Religious$Diversity,$and$Urban$Politics$in$Breslau,$1860F1925!(Madison:!University!of!Wisconsin!Press,!2008).!

! 14!

Schoenberg’s!involvement!as!a!modernist!composer!and!chief!exponent!of!a!

contested!idiom—one!perceived!as!a!threat!to!the!single!art!form!most!essential!to!

German!culture’s!own!selfJunderstanding20—left!him!particularly!vulnerable!to!

attack!by!reactionary!German!forces.!It!is!hardly!a!surprise,!given!these!factors,!that!

he!became!one!of!the!very!first!Jewish!artists!to!leave!Germany!after!Hitler’s!

ascension!to!power.!!

The!prominent!mention!in!most!biographic!accounts!given!to!Schoenberg’s!

own!reconversion!to!Judaism!(in!an!adJhoc!ceremony!in!Paris!immediately!after!his!

expulsion!from!Germany),!has!led!to!an!overly!neat!biographic!periodization,!and!a!

larger!myth!around!Schoenberg’s!Jewish!“return.”!But!identity!was!never!linear!for!

Schoenberg,!nor!was!religious!affiliation.!Even!after!embracing!Judaism,!fervidly!and!

militaristically,!in!his!political!writing!of!the!1920s!and!1930s,!the!composer’s!own!

religious!sentiments!remained!strikingly!protean!and!unassigned.!!

An!early!obsession!with!the!figure!of!Christ,!for!instance,!continued!into!his!

old!age,!and!figures!prominently!in!his!final!choral!work,!the!Modern$Psalms.!In!this!

sense,!as!I!argue!in!Chapter!3,!Schoenberg’s!boldly!declared!engagement!with!

Judentum!from!the!1920s!onward!should!be!viewed!not!as!a!kind!of!embrace!or!

“return”!to!some!transhistorical!religious!essence!but!rather!as!a!new!and!in!many!

ways!political!identity!fashioned!to!address!the!political!reality!of!what!he!called!his!

“ejection”!from!Deutschtum,!as!well!as!his!own!apparent!need!to!place!his!radically!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!20!For!reflections!on!this!notion!of!music’s!centrality!to!a!German!cultural!Sonderweg,!see!Thomas!Mann,!"Germany!and!the!Germans,"!(Washington:!Library!of!Congress,!1945);!

Pamela!Maxine!Potter,!Most$German$of$the$Arts:$Musicology$and$Society$from$the$Weimar$Republic$to$the$End$of$Hitler's$Reich!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!1998);!and!Applegate,!"Saving!Music."!

! 15!

individualistic!artistic!project!in!dialogue!with!a!national!collective,!whether!

German!or!Jewish.!Further!complicating!the!trail!for!later!historians,!Schoenberg!

also!at!times!directed!the!thrust!of!his!own!intense!spiritual!life!into!the!vessel!of!his!

identity!as!a!Jew.!But!as!we!have!noted,!that!investment!seems!completely!

independent!of!sustained!interest!in!traditional!religious!praxis,!and!did!not!exclude,!

even!in!his!old!age,!a!return!of!the!spiritual!vocabulary!from!earlier!chapters!of!his!

religious!journey.!!

My!reading!in!Chapter!3!seeks!to!contribute!to!the!new!interpretive!

directions!and!recent!novel!readings!of!the!cultural!forces!that!both!framed!

Schoenberg’s!evolving!identity!and!drove!his!musical!innovations.21!Julie!Brown,!for!

instance,!has!recently!drawn!attention!to!the!importance!of!Wagnerian!thought!in!

Schoenberg’s!musical!development.!Yet!whereas!Brown!focuses!on!Schoenberg’s!

early!years!and!the!leap!into!atonality,!this!project!is!angled!toward!a!deeper!

understanding!of!the!immediate!postwar!years,!and!specifically,!the!full!field!of!

biographic!resonances!that!can!be!found!in—but!do!not!delimit!the!range!of!

interpretations!of—A!Survivor$from$Warsaw.$$

To!that!end,!Chapter!3!also!includes!a!section!devoted!to!Schoenberg’s!life!

after!his!migration!to!America!in!1933,22!on!the!leading!edge!of!a!wave!of!cultural!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!21!See!Julie!Brown,!Schoenberg$and$Redemption!(New!York:!Cambridge!University!Press,!2014).!Brown!devotes!a!full!chapter!to!“Schoenberg!as!Christ.”!See!also!Ruth!HaCohen,!The$Music$Libel$against$the$Jews!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2011),!286J339.!22!How!should!one!refer!to!Schoenberg!during!his!time!in!America?!This!is!perhaps!an!

appropriate!juncture!to!comment!briefly!on!the!terminology!of!displacement.!Terms!such!as!

émigré,!exile,!refugee,!and!immigrant!are!often!used!interchangeably,!but!their!unspoken!

and!sometimes!unintended!assumptions!should!be!acknowledged!from!the!outset.!Reinhold!

Brinkmann!has!lucidly!sketched!the!issues,!pointing!out!that!“emigration”!may!be!too!

neutral!a!term!for!the!forced!expulsion!of!Jewish!musicians!from!Austria!and!Germany,!and!

! 16!

migration!that!would!deposit!so!many!of!Europe’s!leading!cultural!and!intellectual!

figures!on!American!shores.!In!recent!years,!a!substantial!scholarly!literature!has!

emerged!on!various!aspects!of!this!migration,!though!attention!has!been!focused!

disproportionately!on!its!academic!and!literary!dimensions,23!which!has!led!in!turn!

to!a!tendency!to!view!the!migration!in!largely!pessimistic!terms.!Reinforcing!this!

perception!are!the!articulate!essays!and!memoirs!of!émigré!writers,!which!often!

forcefully!convey!the!pain!of!displacement.!Paradigmatic!in!this!regard!is!Theodor!

Adorno's!statement!from!Minima$Moralia!that!“every!intellectual!in!emigration!is,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

threatens!to!push!to!the!background!the!impact!of!the!rise!of!Nazism!and!the!Shoah!itself.!

Brinkmann!also!points!out,!however,!that!the!alternative!term—exile—while!making!clear!

the!nature!of!the!expulsion,!is!also!not!without!its!problems,!as!it!paints!a!monochromatic!

picture!of!the!composer!in!steadfast!opposition!to!his!adoptive!home,!seeking!only!to!return!

to!his!homeland.!In!the!case!of!Schoenberg,!however,!his!American!sojourn,!if!initially!

involuntary,!was!not!temporary!or!superficial.!The!composer!took!American!citizenship,!taught!at!two!major!California!universities,!and!surrounded!himself!with!a!rising!generation!

of!American!composers.!Sabine!Feisst,!following!Bruno!Nettl,!suggests!that!Schoenberg’s!

time!in!America!constituted!an!evolution!“from!refugee!to!exile!to!immigrant.”!This!

however,!may!suggest!an!overly!linear!model!of!acculturation.!In!keeping!with!my!attempt!

to!recover!some!of!the!nonJlinear!and!“situational”!qualities!of!Schoenberg’s!German!and!

Jewish!identities,!I!treat!the!terminology!of!his!American!period!fluidly,!using!all!three!of!

Feisst’s!suggested!terms!as!they!seem!appropriate!to!the!context.!See!Brinkmann’s!“Reading!

a!Letter”!in!Reinhold!Brinkmann!and!Christoph!Wolff,!eds.,!Driven$into$Paradise:$The$Musical$Migration$from$Nazi$Germany$to$the$United$States!(Berkeley,!Calif.:!University!of!California!Press,!1999),!5J6.!See!also!Sabine!Feisst,!Schoenberg's$New$World:$The$American$Years!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!2011),!46.!!

23!See!Brinkmann!and!Wolff,!Driven$into$Paradise,!7.!Major!EnglishJlanguage!studies!of!the!literary!and!intellectual!migration!include!Laura!Fermi,!Illustrious$Immigrants:$The$Intellectual$Migration$from$Europe,$1930F41!(Chicago,:!University!of!Chicago!Press,!1971);!Donald!Fleming!and!Bernard!Bailyn,!eds.,!The$Intellectual$Migration:$Europe$and$America,$1930F1960!(Cambridge:!Harvard!University!Press,!1969);!Lewis!A.!Coser,!Refugee$Scholars$in$America:$Their$Impact$and$Their$Experiences!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!1984);!Martin!Jay,!Permanent$Exiles:$Essays$on$the$Intellectual$Migration$from$Germany$to$America!(New!York:!Columbia!University!Press,!1985);!and!Anthony!Heilbut,!Exiled$in$Paradise:$German$Refugee$Artists$and$Intellectuals$in$America!(New!York:!Viking!Press,!1983).!Jay!has!elsewhere!discerned!patterns!of!politicization!in!the!writings!on!the!history!of!refugee!

intellectuals,!both!in!the!Exilforschung!of!the!two!Germanies!and!in!the!United!States.!See!“The!German!Migration:!Is!there!a!Figure!in!the!Carpet?”!in!Stephanie!Barron,!ed.!Exiles$+$Emigrés:$The$Flight$of$European$Artists$from$Hitler!(Los!Angeles:!Los!Angeles!County!Museum!of!Art,!1997),!326J40.!!

! 17!

without!exception,!mutilated….!His!language!has!been!expropriated,!and!the!

historical!dimension!that!nourished!his!knowledge,!sapped.”24!!

Closer!examination!in!recent!years,!however,!has!revealed!that!the!musical!

migration!was!simply!too!complex!and!variegated!to!be!subsumed!by!Adorno's!

bleak!description.25!Exiled!musicians!after!all!had!certain!advantages!unique!to!their!

profession.!Chief!among!them!was!the!fact!that,!unlike!the!case!with!writers,!the!

musicians'!art!did!not!require!wordJbyJword!translation,!and!in!that!sense!a!

composer!or!a!performer!could!still!at!least!potentially!work!effectively!in!a!foreign!

country.!Indeed,!as!we!will!see,!Schoenberg’s!case!does!not!fit!neatly!into!the!

traditional!attempts!to!summarize!émigré!careers!by!virtue!of!their!degrees!of!

rupture!or!continuity!with!their!European!experiences,!or!correspondingly,!in!terms!

of!“resistance”!or!“adaptation”!to!American!life.!Indeed!it!may!be!time!to!retire!this!

binary!terminology!altogether.26!In!a!concluding!section!of!Chapter!3!devoted!to!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!24!Theodor!W.!Adorno,!Minima$Moralia:$Reflections$from$Damaged$Life,!trans.!E.F.N.!Jephcott!(London:!Verso,!2002),!33.!Quoted,!in!part,!in!Brinkmann!and!Wolff,!Driven$into$Paradise,!7.!It’s!worth!noting!that!Adorno’s!first!impressions!of!American!society!were!themselves!not!

as!uniformly!bleak!as!this!quotation!might!suggest.!He!had!high!praise!for!the!extent!to!

which!democratic!ideals!had!permeated!so!many!aspects!of!American!society.!Perhaps!less!

persuasively,!he!also!attempted!to!find!a!silver!lining!in!what!he!saw!as!the!marginalization!

of!intellectual!thought!in!American!society!relative!to!the!Central!European!milieu!he!knew!

so!well.!See!Adorno’s!“Scientific!Experiences!of!a!European!Scholar!in!America,”!as!

reprinted!in!Fleming!and!Bailyn,!The$Intellectual$Migration,!366ff.!For!a!broader!assessment!of!the!psychological!affects!of!exile!on!the!artists,!intellectuals!and!writers!of!interwar!

Europe!see!Jean!Michel!Palmier,!Weimar$in$Exile:$The$Antifascist$Emigration$in$Europe$and$America,!trans.!David!Fernbach!(New!York:!Verso,!2006),!247J66.!25!For!a!wideJangle!view!of!the!musical!migration!to!Southern!California,!see!Dorothy!L.!

Crawford,!A$Windfall$of$Musicians:$Hitler's$Èmigrès$and$Exiles$in$Southern$California!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2009).!!

26!See!Brigid!Maureen!Cohen,!Stefan$Wolpe$and$the$AvantFGarde$Diaspora!(Cambridge,!UK:!Cambridge!University!Press,!2012),!20.!And!Feisst,!Schoenberg's$New$World.!As!Lydia!Goehr!has!also!pointed!out,!some!composers!even!placed!value!on!their!experiences!of!exile!

precisely!for!the!ways!in!which!they!brought!them!closer!to!their!inner!creative!lives.!See!

! 18!

war!years,!I!attempt!to!bring!to!the!fore!a!personal!dimension!strangely!absent!from!

many!discussions!of!Schoenberg’s!exile!period:!the!family!members!trapped!in!

Austria,!which!included!his!son!and!daughter!from!his!first!marriage,!and!those!who!

perished!at!the!hands!of!the!Third!Reich,!which!included!his!brother!Heinrich,!his!

niece!Inge!Blumauer,!and!her!husband!Werner!Hofmann.!

!

The(Measure(of(a(Monument(

Chapter!4!focuses!on!Survivor$itself,!and!by!this!point!in!our!introduction!we!

are!overdue!for!at!least!a!brief!sketch!of!the!work!under!consideration.!Written!in!

1947,!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!is!a!sevenJminute!cantata!for!narrator,!orchestra,!and!

male!chorus.!The!dramatic!narrative!of!the!first!part!of!the!work!centers!on!the!

narrator,!who!recites!a!text!written!by!Schoenberg!to!be!delivered!in!the!speechJ

song!hybrid!known!as!Sprechstimme.!He!describes!a!scene!he!has!witnessed!in!a!

concentration!camp.27!Speaking!at!first!in!English,!he!recalls!a!time!of!living!“in!the!

sewers!of!Warsaw,”!then!tells!of!a!group!of!prisoners!who!are!awoken!by!the!

Reveille,!ordered!to!“Get!out!”!and!then!brutally!beaten!by!a!German!sergeant.!The!

tense!English!narration!is!punctuated!with!angry!bursts!of!the!sergeant's!orders,!

delivered!by!the!narrator!in!German.!He!orders!the!prisoners!to!count!off!for!the!gas!

chambers.!The!counting!begins!and!speeds!up!forming!a!dramatic!climax,!at!which!

point!the!men's!choir!enters!singing!Schoenberg’s!own!setting!of!the!Hebrew!words!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goehr’s!essay!“Music!and!Musicians!in!Exile:!The!Romantic!Legacy!of!a!Double!Life”!in!

Brinkmann!and!Wolff,!Driven$into$Paradise,!71.!27!For!a!full!version!of!the!text!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw,$please!see!chapter!4,!page!130.!

! 19!

of!the!Shema$Yisrael$prayer.!The!text!refers!to!the!Shema$as!“the!old!prayer!they!had!

neglected!for!so!many!years—the!forgotten!creed!”!!

In!the!nearly!seven!decades!since!the!work's!premiere,!Survivor!has!not!

ceased!to!make!a!strong!impression!on!its!listeners,!though!the!nature!of!that!

impression!has!been!anything!but!uniform.!In!fact,!Survivor!may!be!said!to!occupy!a!

uniquely!contested!space!in!Schoenberg's!oeuvre,!with!no!other!piece!having!drawn!

such!a!wide!range!of!praise!and!criticism,!much!of!it!at!a!heightened!pitch.28!Early!

commentators!hailed!the!work!as!“destined!to!be!one!of!the!very!few!survivors!from!

our!warJworn!musical!age,”29!or!even!as!“the!aesthetic!and!musical!manifesto!of!our!

epoch”!(the!phase!is!from!the!composer!Luigi!Nono).30!But!it!was!also!assailed!as!

“poor!and!empty!music,”31!its!text!criticized!for!making!“the!immense!tragedy!

[begin]!to!sound!stale!and!melodramatic.”32!

More!recently,!Robert!Craft!has!described!its!ending!as!providing!“one!of!the!

most!moving!moments!in!20thJcentury!music,”33!and!a!prominent!British!critic!has!

characterized!it!as!“one!of!the!most!miraculously!compressed!and!emotionally!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!28!Beyond!the!pro!and!contra!camps,!there!is!also!a!third!group!of!interpreters!who!have!

tended!to!take!Survivor$altogether!less!seriously,!as!an!example!of!engagierte$Musik,!therein!reflecting!longstanding!historiographic!biases,!some!of!which!run!across!much!of!the!field!of!

exile!studies!while!others!are!particular!to!the!reception!of!Schoenberg’s!émigré!period.!For!

more!on!the!biases!in!traditional!Exilforschung,!see!Stephen!Hinton,!"Emigration!as!SelfJDiscovery,"!HindemithFJahrbuch$27!(1998).!See!also!Reinhold!Brinkmann’s!“Reading!a!Letter,”!in!Brinkmann!and!Wolff,!Driven$into$Paradise,!3J20.!For!a!discussion!of!the!biases!at!play!in!assessments!of!Schoenberg’s!exile!period!more!broadly,!see!Feisst,!Schoenberg's$New$World,!3J14.!29!Hans!Keller’s!assessment!is!from!1951,!reprinted!as!“A!Survivor!from!Warsaw”!in!Hans!

Keller,!Essays$on$Music,!ed.!Christopher!Wintle!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!1994),!80J82.!

30!Nono’s!assessment!is!conveyed!by!Nuria!SchoenbergJNono!in!her!introduction!to!a!2014!

LaaberJVerlag!facsimile!edition!of!the!score.!!

31!Olin!Downes,!“Schoenberg!Work!is!Presented!Here,”!New$York$Times,!14!April!1950.!!32!Kurt!List,!“Schoenberg’s!New!Cantata,”!Commentary,$November!1948.!!33!Robert!Craft,!Down$a$Path$of$Wonder!(Norfolk,!UK!Naxos!Books,!2006),!36.!

! 20!

direct!of!all!Schoenberg's!masterpieces.”34!From!the!opposing!camp,!Richard!

Taruskin!has!ridiculed!the!work!as!bombastic!“Hollywood!kitsch”!and!other!

critiques!have!raised!not!just!aesthetic!but!also!ethical!concerns!about!Schoenberg’s!

approach!to!memorializing!victims’!suffering.35!Abetting!both!the!defense!and$the!

prosecution!over!the!years!have!been!the!oracular!pronouncements!on!Survivor$by!

Adorno!himself.!He!was!one!of!the!work’s!staunchest!and!most!articulate!early!

champions,!writing!that!Survivor!demonstrated!one!of!the!only!appropriate!

responses!to!the!Holocaust!in!art.!Yet!in!a!later!essay!on!committed!art,!he!revised!

his!opinion!out!of!concern!that!even!a!work!that!so!clearly!articulated!the!barbarism!

of!its!subject!might!still!hold!a!capacity!to!provide!some!sort!of!aesthetic!reward!for!

its!listeners.!(At!different!points!in!the!chapters!that!follow!we!will!return!to!

Adorno’s!views!on!Survivor,!and!on!the!cultural!significance!or!“function”!of!

Schoenberg’s!music!more!broadly.)!!

! What!to!make!of!this!enormous!range!or!response?!Part!of!it!may!be!

explained!with!reference!to!the!concepts!explored!in!Chapter!2,!and!in!particular,!

Survivor's!status!as!one!of!the!very!first!highJprofile!works!of!postJHolocaust!

memoryJart,!one!that!pushed!the!limits!of!postwar!memory!itself!during!its!earliest!

years.!There!is!also!a!noted!absence!of!any!consensus!on!criteria!for!judging!

memorials,!musical!or!otherwise.!To!the!extent!that!their!range!of!meanings!quite!

obviously!extends!beyond!the!realm!of!the!aesthetic,!so!too!must!our!evaluative!

criteria.!As!James!Young!has!written,!“we!cannot!separate!the!monument!from!its!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!34!Andrew!Clements,!“LPO/Jurowski,”!The$Guardian,!29!November!2012.!35!See!Richard!Taruskin!“A!Sturdy!Musical!Bridge!to!the!21st!Century,”!New$York$Times,$24!August!1997!and!Klára!Móricz,!Jewish$Identities:$Nationalism,$Racism,$and$Utopianism$in$TwentiethFCentury$Music!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!2008),!255J99.!!

! 21!

public!life…!the!social!function!of!such!art!is!its!aesthetic!performance.”36!From!its!

earliest!days,!indeed,!from!the!night!of!its!premiere,!as!we!will!see,!Survivor$had!a!

public!life,!a!social!function,!that!must!be!considered!independently!from!its!fidelity!

to—or!distance!from—changing!norms!of!taste!or!style.!!

As!we!will!see,!Survivor$is!a!work!that!is!easily!misunderstood!today,!a!score!

that!rewards!the!attention!of!both!historians!of!memory,!and!historians!of!GermanJ

Jewish!modernism.!The!claims!of!the!work’s!harshest!critics!are!in!truth!not!hard!to!

understand.!Approached!out!of!context!Survivor!can—and!more!than!occasionally,!

does—come!across!as!kitsch.!What’s!more,!if!one!reads!its!powerful!ending!as!a!

triumphalist!statement,!then!the!work!instantly!slides!into!a!kind!of!ethical!

quicksand,!raising!difficult!questions!about!how!redemptive!meaning!can!possibly!

be!ascribed!to!a!scene!of!Nazi!atrocity.37!!

In!Chapter!4,!I!examine!the!work!in!detail!and!present!a!set!of!readings!

through!which!I!attempt!to!restore!Survivor’s$force!as!a!memorial!in!part!by!

restoring!its!authenticity!as!a!response!to!its!own!historical!moment;!by!drawing!out!

the!web!of!connections!that!link!it!deeply!to!Schoenberg’s!own!musical,!political,!

and!spiritual!journeys!through!1945;!and!by!demonstrating!its!ending!not!only!

supports!nonJtriumphalist!interpretations!but!calls!for!being!read!against!the!grain.!

Survivor,$as!I!demonstrate,!should!be!viewed!as!part!of!a!tradition!of!memorial!art!

that!resists!closure!and!false!consolation!in!the!wake!of!catastrophe!precisely!in!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!36!James!Edward!Young,!The$Texture$of$Memory:$Holocaust$Memorials$and$Meaning!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!1993),!13.!Emphasis!original.!!

37!For!an!incisive!critique!of!the!commonly!recurring!trope!of!music!as!a!form!of!spiritual!

resistance!in!the!concentration!camps,!see!Shirli!Gilbert,!Music$in$the$Holocaust:$Confronting$Life$in$the$Nazi$Ghettos$and$Camps!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!2005).!!

! 22!

order!to!grapple!with!the!reality!of!the!conditions!that!made!the!tragedy!possible!in!

the!first!place.!As!Adorno!wrote,!Survivor$“confronts!the!utter!negativity,!the!most!

extreme,!by!which!the!entire!complexion!of!reality!is!made!manifest.”!

!

MemoryFArt(and(Reception(

In!Chapter!5,!after!having!both!historicized!the!work’s!creation!and!

interpreted!it!on!its!own!terms,!I!follow!Survivor$into!the!midday!sun!of!its!own!

public!reception.!Because!the!work!was!on!the!leading!edge!of!art!that!not!only!

addressed!the!Holocaust!as!such!but!also!particularized!the!genocide!of!the!Jews,!I!

suggest!that!the!work!may!in!fact!be!employed!as!a!kind!of!test!case!in!current!

debates!over!chronologies!of!American!Holocaust!memory.!Challenging!both!the!

wellJknown!theses!about!the!delayed!onset!of!American!Holocaust!memory!and!the!

revisionist!scholarship!that!has!roundly!assailed!the!myth!of!a!latency!period,38!

Survivor!in!fact!illustrates!how$memory!moved!at!different!speeds!in!different!

places.!!

Schoenberg!wrote!Survivor$to!fulfill!a!commission!from!the!music!director!of!

the!Boston!Symphony!Orchestra,!Serge!Koussevitzky,!though!as!I!illustrate,!the!

correspondence!preserved!in!the!archives!leaves!no!indication!that!Koussevitzky!

actually!knew!of!Schoenberg’s!intentions!to!create!a!work!addressing!the!Holocaust.!

This!is!relevant!because,!while!the!conductor!routinely!premiered!his!commissioned!

works!with!his!own!Boston!Symphony!Orchestra,!Koussevitzky!appears!to!have!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!38!The!latency!theory!is!most!closely!associated!with!the!work!of!Peter!Novick!and!was!most!

directly!challenged!by!Hasia!Diner.!See!Novick,!The$Holocaust$in$American$Life!and!Diner,!We$Remember$with$Reverence$and$Love.!For!more!on!this!debate,!please!see!Chapter!2.!!

! 23!

tacitly!declined!the!chance!to!premiere!Survivor.!In!fact,!it!became!one!of!the!only!

works!he!commissioned!during!that!period!that!he!did!not$premiere.!With!archival!

sources,!and!by!placing!the!choice!in!the!context!of!Koussevitzky’s!wartime!and!

postwar!activities,!I!offer!the!fullest!exploration!to!date!of!the!mystery!of!Survivor’s!

silence!in!Boston.!Indeed,!Koussevitzky’s!own!idealistic!vision!of!music’s!lofty!role!in!

reasserting!humanistic!values!during!the!period!of!postwar!reconstruction!would!

seem!to!have!made!a!Boston!premiere!of!A!Survivor$from$Warsaw,!with!its!musical!

depiction!of!barbarism!and!its!resistance!to!closure,!a!complete!impossibility.!!

If!Survivor$drew!only!silence!from!Koussevitzky,!it!elicited!strong!support!

from!those!with!more!invested!in!postwar!memory.!The!work’s!world!premiere!fell!

to!a!VienneseJJewish!émigré!musician!named!Kurt!Frederick,!who!had!played!

Schoenberg’s!music!in!Vienna!and!served!as!music!director!of!the!city’s!Stadttempel.!

After!Frederick!fled!Austria!he!ended!up,!rather!improbably,!in!the!American!

Southwest.!It!was!there!that!he!led!the!world!premiere!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw,$

performing!the!work!with!amateur!forces—students,!ranch!hands,!a!florist,!railroad!

engineers,!and!a!chemistry!professor—in!a!university!gymnasium!in!Albuquerque,!

New!Mexico.!This!must!surely!rank!as!the!most!fantastical!setting!for!a!major!

Schoenberg!premiere!over!the!course!of!the!composer’s!long!career.!Using!archival!

sources!and!material!generously!made!available!by!Frederick’s!family,!I!bring!us!

back!to!this!night!in!November!1948,!offering!a!fuller!portrait!of!Frederick!and!a!

more!detailed!analysis!of!the!world!premiere!than!has!previously!been!offered.!!

In!a!striking!departure!from!the!pattern!of!antipathy!generated!by!so!many!

Schoenberg!premieres,!Survivor$was!a!resounding!success!with!its!first!American!

! 24!

audiences,!both!in!Albuquerque!and!in!New!York,!where!it!was!premiered!by!the!

New!York!Philharmonic!under!Dimitri!Mitropoulos.!I!return!us!to!the!scene!of!the!

New!York!premiere!as!well,!and!attempt!to!parse!a!subsequent!controversy!that!

broke!out!when,!following!its!two!live!performances!in!Carnegie!Hall,!the!New!York!

Philharmonic!dropped!Survivor$from!its!national!CBS!radio!broadcast.!!

By!devoting!significant!attention!to!both!the!work's!creation!and!its!public!

reception,!I!hope!to!implicitly!address!one!historiographic!criticism!that!has!been!

leveled!at!soJcalled!first!generation!memory!studies:!specifically,!“the!emphasis!on!

cultural!representations!at!the!expense!of!social!relations,!mediation,!and!

reception.”39!Indeed,!works!of!music!are!not!closed!objects!or!bound!by!their!

creators'!intentions;!rather,!their!meanings!are!remapped!and!redefined!in!every!

performance,!and!of!course!mediated!by!preJexisting!narratives,!be!they!individual!

(on!the!part!of!the!listener),!communal,!or!national.!In!fact,!the!study!of!the!musical!

memorial—as!an!unusually!portable!lieu$de$mémoire—offers!an!advantage!to!

scholars!of!public!memory!over!the!study!of!their!sibling!monuments!in!stone:!

namely,!an!ability!to!compare!reception!in!very!distinct!national!contexts.!The!same!

musical!memorial!will!be!received!differently!depending!on!where!it!is!performed,!

and!on!the!specific!country's!own!proprietary!narratives!of!war!memory.!That!A$

Survivor$From$Warsaw!is!in!fact!a!work!ideally!suited!for!this!type!of!comparative!

reception!history!has!been!persuasively!demonstrated!by!Joy!Calico,!in!a!recent!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!39!See!Alon!Confino!and!Peter!Fritzsche’s!“Introduction:!Noises!of!the!Past”!in!Alon!Confino!

and!Peter!Fritzsche,!eds.,!The$Work$of$Memory:$New$Directions$in$the$Study$of$German$Society$and$Culture!(Urbana:!University!of!Illinois!Press,!2002),!4.!

! 25!

study!focusing!on!its!postwar!reception!in!six!different!European!countries.40!

Indeed,!in!this!sense,!musical!memorials!necessarily!occupy!a!transnational!context.!

As!Frances!Aparacio!and!Candida!Jáquez!have!summarized,!“music!migrates!across!

national!borders!as!it!migrates!historically,!mediating!the!constructed!binaries!

through!the!central!role!of!memory.”41!And!yet,!to!view!this!work!only!from!the!

perspective!of!its!reception!would!be!to!miss!out!on!the!rich!and!variegated!ways!in!

which!it!was!interwoven!not!only!with!Schoenberg’s!own!Lebensgeschichte$but!with!

the!larger!history!of!GermanJJewish!modernism.!!!

Chapter!5!concludes!with!a!glimpse!of!the!work’s!later!reception,!its!afterlife!

beyond!its!premiere.!I!reflect!on!the!ways!in!which!American!Holocaust!memory!

eventually!caught!up!with,!and!in!many!ways!surpassed,!Survivor.!Indeed!the!

scorching!heat!and!visceral!quality!of!this!work!also!serve!to!timeJstamp!the!

historical!moment!of!its!origins.!These!qualities!place!it!at!odds!with!the!cooler!

modes!of!reflection!and!abstraction!that!came!to!be!seen!as!the!preferred!aesthetic!

tropes!for!commemoration!in!later!postwar!decades.!At!the!same!time,!I!argue!that!

these!very!qualities!deserve!at!least!partial!credit!for!the!work’s!ultimate!longevity.!!

It!is!my!hope!in!this!chapter,!and!in!this!project!more!broadly,!to!

demonstrate!that!our!understanding!of!memory!itself!is!enlarged!by!bringing!music!

into!its!purview.!In!this!sense,!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!may!be!regarded!as!not!only!

a!case!study!in!the!memorial!properties!of!music!but!also!in!the!musical$properties!

of!memory:!that!is,!the!ways!in!which!it,!too,!functions!as!polysemic,!representing!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!40!Calico’s!book!offers!a!European!reception!history!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!in!the!postwar!period,!focusing!on!West!Germany,!East!Germany,!Poland,!Austria,!Czechoslovakia,!

and!Norway.!See!Calico,!Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!in$Postwar$Europe.!41!Quoted!in!Frühauf!and!Hirsch,!Dislocated$Memories,!4.!

! 26!

without!delimiting,!and!articulating!the!past!in!modes!that!are!both!adjacent!to!

history!and!prior!to!language.!!!

!

!

Narratives(of(Revolution,(Horizons(of(Memory((

In!addition!to!angling!this!study!toward!the!literature!on!postwar!memory,!I!

also!hope!it!may!contribute!to!ongoing!efforts!within!the!literature!of!music!history!

toward!revising!the!treatment!of!musical!modernism.!In!that!field,!the!modernist!

revolution!has!most!often!been!defined!in!terms!of!its!harmonic!developments,!

based!on!a!steady!march!of!increasing!levels!of!chromaticism!through!the!later!

nineteenth!century,!cresting!with!Wagner!and!then!finding!its!fullest!fruit!in!the!

atonal!and!serial!(12Jtone)!music!of!the!Second!Viennese!School!(Schoenberg,!Berg!

and!Webern).42!This!narrative!is!itself!largely!an!extension!of!Schoenberg’s!own!

interpretation!of!the!music!history!he!was!determined!to!one!day!join.!One!of!its!

implications!has!been!a!narrowly!defined!teleology!of!musical!progress,!one!that!

again!privileges!Schoenberg’s!own!serial!developments!in!music.43!Midcentury!

mandarins!of!modernism!such!as!Clement!Greenberg!also!forcibly!argued!for!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!42!For!more!on!this!standard!narrative,!and!an!example!of!music!history!written!

thoughtfully!against!its!grain,!see!Walter!Frisch,!German$Modernism:$Music$and$the$Arts!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!2005),!especially!4J5.!

43!Christopher!Hailey!has!persuasively!argued!for!the!need!to!“separate!Schoenberg’s!

articulate!vision!of!himself!and!his!canon!from!his!works!and!allow!the!historical!

connectedness!of!both!to!inform!our!vision!of!the!whole.!We!must!free!his!canon!from!being!a!preserve!of!timeless!truth!to!becoming!a!theater!of!present!possibilities.”!See!the!essay!

“Schoenberg!and!the!Canon”!in!Juliane!Brand!and!Christopher!Hailey,!eds.,!Constructive$Dissonance:$Arnold$Schoenberg$and$the$Transformations$of$TwentiethFCentury$Culture!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!1997),!163J78.!

! 27!

modernism’s!emphasis!on!art’s!“purity,”!and!its!engagement!strictly!with!its!own!

formal!concerns.!!

In!this!traditional!framing!of!the!historical!narrative—one!that!has!come!in!

for!plenty!of!criticism!given!how!many!modern!composers!it!implicitly!excludes!

from!normative!modernism—the!European!works!of!Schoenberg!and!his!students!

(especially!Berg!and!Webern)!are!granted!a!privileged!place.!But!what!happens!

when!one!considers!not!just!Schoenberg's!European!works,!but!also!renews!

attention!to!the!music!composed!during!his!American!chapter,!the!final!17!years!of!

his!life?!The!import!of!the!exile!works!has!often!been!minimized!by!Schoenberg's!

continental!champions!precisely!because!they!muddied!the!waters!of!his!European!

reputation.!After!all,!among!his!American!works,!there!were!moments!of!

“backsliding”!into!tonal!waters!(as!in!the!Suite!in!G)!as!well!as!detours!into!

landscapes!of!Jewish!faith!(“Kol!Nidre”),!modern!politics!(“Ode!to!Napoleon”),!and!

memorialization!(“A!Survivor!From!Warsaw”).!In!exile,!we!might!say,!Schoenberg!

himself!was!insufficiently!Schoenbergian.!

But!what!happens!if!we!consider!Schoenberg's!oeuvre!as!defined!not!only!by!

the!“pure”!musical!works!but!also!the!handful!of!works!in!which!Schoenberg!

stepped!(in!Adorno's!phrase)!beyond!the!aesthetic!to!address!matters!of!history!and!

memory?!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!is!the!best!example!from!that!subgroup!of!soJ

called!engagierte$Musik.!My!point!is!that!acknowledging!the!importance!of!Survivor$

in!fact!helps!challenge!and!enlarge!our!understanding!of!Schoenberg’s!musical!

legacy!and!his!purchase!on!the!broader!cultural!life!of!his!times.!A!focus!on!Survivor,!

! 28!

which!we!may!legitimately!call!both!a!late!work,44!and!the!rare!populist$12Jtone!

work,!also!helps!complicate!the!dominant!modernist!narrative!itself,!while!at!the!

same!time!presenting!a!fascinating!case!study!of!the!transformations!of!modernism!

in!exile.45!

Meanwhile,!the!notion!of!Holocaust!memory!inscribed!in!art!appears!to!have!

become!particularly!germane!now!of!all!times,!precisely!as!we!witness!the!final!

passing!of!the!generation!of!survivors!that!has!carried!a!personal,!lived!memory!of!

the!Holocaust.!Indeed!it!may!well!be!because!of!this!receding!horizon!of!lived!

memory!that!we!are!witnessing!a!concomitant!surge!of!interest!in!forms!of!art!that!

carry!their!own!authentic!inscription!of!the!catastrophe.!One!must!include!in!this!

phenomenon!a!wave!of!scholarly!interest!in!what!is!often!termed!“suppressed!

music”—works!by!composers!whose!art!suffered!at!the!hands!of!the!Third!Reich—

as!well!as!a!heightened!engagement!on!the!part!of!recording!companies,!concert!

presenting!organizations,!and!certain!popular!audiences.46!Part!of!the!extraJ

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!44!Leon!Botstein!has!specifically!argued!for!the!importance!of!:!“Too!often!discussions!of!the!

Jewish!question!and!its!impact!on!key!figures!from!finJdeJsiècle!Vienna!end!with!the!advent!

of!Nazism!…!Logical!as!the!focus!on!the!early!20th!century!may!be!in!the!cases!of!Krauss,!

Freud,!Friedell!and!Zweig,!all!of!whom!died!before!1945,!in!Schoenberg’s!and!Wittgenstein’s!

cases!the!late!work!and!its!genesis!and!impact!present!a!different!vantage!point!from!which!

to!consider!the!relationship!between!issues!of!Jewishness!and!the!character!of!modernism.”!

See!Botstein’s!essay!“Arnold!Schoenberg:!Language,!Modernism!and!Jewish!Identity”!in!

Robert!S.!Wistrich,!ed.!Austrians$and$Jews$in$the$Twentieth$Century:$From$Franz$Joseph$to$Waldheim!(New!York:!St.!Martin's!Press,!1992),!162J83.!!!45!Erhard!Bahr!has!gone!as!far!as!articulating!the!qualities!of!a!kind!of!subgenre!he!calls!

“exile!modernism,”!defined!in!part!by!the!willingness!of!exiled!artists!to!move!beyond!

formal!concerns!to!directly!address!history!and!contemporary!events.!Bahr!also!addresses!

Survivor$explicitly.!See!Ehrhard!Bahr,!Weimar$on$the$Pacific:$German$Exile$Culture$in$Los$Angeles$and$the$Crisis$of$Modernism!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!2007),!8J10!and!265J88.!

46!This!amounts!to!a!veritable!boom!that!can!be!traced!from!many!angles.!In!addition!to!the!

books!already!cited!in!this!introduction,!see!Michael!Haas,!Forbidden$Music:$The$Jewish$Composers$Banned$by$the$Nazis!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2013);!Jonathan!

! 29!

aesthetic!appeal!of!this!suppressed!music!may!be!its!proximity!to!the!history!it!

symbolizes.!This!of!course!is!in!contradistinction!to!the!ceaseless!stream!of!ersatz!

memory,!the!reenactmentJcentered,!cinematic!representations!of!the!Holocaust!that!

saturate!the!media,!numb!the!sensibilities,!and,!as!I!am!suggesting,!may!leave!a!

hunger!for!actual!works!of!art!from!the!period!that!carry!with!them!an!aura!of!

authenticity.47!!

In!this!context!Saul!Friedlander!has!raised!a!salient!question,!using!the!

distinction!employed!by!Lawrence!Langer!in!his!analysis!of!survivor!testimony!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Petropoulos,!Artists$under$Hitler:$Collaboration$and$Survival$in$Nazi$Germany!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2014);!Michael!H.!Kater,!Composers$of$the$Nazi$Era$:$Eight$Portraits!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!2000);!The$Twisted$Muse$:$Musicians$and$Their$Music$in$the$Third$Reich!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!1997);!Joseph!Horowitz,!Artists$in$Exile:$How$Refugees$from$TwentiethFCentury$War$and$Revolution$Transformed$the$American$Performing$Arts!(New!York:!Harper!Collins,!2008);!Bahr,!Weimar$on$the$Pacific;!Crawford,!A$Windfall$of$Musicians:$Hitler's$Èmigrès$and$Exiles$in$Southern$California;!and!Erik!Levi!and!Florian!Scheding,!eds.,!Music$and$Displacement:$Diasporas,$Mobilities,$and$Dislocations$in$Europe$and$Beyond!(Lanham,!Md.:!Scarecrow!Press,!2010).!These!more!broadly!focused!accounts!may!be!placed!alongside!monographic!studies!of!individual!composers,!including!

Christopher!Hailey,!Franz$Schreker:$His$Life,$Times,$and$Music!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!1993);!Cohen,!Stefan$Wolpe$and$the$AvantFGarde$Diaspora;!and!Feisst,!Schoenberg's$New$World.!Interest!from!the!recording!industry!has!been!most!notably!represented!by!Decca’s!“Entartete!Musik”!series.!We!may!also!note!the!surge!of!interest!

generated!by!David!Pountney’s!production!of!Weinberg’s!opera!“The!Passenger,”!which!was!

never!staged!in!his!lifetime!but!has!now!been!performed!in!many!cities!across!Europe!and!

North!America.!Among!performers,!the!conductor!James!Conlon!has!initiated!a!“Recovered!

Voices”!series!at!the!Los!Angeles!Opera!and!founded!the!Orel!Foundation,!dedicated!to!this!

subject.!The!new!interest!is!also!a!transatlantic!phenomenon,!as!evidenced,!for!instance,!by!

an!ambitious!initiative!at!the!at!the!University!of!Leeds!entitled!“Performing!the!Jewish!

Archive.”!!

47!Music,!too,!has!unfortunately!also!been!at!times!recruited!to!the!service!of!this!kind!of!

memory!kitsch,!its!aura!of!authenticity!manipulated!and!sensationalized.!The!unintended!

effect!may!be!to!obscure!the!complex!lives!and!histories!of!the!musicians!actually!at!issue.!

For!an!article!responding!to!this!trend,!see!James!Loeffler,!"'In!Memory!of!Our!Murdered!

(Jewish)!Children':!Hearing!the!Holocaust!in!Soviet!Jewish!Culture,"!Slavic$Review!73,!no.!3!(2014).!On!other!occasions,!performances!of!music!by!suppressed!composers!in!Central!

Europe!itself!have!received!an!overtly!political!and!expiatory!gloss,!as!when!the!Salzburg!

Festival!opened!its!2005!festival!with!Franz!Schreker’s!opera!Die$Gezeichneten!and!referred!to!its!production!as!a!gesture!of!cultural!reparations.!See!Jeremy!Eichler,!“The!Sound!and!

the!Fury,”!New$York$Times,!14!August!2005.!(

! 30!

between!“common”!and!“deep”!memory.!(Langer!defines!“common”!memory!as!the!

everyday,!integrated!memory!of!the!survivor’s!self!before!the!war;!“deep!memory”!

refers!to!the!recollection!of!“the!Auschwitz!self,”!a!memory!marked!by!rupture!and!a!

resistance!to!ascriptions!of!meaning.)!Friedlander!asks!“whether!at!the$collective$

level!…!an!event!such!as!the!Shoah!may,!after!all!the!survivors!have!disappeared,!

leave!traces!of!a!deep!memory!beyond!individual!recall,!which!will!defy!any!attempt!

to!give!it!meaning?”48!!

If!such!deep!memory!is!in!fact!carried!forward,!not!just!of!the!Shoah!itself!but!

of!the!end!of!GermanJJewish!culture!in!Europe,!it!may!be!precisely!through!these!

authentic!works!of!art!from!the!period,!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$among!them.!

Accordingly,!the!chapters!that!follow!are!each!directed,!from!different!points!of!

origin,!toward!exploring!the!heart!of!this!intersection!of!music,!history!and!cultural!

memory.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!48!See!Friedlander’s!essay!“Trauma,!Memory,!and!Transference”!in!Geoffrey!H.!Hartman,!ed.!

Holocaust$Remembrance:$The$Shapes$of$Memory!(Oxford:!Blackwell,!1994),!252J64.!

! 31!

Chapter(2!

Memorials(in(Sound((!

!

“Only!history!itself,!real!history!with!all!its!suffering!and!all!its!contradiction,!

constitutes!the!truth!of!music.”!

!

–!Theodor!Adorno,!“On!the!Contemporary!Relationship!of!

Philosophy!and!Music”!

!

!

“Time!measures!!

Nothing!but!itself”!!

!

!!!–!W.G.!Sebald,!Across$the$Land$and$the$Water!!

!

$! The!contemporary!student!of!history!and!memory!faces!a!paradox!that!is!

easily!sketched.!On!the!one!hand,!information!about!the!past!is!everJmore!abundant!

and!accessible,!as!new!archives!open!up!in!the!former!Soviet!Union!and!elsewhere,!

and!existing!archives!digitize!their!holdings!making!them!available!to!anyone!with!

an!internet!connection.!The!archival!past,!in!short,!has!never!been!more!available!to!

the!present.!And!yet!at!the!same!time,!as!Andreas!Huyssen!has!observed,!“the!more!

memory!stored!on!data!banks!and!image!tracks,!the!less!of!our!culture's!willingness!

and!ability!to!engage!in!active!remembrance.”1!Or!as!Pierre!Nora!has!stated:!“We!

speak!so!much!of!memory!because!there!is!so!little!of!it!left.”2!In!a!similar!spirit,!

Hans!Meyerhoff!has!commented!that!“previous!generations!knew!much!less!about!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!Andreas!Huyssen,!“Monuments!and!Holocaust!Memory!in!a!Media!Age”!in!Andreas!

Huyssen,!Twilight$Memories:$Marking$Time$in$a$Culture$of$Amnesia!(New!York:!Routledge,!1995).!

2!Pierre!Nora,!"Between!Memory!and!History:!Les!Lieux!De!Mémoire,"!Representations,!no.!26!(1989):!7.!

! 32!

the!past!than!we!do,!but!perhaps!felt!a!much!greater!sense!of!identity!and!continuity!

with!it.”3!!!!!

The!connections!between!music!and!memory!might!seem,!at!first!blush,!to!be!

so!numerous!and!variegated!as!to!defy!easy!classification.!The!narrator!of!Proust's!A$

la$recherche$du$temps$perdu!is!greeted!with!a!flood!of!personal!memories!linked!to!a!

“little!phrase”!in!a!Violin!Sonata!by!the!novel's!fictional!composer!Vinteuil.!And!

similarly,!most!listeners!can!attest!to!music's!ability!to!trigger!personal!reflections,!

upwellings!of!what!Proust!and!Bergson!dubbed!memoire$involontaire.!!

The!role!of!concert!music!as!a!medium!for!personal!and!civic!

commemoration!may!be!equally!accepted!on!an!intuitive!level.!Only!four!months!

after!the!attacks!of!September!11,!2001,!the!New!York!Philharmonic!contacted!the!

American!composer!John!Adams!to!commission!a!memorial!work,!a!piece!that!was!

subsequently!premiered!on!the!oneJyear!anniversary!of!the!attacks.!In!his!memoirs,!

Adams!describes!reacting!to!the!request!with!hesitation,!given!the!enormity!of!the!

task,!but!also!with!a!full!understanding!of!music's!important!commemorative!

function,!historically!and!in!the!present.4!Someone,!he!realized,!needed!to!write!such!

a!work.!!

And!yet!despite,!our!widely!held!notions!of!the!linkages!between!music!and!

memory!(both!public!and!personal)!as!well!as!those!between!music!and!

commemoration,!the!subject!as!such!has!received!very!little!systematic!attention!in!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3!From!Meyerhoff’s!“Time!in!Literature,”!as!quoted!in!Yosef!Hayim!Yerushalmi,!Zakhor:$Jewish$History$and$Jewish$Memory!(Seattle:!University!of!Washington!Press,!1982),!79.!Italics!original.!!

4!Adams!later!titled!his!memorial!work!“On!the!Transmigration!of!Souls.”!See!John!Adams,!

Hallelujah$Junction:$Composing$an$American$Life!(New!York:!Farrar,!Straus!and!Giroux,!2008),!259J67.!

! 33!

either!the!musicological!or!historical!literature.!Indeed!while!studies!of!individual!

composers!have!included!–!and!occasionally!highlighted!–!their!commemorative!

works!written!in!response!to!the!First!World!War,5!the!Holocaust,6!and!the!Second!

World!War,7!the!memorial!works!themselves!have!very!rarely!been!considered!in!a!

comparative!context,!nor!have!their!various!rhetorical!strategies!until!recently!been!

scrutinized!as!such!by!many!musicologists.!Meanwhile,!cultural!historians!have!

produced!a!substantial!literature!focusing!on!the!modes!of!mourning!and!rituals!of!

commemoration!that!surfaced!in!response!to!the!First!and!Second!World!Wars.!Yet!

this!historiographic!literature!almost!entirely!excludes!music!from!its!field!of!

consideration.8!!

This!chapter!aims!to!locate!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!against!two!axes:!on!the!

one!hand,!the!underJstudied!genre!of!the!musical!memorial!as!such,!and!on!the!

other,!the!scholarship!on!early!postwar!memory.!Along!the!way!I!will!explore!and!

enumerate!the!salient!properties!of!sonic!memorials—as!experiences!in!sound!more!

generally,!and!as!musical!compositions!that!may!contain!within!them!what!I!have!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5!See!for!instance!Malcolm!MacDonald,!John$Foulds:$His$Life$in$Music$(Rickmansworth:!Triad!Press,!1975).!

6!Michael!Brim!Beckerman,!"Job,!Zeisl,!Exile,!and!the!Suffering!of!the!Ordinary,"!Music$&$Politics!5,!no.!2!(2011);!Ben!Arnold,!"Art!Music!and!the!Holocaust,"!Holocaust$and$Genocide$Studies!6,!no.!4!(1992);!and!Antonina!Klokova,!"‘Mein!Moralische!Pflicht,’!Mieczysław!Weinberg!Und!Der!Holocaust,"!Osteuropa!60,!no.!7!(2010).!Mention!should!also!be!made!of!a!newly!published!anthology!of!work,!Tina!Frühauf!and!Lily!Hirsch,!eds.,!Dislocated$Memories:$Jews,$Music$and$Postwar$German$Culture$(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!2014).!7!See!Heather!Wiebe,!Britten's$Unquiet$Pasts:$Sound$and$Memory$in$Postwar$Reconstruction!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!2012).!

8!Paul!Fussell’s!pioneering!study,!The$Great$War$and$Modern$Memory,!focused!primarily!on!literary!production,!and!Jay!Winter’s!Sites$of$Memory,$Sites$of$Mourning!devoted!similarly!scant!attention!to!music.!For!notable!exceptions!see!Glenn!Watkins,!Proof$through$the$Night:$Music$and$the$Great$War!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!2003),!and!James!Schmidt,!"Cenotaphs!in!Sound:!Catastrophe,!Memory,!and!Musical!Memorials,"!Proceedings$of$the$European$Society$for$Aesthetics!2!(2010).!!

! 34!

called!multiple!temporalities.!I!conclude!this!chapter!with!some!observations!about!

the!politics!of!aesthetic!style!more!broadly,!and!the!cultural!meanings!of!dissonance.$!!!!

(

Sound(and(‘the(Memory(Landscape’(

With!so!few!models!for!approaching!the!musical!memorial!as!a!genre,!we!

may!be!well!advised!to!look!elsewhere!on!the!horizon!of!what!Rudi!Koshar!has!

called!“the!memory!landscape.”9!In!particular,!I!will!suggest!here!that!the!history!

and!growing!scholarly!literature!around!the!subject!of!built!architectural!memorials!

may!provide!some!grounds!for!comparison,!and!some!templates!for!analysis,!that!

will!be!instructive!and!clarifying!in!the!case!of!the!musical!memorial.!Traditionally,!

the!study!of!monuments!and!memorials!was!of!course!very!mediumJspecific:!sound!

and!stone!were!considered!separately,!a!legacy!that!dates!back!to!the!birth!of!

formalist!art!historical!writing.10!For!instance,!in!his!seminal!1903!article!Der$

modern$Denkmalkultus:$Sein$Wesen$und$seine$Entstehung!(“The!Modern!Cult!of!

Monuments:!Its!Essence!and!Its!Development”),!Alois!Riegl!(1858J1905)!goes!as!far!

as!acknowledging!the!existence!of!“Die!hörbaren!Denkmale,”!or!“audible!

monuments”!but!then!dismisses!them!from!consideration,!suggesting!that!they!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!9!See!Rudy!Koshar,!From$Monuments$to$Traces:$Artifacts$of$German$Memory,$1870F1990!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!2000),!xv.!

10!In!this!chapter!I!use!the!terms!“monument”!and!“memorial”!interchangeably,!though!as!

Alexander!Rehding!has!noted,!the!former!term!can!sometimes!carry!a!negative!connotation!

of!excessive!grandness.!See!Alexander!Rehding,!Music$and$Monumentality:$Commemoration$and$Wonderment$in$NineteenthFCentury$Germany!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!2009),!3J5.!

! 35!

belong!to!the!same!category!as!written!monuments,!presumably!on!account!of!their!

incorporeality.11!

! Modern!scholars!have!of!course!blurred!these!mediumJspecific!categories!

and!focused!instead!on!the!social,!political,!and!national!uses!of!memory!–!often!

defined!in!contradistinction!to!history.12!The!work!of!Pierre!Nora!has!been!at!the!

forefront!of!these!efforts,!specifically!his!attempts!to!articulate!a!widening!gulf!

between!regimes!of!history!and!of!memory,!and!his!work!to!define!the!notion!of!

lieux$de$mémoire,!sites!of!memory.!For!Nora,!memory!was!originally!social!and!

organic,!“retained!as!the!secret!of!soJcalled!primitive!or!archaic!societies,”!in!

contrast!to!our!contemporary!bureaucratic!notions!of!history,!which!he!defines!as!

the!ways!in!which!“our!hopelessly!forgetful!modern!societies,!propelled!by!change,!

organize!the!past.”13!Because!we!no!longer!live!in!these!environments!saturated!

with!organic!memory,!Nora!suggests,!we!fashion!lieux$de$mémoire,!preserves!of!

memory!that!have!themselves!become!symbolic!and!auratic.!They!are,!he!writes,!

“embodiments!of!a!memorial!consciousness!that!has!survived!in!a!historical!age!that!

calls!out!for!memory!because!it!has!abandoned!it.”14!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!Riegl!writes:!“Die!hörbaren!Denkmale!(der!Tonkunst)!dürfen!wir!in!diesem!

Zusammenhange!aus!der!Betrachtung!von!vornherein!ausschalten,!da!sie,!soweit!sie!uns!

hier!uberhaupt!interessieren,!einfach!unter!die!Schriftdenkmale!einzureihen!sind.”!See!Alois!

Riegl,!Moderne$Denkmalkultus:$Sein$Wesen$Und$Seine$Entstehung!(Wien:!W.!Braumüller;!K.!K.!ZentralJKommision!für!Kunst!und!historische!Denkmale,!1903),!2.!

12!See,!for!instance,!Young,!The$Texture$of$Memory;!The$Art$of$Memory:$Holocaust$Memorials$in$History!(New!York:!Prestel,!1994);!Svetlana!Boym,!The$Future$of$Nostalgia!(New!York:!Basic!Books,!2001);!Marc!Treib,!ed.!Spatial$Recall:$Memory$in$Architecture$and$Landscape!(New!York:!Routledge,!2009);!and!Eleni!Bastéa,!ed.!Memory$and$Architecture!(Albuquerque:!University!of!New!Mexico!Press,!2004).!

13!Nora,!"Between!Memory!and!History,"!8.!!

14!Ibid.,!page!12.!!

! 36!

! Architectural!monuments!and!memorials!are!in!some!ways!the!most!obvious!

examples!of!lieux$de$mémoire,!and!the!ways!in!which!they!have!been!approached!by!

historians!will!offer!helpful!guidance!in!theorizing!our!own!approach!to!the!genre!of!

the!musical!memorial.!As!we!will!see,!some!of!the!key!distinctions!between!the!

mediums!of!commemoration—stone!versus!sound—will!prove!as!instructive!as!

their!similarities.!With!regard!to!built!architectural!monuments,!Nora!himself!has!

described!them!as!ways!through!which!the!state!reifies!its!own!power!and!posits!a!

kind!of!transhistorical!authority,!by!valorizing!its!leaders!and!war!heroes,!and!giving!

material!objective!form!and!embodiment!to!nationalist!aspirations.15(

The!examples!collected!under!Nora’s!direction!are!mostly!drawn!from!the!

nineteenth!century,!and!specifically!from!France's!relationship!to!its!own!national!

past,16!but!George!Mosse's!politically!oriented!interpretation!of!the!commemoration!

of!World!War!I!arrives!at!a!similar!conclusion,!especially!regarding!the!buttressing!

of!state!power.!War!memorials,!Mosse!suggests,!helped!nations!to!obfuscate!and!

transform!the!shocking!realities!of!death!–!the!gruesome!battlefield!carnage!and!the!

horrors!of!the!trenches!–!into!something!more!palatable,!in!part!by!fashioning!for!

them!a!new!narrative!that!he!labels!“the!Myth!of!the!War!Experience.”!This!narrative!

emphasized!the!virtues!of!noble!sacrifice,!glory,!and!courage,!and!in!the!process!was!

used!to!justify!the!horrendous!losses,!to!sanitize!them,!and!to!recast!war!memory!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!15!Nora’s!model!and!the!unidirectionality!it!ascribes!to!the!assignment!of!a!monument’s!

political!meaning!have!been!credibly!questioned,!especially!in!the!context!of!Holocaust!

memorials!and!the!diverse!and!complex!political!debate!they!are!capable!of!generating.!See,!

for!instance,!Peter!Carrier,!Holocaust$Monuments$and$National$Memory$Cultures$in$France$and$Germany$since$1989:$The$Origins$and$Political$Function$of$the$Vél'$D'hiv'$in$Paris$and$the$Holocaust$Monument$in$Berlin!(New!York:!Berghahn!Books,!2005).!16!Pierre!Nora!and!Lawrence!D.!Kritzman,!eds.,!Realms$of$Memory:$Rethinking$the$French$Past!(New!York:!Columbia!University!Press,!1996).!!

! 37!

“into!a!sacred!experience!which!provided!the!nation!with!a!new!depth!of!religious!

feeling,!putting!at!its!disposal!everJpresent!saints!and!martyrs,!places!of!worship,!

and!a!heritage!to!emulate.”17!!

Other!historians!have!taken!a!less!overtly!political!approach!to!analyzing!war!

memorials.!Jay!Winter!in!his!classic!study!of!the!subject!emphasized!the!connection!

between!memorials!and!various!modes!of!communal!and!individual!mourning.!He!

insists!on!the!chronological!dimension!of!monumental!meaning:!

[H]owever! powerful! the! aesthetic! or! political! message! they! carried! or!

attracted,! these! monuments! had! another! meaning! for! the! generation! that!

passed!through!the!trauma!of!the!war.!That!meaning!was!as$much$existential$as$artistic$or$political,!as!much!concerned!with!the!facts!of!individual!loss!and!bereavement! as!with! art! forms! or!with! collective! representations,! national!

aspirations,!and!destinies.18!!

!

It!will!also!be!important!to!recall!Winter's!perspective!on!what!we!might!call!the!

timeJstamping!of!memorial!objects:!the!ways!in!which!their!meanings!and!

significance!are!constructed!generationally,!or!by!nature!of!their!proximity!to!the!

event!being!memorialized.!This!will!become!particularly!germane!at!a!later!point,!as!

we!reckon!with!questions!of!the!“datedness”!of!Schoenberg's!A$Survivor$from$

Warsaw.! !!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!17!George!L.!Mosse,!Fallen$Soldiers$:$Reshaping$the$Memory$of$the$World$Wars!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!1990),!7.!Andreas!Huyssen!has!written!a!more!modern!chapter!in!

the!political!and!cultural!(over)uses!of!monuments!today.!Recalling!the!summer!of!1995,!

fifty!years!after!the!conclusion!of!the!war,!he!writes!that!“Germany!is!in!the!grip!of!a!

relentless!monument!mania,!which!may!not!subside!until!every!square!mile!has!its!own!

monument!or!memorial!site….!In!today’s!Germany,!redemption!through!memory!is!the!

goal.”!See!Andreas!Huyssen,!"Monumental!Seduction,"!New$German$Critique,!no.!69!(1996):!182.!See!also!Huyssen,!“Monuments!and!Holocaust!Memory!in!a!Media!Age”!in!Twilight$Memories,!249J61.!18!See!Winter,!Sites$of$Memory,$Sites$of$Mourning,!79.!Italics!added.!

! 38!

At!the!same!time,!the!growing!scholarship!on!architectural!monuments!is!

also!instructive!in!its!points!of!divergence;!that!is,!what!it!clarifies!ex$negativo!about!

the!musical!memorial!as!a!genre,!the!salient!differences!associated!the!medium!of!

sound!as!such,!its!own!particular!materiality,!as!well!as!the!fleeting!and!contingent!

nature!of!performance.!In!the!section!that!follows,!I!briefly!identify!and!enumerate!

these!salient!differences!as:!immediacy,!portability,!authorship,!reception,!and!

reconfigured!space.!!!!

!

Five(Properties(of(the(Musical(Memorial(

(

1.!Immediacy(

The!work!of!James!Young,!which!has!focused!on!built!(physical)!Holocaust!

monuments,!suggests!helpful!approaches!to!contextualizing!the!study!of!their!

musical!siblings.!Specifically,!in!the!introduction!to!his!book!The$Texture$of$Memory,!

Young!quotes!a!provocative!observation!by!Robert!Musil:!!

!

There!is!nothing!in!this!world!as!invisible!as!a!monument.!They!are!no!doubt!

erected! to!be! seen—indeed,! to! attract! attention.!But! at! the! same! time! they!

are!impregnated!with!something!that!repels!attention,!causing!the!glance!to!

roll! right!off,! like!water!droplets!off!an!oilcloth,!without!even!pausing! for!a!

moment.19!!

!

That!something,!the!quality!that!repels!attention!in!architectural!monuments!

is,!according!to!Young,!their!“essential!stiffness,”!their!way!of!compacting!the!fluid!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!19!Robert!Musil,!Posthumous$Papers$of$a$Living$Author!(Hygiene,!Colo.:!Eridanos!Press,!1987),!61.!Quoted!in!Young,!The$Texture$of$Memory,!13J14.!The!original!appears!in!Robert!Musil,!Nachlass$Zu$Lebzeiten!(Reinbek!bei!Hamburg:!Rowohlt,!1974),!480.!

! 39!

stuff!of!memory!beneath!many!tons!of!granite!or!limestone.!This!same!“vitrifying”!

quality,!their!polished!“finish,”!Young!observes,!tends!to!help!many!stone!

monuments!fade!into!the!background!of!an!urban!landscape.!We!might,!as!Musil!

suggests,!walk!past!them!day!after!day!without!noticing!them.20!

On!at!least!this!superficial!level,!musical!memorials!would!seem!buttressed!

from!this!critique!of!their!architectural!siblings.!Sound!as!a!fluid!and!ephemeral!

medium!lacks!the!“essential!stiffness”!of!stone.!Moreover,!a!memorial!work!can!

hardly!blend!into!its!surrounding!aural!landscape,!as!it!is!erected!and!dissembled!

each!time!it!is!performed.!And!this!realJtime!performance!aspect,!as!we!will!see,!is!

also!crucial.!A!score!can!of!course!lie!fallow!for!decades!but!when!a!musical!

memorial!is!actually!performed,!it!resists!being!passively!experienced—resists!

becoming!invisible,!in!Musil's!phrase—because!of!the!intentionality!of!the!act!itself:!

the!audience!arrives!precisely!to!experience!the!work!in!a!concert!setting,!to!

“perform”!the!work!of!remembrance!itself.!Musical!memorials,!in!this!sense,!

convene!their!own!public!every!time!they!are!performed.!They!also!indicate!the!

paradoxical!nature!of!sound!as!a!medium!of!memory,!or!more!precisely,!they!show!

that!its!weakness!is!also!its!strength.!If!music!is!by!nature!the!most!ephemeral!of!the!

arts,!its!very!immateriality!allows!it!to!sidestep!the!critiques!of!stone!monuments'!as!

catalysts!for!reification!and!amnesia.!!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!20!Andreas!Huyssen!has!suggested!an!interesting!response!to!this!modernist!critique!of!the!

stone!monument!as!“a!medium!of!reification!and!forgetting”!by!placing!it!in!the!context!of!

our!contemporary!media!age,!dominated!as!it!is!by!immaterial!images!on!screen.!Against!

this!backdrop,!there!is!perhaps!a!new!potency!to!the!physicality!or!objectivity!of!a!built!

monument!in!a!public!space,!speaking!in!new!ways!to!a!“public!dissatisfied!with!

simulation.”!See!“Monuments!and!Holocaust!Memory!in!a!Media!Age,”!255.!!

! 40!

2.(Portability!((((

Architectural!monuments!are!by!their!nature!anchored!in!a!particular!place,!

while!musical!works!are!obviously!portable,!with!clear!benefits!associated.!Studies!

of!postwar!memory!have!been!generally!bounded!by!national!borders.!Most!studies!

of!war!monuments!likewise!situate!each!structure!in!its!own!national!context.21!In!

contrast,!no!such!geographic!limitations!exist!for!the!musical!monument,!allowing!

for!fascinating!comparative!approaches!to!reception!history.!A!works!such!as!

Schoenberg's!Survivor$From$Warsaw!was,!for!instance,!received!quite!differently!in!

the!United!States!of!the!lateJ1940s!and!in!postwar!West!Germany.22!Comparing!

these!receptions!can!provide!valuable!insights!into!the!differing!nature!of!postwar!

memory!in!each!country.!Indeed,!the!reception!history!of!musical!memorials!is,!by!

its!very!nature,!a!transnational!history.!!!

!

3.(Authorship((

As!a!genre,!musical!memorials—typically!the!products!of!an!individual!

composer,!possibly!working!in!tandem!with!a!discreet!number!of!collaborators—

tend!to!be!less!subject!to!the!constraints!of!civic!bureaucracy!and!urban!or!national!

planning.!An!instructive!example!may!be!found!in!the!case!of!what!was!to!be!the!

first!Holocaust!monument!in!America,!to!be!located!on!the!Riverside!Park!mall!in!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!21!See!for!instance!Catherine!Merridale’s!“War,!Death!and!Remembrance!in!Soviet!Russia”!or!

Emmanuel!Sivan’s!“Private!Pain!and!Public!Remembrance!in!Israel”!in!J.!M.!Winter!and!

Emmanuel!Sivan,!eds.,!War$and$Remembrance$in$the$Twentieth$Century!(Cambridge:!University!of!Cambridge,!1999).!

22!See!Joy!H.!Calico,!"Schoenberg's!Symbolic!Remigration:!A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!in!

Postwar!West!Germany,"!The$Journal$of$Musicology!26,!no.!1!(2009).!See!also!Calico’s!comparative!reception!history!of!Survivor$from$Warsaw!in!several!European!countries.!Calico,!Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!in$Postwar$Europe.!!

! 41!

New!York!City.!In!October!of!1947,!just!two!months!after!Schoenberg!had!completed!

A$Survivor$From$Warsaw,!New!York's!Mayor!William!O'Dwyer!presided!over!a!public!

ceremony!to!dedicate!the!site!of!the!future!monument.!Tens!of!thousands!of!people!

were!in!attendance!as!the!stone!slab!was!unveiled,!reading:!“This!is!the!site!for!the!

American!memorial!to!the!Heroes!of!the!Warsaw!Ghetto!Battle,!AprilJMay!1943!and!

to!the!six!million!Jews!of!Europe!martyred!in!the!cause!of!human!liberty.”!!

But!the!monument!itself!was!never!erected,!due!to!controversies!over!the!

aesthetic!design,!fundraising!difficulties,!and!bureaucratic!delays.23!!Other!such!

delays!and!bureaucratic!wrangling!have!been!wellJdocumented!in!multiple!cases!

where!architectural!or!sculptural!memorials!are!subjected!to!a!process!of!

community!planning!that!necessarily!exposes!them!to!competing!interests!and!

memory!narratives.!By!contrast,!musical!memorials!typically!represent!the!vision!of!

their!sole!creator,!allowing!for!a!less!homogenized!and!bureaucratically!diffuse!

vision,!a!more!personalized!perspective!on!the!act!of!remembrance.!

In!her!recent!dissertation!on!postwar!commemoration!in!the!GDR,!Martha!

Anne!Sprigge!applies!a!pertinent!distinction!by!the!Russian!historian!Alexander!

Etkind!between!soJcalled!“hard”!and!“soft”!artifacts!of!cultural!memory.!Hard!

memory,!in!this!scheme,!consists!of!stateJsanctioned!monuments!and!museums—

the!permanent!memory!landscape!with!which!a!public!interacts.!Soft!memory!in!this!

context!includes!artistic!production,!the!writing!of!memoirs,!oral!testimony,!and,!

presumably,!the!creations!of!musical!memorial.!Etkind!stresses!the!interaction!and!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!23!The!illJstarred!career!of!this!wouldJbe!monument!is!recounted!in!Young,!The$Texture$of$Memory,!287J94.!

! 42!

interdependence!between!these!two!types,!noting!that!“in!memory,!monuments!

without!inscriptions!are!mute,!whereas!texts!without!monuments!are!ephemeral.”24!!

!!

((( 4.(Reception!!!

The!task!of!understanding!the!performance!of!musical!memorials!makes!

specific!demands!of!the!student!of!reception!history,!precisely!because!these!

musical!works!assert!claims!that!are!variously!aesthetic,!political,!and!social.!Their!

premieres!and!subsequent!performance!are!not!“only”!musical!events!nor!are!they!

exclusively!exercises!in!civic!commemoration.!This!point!is!easily!illustrated!with!

even!a!cursory!look!at!the!reception!afforded!two!British!musical!memorials:!John!

Foulds's!A$World$Requiem!and!Britten's!War$Requiem.!!

!The!story!of!the!Foulds!Requiem!is!both!a!fascinating!and!cautionary!tale.!

The!fact!that!the!first!largeJscale!modern!musical!memorial!of!the!twentieth!

century—a!work!that!caused!a!sensation!at!its!1923!premiere—has!almost!entirely!

disappeared!from!the!repertoire!and!from!subsequent!historical!consideration!

suggests!that!sonic!memorials!may!not!be!entirely!immune!to!Musil's!charge!of!

invisibility.!Stone!memorials!have!at!least!their!physical!materiality!to!buttress!their!

presence!on!the!memory!landscape.!The!musical!memorial,!in!a!way,!does!not!exist!

unless!it!is!performed.!!

That!said,!it!is!interesting!to!note!that!the!Foulds!Requiem!attempted!to!

borrow!from!the!prestige!of!one!particularly!successful!stone!predecessor:!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!24!See!Alexander!Etkind,!"Hard!and!Soft!in!Cultural!Memory:!Political!Mourning!in!Russia!

and!Germany,"!Grey$Room!(2004):!39J40,!and!Sprigge,!"Abilities!to!Mourn:!Musical!Commemoration!in!the!German!Democratic!Republic!(1945J1989)."!!!

! 43!

Cenotaph!on!Whitehall,!in!the!heart!of!London,!built!by!Sir!Edwin!Lutyens.!The!

Cenotaph!was!initially!intended!as!a!shortJterm!monument!for!a!victory!parade!in!

1919,!but!an!outpouring!of!public!sentiment!made!it!impossible!to!remove!the!

memorial!as!initially!planned,!and!a!permanent!version!was!installed!on!the!same!

spot!in!1920,!where!the!Cenotaph!stands!to!this!day.25!!

Three!years!later!came!the!premiere!of!Foulds's!A$World$Requiem,!a!massive!

work!scored!for!children's!chorus,!full!chorus,!vocal!soloists,!and!large!orchestra!

with!organ.!It!was!premiered!in!Royal!Albert!Hall!at!the!inaugural!“Festival!of!

Remembrance”!on!Armistice!Night!in!1923,!its!program!bearing!a!solemn!cross!and!

the!words!“A!Cenotaph!in!Sound”—unmistakably!linking!it!with!Lutyens's!Cenotaph.!

There!were!also!the!words:!“In!Memory:!1914J18.”!!

Foulds!and!his!wife!had!strong!connections!to!the!burgeoning!theosophist!

movement!and!the!work!is!steeped!in!spiritualist!and!occult!associations.!A!page!in!

the!concert!program!further!declared!it!was!a!“festival!commemoration!for!all!who!

fell!in!the!Great!War.”!If!Lutyens's!Cenotaph!brought!healing!and!consolation!

through!its!austere!and!abstract!geometric!forms!and!its!imposing!presence!in!the!

heart!of!administrative!London,!this!“cenotaph!in!sound”!was!conceived!as!a!kind!of!

balm!for!the!ears,!a!response!to!the!brutalizing!acoustic!environment!of!war.26!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!25!Winter,!Sites$of$Memory,$Sites$of$Mourning,!103J05.!26!Foulds!had!close!links!to!the!theosophist!movement!primarily!through!his!wife,!the!

violinist!Maud!MacCarthy,!and!the!Requiem’s!many!connections!to!theosophist!principles!have!been!established.!Most!germane!here!is!the!notion!of!the!link!between!an!individual’s!

acoustic!surroundings!and!his!inner!state.!The!British!composer!Cyril!Scott,!among!others,!

wrote!at!this!time!of!the!soldiers’!need!for!healing!through!sound!itself:!“The!jarring!sounds!

of!motorJhorns,!whistles,!grinding!brakes,!and!so!forth!exercise!a!deleterious!effect!upon!

the!entire!organism.!In!order!to!contradict!this,!certain!composers!will!be!used!to!evolve!a!

type!of!music!calculated!to!heal!where!these!discordant!noises!have!destroyed.”!Quoted!in!

! 44!

The!full!story!of!Foulds’s!Requiem!has!been!recounted!elsewhere,!and!it!

received!its!first!recording!as!late!as!2006.27!The!reception!of!its!premiere!highlights!

what!may!be!the!first!instance!of!a!recurring!trope!in!the!reception!of!modern!

musical!memorials:!specifically,!a!heightened!positive!or!negative!response!that!

reflects!what!we!might!call!the!sonic!memorial's!extraJmusicality.!The!memorial!

agenda!of!these!works!makes!them!“about”!more!than!just!music.!They!reach!

beyond!the!formal!boundaries!of!the!aesthetic!to!engage!with—and!at!times!collide!

with—discourses!of!both!public!and!private!memory.!!

In!the!former!category,!that!of!public!memory,!this!collision!can!have!nearJ

fatal!consequences!for!a!musical!memorial.!In!particular,!when!the!work!is!seen!as!

threatening!stateJsponsored!narratives!of!a!war's!history,!its!victims!or!its!

perpetrators,!then!the!memorial’s!performance—and!therefore!its!entire!

realization—can!be!endangered.!(Even!a!cursory!look!at!musical!memorialization!of!

the!Second!World!War!in!the!former!Soviet!Union!bears!out!this!point.28)!At!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

James!G.!Mansell,!"Musical!Modernity!and!Contested!Commemoration!at!the!Festival!of!

Remembrance,!1923J1927,"!The$Historical$Journal!52,!no.!02!(2009):!439.!Mansell!addresses!the!work’s!theosophist!connections!at!length.!The!work!is!also!insightfully!

addressed!by!James!Schmidt!in!one!of!the!exceedingly!rare!discussions!of!musical!

memorials!in!a!comparative!context.!I!am!grateful!to!Professor!Schmidt!for!first!drawing!my!

attention!to!this!Requiem!in!our!discussion!of!musical!memorials.!See!Schmidt,!"Cenotaphs!

in!Sound:!Catastrophe,!Memory,!and!Musical!Memorials."!!

27!Leon!Botsein!made!the!first!recording!in!2008,!leading!the!BBC!Symphony!Orchestra!and!

Chorus,!along!with!other!forces,!on!a!Chandos!CD,!CHSA!5058(2).!

28!Two!prime!examples!of!this!phenomenon!come!from!the!Soviet!Union!in!the!1940s.!

Nathan!Rapoport’s!proposal!of!a!monument!to!the!Warsaw!Ghetto!uprising!was!rejected!by!

Stalin’s!arts!committee!for!being,!essentially,!too!Jewish.!A!nearly!identical!fate!befell!Ilya!

Ehrenberg’s!literary!memorial!The$Black$Book$of$Soviet$Jewry.!The!trend!continued!into!the!1960s.!Under!threat!of!cancellation,!the!text!of!Shostakovich’s!“Babi!Yar”!Symphony!was!

revised!to!bring!its!description!of!Jewish!victims!of!the!Second!World!War!into!conformity!

with!tropes!of!Soviet!commemoration,!which!emphasized!the!war!losses!as!a!panJSoviet!

phenomenon.!Mieczyslaw!Weinberg’s!opera,!The$Passenger,!which!the!composer!regarded!as!his!masterwork,!was!likewise!never!performed!during!his!lifetime,!though!it!entered!

! 45!

same!time,!in!the!field!of!reception,!the!enlarged!semantic!and!rhetorical!terrain!

occupied!by!a!musical!memorial!can!also!work!in!the!score's!favor,!especially!when!

a!composition!is!seen!as!addressing,!to!expand!on!Winter's!thesis,!the!needs!of!

mourning!or!private!memory,!whether!in!the!wake!of!the!trauma!of!war!or!even!

years!later.!A!performance!in!that!category!can!take!on!enhanced!significance,!and!

draw!a!heightened!public!response!precisely!because!of!the!score's!extraFmusical!

resonance.29!!

Indeed,!as!we!will!see!in!Chapter!5,!this!enhancement!served!to!make!the!

highly!unusual!premiere!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$into!an!enormous!success,!one!

that!Schoenberg!hailed!as!unique!in!the!history!of!classical!music!performances.$I!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rehearsals!at!the!Bolshoi!Theatre.!It!may!be!plausibly!speculated!that!the!reason!for!its!

cancellation!were!the!same!as!those!described!above.!On!the!Rapoport!and!Ehrenburg!

examples,!see!James!Edward!Young,!"The!Biography!of!a!Memorial!Icon:!Nathan!Rapoport's!

Warsaw!Ghetto!Monument,"!Representations,!no.!26!(1989).!For!more!on!Shostakovich’s!“Babi!Yar,”!see!Laurel!E.!Fay,!Shostakovich:$A$Life!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!2000),!235J36.!For!more!on!The$Passenger’s!production!history,$see$David!Fanning,!Mieczyslaw$Weinberg:$In$Search$of$Freedom!(Hofheim:!Wolke,!2010),!118J20.!!29!The!status!of!“hidden”!musical!memorials!represents!a!fascinating!test!case!in!this!regard.!

I!refer!here!to!abstract!instrumental!works!lacking!a!vocal!text!or!explicit!titles!to!publically!

identify!the!work!as!a!memorial.!Precisely!because!such!works!do!not!come!semantically!

preJinscribed!with!their!memorial!associations,!one!could!conceivably!perform!the!music!in!

either!context!–!as!an!unfreighted!example!of!abstract!concert!music,!or!as!a!memorial!that!is!situated!as!such!through!program!notes!or!other!more!specific!contextualization!(preJ

concert!lectures,!etc).!One!could!even!perform!it!both!ways!for!the!same!audience.!In!fact,!

Michael!Beckerman!and!James!Loeffler!have!conducted!this!precise!experiment!with!regard!

to!Mikhail!Gnesin’s!Piano!Trio,!presenting!the!work!unJintroduced,!and!then!presenting!it!a!

second!time!with!a!full!explanation!of!its!memorial!context.!At!one!such!demonstration!

reported!in!the!Los$Angeles$Times,!both!the!performers!and!the!audience!responded!quite!differently!during!the!second,!fully!contextualized,!performance,!with!the!musicians!

adopting!slower!tempos!and!a!heightened!expressivity,!while!audience!members!reportedly!

heard!the!work!differently!as!well.!The!distinctions!between!the!two!performances!

illustrate!this!larger!point,!the!impact!of!a!work’s!extraJmusicality,!its!broadened!fields!of!

meaning.!For!details!on!this!comparative!experiment!as!it!was!applied!with!one!California!

audience,!see!Mark!Swed’s!report!“A!grim,!gray!silence;!‘Recovered!Voices’!initiative!

examines!murderous!censorship!of!music!by!the!Nazis,”!Los$Angeles$Times,$12!August!2014,!Section!D,!Pg!1.$For!the!memorial!status!of!Gnesin’s!Piano!Trio,!see!Loeffler,!"'In!Memory!of!Our!Murdered!(Jewish)!Children':!Hearing!the!Holocaust!in!Soviet!Jewish!Culture."!!!!!

! 46!

am!suggesting!that!this!response,!however,!was!partly!preconditioned!by!something!

in!the!nature!of!musical!memorials!themselves.!We!may!note!in!the!case!of!Foulds’s!

Requiem!the!audience!response!to!the!premiere!was!nothing!short!of!electric.!!!

The!discerning!British!musicologist!Donald!Tovey!seemed!to!intuit!what!was!

in!store!when!he!wrote!to!Foulds,!some!seven!months!before!the!1923!premiere,!

stating!that!“I!shall!not!be!surprised!if!it!makes!an!immediate!impression!of!a!more!

popular!kind!than!is!usual!with!works!of!such!caliber.”30!And!so!it!did.!Consider,!for!

instance,!the!breathless!reaction!of!one!Labour!MP!who!attended!the!premiere:!“It!

went!deeper!down!and!reached!higher!up,!it!was!bigger,!broader,!nobler!and!

reached!out!more!into!the!eternal!than!music!as!it!is!commonly!understood!and!

interpreted,!or!as!any!music!other!than!that!by!the!great!masters!has!ever!done.!It!is!

indeed!a!world!heritage.”!It!was!further!noted!that!“the!demand!for!tickets!at!the!

premiere!had!broken!all!previous!Albert!Hall!records”!and!that!“the!participants!

received!a!tenJminute!ovation.”31!!

!!!!It!is!unclear!whether!Benjamin!Britten!knew!of!John!Foulds's!Requiem,!but!

Britten's!own!War$Requiem!has!been!cited!as!an!extension!of!its!lineage.!While!

individual!critics!were!decidedly!mixed!in!their!responses!to!Foulds's!Requiem,!in!

the!case!of!the!Britten,!popular!and!critical!sentiment!were!nearly!unanimous!in!

their!praise!and!fervor.!Remarkably,!some!critics!did!not!even!wait!to!hear!the!work!

in!public!performance!before!declaring!it!a!masterpiece.!The!following!notice,!for!

instance,!appeared!in!The$Times$five!days!before!the!work's!1962!premiere:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!30!Quoted!in!Malcolm!MacDonald’s!liner!notes!to!the!premiere!recording!of!Foulds’s!

“Requiem,”!(Chandos,!CHSA!5058).!No!less!impressive!was!its!continuing!effect!on!

performers.!See!“London!Letter,”!Western$Daily$Press,!Nov.!11,!1926,!p.!7.!31!Quotations!are!from!MacDonald’s!liner!notes.!!

! 47!

!

Any! new! Requiem! setting! has! to! compete! with! Verdi's! and! Fauré's! and!Mozart's!treatment!of!the!same!words.!Britten!has!approached!the!task!in!his!

own!fresh!and!deeply!felt.!It!is!not!a!Requiem!to!console!the!living;!sometimes!it! does! not! even! help! the! dead! to! sleep! soundly.! It! can! only! disturb! every!

living! soul,! for! it! denounces! the!barbarism!more!or! less! awake! in!mankind!

with!all!the!authority!that!a!great!composer!can!muster.!There!is!no!doubt!at!

all,! even! before! next! Wednesday's! performance,! that! it! is! Britten's!

masterpiece.32!!!

!

One!of!the!more!illuminating!responses!to!the!Britten!premiere!came!from!Igor!

Stravinsky.!He!admired!Britten's!score!but!clearly!detected!something!extraJmusical!

at!work!in!the!greeting!it!received,!or!in!his!words:!“[t]he!reception!accorded!the!

music!was$a$phenomenon$as$remarkable$as$the$music$itself.!In!fact!the!BattleJofJ

Britten!sentiment!was!so!thick!and!the!tide!of!applause!so!loud!that!I,!for!one,!was!

not!always!able!to!hear!the!music.”33!

Stravinsky's!quip!hints!at!the!broader!question!of!how!a!musical!memorial!

should!indeed!be!judged,!a!question!to!which!we!will!return.!Clearly!in!the!case!of!

the!Requiems!by!Foulds!and!Britten,!the!works'!artistic!merits!and!their!ability!to!

address!immediate!needs!of!postwar!audiences!were!difficult!to!separate.!We!

should!not!forget!of!course!that!these!two!Requiems!were!written!in!response!to!

two!very!different!world!wars.!Indeed,!Britten's!acclaimed!War$Requiem!remains!

subject!to!the!criticism!that!it!fails!to!even!remotely!acknowledge!the!Holocaust,!an!

event!whose!scale!and!nature!created!a!particular!set!of!challenges!for!the!memorial!

artist!across!numerous!media,!challenges!that!will!be!explored!in!the!sections!that!

follow.!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!32!William!Mann,!“Britten’s!Masterpiece!Denounces!War,”!The$Times,$25!May!1962,!quoted!in!Mervyn!Cooke,!Britten:$War$Requiem!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!1996),!78.!33!Quoted!in!ibid.,!84.!Italics!added.!!

! 48!

!

5.(Reconfigured!Space!!

Before!leaving!behind!our!list!of!attributes!that!may!be!said!to!define!the!

genre!of!the!musical!memorial,!it!is!worth!lingering!for!a!moment!on!some!

properties!inherent!to!the!medium!of!music!as!such.!First,!since!the!era!of!the!

Romantics,!composers!and!writers!have!commented!on!music's!polysemy,!its!ability!

to!suggest!or!indicate!multiple!meanings!simultaneously.!Even!relatively!stable!

representations!of!meaning!may!be!destabilized!by!the!ephemeral!and!abstract!

nature!of!sound!itself.!Thomas!Mann!described!this!quality!as!“the!spoken$unF

spokenness!given!to!music!alone”34!while!Rilke!apostrophized!music!as!“language!

where!languages!end.”35!It!is!worth!considering!whether!the!embrace!of!music,!the!

imageless!art!par$excellence,!as!a!commemorative!medium!so!early!into!the!postJ

World!War!II!era!(as!represented!by!Survivor!and!other!works)—at!a!time!that!

predates!many!visual,!architectural!or!cinematic!gestures!of!commemoration—

owes!itself!at!least!partially!to!music's!ability!to!sidestep!certain!dilemmas!of!

representation,!precisely!because!of!the!qualities!outlined!above.!!!!

Secondly,!as!part!of!an!explosion!of!interest!in!the!recently!emerging!

interdisciplinary!field!of!sound!studies,!new!attention!has!been!paid!to!the!ability!of!

music!and!sound!itself—as!opposed!to!visual!stimuli—to!reconfigure!both!personal!

and!public!experiences!of!space.36!Steven!Connor,!for!instance,!has!contrasted!“the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!34!Thomas!Mann,!Doctor$Faustus:$The$Life$of$the$German$Composer$Adrian$Leverkühn$as$Told$by$a$Friend,!trans.!John!E.!Woods!(New!York:!A.A.!Knopf,!1997),!515.!italics!added.!35!The!quote!is!from!An$die$Musik!(“Du!Sprache!wo!Sprachen!enden.”)!!36!See,!for!instance,!Georgina!Born,!ed.!Music,$Sound$and$Space:$Transformations$of$Public$and$Private$Experience!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!2013).!For!an!influential!

! 49!

rationalized!'Cartesian!grid'!of!the!visualist!imagination”!with!the!“plural,!permeated!

space”!of!its!aural!counterpart.!“The!self!defined!in!terms!of!hearing!rather!than!

sight,”!Connor!writes,!“is!a!self!imagined!not!as!a!point,!but!as!a!membrane…!a!

channel!through!which!voices,!noises!and!musics!travel.”37!!!!

As!such,!it!is!my!contention!that!sound!as!a!memorial!medium!offers!the!

possibility!of!a!unique!and!more!immersive!grappling!with!the!performance!of!

memory,!one!that!fosters!a!more!porous!and!potentially!textured!relationship!

between!a!listener's!individual!subjectivity!and!an!event!being!summoned!from!the!

past.!Bakhtin!coined!the!term!“chronotope”!to!articulate!the!linkage!of!space!and!

time!in!literature,!but!his!description!of!this!device!proves!equally!suggestive!in!

pinpointing!these!elusive!qualities!of!the!musical!memorial:!“Time,!as!it!were,!

thickens,!takes!on!flesh,!becomes!artistically!visible;!likewise,!space!becomes!

charged!and!responsive!to!the!movements!of!time,!plot!and!history.”38!!

Indeed,!Nora!and!others!have!criticized!the!tendency!of!physical!monuments!

to!passively!record!memory!without!requiring!any!active!reckoning!with!the!past!at!

issue.!How!musical!memorials—and!specifically!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw—in!fact!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

example!of!historical!work!on!the!intersection!of!acoustic!environments!with!identity!and!

cultural!memory,!see!Corbin,!Village$Bells.!!37!Quoted!in!Born,!Music,$Sound$and$Space,!3.!See!also!Steven!Connor’s!“The!Modern!Auditory!I”!in!Roy!Porter,!ed.!Rewriting$the$Self:$Histories$from$the$Renaissance$to$the$Present!(London:!Routledge,!1997),!203.!See!also!Michael!P.!Steinberg,!Listening$to$Reason:$Culture,$Subjectivity$and$NineteenthFCentury$Music!(Princeton,!N.J.:!Princeton!University!Press,!2004).!

38!M.!M.!Bakhtin,!The$Dialogic$Imagination:$Four$Essays,!trans.!Caryl!Emerson!and!Michael!Holquist!(Austin:!University!of!Texas!Press,!1981),!84.!Michael!Rothberg!uses!Bakhtin’s!

notion!of!the!chronotope!as!a!lens!through!which!to!read!Adorno’s!essays!on!culture!“after!

Auschwitz”!in!Michael!Rothberg,!Traumatic$Realism:$The$Demands$of$Holocaust$Representation!(Minneapolis:!University!of!Minnesota!Press,!2000),!25J58.!For!a!perceptive!application!of!the!chronotope!concept!to!music,!with!reference!to!the!European!Jewish!

musical!legacy,!see!Mark!Slobin,!Fiddler$on$the$Move:$Exploring$the$Klezmer$World!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!2000),!72J91.!

! 50!

encourage!a!more!active!and!engaged!grappling!with!the!events!of!the!past!will!be!a!

topic!explored!in!the!chapters!that!follow.!As!we!will!see,!the!work's!firstJperson!

framing!through!the!role!of!its!narrator!allows!at!least!vicariously!for!what!we!might!

call,!adapting!a!phrase!from!Nora,!an!“experience!of!memory!from!the!inside.”39!!

!

(American(Holocaust(Remembrance:(Chronologies(and(Forms(

$

! As!is!well!known,!the!Holocaust!introduced!new!problems!in!

memorialization,!both!ethical!and!aesthetic.!Those!problems!evolved!as!the!distance!

from!the!historical!moment!itself!grew,!and!the!dominance!of!living!memory!(that!of!

survivors)!gradually!receded.!That!said,!for!an!enterprise!as!visible!as!public!

remembrance!and!commemoration,!there!has!been!a!surprising!amount!of!

disagreement!about!when!American!Jews!and!the!public!at!large!actually!began!to!

“remember”!the!Holocaust.!According!to!a!long!dominant!interpretation,!the!

extermination!of!European!Jewry!was!“hardly!talked!about!for!the!first!twenty!years!

or!so!after!World!War!II;!then,!from!the!1970s!on,![it!became]!ever!more!central!in!

American!public!discourse—particularly,!of!course,!among!Jews,!but!also!in!the!

culture!at!large.”40!!!

The!explanations!offered!for!this!supposed!conspiracy!of!silence!have!ranged!

from!Jewish!communal!insecurity,!to!collective!guilt,!to!the!shifting!allegiances!of!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!39!Nora,!"Between!Memory!and!History,"!13.!

40!Novick,!The$Holocaust$in$American$Life,!1J2.!A!similar!sentiment!has!been!voiced!by!many!other!scholars!of!American!Jewish!life.!See!for!instance!Alan!L.!Mintz,!Popular$Culture$and$the$Shaping$of$Holocaust$Memory$in$America!(Seattle:!University!of!Washington!Press,!2001).!

! 51!

Cold!War!geopolitics!(with!West!Germany!suddenly!an!ally!in!the!struggle!against!

the!Soviet!Union!and!its!satellites).41!!Along!with!this!dominant!interpretation!of!

postwar!silence!came!a!series!of!largely!agreed!upon!events!that,!according!to!this!

narrative,!brought!the!Holocaust!out!of!the!shadows!in!North!America.!They!are!

often!said!to!include,!among!other!events,!the!Israeli!arrest!and!prosecution!of!Adolf!

Eichmann!in!1960J61;!Israel's!initially!embattled!state,!followed!by!its!sweeping!

military!victory,!in!the!Six!Day!War!of!1967;!and!the!popular!NBC!television!

miniseries!“The!Holocaust,”!broadcast!in!1978.!Peter!Novick!has!influentially!(and!

tendentiously)!argued!that!the!subsequent!purported!rise!of!“Holocaust!

consciousness”!in!America!was!also!due!to!a!cynical!manipulation!on!the!part!of!

Jewish!organizations!seeking!to!court!sympathetic!responses!to!Jewish!politics!in!

America!or!Israel.42!!!!

! This!widely!held!notion!of!the!delayed!onset!of!American!Holocaust!memory!

was!first!roundly!challenged!by!Hasia!Diner,!who!assailed!it!as!a!myth!“built!on!

slipshod!scholarship!that!put!ideology!over!evidence.”!Diner!argued!instead!that!

American!Jews!in!the!early!postwar!years!“wove!the!catastrophe!deeply!into!the!

basic!fabric!of!community!life!and!that!they!considered!what!they!said!and!did!as!

monuments!to!Europe's!destroyed!Jewish!world.”43!In!a!volume!titled!After$the$

Holocaust:$Challenging$the$Myth$of$Silence,!coJeditor!David!Cesarani!sought!to!

further!debunk!the!notion!of!Holocaust!amnesia,!suggesting!it!may!have!stemmed!in!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!41!See!for!instance!Novick,!The$Holocaust$in$American$Life,!85J88.!42!See!David!Cesarani!and!Eric!J.!Sundquist,!eds.,!After$the$Holocaust:$Challenging$the$Myth$of$Silence!(London;!New!York:!Routledge,!2012),!2.!43!Diner,!We$Remember$with$Reverence$and$Love,!9.!

! 52!

part!from!a!perception!by!survivors,!which!was!later!relayed!to!researchers,!that!

their!own!stories!were!not!“being!heard”!in!the!early!postwar!years.44!!

In!addition!to!the!multitude!of!commemorative!communal!events!that!Diner!

documents!as!evidence!of!early!Holocaust!memory,!there!were!also!internal!Jewish!

communal!efforts!to!document!Nazi!atrocities.!These!began!simultaneously!with!the!

atrocities!themselves,!building,!as!David!Roskies!has!suggested,!on!positivistic!

methods!grimly!honed!in!modern!Jewish!massacres!dating!back!to!the!Kishinev!

pogrom!of!1903.45!!!!!

! And!yet,!while!clearly!the!most!recent!wave!of!revisionist!scholarship!on!this!

issue!has!made!important!contributions!to!a!fuller!understanding!of!postwar!

American!Jewish!attitudes!toward!the!Holocaust,!we!must!be!careful!to!avoid!

replacing!one!myth!with!what!may!be!quickly!amounting!to!its!mirror!image,!a!

version!that!overstates!the!prevalence!of!early!Holocaust!consciousness.!Clearly,!as!

Diner!and!others!have!shown,!commemorative!rituals!were!not!uncommon!within!

different!sectors!and!silos!of!the!American!Jewish!community.!But!the!extent!to!

which!that!early!consciousness!was!dispersed!into!the!population!at!large!remains!

largely!unstudied.!So!does!the!pace!at!which!the!Holocaust!became!particularized,!

that!is,!the!ways!in!which!it!came!to!be!understood!as!a!campaign!of!extermination!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!44!Cesarani!and!Sundquist,!After$the$Holocaust,!2.!45!See!Roskies’s!essay!“The!Library!of!Jewish!Catastrophe”!in!Hartman,!Holocaust$Remembrance.!The!Oyneg!Shabes!archive!compiled!in!the!Warsaw!Ghetto!is!perhaps!the!best!chronicled!of!these!attempts!at!documentation.!See!Samuel!D.!Kassow,!Who$Will$Write$Our$History?:$Emanuel$Ringelblum,$the$Warsaw$Ghetto,$and$the$Oyneg$Shabes$Archive!(Bloomington:!Indiana!University!Press,!2007).!For!more!on!the!work!of!early!Jewish!

historical!commissions,!and!the!efforts!of!amateur!Jewish!historians!at!work!in!displaced!

persons!camps,!see!Laura!Jockusch,!Collect$and$Record!:$Jewish$Holocaust$Documentation$in$Early$Postwar$Europe!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!2012).!!

! 53!

targeting!European!Jews!as$such.!As!has!been!shown,!the!early!postwar!years!saw!

many!of!the!first!efforts!to!frame!postwar!memory!either!through!a!“universalist”!

lens,!or!through!the!lens!of!particular!nationalist!narratives.46!Paradigmatic!of!this!

early!trend!was!the!1947!declaration!by!the!Polish!parliament!that!AuschwitzJ

Birkenau!would!be!“forever!preserved!as!a!memorial!to!the!martyrdom!of!the$Polish$

nation$and$other$peoples.”47!!

! I!suggest!that!this!backdrop!of!the!debates!on!the!chronology!and!

particularity!of!early!Holocaust!memory!brings!a!special!relevance!to!the!early!

reception!accorded!Schoenberg's!unmistakably!Jewish!sonic!memorial,!both!the!

chilly!silence!with!which!it!was!greeted!by!the!conductor!Serge!Koussevitzky,!who!

had!commissioned!it,!and!the!ecstatic!response!it!generated!at!its!actual!premiere!in!

1948!in!a!gymnasium!at!the!University!of!Albuquerque.!Both!events,!as!well!as!

Survivor’s!status!as!a!kind!of!test!case!for!debates!on!chronologies!of!early!Holocaust!

memory,!will!be!discussed!in!Chapter!5.!!

*!*!*!

! To!return!to!our!broader!overview,!we!must!also!distinguish!between!a!more!

abstract!notion!of!Holocaust!consciousness,!and!the!specific!memory!art!and!

artifacts!through!which!it!was!enacted!and!displayed.!It!is!worth!noting!that!while!

memorial!compositions!have!received!scant!attention!from!historians!of!postwar!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!46!For!another!important!work!of!revisionist!scholarship!on!postwar!memory,!one!that!

challenges!the!dominant!narrative!stated!above!through!the!specificity!of!its!geographic!

focus,!and!by!spotlighting!a!catalyzing!cultural!event!outside!the!standard!narrative,!see!

Samuel!Moyn,!A$Holocaust$Controversy:$The$Treblinka$Affair$in$Postwar$France!(Waltham,!Mass.:!Brandeis!University!Press,!2005).!

47!Young,!The$Texture$of$Memory,!130.!For!more!on!what!Moyn!summarizes!as!“the!decomposition!of!universalist!(and!especially!antifascist)!memory!and!the!rise!of!genocidal!

memory,”!see!Moyn,!A$Holocaust$Controversy,!45J85.!!

! 54!

memory,!music!written!by!actual!survivors!was!already!being!performed,!largely!for!

fellow!survivors,!in!DP!camps.48!Even!during!the!war!itself,!large!musical!pageants!

were!staged!in!North!America!to!raise!awareness!of!the!Jewish!catastrophe!in!

Europe,!the!best!known!of!which!was!“We!Will!Never!Die,”!a!collaboration!between!

Ben!Hecht!and!Kurt!Weill!that!was!performed!twice!to!enormous!crowds!in!Madison!

Square!Garden!and!later!traveled!to!several!American!cities.49!!!

! And!yet!I!suggest!a!separate!category!must!be!reserved!for!memorial!art!

created!firmly!after!the!Holocaust!itself,!art!that!by!its!nature!must!grapple!with!the!

problems!of!representation;!that!is,!summoning,!depicting,!or!refracting!events!at!a!

temporal!and!geographic!remove!from!their!occurrence.50!In!the!early!postwar!

years,!these!issues!were!particularly!freighted!as!artists,!writers,!historians,!and!

others,!set!out!to!respond!to!the!demands!of!memory!and!representation!without!

prior!reference!points!for!doing!so.!The!Holocaust,!in!the!oftenJquoted!metaphor!by!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!48!Leo!Spellman’s!Rhapsody,!for!instance,!was!performed!at!a!Bavarian!Displaced!Persons!Camp!at!Fürstenfeldbruck.!See!Bret!Werb’s!“Music”!in!Peter!Hayes!and!John!K.!Roth,!The$Oxford$Handbook$of$Holocaust$Studies!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!2010).!Yet!the!dominant!type!of!music!heard!in!the!DP!camps!was!what!Werb!calls!‘nostalgia!music’!

defined!as!“repertoire!remembered!from!before!the!war!that!was!connected!to!sentimental!

constructions!of!the!DPs’!past.”!See!Werb’s!“‘Vu!ahin!zol!ikh!geyn?’:!Music!Culture!of!Jewish!

Displaced!Persons”!in!Frühauf!and!Hirsch,!Dislocated$Memories,!75.!49!The!work!was!performed!in!Los!Angeles!at!the!Hollywood!Bowl!in!1943,!though!it!is!not!

known!whether!Schoenberg!may!have!heard!a!broadcast.!In!New!York,!the!performances!

broke!attendance!records!at!Madison!Square!Garden,!with!each!of!two!performances!

attracting!20,000!people.!The!pageant!featured!a!section!called!“Remember!Us,”!which!

sought!to!shatter!the!complacency!of!its!viewers!by!confronting!them!with!details!of!Nazi!

barbarism!in!progress.!The!organized!American!Jewish!community!however!showed!a!

marked!ambivalence!about!the!pageant,!and!prominent!local!funders!withdrew!their!

support,!forcing!the!pageant’s!closure!after!a!tour!of!just!six!cities.!For!more!details!of!its!

brief!career,!see!Stephen!J.!Whitfield,!"The!Politics!of!Pageantry,!1936J1946,"!American$Jewish$History!84,!no.!3!(1996).!50!On!the!issue!of!the!temporal!blurring!between!Holocaust!era!and!postJHolocaust!

commemoration,!see!Loeffler,!“‘In!Memory!of!our!Murdered!(Jewish)!Children,’”!610J11.!

! 55!

JeanJFrancois!Lyotard,!was!an!earthquake!that!had!shattered!all!the!instruments!

designed!to!measure!it,!including!art.51!!

Or!had!it?!Needless!to!say,!responses!to!and!studies!of!the!Holocaust!have!

grown!into!a!vast!and!practically!unmasterable!literature!extending!across!many!

academic!disciplines,!from!history,!to!literature,!to!religion,!to!cultural!studies.!

Complicating!matters!for!anyone!seeking!to!synthesize!the!insights!from!multiple!

fields!is!the!fact!that!the!approaches!often!depend!on!seemingly!irreconcilable!

epistemological!assumptions!about!the!Holocaust!itself.!!Michael!Rothberg!has!

offered!a!helpful!typology!in!sorting!through!these!different!approaches,!dividing!

them!initially!along!what!he!calls!“realist”!and!“antiJrealist”!lines.52!In!this!scheme,!

realists!view!the!Holocaust!as!knowable!and!describable!through!a!“familiar!

mimetic!universe.”!They!emphasize!the!possibility!of!mapping!the!event!as!an!

extension!of!known!discourses!of!knowledge.!Classic!realists,!in!Rothberg's!view!

would!include!Hannah!Arendt,!with!her!concept!of!the!“banality!of!evil,”!Zygmunt!

Bauman!and!his!theories!of!the!modern!bureaucratization!of!genocide,!Christopher!

Browning!and!his!notion!of!“ordinary!men,”!or!even!Daniel!Goldhagen!with!his!

theory!of!Hitler's!“willing!executioners.”!Realist!thinkers,!in!this!scheme,!often!hail!

from!the!disciplines!of!history,!sociology,!or!political!science.!!

! Across!the!epistemological!divide!lie!the!antiJrealists,!typically!hailing!from!

disciplines!of!literary!theory,!psychoanalysis,!and!religion.!These!approaches,!

according!to!Rothberg,!tend!to!emphasize!the!unknowable!nature!of!the!event!itself,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!51!Jean!François!Lyotard,!The$Differend:$Phrases$in$Dispute!(Minneapolis:!University!of!Minnesota!Press,!1988),!56J58.!

52!Rothberg,!Traumatic$Realism,!3.!!

! 56!

its!quasiJsacred!status,!its!position!beyond!the!powers!of!reason!to!comprehend,!

and!of!language!to!communicate.!One!may!think!here!of!Primo!Levi's!writings!in!

which!his!acute!quasiJscientific!rendering!of!the!details!of!camp!life!are!often!

qualified!by!his!deep!reservations!about!language!itself.!Words!are!the!only!tools!at!

his!disposal,!and!yet!words!cannot!convey!the!nature!of!the!experience.53!Rothberg!

also!cites!Elie!Wiesel's!claim!that!“Auschwitz!cannot!be!explained!nor!can!it!be!

visualized”!and!Claude!Lanzmann's!statement!that!attempting!to!actually!

understand!the!events!of!the!Holocaust!is!“obscene.”54!

! Finally,!Rothberg!suggests!a!third!category—“traumatic!realism”—that!

mediates!between!these!two!seemingly!irreconcilable!approaches,!and!“marks!the!

necessity!of!considering!how!the!ordinary!and!extraordinary!aspects!of!genocide!

intersect!and!coexist.”55!These!rather!overJgeneral!categories!nonetheless!

ultimately!position!us!to!see!the!role!of!early!memory!art!such!as!Survivor!as!a!work!

of!traumatic!realism,!one!that!likewise!mediates!between!discreet!epistemological!

regimes,!between!different!ways!of!knowing!the!past.!As!we!will!see!in!Chapters!4!

and!5,!claims!of!documentary!realism!(or!ersatz!realism)!are!central!to!Survivor’s!!

“performance”!as!a!memorial,!as!the!title!page!bore!Schoenberg’s!statement!that!

“this!text!is!based!partly!upon!reports!which!I!have!received!directly!or!indirectly.”!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!53!To!cite!just!two!examples!from!Levi’s!Survival$in$Auschwitz:!“Our!language!lacks!words!to!express!this!offence,!the!demolition!of!a!man.”!And:!“If!the!Lagers!had!lasted!longer,!a!new,!

harsh!language!would!have!been!born;!and!only!this!language!could!express!what!it!means!

to!toil!the!whole!day!in!the!wind,!with!the!temperature!below!freezing,!wearing!only!a!shirt,!

underpants,!cloth!jacket!and!trousers,!and!in!one’s!body!nothing!but!weakness,!hunger!and!

knowledge!of!the!end!drawing!nearer.”!Primo!Levi,!Survival$in$Auschwitz:$The$Nazi$Assault$on$Humanity!(New!York:!Collier!Books,!1961),!33,!129.!54!See!Rothberg,!Traumatic$Realism,!3J5.!55!Ibid.,!9.!

! 57!

At!the!same!time,!the!narrator's!text!opens!precisely!by!casting!doubt!on!the!

capacity!of!individual!memory!to!hold!such!an!extreme!event!in!its!grasp.!The!

narrator’s!very!first!line!is:!“I!cannot!remember!ev’rything.”!!!

! In!this!sense,!a!sonic!memorial!such!as!Survivor,!as!an!embodiment!of!a!kind!

of!traumatic!realism,!resists!a!sense!of!closure.!Further,!it!suggests!qualities!that!

Saul!Friedlander!has!demanded!of!historical!writing!on!the!Holocaust:!that!such!

writing,!even!if!positivistic!in!nature,!does!not!avoid!aspects!of!the!Holocaust!which!

remain!“indeterminate,!elusive!and!opaque.”56!His!injunction!may!indeed!be!

extended,!and!adapted,!for!anyone!writing!about!the!history!of!Holocaust!memory.57!

More!specifically,!we!must!remain!cognizant!of!a!tension!in!the!very!nature!of!this!

enterprise.!Works!of!memory,!when!performed,!attempt!to!subvert!historicization!

precisely!because!memory!itself!implies!the!continued!presence!of!a!past,!thereby!

resisting!the!imposition!of!a!historian’s!critical!distance.!Scholars!must!therefore!

find!routes!of!approach!to!such!works!that!do!not!a$priori!dismiss!but!rather!

preserve!this!unique,!constitutive!tension:!by!viewing!the!memorial's!production!as!

embedded!in!its!time!and!place!but!also!by!recognizing!that!its!power!resides!

precisely!in!how!steadfastly!it!refuses!to!admit!the!pastness!of!the!past.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!56!See!Friedlander’s!essay!“Trauma,!Memory,!and!Transference”!in!Hartman,!Holocaust$Remembrance,!261.!See!also!the!insightful!reading!of!Friedlander’s!own!narrative!style!in!Alon!Confino,!“Narrative!Form!and!Historical!Sensation:!On!Saul!Friedländer’s!The!Years!of!

Extermination,”!in!Christian!Wiese!and!Paul!Betts,!eds.,!Years$of$Persecution,$Years$of$Extermination:$Saul$Friedlander$and$the$Future$of$Holocaust$Studies!(London:!Continuum,!2010),!33J54.!

57!Christian!Meier,!in!an!obituary!of!historian!Martin!Broszat,!articulated!this!linkage!in!the!

opposite!direction,!when!he!wrote!that!“The!mythical!quality!that![Broszat]!attributed!to!

the!memory!of!the!victims!is!inherent!in!the!event!itself…!and!no!historical!analysis!will!be!

able!to!solve!this.!All!historical!work!on!the!events!of!this!period!will!have!to!be!pursued!or!

considered!in!its!relation!to!the!events!of!Auschwitz!(Zum$Grossen$Ganzen$von$Auschwitz)….$Here,!all!historicization!reaches!its!limits!(Hier$stoesst$alle$Historisierung$an$ihre$Grenze.)!Quoted!in!ibid.,!253.!!

! 58!

Here!we!may!submit!for!consideration!one!additional!mediumJspecific!

quality!of!the!musical!memorial,!intimately!linked!to!this!particular!aspect!of!

memoryJart.!Philosophers!of!music!have!debated!the!question!of!where—

precisely—the!musical!art!resides.!Is!Beethoven's!Ninth!to!be!found!in!the!score!of!

Beethoven's!Ninth?!Is!it!located!in!a!particular!performance!of!this!symphony,!in!the!

average!of!many!performances!over!time,!or!in!some!Platonic!idealized!version!of!its!

score!as!realized!in!sound?58!!!

These!philosophical!questions!lie!outside!the!boundaries!of!the!present!

study,!but!we!can!at!least!identify!that!this!creative/reJcreative!dynamic!is!a!unique!

aspect!of!music,!one!that!represents!a!mediumJspecific!distinction!from,!for!

instance,!painting!or!sculpture.!One!may!then!go!further!to!suggest!that!the!act!of!

musical!performance—of!any!score—exposes!listeners!uniquely!to!an!enlarged!

temporal!scheme,!a!dualJchronology!embedded!in!a!single!musical!moment:!that!is,!

a!linkage!of!the!present!tense!of!the!listener,!experiencing!a!performance!in!the!

concert!hall,!with!the!present!tense!of!the!music!at!the!time!of!its!composition.!!

It!is!in!this!sense!then,!too,!that!a!musical!monument!carries!in!it!a!memory!of!

its!own!history.!And!a!performance!of!a!musical!memorial!as!such—a!work!whose!

subject!is!also!memory—can!therefore!be!seen!as!a!kind!of!doubly!potent!refusal!“to!

keep!the!past!in!the!past.”!The!result!of!this!refusal!is!perhaps!what!we!ultimately!

mean!when!we!describe!the!experience!of!a!musical!memorial!with!bland!words!

such!as!“moving”!or!“powerful.”!In!the!best!of!these!works,!the!performance!of!

memory—as!articulated!through!the!performance!of!music!(the!realization!of!a!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!58!For!an!incisive!treatment!of!this!subject,!see!Lydia!Goehr,!The$Imaginary$Museum$of$Musical$Works:$An$Essay$in$the$Philosophy$of$Music!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!1992).!

! 59!

score)—helps!dispel!what!Walter!Benjamin,!in!his!Theses$on$the$Philosophy$of$

History,!described!as!the!expanse!of!“homogenous,!empty!time”!separating!the!

present!from!the!past.!In!short,!this!final!mediumJspecific!claim!about!the!potential!

of!the!musical!memorial!is!ultimately!connected!to!perceptions!of!time.!Instead!of!

this!“homogenous,!empty!time”!separating!us!from!the!past,!the!best!memorial!

works!have!the!potential!to!bring!us!closer!to!what!Benjamin!described!as!the!

Jetztzeit,!“time!filled!by!the!presence!of!the!now.”59!

!

((

Memorialization(and(the(Politics(of(Aesthetic(Style(! !

The!observations!in!this!chapter!have!thus!far!aimed!to!sketch!a!rough!

anatomy!and!genealogy!of!the!musical!memorial,!to!identify!its!salient!

distinguishing!features!from!the!other!types!of!memory!art,!and!to!focus!our!

attention!on!aspects!of!the!sonic!memorial!as!such.!In!this!approach!I!build!on!the!

insights!of!the!emerging!field!of!sound!studies,!a!field!that!has!attempted!to!treat!

musical!phenomena!as!a!subset!of!sound!itself.!Subsequent!chapters!will!focus!on!

Schoenberg!and!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!in!detail,!but!this!present!chapter!will!

conclude!by!pointing!this!generalized!discussion!of!the!musical!memorial!in!the!

direction!of!Survivor$with!some!observations!about!the!particular!aesthetic!choices!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!59!Italics!mine.!See!“Theses!on!the!Philosophy!of!History”!in!Benjamin,!Illuminations,!251.!Michael!Rothberg!and!others!have!applied!Benjamin’s!“Theses”$to!discussions!of!the!problems!of!Holocaust!representation.!See,!for!instance,!Rothberg,!Traumatic$Realism,!10J11.!Benjamin’s!work,!to!my!knowledge,!has!not!been!applied!to!discussions!of!the!musical!

memorial!as!a!genre.!Following!the!widespread!trend!in!memory!studies,!Rothberg,!in!his!

broader!treatment!of!“the!demands!of!Holocaust!representation,”!ignores!music!entirely.!!

! 60!

involved.!!At!this!point,!we!may!look!more!specifically!at!the!musical!language!of!the!

piece:!specifically,!Schoenberg's!choice!to!compose!his!memorial!using!the!12Jtone!

method,!sometimes!also!referred!to!as!serial!or!dodecaphonic!music.!!

As!discussed!in!the!next!chapter,!Schoenberg!discovered!this!technique!in!the!

early!1920s,!and!employed!it!as!a!means!of!structuring!his!music,!and!controlling!

what!he!called!“the!emancipation!of!dissonance,”!or!atonality.!(Most!simply!

described,!serialism!calls!for!the!use!of!a!tone!row—a!particular!ordering!of!the!12!

notes!of!the!chromatic!scale—to!replace!tonality!as!the!organizing!principle!of!a!

work!of!music.)!In!recent!years,!a!number!of!scholars!have!examined!the!various!

political!implications!of!composers’!aesthetic!choices,!with!particular!regard!to!12J

tone!music,!which!was!reviled!by!both!Nazi!and!Soviet!cultural!authorities.!Soviet!

cultural!censors!saw!12Jtone!music!as!the!embodiment!of!Western!“formalism,”!and!

as!the!style!most!distant!from!their!preferred!tenets!of!Socialist!Realism,!difficult!as!

those!tenets!may!have!been!to!apply!to!music.60!Nazi!censors!branded!Jewish!

composers!of!12Jtone!music!as!“degenerate”!artists.!!During!the!Cold!War!period,!

due!in!part!to!this!very!opposition!of!its!enemies,!12Jtone!music!enjoyed!a!certain!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!60!The!cultural!commissar!responsible!for!enforcing!Soviet!musical!policy!for!over!four!

decades!was!Tikhon!Khrennikov,!president!of!the!Composers’!Union.!Appointed!by!Stalin!in!

1948,!Khrennikov,!who!in!his!early!days!denounced!both!Shostakovich!and!Prokofiev,!

improbably!held!his!post!until!the!end!of!the!Soviet!Union.!Even!after!its!fall,!he!remained!

unrepentant,!and!lived!until!2007.!In!a!2001!interview!with!the!author,!Khrennikov,!of!all!

people,!made!the!surprisingly!bald!admission!that!“Socialist!realism!had!nothing!to!do!with!

music.!Maybe!in!literature!or!fine!arts,!it!was!applied!more!to!those!spheres.!But!to!music,!it!

just!could!not!be!applied.!To!say!music!of!socialist!realism!is![to!say]!something!very!

stupid.”!See!Jeremy!Eichler,!“The!Denouncer,”!The$Boston$Globe,!2!September!2007.!For!a!revisionist!take!on!Khrennikov,!see!Kiril!Tomoff,!Creative$Union:$The$Professional$Organization$of$Soviet$Composers,$1939F1953!(Ithaca,!N.Y.:!Cornell!University!Press,!2006).!

! 61!

prestige!in!both!the!United!States!and!West!Germany,!as!serialism!became!

simplistically!coded!as!antiJSoviet.61!

And!yet,!a!close!consideration!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!invites!us!to!

consider!not!just!Schoenberg's!own!stylistic!choices!but!also!the!way!these!choices!

were!perceived!by!his!listeners!in!the!context!of!a!memorial!to!the!Holocaust.!To!this!

day,!serial!music!often!encounters!the!hostility!of!the!general!public,!and!very!few!

works!by!Schoenberg!have!entered!the!standard!orchestral!repertoire.!The!fact!that!

Survivor$has!done!so,!almost!uniquely!among!the!composer's!12Jtone!works,!should!

not!be!explained!away!with!reference!to!the!score's!extraJmusical!status!(as!

referenced!in!the!above!discussion!of!Britten's!War$Requiem).!Rather,!as!I!will!

attempt!to!show,!this!work's!popular!reception!underscores!its!heretofore!

unrecognized!status!as!a!landmark!in!the!history!of!listening.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!61!See!Amy!C.!Beal,!New$Music,$New$Allies:$American$Experimental$Music$in$West$Germany$from$the$Zero$Hour$to$Reunification!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!2006).!And!Laura!Silverberg,!"Between!Dissonance!and!Dissidence:!Socialist!Modernism!in!the!German!

Democratic!Republic,"!The$Journal$of$Musicology!26,!no.!1!(2009).!Both!Copland!and!Stravinsky!adopted!12Jtone!techniques!during!the!Cold!War!period.!For!discussions!of!the!

political!contexts!of!their!aesthetic!choices,!see!Anne!Shreffler’s!article!“Ideologies!of!

Serialism:!Stravinsky’s!Threni!and!the!Congress!for!Cultural!Freedom”!in!Karol!Berger!and!

Anthony!Newcomb,!eds.,!Music$and$the$Aesthetics$of$Modernity:$Essays!(Cambridge,!Mass.:!Harvard!University!Press,!2005).!See!also!Jennifer!DeLappJBirkett,!"Aaron!Copland!and!the!

Politics!of!TwelveJTone!Composition!in!the!Early!Cold!War!United!States,"!Journal$of$Musicological$Research!27,!no.!1!(2008).!On!the!Nazi!category!of!“degenerate!music,”!see!Albrecht!Dümling’s!“Target!of!racial!purity:!the!‘degenerate!music’!exhibition!in!Düsseldorf,!

1938”!in!Richard!A.!Etlin,!ed.!Art,$Culture,$and$Media$under$the$Third$Reich!(Chicago:!University!of!Chicago!Press,!2002).!It!has!been!observed!that!the!breadth!of!composers!

whose!music!was!branded!“degenerate”!by!the!Nazis!makes!a!farce!out!of!the!notion!that!

such!distinctions!were!based!on!aesthetic!rather!than!ethnicJracial!terms.!The!fact!that!

Schoenberg!and!Korngold!both!fell!into!the!“degenerate”!camp!would!seem!a!case!in!point.!

Schoenberg!himself!also!liked!to!point!to!a!12Jtone!opera!by!the!German!composer!Paul!von!

Klenau,!written!in!Germany!and!accepted!as!legitimate!during!the!Nazi!period,!as!further!

evidence!of!the!fact!that,!at!the!very!least,!Nazi!aesthetic!categories!were!not!uniformly!

applied.!See!“Is!it!Fair?”!in!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!249.!!!!!

! 62!

Indeed,!in!recent!years,!historians!have!taken!an!expanded!interest!in!the!

history!of!the!senses!more!broadly,!to!the!point!that,!as!Martin!Jay!has!written,!

“exploring!the!infinite!variety!of!sensual!experience!has!become!a!staple!of!

contemporary!historical!analysis.”62!The!history!of!hearing!has!generated!its!own!

burgeoning!body!of!historical!literature,63!including!works!which!have!documented!

the!ways!in!which!listening!itself—not!the!auditory!faculty!as!such!but!the!

assignment!of!meaning!to!sound—is!culturally!and!historically!mediated.!As!one!

historian!has!summarized!the!insights!of!several!studies!in!this!area:!!

[the]!basic!auditory!perception,!as!well!as!the!kind!of!hearing!we!call!active!

listening,!is!historically!variable;!it!depends!on!incidental!and!deliberate!

changes!in!technology,!the!environment,!aesthetics,!and!social!relations!and!

is!also!generative!of!those!changes.!Hearing!as!a!form!of!sense!perception!is,!

in!this!literature,!a!cultural!effect!as!much!as!a!physiological!one.!Even!as!

simple!a!question!as!what!rises!to!the!level!of!music!or!sinks!to!the!level!of!

noise!turns!out!to!be!largely!socially!and!ideologically!determined,!a!question!

of!prevailing!standards!of!taste!and!toleration!as!well!as!habits!of!attention.64!

!

Returning!to!Survivor,!we!may!say!that!in!this!work,!the!“emancipated!

dissonance”!of!Schoenberg's!serial!music!attained!for!its!early!listeners!an!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!62!Jay,!"In!the!Realm!of!the!Senses:!An!Introduction,"!307.!

63!For!a!wellJchosen!sampler!of!scholarship!in!this!area!see,!Smith,!Hearing$History:$A$Reader.!See!also!Alain!Corbin,!Village$Bells.!Peter!Szendy,!Listen:$A$History$of$Our$Ears,!trans.!Charlotte!Mandell!(New!York:!Fordham!University!Press,!2008).!Johnson,!Listening$in$Paris:$A$Cultural$History.!Matthew!Riley,!Musical$Listening$in$the$German$Enlightenment:$Attention,$Wonder$and$Astonishment!(Aldershot,!Hants,!England:!Ashgate!Pub.!Co.,!2004).!And!Mark!M.!Smith,!Listening$to$NineteenthFCentury$America!(Chapel!Hill:!University!of!North!Carolina!Press,!2001).!For!the!German!cultural!context!see!Nora!M.!Alter!and!Lutz!P.!Koepnick,!eds.,!

Sound$Matters:$Essays$on$the$Acoustics$of$Modern$German$Culture!(New!York:!Berghahn!Books,!2004).!On!the!shifting!definitions!of!noise,!the!pioneering!text!is!Jacques!Attali,!Noise:$The$Political$Economy$of$Music!(Minneapolis:!University!of!Minnesota!Press,!1985).!64!Rosenfeld,!"On!Being!Heard:!A!Case!for!Paying!Attention!to!the!Historical!Ear,"!318.!

! 63!

unprecedented!level!of!narrative!legibility.!In!essence,!“noise”!became!“music.”65!

And!not!just!any!music!but!one!that!aspired!to!a!documentary!(if!“traumatic”)!

realism.!Schoenberg's!use!of!dissonance!had!been!so!often!rejected!by!the!public!as!

incomprehensible!when!it!applied!to!dark!and!unstable!psychic!states,!as!in!the!

1909!monodrama!Erwartung,!a!work!whose!expressionistic!gestures!are!often!

compared!to!those!of!Survivor.!But!in!Survivor,!the!music’s!jagged!surfaces!and!

Schoenberg's!harshly!dissonant!language!“made!sense”!to!a!lay!public!through!the!

introduction!of!a!historical!referent:!the!bald!violence!of!the!scene!he!depicts,!or!

more!broadly,!the!social!dissonance!that!found!its!purest!expression!in!the!Final!

Solution.!!!

Another!approach!to!this!same!theme!may!be!offered!through!the!terms!

developed!by!Peter!Bürger!in!his!Theory$of$the$AvantFGarde.!Bürger's!influential!

study!positioned!the!nineteenthJcentury!project!of!l'art$pour$l'art!as!the!culmination!

of!the!aestheticist!quest!to!create!an!autonomous!space!for!art!as!freed!from!the!

influence!of!church!or!state.!For!Bürger,!the!twentieth!century's!highJmodernism!

was!fundamentally!a!continuation!of!this!quest!to!define!an!autonomous!sphere!for!

high!art.!This!valorization!of!artistic!autonomy,!however,!is!precisely!what!the!

interwar!movements!such!as!Dada!and!surrealism!sought!to!criticize:!art's!hermetic!

separation!from!politics!and!history.!Bürger!coined!the!term!“historical!avantJ

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!65!On!the!historical!distinction!between!“noise”!and!“music”!in!the!European!aural!

imagination,!with!specific!reference!to!Schoenberg,!see!HaCohen,!The$Music$Libel$against$the$Jews,!286J339.!

! 64!

garde”!to!describe!these!critical!movements!that!sought!to!angle!the!modern!

aesthetic!impulse!outward!to!grapple!with!its!times.66!

Bürger's!framework!provides!us!with!the!terminology!to!identify!the!

significant!shift!represented!by!Survivor.!By!pivoting!to!address!the!horrors!of!the!

Holocaust!so!directly,!Schoenberg!reJoriented!his!art!from!its!position!of!highJ

modernist!detachment!to!a!mode!much!closer!to!that!of!the!historical!avantJgarde.!

Indeed,!despite!his!own!sharp!critique!in!earlier!decades!of!soJcalled!politically!

engaged!art—crystallized!in!his!break!with!his!former!student!Hanns!Eisler—

Schoenberg!here!(as!in!his!Ode$to$Napoleon,!also!a!product!of!the!1940s)!abandons!

strictly!aesthetic!concerns!to!address!the!defining!political!and!historical!event!of!

his!time.67!

Schoenberg!remained!rather!poignantly!oblivious!to!the!historicalJaesthetic!

intersection!at!which!Survivor!was!uniquely!perched.!He!entertained!the!possibility!

that!the!rave!reception!Survivor$received!at!its!world!premiere!(described!in!

Chapter!5)!might!mark!a!broader!change!in!American!attitudes!toward!his!music.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!66!See!Peter!Bürger,!Theory$of$the$AvantFGarde,!trans.!Michael!Shaw!(Minneapolis:!University!of!Minnesota!Press,!1984).!See!also!Andreas!Huyssen,!After$the$Great$Divide:$Modernism,$Mass$Culture,$Postmodernism!(Bloomington:!Indiana!University!Press,!1986).!Huyssen!helpfully!places!the!highJmodernist!commitment!to!autonomy!in!the!context!of!the!fascist!

and!communist!threats!of!midJcentury!that!were,!from!the!right!and!from!the!left,!bent!on!

the!appropriation!of!art!to!political!ends.!Against!this!backdrop,!insistence!on!art’s!

independence!or,!in!Adorno’s!terms,!negative!relationship!with!culture,!can!be!seen!as!a!

logical!defense.!!

67!In!his!survey!of!Southern!California’s!artistic!émigrés,!Erhard!Bahr!identifies!this!turning!

toward!history!as!a!key!component!of!what!he!terms!“exile!modernism.”!See!Bahr,!Weimar$on$the$Pacific.!It!is!also!worth!noting!that,!to!some!extent,!Schoenberg’s!image!as!a!revolutionary!isolated!from!history!and!politics!was!itself!a!caricature,!one!to!which!his!own!

early!aphoristic!pronouncements!often!leant!credence.!Recent!scholarship!has!also!shown!

the!extent!to!which!this!image!was!shaped!by!the!postwar!avantJgarde!to!suit!its!own!

political!agenda.!See,!for!instance,!Richard!Toop’s!essay!“Schoenberg:!dead!or!alive?”!in!

Joseph!Auner!and!Jennifer!Robin!Shaw,!eds.,!The$Cambridge$Companion$to$Schoenberg!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!2010).!

! 65!

But!others!grasped!the!uniqueness!of!this!score.!In!Survivor,$Adorno!wrote,!

Schoenberg!“suspends!the!aesthetic!sphere!through!the!recollection!of!experiences!

which!are!inaccessible!to!art.!Anxiety,!Schoenberg's!expressive!core,!identifies!itself!

with!the!terror!of!men!in!the!agonies!of!death,!under!total!domination.!The!sounds!

of!Erwartung,$the!shocks!of!the!Music$for$the$Film,$of!'impending!danger,!anxiety,!

catastrophe,'!finally$meet$what$they$had$always$prophesied….”!Adorno!concludes:!

“Horror!has!never!rung!as!true!in!music.”68!

!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!68!“Arnold!Schoenberg”!in!Theodor!W.!Adorno,!Prisms,!trans.!Samuel!and!Shierry!Weber!(Cambridge,!Mass.:!MIT!Press,!1981),!172.!Italics!added.!!

! 66!

!

Chapter(3((

Arnold(Schoenberg:(Between(Emancipation(and(Memory((!

!

“I!have!made!a!discovery!thanks!to!which!the!supremacy!of!German!

music!is!ensured!for!the!next!hundred!years.”!!

!

–!Schoenberg!on!the!discovery!of!his!12Jtone!technique,!1921!

!

“For!I!have!at!last!learnt!the!lesson!that!has!been!forced!upon!me!during!

this!year,!and!I!shall!not!ever!forget!it.!It!is!that!I!am!not!a!German,!not!a!

European,!indeed!perhaps!scarcely!even!a!human!being!…!but!I!am!a!

Jew.”!!

–!Schoenberg!to!Kandinsky,!April!1923!

!

“Please!accept![the!dedication!of!my!opera!“Lulu”],!not!only!as!a!product!

of!years!of!work!most!devoutly!consecrated!to!you,!but!also!as!an!

outward!document:!the!whole!world—the!German!world,!too—is!to!

recognize!in!the!dedication!that!this!German!opera—like!all!my!

works—is!indigenous$to!the!realm!of!that$most$German$of$music,!which!will!bear!your!name!for!all!eternity.”!

!

–!Berg!to!Schoenberg,!August!1934!

!

!

!

Arnold!Schoenberg's!controversial!music!and!the!mythology!surrounding!his!

artistic!revolution!have!long!overshadowed!the!actual!contours!of!his!biography,!a!

geographic!journey!with!stops!in!three!iconic!centers!of!European!modernism:!finJ

deJsiècle!Vienna,!interwar!Berlin,!and!finally,!Los!Angeles!of!the!1930s!and!1940s.!

Indeed,!Schoenberg's!own!contributions!to!musical!modernism,!and!those!of!his!

disciples!Alban!Berg!and!Anton!Webern,!have!been!seen!as!so!archetypal—and!so!

hegemonic—in!determining!the!definitions!of!progress!in!twentiethJcentury!music,!

that!revisionist!scholars!have!found!it!necessary!to!argue!for!serious!consideration!

! 67!

of!contemporary!composers!pushed!to!the!historical!margins!because!they!took!

nonJSchoenbergian!approaches!to!envisioning!music’s!future.1!!!

! For!the!purposes!of!this!dissertation,!this!biographic!chapter!will!focus!on!the!

currents!of!Schoenberg's!life!and!work!most!vital!to!understanding,!first,!his!role!as!

creator!of!the!earliest!significant!musical!memorial!to!the!extermination!of!

European!Jewry,!and!secondly,!the!nature!and!meaning!of!A$Survivor$From$Warsaw.!

This!will!entail!an!exploration!of!the!rather!complex!evolution!of!Schoenberg’s!own!

idiosyncratic!relationship!with!Judaism,!a!prism!through!which!an!increasing!

number!of!scholars!in!recent!years!have!been!profitably!viewing!his!life!and!work.2!

Far!from!something!immutable!or!essential,!Schoenberg’s!identity!is!perhaps!most!

accurately!understood—with!help!from!the!enormous!body!of!documentary!

evidence!he!left!behind,!as!well!as!the!“texts”!of!his!musical!estate—as!an!ongoing!

attempt!to!mediate!between!powerful!fields!of!Deutschtum$and!Judentum,!cultural!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!For!a!summary!of!the!dominant!narrative!prominent!in!writings!on!musical!modernism,!

see!Frisch,!German$Modernism:$Music$and$the$Arts,!4.!For!examples!of!efforts!to!redress!the!imbalance!implied!therein,!see!both!Frisch’s!German$Modernism!as!well!as!Christopher!Hailey,!"Franz!Schreker!and!the!Pluralities!of!Modernism,"!Tempo!!(2002).!2!For!the!first!major!attempt!to!address!Schoenberg’s!life!and!art!through!the!lens!of!his!

Jewish!identity,!see!Alexander!Ringer,!Arnold$Schoenberg:$The$Composer$as$Jew!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!1990).!Subsequent!studies!that!have!fruitfully!considered!

Schoenberg’s!Judaism!include!Móricz,!Jewish$Identities;!David!Schiller,!Bloch,$Schoenberg,$and$Bernstein:$Assimilating$Jewish$Music!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!2003);!Brown,!Schoenberg$and$Redemption;!Leon!Botstein,!“Arnold!Schoenberg:!Language,!Modernism,!and!Jewish!Identity”!in!Wistrich,!Austrians$and$Jews$in$the$Twentieth$Century,!162J83;!Philip!Bohlman,!“The!transcendent!moment!of!Jewish!modernism”!and!“Beyond!Jewish!

modernism,”!in!Philip!Bohlman,!ed.!Jewish$Musical$Modernism,$Old$and$New!(Chicago:!University!of!Chicago!Press,!2008),!1J29!and!153J77;!Charlotte!Cross!and!Russell!Berman,!

eds.,!Political$and$Religious$Ideas$in$the$Works$of$Arnold$Schoenberg!(New!York:!Garland!Pub.,!2000);!Bluma!Goldstein,!“Word,!Image,!Idea:!Schoenberg!and!Moses!–!A!Tragic!

Coexistence”!in!Bluma!Goldstein,!Reinscribing$Moses:$Heine,$Kafka,$Freud,$and$Schoenberg$in$a$European$Wilderness!(Cambridge:!Harvard!University!Press,!1992),!192;!Ruth!HaCohen,!"Sounds!of!Revelation:!AestheticJPolitical!Theology!in!Schoenberg's!Moses!Und!Aron,"!

Modernist$Cultures!1,!no.!2!(2005)!and!The$Music$Libel$against$the$Jews,!286J339.!

! 68!

forces!that!he!experienced!with!great!intensity!across!a!period!of!two!world!wars!

and!seismic!historical!disruption.!!

As!we!will!see,!Survivor’s$chronological!status!as!among!the!very!first!works!

of!its!particular!subJgenre!must!be!understood!with!reference!to!Schoenberg’s!own!

position!on!the!leading!edge!of!a!particular!cultural!curve,!one!that!dates!back!more!

than!two!decades!before!the!work’s!composition.!He!was!one!of!the!first!prominent!

JewishJborn!artists!to!detect,!in!the!early!1920s,!a!shift!toward!a!newly!virulent!antiJ

Semitism,!and!one!of!the!first!to!intuit!the!direction!in!which!it!was!headed.3!At!that!

point,!after!more!than!two!decades!of!what!he!later!described!as!a!“messianic”!belief!

in!the!redemptive!promise!of!assimilation!into!German!culture,!Schoenberg!

forcefully,!if!fitfully,!reclaimed!a!Jewish!identity.!Here,!however,!it!must!be!added!

that!a!narrative!of!“reclamation”!is!highly!problematic!in!Schoenberg’s!case,!to!the!

extent!that!it!implies!a!return!to!aspects!of!a!Jewish!identity!that!were!present!at!an!

earlier!stage!in!his!life.!As!we!will!see,!little!is!known!of!what!positive!content!may!

be!ascribed!to!Schoenberg’s!Jewish!identity!prior!to!(or!immediately!after)!his!

conversion!to!Protestantism!in!1898,!about!which!more!will!of!course!follow!below.!!!

And!so!the!interpretation!offered!here!will!contrast!with!those!that!have!

viewed!the!composer!as!possessing!a!latent!Jewishness!or!agonizing!selfJ

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3!In!a!frequently!quoted!letter!of!1923!to!Kandinsky,!Schoenberg!wrote!“Trotsky!and!Lenin!

spilt!rivers!of!blood!(which,!by!the!way,!no!revolution!in!the!history!of!the!world!could!ever!

avoid!doing!),!in!order!to!turn!a!theory…into!reality…!But!what!is!antiJSemitism!to!lead!to!if!

not!to!acts!of!violence?!Is!it!so!difficult!to!imagine!that?”!See!Jelena!HahlJKoch,!ed.!Arnold$Schoenberg,$Wassily$Kandinsky:$Letters,$Pictures,$and$Documents!(London!and!Boston:!Faber!&!Faber,!1984),!81J82.!

! 69!

consciousness!running!from!his!childhood!to!maturity.4!But!it!will!also!depart!from!

those!that!have!seen!him!as!a!wouldJbe!assimilated!Jew!shocked!into!a!radical!

kneejerk!embrace!of!a!kind!of!militant!political!Jewishness!colored!paradoxically!by!

Nazi!antiJSemitic!propaganda!and!utopian!fascist!ideology.5!Rather,!I!suggest!in!this!

chapter!that!the!version!of!Jewish!identity!Schoenberg!carried!into!his!American!

exile!was!assembled!all!but!exJnihilo!during!the!1920s,!and!incorporated!a!kind!of!

retrofitting!of!several!traits!and!tendencies!reflected!in!his!music!and!writing!of!the!

previous!decades.!These!tendencies!may!be!enumerated!as,!firstly,!a!native!religious!

or!spiritual!disposition!in!his!personality!and!reflected!in!his!music!as!early!as!his!

unfinished!1914!oratorio!Die$Jakobsleiter.6!Secondly,!a!penchant!for!racialized!

and/or!nationalistic!assertions!of!identity!that!was!very!much!of!a!piece!with!the!

intellectual!currents!of!his!finJdeJsiècle!milieu.!(These!assertions!were!initially!

linked!to!German!culture!when!he!saw!himself!as!one!of!its!torchbearers.!After!what!

he!later!called!his!“ejection”!from!Deutschtum,!he!worked!with!equal!vehemence!on!

behalf!of!what!he!called!“the!Jewish!national!cause.”)!And!thirdly,!a!certain!tendency!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4!André!Neher,!for!instance,!writes!that!“Converted!to!Christianity!in!1898,!Arnold!

Schönberg!had!never!ceased!to!consider!himself,!to!conduct!himself,!and!to!create!his!work!

as!a!Jew…”!See!André!Neher,!They$Made$Their$Souls$Anew,!trans.!David!Maisel!(Albany:!State!University!of!New!York!Press,!1990),!14.!

5!See,!for!instance,!Gabriel!Saul!Cooper,!"Fantasies!of!Jewish!Power:!Religion!and!State!in!

German!Jewish!Writing!from!Mendelssohn!to!Schoenberg"!(Ph.D!Dissertation,!University!of!

Virginia,!2013).!In!her!analysis!of!Schoenberg’s!political!writing!of!the!1930s,!Klara!Moricz!

has!described!the!composer’s!“political!fantasy”!as!“an!eerie!copy!of!the!frightening!political!

reality!of!his!time.”!See!Móricz,!Jewish$Identities,!221.!!6!In!a!speech!delivered!as!the!Freud!Anniversary!Lecture!at!the!New!York!Academy!of!

Medicine,!Yosef!Hayim!Yerushalmi!offered!an!extensive!comparison!between!Freud!and!

Schoenberg’s!conception!of!Moses.!In!it!he!accentuates!the!salient!differences!between!

Freud’s!atheism!(writing!about!Moses!as,!Freud!believed,!a!historian)!and!Schoenberg’s!

nonJdogmatic!religiosity!(treating!Moses!“as!a!philosopherJtheologian”).!Yerushalmi!goes!as!

far!as!describing!Schoenberg!as!the!“homo$religiosus.”!For!a!published!version!of!the!address,!see!Yerushalmi,!"The!Moses!of!Freud!and!the!Moses!of!Schoenberg:!On!Words,!

Idolatry,!and!Psychoanalysis."!!

! 70!

to!see!himself!as!“chosen”!or!destined!for!larger!leadership!roles!in!the!face!of!the!

indifference!or!hostility!of!a!wider!public.!Again,!this!sense!of!self!was!honed!

elsewhere—as!I!will!argue,!in!the!crucible!of!his!musical!revolution—but!it!was!then!

applied!to!his!selfJappointed!role!as!a!savior!of!European!Jewry!on!the!eve!of!its!

destruction.!At!that!point,!one!might!say,!the!Moses!of!modernism!set!out!to!become!

the!modern!Moses!of!the!Jews.!In!this!context,!we!will!look!closely!at!the!defining!

masterpiece!from!the!close!of!his!European!period,!the!biblical!opera!Moses$und$

Aron.!I!will!suggest!that!the!shape!and!thematic!content!of!this!work!was!very!much!

overdetermined,!as!was!the!fact!that,!despite!his!best!efforts!to!complete!it,!

Schoenberg!left!the!opera!unfinished!at!the!time!of!his!death.!$

! For!both!practical!and!hermeneutical!purposes,!this!chapter!will!treat!

Schoenberg’s!life!in!three!larger!sections.!The!first!ranges!from!his!birth!until!the!

notorious!Mattsee!incident!of!1921;!the!second!period!extends!through!his!

expulsion!from!Germany!in!1933;!and!the!third!period!covers!his!life!in!the!United!

States,!with!a!focus!on!his!time!in!Los!Angeles.!What!appears!below!is!naturally!not!

intended!as!a!comprehensive!portrait,!but!rather!as!a!selective!biographic!

contextualization!and!interpretation,!one!that!is!necessary!for!a!“thicker”!

description!of!his!Jewish!identity!as!well!as!his!creative!output!in!America!more!

broadly,!and!of!Survivor$in!particular.$!

Over!the!course!of!this!chapter,!I!will!attempt!to!place!this!narrative!in!the!

context!of!relevant!scholarship!from!the!both!the!study!of!GermanJJewish!history!

and!the!study!of!modernism.!I!do!not!here!foreground!a!narrative!of!Schoenberg's!

! 71!

compositional!development,!so!wellJcharted!elsewhere,!except!at!key!points!where!

it!becomes!germane!to!the!biographic!interpretation!at!hand.!!!

! A!fourth!and!final!section!of!this!chapter!will!engage!with!a!trend!in!the!

interpretation!of!Survivor!that!has!read!this!work!as!at!least!partly!autobiographical,!

as!a!memorial!statement!informed!not!just!by!the!dimensions!of!the!Holocaust!in!the!

abstract!but!by!the!particulars!of!Schoenberg's!own!loss.!This!section!will!prepare!

us!to!answer!the!question!of!what—precisely—was!being!memorialized!in!this!

work!by!examining!Schoenberg's!personal!and!familial!connections!to!the!

Holocaust.!As!at!least!one!commentator!has!suggested,!while!Schoenberg!had!no!

direct!personal!contact!with!what!has!been!called!the!“concentrationary!universe,”!

he!may!be!viewed!as,!in!George!Steiner's!phrase,!“a!kind!of!survivor.”7!If!this!is!so,!

how!should!one!characterize!what!it!is!that!he!survived?!!

!

(

I.((‘Redemption(from(the(Disgrace’:((Becoming(a(German(Modernist(

!

!

Setting(the(framework(

! Few!topics!in!modern!Jewish!history!have!been!as!vexed!or!as!contentious!as!

the!historiography!of!GermanJspeaking!Jewry!in!the!nineteenth!and!twentieth!

centuries,!shaped!as!it!has!been!by!two!distinct!trends!that!have!been!aptly!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!7!The!phrase!comes!from!an!essay!in!George!Steiner,!Language$and$Silence:$Essays$on$Language,$Literature,$and$the$Inhuman!(New!York:!Atheneum,!1967).!It!was!first!applied!to!Schoenberg!by!David!Schiller.!See!Schiller,!Bloch,$Schoenberg,$and$Bernstein,!126.!

! 72!

summarized!as!“the!Zionist!interpretation!of!modern!Jewish!history,!and!postJ

Holocaust!hindsight.”8!The!latter!trend!has!by!now!come!in!for!its!share!of!criticism:!

namely,!that!understanding!the!history!of!German!Jews!in!this!formulation!becomes!

a!search!for!root!causes!of!the!Holocaust,!and!in!so!doing!minimizes!much!of!the!

complexity!and!contingency!of!decades!of!Jewish!life!prior!to!the!Second!World!War.!

The!omens!on!the!horizon,!as!we!will!see!illustrated!in!this!chapter,!in!fact!pointed!

in!multiple!directions.!As!Peter!Gay!has!written,!“To!say!that!the!Third!Reich!was!

grounded!in!the!German!past!is!true!enough;!to!say!that!it!was!the!inescapable!

result!of!that!past,!the!only!fruit!that!the!German!tree!would!grow,!is!false.”9!

In!the!case!of!the!second!trend!cited!above—Zionist!or!nationalist!schools!of!

historiography—Jewish!life!in!Central!Europe!during!the!last!decades!of!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!8!Evyatar!Friesel,!"The!GermanJJewish!Encounter!as!a!Historical!Problem:!A!

Reconsideration,"!The$Leo$Baeck$Institute$Yearbook!41,!no.!1!(1996).!9!Peter!Gay,!Freud,$Jews,$and$Other$Germans:$Masters$and$Victims$in$Modernist$Culture!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!1978),!9.!As!Gay!elaborates,!the!historian’s!“preoccupation!

with!1933!and!later,!when!he!is!writing!about!1890!and!earlier,!has!served!to!limit!and!to!

distort!his!vision.!By!treating!nineteenthJcentury!ideas!and!institutions!as!clues!of!crimes!to!

come,!he!has!torn!them!from!their!living!context!and!concentrated!on!the!vertical!

connections!of!passing!time!at!the!expense!of!the!horizontal!connections!of!lived!

experience.”!See!also!Michael!André!Bernstein,!Foregone$Conclusions:$Against$Apocalyptic$History!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!1994).!Among!musicologists,!Alexander!Ringer!shed!considerable!light!on!the!connections!between!Schoenberg’s!musical!

innovations!and!his!religious!views,!but!he!appears!to!fall!victim!to!precisely!the!backJ

shadowing!tendencies!against!which!Gay,!Bernstein!and!others!have!cautioned.!Indeed,!his!

analyses!are!predicated!on!a!kind!of!teleology!of!tragedy,!which!Ringer!describes!thusly:!

“[A]ny!objective,!comprehensive!appraisal!of!the!Schoenbergian!bequest…!must$proceed$from$the$fundamental$premiss$that$this$composer$was$not$only$a$profoundly$religious$artist$but$also$a$product$of$that$emancipated$Central$European$Jewry$which,$after$decades$of$overt$popular$and$governmental$oppression,$suffered$virtually$complete$physical$extinction.”!The!phenomenon!of!backJshadowing!can!also!lead!to!a!tendency!toward!simplistic!or!reductive!

judgments!of!artists!or!other!figures!invested!in!the!“mirage”!of!GermanJJewish!dialogue.!

Ringer!in!this!spirit!chides!Jewish!artists!and!intellectuals!who!“nevertheless!eagerly!and!

often!blindly!embraced!every!opportunity!to!identify!themselves!with!this![German]!culture!

they!had!admired!so!long!from!afar.”!From!Ringer’s!perspective,!the!events!of!the!Shoah!

appear!to!have!been!prescripted,!as!he!writes!that!“few!were!perceptive!enough!to!read!the!

writing!on!the!wall….”!Ringer,!Arnold$Schoenberg,!vii,!15.!Italics!added.!!!!!

! 73!

nineteenth!century!and!first!decades!of!the!twentieth!becomes!the!exemplar!par$

excellence!of!the!fundamental!incompatibility!of!Jewish!life!with!conditions!of!the!

diaspora.!It!is!in!this!spirit!that!Gershom!Scholem!famously!attacked!the!very!notion!

that!a!true!open!dialogue!between!Jews!and!Germans!had!ever!taken!place,10!though!

the!trend!of!lacerating!critiques!by!Jewish!observers!of!both!the!physical!and!moral!

conditions!of!Jews!in!Central!and!Eastern!Europe!of!course!long!predates!the!

Holocaust.11!!

More!recent!efforts!have!attempted!to!move!beyond!what!has!been!described!

as!a!“dead!end”!in!these!two!dominant!historiographic!approaches,12!in!part!by!

focusing!on!how!such!approaches!are!predicated!on!philosophically!and!historically!

dubious!notions!of!Jewish!identity.!Such!notions!assume!that!categories!of!“Jew”!and!

“German”!are!fixed!and!immutable,!rather!than!constructed!anew!in!every!context,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!10!Scholem!wrote,!“I!deny!that!there!has!ever!been!such!a!GermanJJewish!dialogue!in!any!

genuine!sense!whatsoever,!i.e.!as$a$historical$phenomenon.!It!takes!two!to!have!a!dialogue,!who!listen!to!each!other…!This!dialogue!died!at!is!very!start!and!never!took!place…!The!

allegedly!indestructible!community!of!the!German!essence!with!the!Jewish!essence!

consisted,!so!long!as!these!two!essences!really!lived!with!each!other,!only!of!a!chorus!of!

Jewish!voices...”!See!“Against!the!Myth!of!the!GermanJJewish!Dialogue”!in!Gershom!Gerhard!

Scholem,!On$Jews$and$Judaism$in$Crisis:$Selected$Essays!(New!York:!Schocken!Books,!1976),!61J64.!See!also!Klaus!L.!Berghahn,!ed.!The$GermanFJewish$Dialogue$Reconsidered!(New!York:!Peter!Lang,!1996).!

11!See!Arthur!Hertzberg,!ed.!The$Zionist$Idea:$A$Historical$Analysis$and$Reader!(Philadelphia:!Jewish!Publication!Society,!1997).!And!Jonathan!Frankel,!Prophecy$and$Politics:$Socialism,$Nationalism,$and$the$Russian$Jews,$1862F1917!(Cambridge![Eng.]:!Cambridge!University!Press,!1981).!In!this!category!one!may!also!mention!the!numerous!internal!and!in$situ!critiques!of!the!Jewish!drive!for!participation!in!German!culture,!most!famously!

emblematized!by!“The!GermanJJewish!Parnassus,”!the!controversial!1912!article!by!Moritz!

Goldstein,!with!its!lapidary!pronouncement!that!“[w]e!Jews!are!administering!the!spiritual!

property!of!a!nation!which!denies!our!right!and!ability!to!do!so.”!See!“Assimilation!and!Its!

Impossible!Discontents”!in!Steven!E.!Aschheim,!In$Times$of$Crisis:$Essays$on$European$Culture,$Germans,$and$Jews!(Madison,!Wis.:!University!of!Wisconsin!Press,!2001),!64J85.!!!12!See!Shulamit!Volkov,!"Reflections!on!GermanJJewish!Historiography:!Dead!End!or!New!

Beginning?,"!Leo$Baeck$Institute$Yearbook!XLI!(1995).!

! 74!

based!on!individual!and!collective!definitions!of!identity!that!are!themselves!far!

more!porous!and!fluidly!negotiated!than!has!often!been!assumed.13!!

This!newer!approach!implicitly!calls!into!question!historians’!use!of!terms!

such!as!“acculturation”!and!“assimilation.”!It!also!has!further!implications!that!are!

relevant!for!the!current!study,!as!it!casts!doubt!on!the!validity!of!attempts!to!assess!

subjects!defined!through!these!more!traditional!essentializing!categories.!Even!the!

most!common!of!phrases!–!“the!contributions!of!Jews!to!German!culture”!–!betrays!

under!closer!examination!the!presence!of!older!paradigms!that!regarded!a!static!and!

dominant!center!to!German!life!and!a!monolithic!periphery.!Further,!as!Michael!

Steinberg!has!pointed!out,!it!reifies!the!year!of!1871,!or!more!specifically,!it!suggests!

an!imperial!German!statist!framework!for!defining!Germanness.14!In!its!stead!this!

dissertation!seeks!to!build!on!approaches!to!GermanJJewish!history!that,!to!an!

extent,!relativize!both!sides!of!this!hyphenate!adjective!in!the!other's!image;!that!is!

to!say,!as!Stephen!Aschheim!has!summarized,!“the!role!of!the!Jews!(whether!or!not!

they!identified!as!such)!is!conceived!not!simply!as!contributory![to!German!culture]!

but!wellJnigh!coFconstitutive.”15!This!point!is!particularly!salient!in!considering!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!13!See,!for!instance,!Samuel!!Moyn,!"German!Jewry!and!the!Question!of!Identity:!

Historiography!and!Theory,"!Leo$Baeck$Institute$Yearbook$41!(1996).!Moyn!draws!attention!to!the!unspoken!assumptions!of!“ethnic!absolutism”!that!underlie!much!of!the!older!

historiography,!and!argues!instead!for!an!approach!to!Jewish!identity!“not!as!a!

transhistorical!constant!but!as!a!historical!construct,!always!interactive!with!his!or!her!

contexts,!defined!and!selfJdefined!in,!through,!and!sometimes!against!them.”!

14!“In!this!context,”!writes!Steinberg,!“the!distinction!too!regularly!elided!is!that!between!

German!culture!and!German!national!culture….!Thus!the!Germanness!of!the!Jews!is!

rendered!indistinguishable!from!the!German!nationalism!of!the!Jews,!and!hence!an!

investment!which!was!always!problematic!from!an!ideological!point!of!view.”!See!

Steinberg’s!essay!“Grounds!Zero:!History,!Memory,!and!the!New!Sacredness!in!Berlin!and!

Beyond,”!especially!pages!184J189,!in!Michael!P.!Steinberg,!Judaism$Musical$and$Unmusical!(Chicago:!University!of!Chicago!Press,!2007).!

15!See!“German!History!and!Germany!Jewry”!in!Aschheim,!In$Times$of$Crisis,!87.!

! 75!

idiosyncratic!case!of!Schoenberg's!identity,!since—as!demonstrated!by!the!

quotations!at!the!head!of!this!chapter—he!often!emphasized,!with!great!rhetorical!

flair,!precisely!the!essentialized!definitions!of!identity!that!are!here!being!brought!

under!critical!scrutiny.!Indeed,!despite!his!assertions!to!the!contrary,!Schoenberg!

himself!was!never!exclusively!or!essentially!“German”!or!“Jewish”!any!more!than!his!

12Jtone!method!of!composition!“belonged”!to!German!or!Jewish!culture.16!As!we!

will!see,!the!very!terms!themselves—”German,”!“Jewish”—were!far!from!static!for!

the!composer;!rather,!they!were!being!continuously!renegotiated!throughout!

Schoenberg's!long!and!turbulent!life.!!

This!study!instead!demonstrates!a!need!for!the!application!of!newer!

approaches!to!these!categories,!approaches!that!avoid!essentializing!tendencies!and!

the!troublesome!determinism!that!can!flow!from!them.17!In!this!goal!we!will!be!best!

served!by!employing!an!interpretive!concept!that!the!historian!Till!van!Rahden,!in!

his!study!of!the!Jews!of!Breslau,!has!termed!“situational!ethnicity.”!This!framework!

suggests!that!“while!an!individual's!membership!in!an!ethnic!group!can!play!an!

important!role!in!specific!situations,!such!as!in!family!life!or!in!participation!in!

ethnic!associations,!in!different!contexts!ethnicity!becomes!less!significant,!and!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!16!Some!interpreters!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw,!whether!implicitly!or!explicitly,!have!made!use!of!Schoenberg’s!own!essentialized!definitions!in!understanding!the!work.!David!Isadore!

Lieberman,!for!instance,!views!Survivor$as!an!attempt!to!withdraw!“from!German!music!the!right!to!inherit!that!which![Schoenberg]!considered!his!most!enduring!legacy,!and!which!he!

had!developed!specifically!for!the!benefit!of!German!music:!the!method!of!composing!with!

twelve!tones!related!only!to!one!another.”!See!“Schoenberg!Rewrites!His!Will”!in!Cross!and!

Berman,!Political$and$Religious$Ideas$in$the$Works$of$Arnold$Schoenberg,!193J229.!!!17!Michael!Steinberg!has!likewise!cautioned!against!celebratory!accounts!of!the!“Jewish”!finJ

deJsiècle!Vienna!that!share!the!same!terms!of!analysis!as!antiJSemitic!accounts!while!simply!

inverting!their!valuation!of!Jewishness.!See!Michael!P.!Steinberg,!"Jewish!Identity!and!

Intellectuality!in!FinJDeJSiècle!Austria:!Suggestions!for!a!Historical!Discourse,"!New$German$Critique,!no.!43!(1988):!10J13.!

! 76!

other!feelings!of!belonging!predominate.”18!Van!Rahden!ultimately!aims!for!a!more!

profound!integration!of!the!history!of!Jews!into!a!multicultural!history!of!

Germany—a!larger!story,!he!suggests!(following!Peter!Gay)!that!cannot!be!told!

without!the!story!of!its!Jews.!

Van!Rahden's!methodology!will!be!helpful!for!our!purposes,!though!of!course!

it!is!important!to!stress!from!the!outset!the!profound!differences!between!the!

history!of!the!Jews!of!Germany!and!those!of!AustriaJHungary.19!That!said,!in!her!

study!of!Austrian!Jews,!Marsha!Rozenblit!has!similarly!emphasized!the!fluidity!of!

categories!of!ethnic!identity,!building,!as!does!Van!Rahden,!on!the!work!of!Frederick!

Barth.!Most!recently,!Lisa!Silverman!has!brought!this!perspective!to!bear!in!her!

study!of!Jewish!participation!in!interwar!Austrian!culture.20!As!we!shall!see,!

“situational!ethnicity”!becomes!a!particularly!helpful!interpretive!framework!in!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!18!Rahden,!Jews$and$Other$Germans,!9.!Similar!interpretive!paradigms!have!been!proposed!with!regard!to!the!study!of!Schoenberg!in!particular.!William!Kangas,!for!instance,!has!

argued!for!the!importance!of!the!distinction!between!Schoenberg’s!identity!–!as!it!was!

publically!constructed!by!himself!and!others!–!and!Schoenberg’s!own!private!or!“selfJ

identity.”!The!two,!Kangas!has!suggested,!stood!in!a!dialectical!relationship.!See!William!

Kangas,!"The!Ethics!and!Aesthetics!of!(Self)Representation:!Arnold!Schoenberg!and!Jewish!

Identity,"!Leo$Baeck$Institute$Yearbook!135J70!(2000).!!19!For!an!attempt!at!disentangling!these!two!histories,!see!Marsha!L.!Rozenblit’s!“The!Jews!

of!Germany!and!Austria:!A!Comparative!Perspective”!in!Wistrich,!Austrians$and$Jews$in$the$Twentieth$Century,!1J18.!2020!See!Lisa!Silverman,!Becoming$Austrians:$Jews$and$Culture$between$the$World$Wars!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!2012),!5.!Silverman!argues!against!seeing!Jews’!

participation!in!Austrian!cultural!life!as!peaking!in!the!finJdeJsiècle!and!then!declining!

steadily!all!the!way!to!the!Anschluss.!See!also!Marsha!L.!Rozenblit,!Reconstructing$a$National$Identity:$The$Jews$of$Habsburg$Austria$During$World$War$I!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!2001),!4.!And!Fredrik!Barth,!ed.!Ethnic$Groups$and$Boundaries:$The$Social$Organization$of$Culture$Difference!(Boston:!Little,!Brown,!1969).!Rozenblit!suggests!a!similarly!fluid!“tripartite”!model!of!VienneseJJewish!identity,!in!which!Habsburg!Jews!could!

simultaneously!pledge!allegiance!to!the!Emperor,!to!Jewish!ethnicity,!and!to!the!German!

Kulturnation.!Steven!J.!Cahn!argues!this!is!particularly!applicable!to!Schoenberg.!See!Cahn’s!

“The!VienneseJJewish!Experience”!in!Auner!and!Shaw,!The$Cambridge$Companion$to$Schoenberg,!196J7.!!!!

! 77!

case!of!Schoenberg,!who!was,!as!one!scholar!summarized,!“at!different!times!and!for!

different!reasons,!a!German,!a!Jew,!a!Germanic!Jew!and!a!Jewish!German.”21!We!will!

also!have!to!further!append!to!this!list!a!national!category—he!was!a!subject!of!

AustriaJHungary—and,!I!will!suggest,!a!final!category!of!identity:!Schoenberg!as!

modernist.!Each!of!these!aspects!of!Schoenberg's!identity!has!received!attention!

from!scholars,!though!there!have!been!very!few!attempts!to!explain!their!

interrelationship!or!to!sketch!the!dynamics!out!of!which!grew!the!productive!

tensions!that!framed!his!life!and!art.!!!!!

!

Roots(and(Reroutes(

Schoenberg!came!of!age!during!a!pair!of!tumultuous!decades!in!the!career!of!

Austrian!liberalism.!On!the!one!hand,!the!pressures!on!Austrian!Jews!toward!

acculturation!were!less!sharply!defined!than!they!were!for!German!Jews,!precisely!

because!the!dual!monarchy!of!AustriaJHungary!presided!over!a!multiJethnic!empire!

whose!very!diversity!helped!guarantee!that,!as!far!as!the!state!was!concerned,!there!

would!be!little!conflict!between!confessional!affiliations!and!loyalty!to!the!empire.!

On!the!other!hand,!by!the!1880s!mass!parties!were!rising!up!and!challenging!the!

fragile!period!of!liberal!dominance,!a!period!that!had!seen!the!enshrinement!of!

middleclass!values,!the!rise!of!a!new!urbanism,!and!a!faithful!devotion!to!the!

performing!arts.22!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!21!Kangas,!"The!Ethics!and!Aesthetics!of!(Self)Representation,"!137.!

22!Carl!Schorske!has!famously!described!the!city’s!Ringstrasse!as!“an!iconographic!index!to!

the!mind!of!ascendant!Austrian!liberalism.”!Carl!E.!Schorske,!FinFDeFSiècle$Vienna:$Politics$and$Culture!(New!York:!Vintage!Books,!1981),!3J8!and!24J27.!

! 78!

Schoenberg's!family!lived!in!Leopoldstadt,!the!region!of!Vienna's!second!

district!that!became!home!to!a!sizable!Jewish!community!in!the!wake!of!the!

Revolution!of!1848!and!the!emancipation!of!1867.23!His!father,!Samuel!Schönberg!

(1838J1890),!had!moved!as!a!teenager!to!Vienna!from!Szécheny!(via!Bratislava).!In!

Vienna,!Samuel!met!Pauline!Nachod!(1848J1921),!born!in!Prague!into!a!wellJ

established!Orthodox!Jewish!family,!with!connections!to!the!city's!Altneuschul!

dating!back!several!generations.24!!

The!family!belonged!to!the!lower!middle!class!of!acculturated!Viennese!Jews,!

somewhere!in!between,!as!it!has!been!described,!the!YiddishJspeaking!Eastern!

European!Jews!pouring!into!the!city!at!that!time!and!the!more!established!and!

wealthier!Viennese!Jewish!families.25!In!1874,!Arnold!Schoenberg!(original!spelling:!

Schönberg)!was!born!and!entered!into!the!register!of!Vienna's!Jewish!

Kultusgemeinde.26!There!is!little!evidence!of!any!traditional!religious!practice!in!his!

home!but!Schoenberg!seems!to!have!absorbed!both!the!freeJthinking!attitudes!of!his!

father!as!well!as!a!sense!of!reverence!for!the!Bible!and!biblical!authority!that!was!

presumably!indebted!to!his!devout!mother!as!well!as!an!absence!of!other!influences!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!23!For!a!wideJangle!view!of!this!history,!see!“The!Creation!of!Viennese!Jewry:!Jewish!

Migration!to!Vienna,!1867J1914”!in!Marsha!L.!Rozenblit,!The$Jews$of$Vienna,$1867F1914:$Assimilation$and$Identity!(Albany,!N.Y.:!State!University!of!New!York!Press,!1983),!13J46.!24!Hans!Heinz!Stuckenschmidt,!Schoenberg:$His$Life,$World$and$Work!(New!York:!Schirmer!Books,!1978),!15J16.!Her!roots!have!in!fact!been!traced!back!to!the!legendary!16th!century!

rabbi!and!mystic!Judah!Löw,!also!known!as!the!Maharal!of!Prague.!See!Steven!J.!Cahn’s!

“Schoenberg,!the!VienneseJJewish!experience!and!its!aftermath”!in!Auner!and!Shaw,!The$Cambridge$Companion$to$Schoenberg,!193.!25!See!Leon!Botstein’s!“Arnold!Schoenberg:!Language,!Modernism!and!Jewish!Identity”!in!

Wistrich,!Austrians$and$Jews$in$the$Twentieth$Century.!26!Schoenberg!adopted!the!anglicized!“oe”!spelling!of!his!name!only!upon!leaving!Germany!

in!1933.!See!also!Stuckenschmidt,!Schoenberg,$16.!

! 79!

in!his!schooling.27!Schoenberg!attended!a!Realschule$rather!than!a!Gymnasium,$an!

education!that,!as!Kangas!has!pointed!out,!!“was!missing!that!infusion!of!Greek!and!

Roman!classical!mythos!that!were!so!integral!a!part!of!German!(high)!culture.”28!

Biblical!history!appears!to!have!filled!the!gap.!Writing!to!his!cousin!at!age!16,!

Schoenberg!described!himself!as!an!“unbeliever”!but!went!on!to!declare!that!“in![the!

Bible]!all!the!most!difficult!questions!concerning!Morals,!LawJmaking,!Industry!and!

Medical!Science!are!resolved!in!the!most!simple!way,!often!treated!from!a!

contemporary!point!of!view;!in!general!the!Bible!really!gives!us!the!foundation!of!all!

our!state!institutions!(except!the!telephone!and!the!railway).”29!

The!composer's!decision!to!formally!convert!to!Protestantism!in!1898!is!one!

that!biographers!and!scholars!have!speculatively!interpreted!in!a!number!of!

different!ways,!most!of!which!are!not!mutually!exclusive.30!Rarely!however!has!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!27!Ibid.,!18.!Many!commentators!have!noted!the!absence!of!evidence!of!specific!religious!

observance!in!Schoenberg’s!home,!but!it!may!be!noted!that!the!text!of!his!agitprop!play!Der$biblische$Weg$(in!Act!1,!Scene!10),!contains!language!that!clearly!references!the!traditional!Haggadah.!While!this!play,!further!discussed!below,!was!begun!in!1926,!it!seems!unlikely!

that!Schoenberg!acquired!such!knowledge!during!his!period!as!a!proud!apostate.!This!

leaves!open!the!possibility!that!he!was!familiar!with!Seder!rituals!from!his!youth!or!young!

adulthood,!prior!to!his!conversion!in!1898.!For!the!passage!under!consideration,!see!Arnold!

Schoenberg,!"Der!Biblische!Weg,"!Journal$of$the$Arnold$Schoenberg$Institute!XVII,!no.!1&2!(1994):!229J31.!!!

28!Kangas,!"The!Ethics!and!Aesthetics!of!(Self)Representation,"!143.!The!Realschule$in!Leopoldstadt!was!between!twoJfifths!and!twoJthirds!Jewish!during!the!years!that!

Schoenberg!attended.!For!this!figure,!and!more!on!the!Gymnasium/Realschule$distinction,!see!Rozenblit,!The$Jews$of$Vienna,!99J126.!!!29!Schoenberg!to!Malvina!Goldschmied,!May!25,!1891,!reprinted!in!Joseph!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader:$Documents$of$a$Life!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2003),!15.!30!Steven!J.!Cahn,!among!others,!has!pointed!to!the!fact!that,!while!conversion!was!not!

statistically!common!among!Viennese!Jews!of!his!generation,!it!was!frequent!to!a!degree!

among!Jewish!artists!and!intellectuals!of!the!time,!among!them!Gustav!Mahler!and!Karl!

Kraus.!He!helpfully!situates!the!decision!against!the!backdrop!of,!among!other!factors,!the!

evolving!nature!of!Jewish!identity!from!1867!onward,!including!the!movement!away!from!

collective!notions!of!Jewish!peoplehood!and!toward!Christianized!models!of!personal!faith.!!

Stuckenschmidt!and!others!have!focused!on!the!influence!of!his!Protestant!friend!Walter!

! 80!

Schoenberg's!choice!been!placed!in!the!larger!context!of!Viennese!and!panJ

European!current!events,!including!the!Dreyfus!affair!and!the!election!of!the!antiJ

Semitic!politician!Karl!Lueger!as!mayor!of!Vienna!(over!and!above!efforts!by!

Emperor!Franz!Joseph!to!forestall!his!ascendance).!It!may!not!be!insignificant,!in!

other!words,!that!it!was!at!precisely!this!moment!in!which!Austrian!liberal!pieties!

took!another!decisive!blow,!and!as!a!younger!generation!shifted!toward!the!domain!

of!art!as!an!alternative!to!a!blocked!politics,!that!Schoenberg!chose!to!secure!his!

“ticket!of!admission!to!European!culture.”31!Jewish!conversion!rates!in!Vienna!at!this!

time!were!in!fact!higher!than!anywhere!else!in!AustriaJHungary.32!!!

Unfortunately,!there!are!no!surviving!documents!from!the!time!of!his!

conversion!that!might!shed!light!on!its!particulars,!or!on!the!broader!social,!cultural!

or!intellectual!dynamics!at!play!in!his!milieu!during!this!period.!Nevertheless,!

scholars!have!recently!been!devoting!fresh!attention!to!the!influence!of!both!

Wagnerism!and!the!writings!of!Otto!Weininger!on!Schoenberg!during!this!stage!of!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pieau.!Botstein!speculates!it!may!have!been!“the!first!of!many!attempts!by!the!outspoken!

and!arrogant!Schoenberg!to!invent…!a!new!rival!social!aristocracy!for!himself!and!his!

followers.”!Ringer!reads!the!choice!paradoxically!as!the!composer’s!attempt!not!to!

assimilate!into!a!dominant!culture!but!“to!quench!his!spiritual!thirst”!after!lacking!the!

knowledge!and!means!to!do!so!via!traditional!Jewish!channels.!He!also!suggests!the!choice!

of!Protestantism!above!Catholicism!might!have!been!due!to!antiJestablishment!views!

Schoenberg!absorbed!while!conducting!workers’!choruses.!William!Kangas!has!shown!that!

the!conversion!represented!the!first!of!many!attempts!to!actively!curate!his!own!identity!as!

distinct!from!the!various!ways!in!which!identity!was!subsequently!imposed!on!him!from!the!

outside.!See!Auner!and!Shaw,!The$Cambridge$Companion$to$Schoenberg,!195;!Wistrich,!Austrians$and$Jews$in$the$Twentieth$Century,!163;!Stuckenschmidt,!Schoenberg,!34.;!Ringer,!Arnold$Schoenberg,!7,!26;!and!Kangas,!"The!Ethics!and!Aesthetics!of!(Self)Representation,"!145.!

31!The!phrase!is!Heinrich!Heine’s!description!of!conversion.!See!Paul!R.!MendesJFlohr!and!

Jehuda!Reinharz,!eds.,!The$Jew$in$the$Modern$World:$A$Documentary$History!(New!York:!Oxford!University!Press,!1995),!223.!See!also!Schorske,!FinFDeFSiècle$Vienna,!8J9;!and!Schorske,!“Generational!Tension!and!Cultural!Change”!in!Thinking$with$History:$Explorations$in$the$Passage$to$Modernism!(Princeton:!Princeton!University!Press,!1998),!141J56.!!32!Rozenblit,!The$Jews$of$Vienna,!128.!

! 81!

his!intellectual!and!spiritual!development.33!That!attention!is!in!part!made!possible!

by!the!survival!of!later!writings!unpublished!during!his!lifetime,!in!particular!a!littleJ

known!personal!essay!entitled!“Jeder!jünge!Jude”!or!“Every!Young!Jew,”!dating!from!

1934.!It!is!worth!examining!this!essay!here!because!it!offers!a!rare!(if!retrospective)!

glimpse!into!Schoenberg's!understanding!of!the!formation!of!his!own!identity!in!the!

two!decades!on!either!side!of!the!turn!of!the!twentieth!century.!

It!was!a!period,!as!Schoenberg!describes!in!this!essay,!when!“the!

religiousness!of!the!Jews…!had!receded!in!so!frightening!a!manner!that!not!even!the!

rabbis!could!muster!the!verve!and!enthusiasm!which!could!have!won!over!young!

people!to!the!religion!into!which!they!had!been!born.”34!Why?!Because,!as!

Schoenberg!elaborates:!!

[F]or!the!Western!Jews!and!the!Westernized!Eastern!Jews!the!movement!for!

assimilation!became!a!substitute!for!the!belief!in!the!Messiah.!It!cannot!be!

denied!that!one!imagined!oneself!to!have!been!redeemed!from!thousands!of!

years!of!humiliation,!shame!and!disgrace,!if!one!thought!one!had!been!

accepted!into!the!community!of!the!foreign!people…[H]e!strove!for!

redemption!from!the!disgrace!and!shame!which!had!been!oppressing!him…!

to!be!redeemed!from!being!held!in!a!state!of!contempt!for!which!he!was!not!

to!blame.!

!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!33!See,!for!instance,!Brown,!Schoenberg$and$Redemption.!34!The!essay!itself!dates!from!early!1934,!not!long!after!Schoenberg!had!been!effectively!

expelled!from!Germany.!The!previous!year!he!had!reconverted!to!Judaism,!and!settled!in!the!

United!States.!Writing!this!essay!he!was!clearly!revisiting!the!allegiances!of!his!youth!and!

his!commitment!to!escaping!his!origins,!in!the!painful!light!of!the!year!1934!–!a!fact!that!

should!be!kept!in!mind!as!one!determines!how!to!read!Schoenberg’s!confessions!of!his!

youthful!infatuations!with!German!culture.!The!text!of!this!essay!was!not!published!until!six!

decades!later,!when!it!appeared!in!its!German!original,!in!the!Journal$of$the$Arnold$Schoenberg$Institute.!Julie!Brown!uses!the!essay!as!a!central!exhibit!at!the!heart!of!her!recent!book!Schoenberg$and$Redemption,!in!which!the!essay!has!been!republished!as!an!appendix.!It!is!in!Brown’s!translation!that!this!quote!appears.!See!ibid.,!197J201.!For!the!original!German!text,!see!Arnold!Schoenberg,!"Jeder!Junge!Jude,"!Journal$of$the$Arnold$Schoenberg$Institute!XVII!(1994).!!!!

! 82!

As!Brown!has!observed,!the!tone!of!this!essay!differs!from!many!other!

published!and!unpublished!writings!from!this!period!in!Schoenberg’s!life,!in!that!it!

is!more!confessional!and!seemingly!unmarked!by!the!aggressive!or!defensive!

rhetoric!so!common!in!his!writing.!Further,!as!we!will!see!in!subsequent!quotations,!

it!displays!a!level!of!remorse!or!shame!on!Schoenberg’s!part!for!what!he!regards!as!

his!gravely!mistaken!(postJ1933)!belief!in!the!redemptive!potential!of!German!

culture.!It’s!also!worth!drawing!attention!to!his!curious!use!here!of!the!first!person!

plural,!especially!when!many!of!his!observations!about!the!attitudes!of!“Western!

Jews!and!Westernized!Eastern!Jews”!may!be!regarded!as!nothing!more!than!

sweeping!generalizations.!Clearly!we!are!dealing!with!a!highly!personalized!

statement!on!Schoenberg’s!part,!a!recollection!of!his$own!experiences!and!attitudes.!

In!this!case,!Schoenberg!may!have!chosen!to!collectivize!his!observations!for!the!

sake!of!inducing!a!reader’s!sympathy!or!leniency!in!judgment.!Indeed,!from!the!

essay’s!opening,!it!is!clear!that!the!composer!has,!at!least!implicitly,!an!exculpatory!

agenda.!The!first!line!in!fact!reads!as!a!poignant!plea!against!what!we!have!already!

discussed!as!backJshadowing!and!the!associated!tendency!towards!moral!judgment.!

“Every!young!Jew,”!Schoenberg!writes,!“has!to!bear!in!mind!how!we!Jews!of!the!19th!

century!thought!our!lives!would!pan!out:!Then!he!will!know!what!to!make!of!it![i.e.!

that!life’s!path].”35!

Schoenberg!goes!on!to!explain!quite!straightforwardly!that!while!coming!of!

age,!one!(he)!strove!for!acceptance!“into!the!community!of!the!foreign!people”!by!

seeking!to!eliminate!all!that!was!conspicuously!different!about!one's!appearance,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!35!“Every!Young!Jew,”!as!translated!and!reprinted!in!the!appendix!of!Brown,!Schoenberg$and$Redemption,!197.!

! 83!

including!dress,!facial!expressions,!“use!of!language,”!“change!of!religion,”!and!

“marrying!a!Christian!woman.”!!!!

Needless!to!say,!this!eagerness!to!eliminate!conspicuous!difference—or!

Jewish!“selfJhatred”!as!it!is!often!somewhat!crudely!termed—was!hardly!unique!for!

secular!GermanJspeaking!Jews!of!Schoenberg’s!generation.!Indeed,!in!1897,!just!one!

year!prior!to!Schoenberg’s!conversion,!Walter!Rathenau,!future!foreign!minister!of!

Germany,!harshly!criticized!his!Jewish!coJreligionists!in!an!essay!that!ran!in!

Maximilian!Harden’s!journal!Zukunft!under!the!freighted!title!“Hear,!O!Israel!”!In!it!

he!called!for!“the!conscious!selfJeducation!and!adaptation!of!the!Jews!to!the!

expectations!of!the!Gentiles,”!and!for!the!“shedding!of!tribal!attributes!which,!

whether!they!be!good!or!bad!in!themselves,!are!known!to!be!odious!to!our!

countrymen.”36!Likewise,!this!period!saw!the!surging!popularity!of!Weininger’s!

writings,!especially!his!1903!book!Geschlecht$und$Charakter!(Sex$and$Character),!

with!its!highly!influential!typology!not!only!of!Man!and!Woman!as!Platonic!forms!

but!also!of!patterns!of!thinking!he!ascribed!to!Judaism,!and!subjected!to!severe!

critique.!Schoenberg!owned!a!copy!of!Geschlecht$und$Charakter!and!Weininger’s!

writing!may!have!been!influential!on!his!circle!of!students!and!followers,!perhaps!

aided!by!its!dissemination!through!Kraus’s!journal!Die$Fackel,!itself!revered!by!this!

group!of!artists.37!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!36!Excerpts!of!Rathenau’s!essay!are!translated!and!reprinted!in!MendesJFlohr!and!Reinharz,!

The$Jew$in$the$Modern$World:$A$Documentary$History,!231J33.!37!It!was!not!only!Weininger’s!highly!publicized!choice!to!stage!his!1903!suicide!in!the!home!

where!Beethoven!had!died!that!underscored!the!connections!of!his!thought!to!German!

musical!culture.!Brown!argues!for!the!underJappreciated!influence!of!Weininger’s!thought!

on!musical!Vienna!more!broadly,!on!its!own!terms!and!as!a!conduit!for!an!updated!

Wagnerian!Weltanschauung.!She!has!also!detailed!some!connections!between!Weininger!

! 84!

!As!the!composer!stated!in!another!piece!of!memoiristic!writing!dating!from!

his!early!exile!period,!his!own!feelings!of!“shame!and!disgrace”!as!a!Jew,!his!

perception!of!a!burning!need!for!“redemption”!from!his!past,!was!very!much!

inseparable!from!the!environment!of!ideological!Wagnerism!in!which!he!came!of!

age.!As!he!explained!in!a!speech!of!1935:!!

When!we!young!AustrianJJewish!artists!grew!up!our!selfJesteem!suffered!

very!much!from!the!pressure!of!certain!circumstances.!It!was!the!time!when!

Richard!Wagner's!work!started!its!victorious!career,!and!the!success!of!his!

music!and!poems!was!followed!by!an!infiltration!of!his!Weltanschauung,!of!his!philosophy.!You!were!no!true!Wagnerian!if!you!did!not!believe!in!his!

philosophy,!in!the!ideas!of!Erlösung$durch$Liebe,$salvation!by!love;!you!were!not!a!true!Wagnerian!if!you!did!not!believe!in!Deutschtum,!in!teutonism;!and!you!could!not!be!a!true!Wagnerian!without!being!a!follower!of!his!antiJ

Semitic!essay,!Das$Judentum$in$der$Musik,!Judaism$in$Music.38!!

!

Interestingly,!far!from!denouncing!Wagner’s!notorious!essay,!or!his!antiJ

Semitism!in!general,!Schoenberg,!even!looking!back!from!exile,!distinguished!

Wagner’s!attitudes!from!what!he!called!“the!newJstarting!racial!antiJSemitism”!of!

the!1920s,!the!sentiments!which,!as!he!put!it!elsewhere,!“ejected”!him!from!

Germanness.39!In!his!youth,!Schoenberg!claimed,!Wagner’s!original!critique!of!Jews!

and!music!had!in!fact!served!as!a!motivating!factor!toward!embracing!Deutschtum.!

“Wagner,”!Schoenberg!stated,!“gave!Jewry!a!chance:!‘Out!of!the!ghetto!’!he!

proclaimed,!and!asked!Jews!to!become!true!humans,!which!included!the!promise!of!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and!Schoenberg’s!specific!circle,!citing!for!instance!a!letter!from!Webern!in!which!he!

explicitly!compares!Schoenberg!and!Weininger.!Berg!also!kept!a!scrapbook!devoted!to!

Weininger’s!writing.!See!Brown,!Schoenberg$and$Redemption,!56J77.!!38!The!text!comes!from!a!speech!Schoenberg!gave!in!1935!to!Mailamm!organization,!

reprinted!in!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!502J3.!!39!“the!newJstarting!racial!antiJSemitism”!comes!from!Ibid.!Emphasis!added.!The!phrase!

about!Schoenberg’s!“ejection!from!Germanness”!is!taken!from!a!1932!fragment!entitled!

“Ruhe,”!as!published!in!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!236.!!

! 85!

having!the!same!rights!on!German!mental!culture,!the!promise!of!being!considered!

like!true!citizens.”40!!!!

This!was!of!course!a!very!selfJserving!reading!of!Wagner’s!views,!as!the!

racialist!turn!was!already!present!in!Wagner’s!own!writing;!it!was!not!(only)!a!

product!of!some!backward!attribution!from!a!later!period!in!Viennese!life.!But!

nevertheless,!however!idiosyncratically!he!defined!the!terms!of!this!equation,!it’s!

clear!that!Schoenberg’s!early!embrace!of!Wagnerism!and!of!Deutschtum$was!

complete,!as!was!his!adoption!of!the!methods!he!later!described!as!available!to!help!

young!Jews!“redeem”!themselves!of!their!origins.(In!1899,!a!year!after!his!

conversion,!he!composed!Verklärte$Nacht,$his!first!significant!Wagnerian!work!with!

a!mystical!subtext!inspired!by!a!Richard!Dehmel!poem.!In!1901!he!married!Mathilde!

Zemlinksy,!the!sister!of!his!composition!teacher,!Alexander!von!Zemlinsky.!The!

ceremony!took!place!in!a!Lutheran!church!in!Vienna,!with!Mathilde!converting!to!

Christianity!on!the!day!of!the!marriage.!They!later!had!two!children,!Gertrud!and!

Georg.!Schoenberg’s!first!key!musical!breakthrough!came!in!1908,!when!he!allowed!

his!music!to!drift!free!of!tonality!in!the!final!movement!of!his!Second!String!Quartet,!

which!featured!a!soprano!singing!the!words!from!a!Stefan!George!poem:!“Ich!fühle!

luft!von!anderen!planeten”!(“I!feel!air!of!another!planet”).41!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!40!Ibid.!For!more!on!the!effect!of!Wagner’s!essay!on!Jewish!musicians!of!the!nineteenth!

century,!see!James!Loeffler,!"Richard!Wagner's!'Jewish!Music':!Antisemitism!and!Aesthetics!

in!Modern!Jewish!Culture,"!Jewish$Social$Studies!15,!no.!2!(2009).!41!George’s!poetry!featured!nonJstandard!German!capitalization,!hence!“luft”!and!“planeten”!

rather!than!“Luft”!and!“Planeten,”!an!orthographic!scheme!that!Schoenberg!preserved!in!his!

own!score!to!his!Quartet!No.!2!(Op.!10).!!I!am!grateful!to!Walter!Frisch!for!his!consultation!

on!this!point,!and!on!Georgeschrift!more!broadly.!See!also!Walter!Frisch,!The$Early$Works$of$Arnold$Schoenberg,$1893F1908!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!1993),!248ff.$!!

! 86!

In!many!later!essays,!when!characterizing!this!early!breakthrough—later!

mythologized!by!many!as!a!defining!moment!in!the!origins!of!twentiethJcentury!

music—Schoenberg!tended!to!favor!two!outwardly!contrasting!rhetorical!tropes.!On!

the!one!hand!he!claimed!to!be!merely!an!executor,!heeding!the!call!of!larger!forces!

beyond!his!control!(“I!knew!I!had!to!fulfill!a!task:!I!had!to!express!what!was!

necessary!to!be!expressed!and!I!knew!I!had!the!duty!of!developing!my!ideas!for!the!

sake!of!progress!in!music,!whether!I!liked!it!or!not”42).!On!the!other!hand,!

particularly!in!the!period!from!roughly!1900J1921,!he!privileged!a!notion!of!music!

as!giving!direct!expression!to!interior!experience!in!an!unmediated!sense.!(In!1912,!

for!instance,!with!the!composition!of!his!landmark!Pierrot$lunaire,!Schoenberg!

celebrated!in!his!diary!that!he!had!achieved!an!“animalistically!direct!expression!of!

sensual!and!psychological!emotions.”43)!!

In!may!be!noted!that!in!both!cases—whether!his!art!was!simply!thrust!

forward!by!the!pistons!of!musical!progress,!or!whether!his!breakthrough!involved!a!

kind!of!direct!stenography!of!the!soul—these!explanatory!tropes!can!both!be!seen!

as!implicitly!responding!to!Wagner’s!damning!prescription!that!Jews!as!a!group!

were!not!a!natively!musical!people.!!!!!!!

By!the!time!of!Pierrot$lunaire,!Schoenberg!had!moved!(for!a!second!time)!to!

Berlin,!noting!that!it!“has!what!Vienna!lacked:!respect!for!honest!work!and!the!selfJ

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!42!This!sentence!appears!in!Schoenberg’s!suggestively!titled!essay!“How!One!Becomes!

Lonely.”!See!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!30J53.!43!On!12!March!1912,!Schoenberg!wrote!in!his!diary:!“Und!ich!gehe!unbedingt,!das!spüre!ich,!

einem!neuen!Ausdruck!entgegen.!Die!Klänge!warden!hier!ein!geradezu!tierisch!

unmittelbarer!Ausdruck!sinnlicher!und!seelischer!Bewegungen.”!Berliner$Tagebuch!(Wien:!PropyläenJVerlag,!1974),!34.!

! 87!

assurance!of!those!who!are!genuinely!and!seriously!interested!in!the!new.”44!The!

outbreak!of!the!First!World!War!occasioned!an!upwelling!of!Schoenberg's!pride!in!

German!culture,!and!his!correspondence!reflects!both!this!surge!of!patriotism,!and!

the!extent!of!his!own!identification!with!Deutschtum$and!German!nationalism!more!

broadly.!In!this!sense!it!signals!the!high!water!mark!in!one!vector!of!Schoenberg's!

situational!ethnicity.!Accordingly,!a!particular!letter!of!1914!to!Alma!Mahler!merits!

quoting!at!length:!!

Meanwhile,!you!have!certainly!already!heard!of!the!glorious!victory!of!the!

Germans!against!France,!England,!and!Belgium.!It!is!among!the!most!

wonderful!things!that!have!happened.!But!it!does!not!surprise!me…!I'm!

certain!our!Austria!is!approaching!a!new,!more!beautiful!future!as!well,!if!the!

auspicious!start!of!the!first!battle!against!the!Russians!meets!with!an!equally!

auspicious!continuation.!Then!we!shall!possess!what!we!have!fundamentally!

lacked:!selfJconfidence,!and!with!it!the!ability!to!value!the!seriousness!and!

dignity!of!our!achievements;!and!also!to!defend!them!!One!hopes!all!will!

continue!to!go!well….[M]y!eyes!are!open!about!so!many!of!my!earlier!feelings!

that!I!had!against!foreigners.!My!friends!know!it,!I!have!also!said!to!them,!I!

never!had!any!use!for!all!foreign!music.!It!always!seemed!to!me!stale,!empty,!disgusting,!cloying,!false,!and!awkward.!Without!exception.!Now!I!know!who!

the!French,!English,!Russians,!Belgians,!Americans,!and!Serbians!are:!

barbarians!!The!music!said!that!to!me!long!ago…!For!a!long!time!this!music!

has!been!a!declaration!of!war,!an!attack!on!Germany…!But!now!comes!the!

reckoning.!Now!we!shall!send!these!mediocre!purveyors!of!kitsch!back!into!

slavery,!and!they!shall!learn!to!honor!the!German!spirit!and!to!worship!the!

German!God.45!

!

!!!!

Schoenberg!was!of!course!not!alone!in!succumbing!to!the!outbreak!of!war!

fever!to!which!many!central!European!artists!and!intellectuals!proved!surprisingly!

susceptible.46!One!does!however!also!note!the!conjoined!quality!to!his!personal!and!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!44!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!100.!45!Schoenberg!to!Alma!Mahler,!August!28,!1914.!Italics!in!original.!Ibid.,!125.!

46!Even!Sigmund!Freud,!who!later!claimed!the!First!World!War!as!validating!the!deepest!

insights!of!psychoanalysis,!was!swept!up!in!the!initial!outbreak!of!war!fever,!writing!to!Karl!

Abraham!that!“for!the!first!time!in!thirty!years!I!feel!myself!to!be!an!Austrian!and!feel!like!

! 88!

national!aspirations,!when!Schoenberg!suggests!that!victory!in!war!will!provide!selfJ

confidence!and!the!ability!to!value!and!defend!achievements.!His!letters!and!diary!

entries!from!around!this!time!betray!a!grappling!with!private!doubts!about!his!own!

artistic!capacities.!That!the!composer!would!interweave!tropes!of!personal!struggle!

with!those!of!national!struggle!hints!at!just!how!fully!his!identity!during!this!period!

was!invested!in!the!cause!of!German!culture.!!

Moreover,!the!disturbing!vehemence!of!Schoenberg's!denunciation!of!all!nonF

German!music!and!the!implied!violence!of!his!rhetoric!in!the!letter's!closing!lines!

also!bears!further!comment,!even!as!it!underscores!this!point.!Schoenberg's!

language!here!suggests!a!full!internalization!of!older!Wagnerian!discourse!around!

“Die!heilige!deutsche!Kunst”;!it!also!ironically!anticipates!the!rhetoric!that!would!be!

used!only!a!few!years!later!by!ultraJconservative!composers!such!as!Hans!Pfitzner!in!

their!attempts!to!silence!the!freeJthinkers!of!early!German!musical!modernism,!

including!(by!extension)!Schoenberg!himself.47!Finally,!the!letter!of!1914!also!sheds!

light!on!Schoenberg's!later!defense!of!Furtwängler!and!Strauss!after!the!Second!

World!War.!Despite!all!he!had!endured,!Schoenberg!defended!these!German!artists,!

arguing!that!they!were!not!Nazis!but!rather!“DeutschJNationale—Nationalistic!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

giving!this!not!very!hopeful!Empire!another!chance.”!He!was!even!more!direct!with!his!

brother!Alexander,!writing!that!“All!my!libido!is!given!to!AustroJHungary.”!Quoted!in!Max!

Schur,!Freud:$Living$and$Dying!(London:!Hogarth!Press!and!the!Institute!of!PsychoJAnalysis,!1972),!289.!And!Ernest!Jones,!The$Life$and$Work$of$Sigmund$Freud!(New!York:!Basic!Books,!1953),!(II),!171.!

47!The!prime!example!of!Pfitzner’s!rhetoric!comes!from!his!debate!with!Busoni,!and!

specifically!his!attack!on!the!latter’s!Entwurf$einer$neuen$Asthetik$der$Tonkunst.!Pfitzner!responded!to!Busoni!with!a!pamphlet!entitled!Futuristengefahr!(“The!Danger!of!Futurism”),!in!which!he!vociferously!defended!German!music!and!the!necessity!of!revering!the!past!

masters.!They!should!be!addressed!with!proper!piety,!he!wrote,!as!“Prince”!or!“Father.”!For!

more!on!this!interwar!debate,!see!Marc!A.!Weiner,!Undertones$of$Insurrection:$Music,$Politics$&$the$Social$Sphere$in$the$Modern$German$Narrative!(Lincoln:!University!of!Nebraska!Press,!1993),!33J72.!

! 89!

Germans![who]!both!loved!Germany,!German!culture,!and!art,!landscape,!language!

and!its!citizens,!their!coJnationals.”48!This!letter!of!1914!to!Alma!Mahler!suggests!

Schoenberg!knew!from!where!he!spoke.!!

!

!

II.((Deutschtum!and(its(Discontents:((The(path(toward(Moses!und!Aron(

!

By!most!accounts,!a!critical!turning!point!in!the!evolution!of!Schoenberg's!

identity!came!in!June!1921,!when!the!composer!was!summering!with!his!family!and!

his!students!in!the!Austrian!resort!town!of!Mattsee.!After!receiving!a!postcard!from!

“an!Aryan!vacationer,”!Schoenberg!was!informed!that!the!resort!did!not!permit!

Jews;!rather!than!provide!documentation!of!his!conversion,!he!left!the!resort!and!

made!alternate!plans!in!Traunkirchen.49!!

For!reasons!about!which!scholars!can!only!speculate,!this!became!a!

transformative!moment!for!Schoenberg,!one!that!led!to!an!anguished!reexamination!

of!closely!held—in!his!later!description,!religiously!held—beliefs!in!the!redemptive!

promise!of!German!culture.50!Interestingly,!earlier!generations!of!Schoenberg!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!48!Stuckenschmidt,!Schoenberg,!544J45.!49!This!incident!has!become!an!oftJcited!turning!point!in!Schoenberg’s!individual!biography,!

but!is!rarely!placed!in!the!context!of!its!times.!For!a!discussion!of!soJcalled!“spa!antiJ

Semitism,”!see!Mirjam!TriendlJZadoff,!Next$Year$in$Marienbad:$The$Lost$Worlds$of$Jewish$Spa$Culture!(Philadelphia:!University!of!Pennsylvania!Press,!2012),!157J78,!and!Frank!Bajohr,!“Unser$Hotel$ist$Judenfrei,”!BaderFAntisemitismus$im$19.$und$20.$Jahrhundert$(Frankfurt!am!Main:!Fischer!Taschenbuch!Verlag,$2003).$50!The!seemingly!blackJandJwhite!nature!of!the!standard!narrative!about!Schoenberg’s!

moment!of!Jewish!awakening—the!relatively!minor!Mattsee!incident!arriving!like!a!bolt!

from!the!blue,!shattering!the!composer’s!Teutonic!idyll—does!beg!closer!scrutiny.!While!an!

actual!deconstructing!of!this!narrative!exceeds!the!scope!of!this!chapter,!it!is!worth!at!least!

posing!the!question!of!whether!(or!to!what!extent)!this!narrative!bears!the!imprint!of!a!

! 90!

biographers!did!not!focus!on!the!importance!of!the!Mattsee!incident,!with!

Stuckenschmidt!devoting!to!it!one!paragraph,!and!Reich!scarcely!more.51!This!may!

be!in!part!due!to!the!fact!that!Schoenberg!does!not!dwell!on!it!in!his!own!

correspondence!from!that!year.!He!did!however!make!one!statement!in!a!letter!to!

Berg!that!is!suggestive:!!

Toward!the!end!it!got!very!ugly!in!Mattsee.!The!people!there!seemed!to!

despise!me!as!much!as!if!they!knew!my!music.!Nothing!happened!to!us!

beyond!that.!But!it’s!just!as!unpleasant!outside!of!one’s!profession!as!within!

it—only!there!one!has!to!accept!it.52!!

(Schoenberg’s!quip!is!often!interpreted!as!ironic!but!it!also!may!be!seen!as!offering!

an!early!glimpse!of!what!I!have!suggested!will!become!a!kind!of!transposition!of!

response!patterns,!where!internalized!scripts!of!twinned!pride!and!defensiveness!

about!his!musical!accomplishments!become!at!least!a!partial!template!for!his!

invention!of!a!new!Jewish!identity!in!the!1920s.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

retrospective!shaping!hand?!Certainly!it!provides!a!dramatic!story!of!origin!for!

Schoenberg’s!return!to!Judaism.!It!may!also!be!said!to!inoculate!the!period!from!1898!to!

1921,!allowing!those!years!of!modernist!innovation!to!remain!largely!unshadowed!by!the!

turbulent!cultural!and!ethnic!politics!of!the!time.!

51!Willi!Reich,!Schoenberg:$A$Critical$Biography!(New!York:!Da!Capo!Press,!1981),!124;!Stuckenschmidt,!Schoenberg,!274.!The!latter!reference!does,!perhaps!unintentionally,!underscore!what!may!have!been!the!shock!of!this!event!for!Schoenberg!by!describing!the!

context!for!the!trip!to!Mattsee!in!a!level!of!detail!that!is!often!omitted!in!other!accounts.!The!

Schoenbergs,!it!turns!out,!were!vacationing!with!the!family!of!his!brother!Heinrich,!and!they!

chose!Mattsee!because!of!its!proximity!to!Salzburg.!Heinrich!had!married!Bertel!Ott,!the!

daughter!of!the!mayor!of!Salzburg,!only!four!years!earlier.!It!would!be!hard,!in!short,!to!

think!of!a!greater!symbolic!token!of!the!broader!Schoenberg!family’s!integration!into!

mainstream!Austrian!society!precisely!at!the!same!time!that!Schoenberg!endured!the!antiJ

Semitic!slight!he!would!later!view!as!so!ominous.!Here!then!we!have!a!discreet!example!of!

precisely!why!interwar!history!is!much!more!complex!when!attempts!are!made!to!avoid!

narrating!events!through!the!prism!of!what!followed.!!

52!Schoenberg!to!Berg,!16!July!1921,!as!reprinted!in!Juliane!Brand,!Christopher!Hailey,!and!

Donald!Harris,!eds.,!The$BergFSchoenberg$Correspondence:$Selected$Letters!(New!York:!W.W.!Norton,!1987),!308.!

! 91!

The!oftenJquoted!declaration!of!this!stillJinchoate!identity!came!two!years!

later,!after!Schoenberg!had!heard!rumors!about!the!purported!antiJSemitism!of!his!

erstwhile!friend!Kandinsky.!The!composer!responded!in!a!series!of!polemical!letters!

in!which!he!declared,!“[f]or!I!have!at!last!learnt!the!lesson!that!has!been!forced!upon!

me!during!this!year,!and!I!shall!not!ever!forget!it.!It!is!that!I!am!not!a!German,!not!a!

European,!indeed!perhaps!scarcely!even!a!human!being!…!but!I!am!a!Jew.”53!!

These!words!are!often!taken!at!face!value—as!if,!the!blinders!having!been!

suddenly!lifted!in!Mattsee,!Schoenberg!had!finally!see!the!truth!about!himself,!and!

had!summarily!chosen!to!reJembrace!an!ancient!Jewish!essence!that!had!be!hitherto!

denied.!As!I!have!suggested,!such!an!interpretation!rests!on!shaky!biographic,!

psychological,!and!historical!ground.!It!implicitly!distorts!the!seriousness!of!his!

commitment!to!Deutschtum—and!may!even!be!seen!as!casting!implicit!doubt!on!the!

validity!of!the!artistic!fruit!of!the!previous!period,!as!if!those!projects!were!

predicated!on!a!core!falsehood.!As!we!will!also!see!shortly!in!a!letter!to!Berg,!it!is!far!

from!clear!what!the!statement!“I!am!a!Jew”!might!have!meant!to!Schoenberg!in!

1923.!Indeed,!it!is!also!possible!to!read!Schoenberg's!declaration!as!a!statement!of!

an!externally!imposed!identity!“forced!upon”!(in!Schoenberg's!words)!the!still!much!

more!complexly!ambivalent!German!modernist!composer.!To!acknowledge!the!

possibility!of!this!alternate!reading!is!also!to!admit!important!distinctions!in!

patterns!of!identity!formation,!between!its!public!and!private!faces,!one's!selfJ

perception!and!categories!that!are!socially!assigned.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!53!HahlJKoch,!Arnold$Schoenberg,$Wassily$Kandinsky:$Letters,$Pictures,$and$Documents,!76,!78.!

! 92!

Indeed,!Schoenberg’s!identity!in!the!1920s!remained!far!more!fluid!and!

“situational”!than!typical!readings!of!his!statement!to!Kandinsky!suggest.54!It!should!

be!remembered!that!it!was!in!fact!the!very!same!year!as!the!notorious!Mattsee!

incident!that!Schoenberg!made!his!breakthrough!discovery!of!the!12Jtone!method!of!

composition,!the!second!historic!innovation!of!his!career.!On!that!occasion!he!

famously!commented!to!his!student!Josef!Rufer!that!this!discovery!“would!

guarantee!the!dominance!of!German!music!for!the!next!100!years.”!Interpreters!

have!debated!whether!this!statement!was!meant!with!irony,55!or!with!heightened!

tenacity!given!the!implied!attack!on!his!claim!to!that!very!musical!tradition,!but!it!is!

also!possible!that!both!contentions!are!true.56!!

Similar!assertions!emphasizing!his!abiding!connections!to!German!culture!

continued!throughout!the!1920s,!simultaneous!with!his!developing!Jewish!

identity.57!It!was!a!period,!after!all,!in!which!Schoenberg!enjoyed!the!greatest!

professional!success!he!was!to!experience!in!his!lifetime.!His!music!gained!in!its!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!54!Ringer,!for!instance,!writes!that!Schoenberg!“preferred!to!move!forward!rapidly!and!in!a!

straight!line,!once!the!direction!was!firmly!laid!out.!And!so,!in!the!wake!of!the!courageous!

reappraisal!of!his!Jewish!roots!that!speaks!from!the!exchange!of!letters!with!Wassily!

Kandinsky…the!new!course!was!staked!out…”!Ringer,!Arnold$Schoenberg,!19.!!55!This!is!Ringer’s!suggestion,!as!proposed!in!“Assimilation!and!the!Emancipation!of!

Historical!Dissonance”!in!Brand!and!Hailey,!Constructive$Dissonance,!30.!!56!Christopher!Hailey!has!offered!a!third!option,!glossing!Schoenberg’s!pronouncement!in!

national!and!geoJpolitical!terms.!Hailey!writes!that!“[a]fter!1918!Austrians,!shorn!of!their!

empire,!sought!to!compensate!their!loss!by!a!fatal!identification!with!German!culture.!It!was!

this!crisis!of!identity!that!prompted!Schoenberg’s!triumphant!and!defiant!proclamation…”!

Hailey,!"Franz!Schreker!and!the!Pluralities!of!Modernism."!!

57!To!cite!just!one!example,!the!musicologist!Hugo!Leichtentritt!attempted!to!enlist!

Schoenberg’s!support!in!the!midJ1920s!for!a!new!International!Society!for!Jewish!Music.!In!

his!recently!published!memoirs,!Leichtentritt!recounts!that!Schoenberg!“angrily!refused!to!

collaborate!in!any!activities!for!Jewish!music.”!Leichtentritt!further!reports!being!“insulted!

by!the!haughtiness!of![Schoenberg’s]!phraseology!and!the!utter!lack!of!sympathy!and!

cooperation.”!See!Hugo!Leichtentritt,!A$Musical$Life$in$Two$Worlds,!ed.!Mark!DeVoto!(Cambridge:!Harvard!Musical!Association,!2014),!411.!!!

! 93!

influence!and!stature!across!Europe,!and!in!one!tangible!reflection!of!his!new!

prominence,!he!was!appointed!to!one!of!the!most!prestigious!musical!teaching!posts!

in!GermanJspeaking!Europe,!succeeding!Ferruccio!Busoni!as!the!director!of!a!master!

class!at!the!Prussian!Academy!of!the!Arts.!!

Accordingly,!upwellings!of!German!patriotism!could!still!be!found!eight!years!

after!his!letter!to!Kandinsky,!in!1931,!when!he!posited!his!own!music!as!a!kind!of!

authentic!German!art!capable!of!trumping!other!national!examples!in!the!arena!of!

public!opinion.!“Nobody!has!yet!appreciated,”!he!wrote,!“that!my!music,!produced!

on!German!soil,!without!foreign!influences,!is!a!living!example!of!an!art!able!most!

effectively!to!oppose!Latin!and!Slav!hopes!of!hegemony!and!derived!through!and!

through!from!the!traditions!of!German!music.”58!!

The!very!following!year,!he!wrote!to!Berg!from!Berlin!with!unusual!candor!

about!the!fluidity!of!these!categories,!in!a!letter!that!reveals!with!uncommon!clarity!

the!tensions!between!selfJdefinition!and!the!imposition!of!an!ethnic!or!racial!

identity!as!branded!from!the!outside:!

More!and!more!I!am!forced!to!concern!myself!here!with!the!question!

whether!and!to!what!extent!it!is!wise!to!count!myself!in!this!camp!or!that,!

whether$it$depends$upon$my$volition,$determination,$inclination,$or$whether$it$is$coercion.!Naturally,!even!without!the!nationalist!hints!of!the!last!few!years,!I!know!exactly!where!I!belong.!It's$just$that$it's$not$as$easy$to$switch$places$as$one$would$imagine…$Today!it!is!with!pride!that!I!call!myself!a!Jew;!however,!I!am!aware!of!the!difficulties!of!really!being!one.59!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!58!From!“National!Music,”!as!published!in!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!173J74.!Also!quoted!in!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!160.!59!Schoenberg!to!Berg,!23!September!1932,!collected!in!Brand,!Hailey,!and!Harris,!The$BergFSchoenberg$Correspondence,!435J6.!Emphasis!added.!

! 94!

Despite!those!difficulties,!Schoenberg!continued!to!experiment!during!

precisely!this!period!with!the!development!of!a!new!Jewish!identity.!This!may!be!

seen!in!his!militant!“Position!on!Zionism”60!of!1924,!and!in!the!texts!he!wrote!for!the!

first!two!of!his!Four!Pieces!for!Mixed!Chorus!(Op.!27)!from!1925.!The!second!of!

these!texts!is!more!often!cited!in!the!literature!because!of!its!explicit!reference!to!

the!Bilderverbot,!and!its!anticipation!of!the!themes!explored!in!key!later!works.!But!

the!text!for!the!first!piece—entitled!“No!Escape”—also!merits!consideration,!

especially!given!its!thinly!veiled!autobiographical!subtext:!

Brave!are!they!who!accomplish!deeds!

beyond!the!limits!of!their!courage.!

They!possess!the!strength!to!conceive!of!their!mission,!!

and!the!character!not!to!be!able!to!refuse.!

If!a!God!was!so!unkind!as!to!grant!them!insight!into!their!condition,!!

they!are!hardly!to!be!envied.!!

And!that!is!why!they!suffer!envy.!!

!

It!appears!that!after!having!reluctantly!accepted!his!selfJassigned!anointment!

as!the!composer!“chosen”!to!lead!German!music!out!its!lateJRomantic!(postJ

Wagnerian)!wilderness,!Schoenberg!here!in!1925!is!repositioning!himself!for!

another!turn!in!his!role!as!reluctant!prophet,!this!time!for!a!very!different!cause.!The!

following!year,!he!took!up!this!mantle!more!explicitly!by!beginning!work!on!Der$

Biblische$Weg,!a!Zionist!agitprop!play!through!which!he!hoped!to!inspire!the!mass!

migration!of!German!Jews!to!a!new!homeland,!even!a!temporary!one!if!necessary.!Its!

principal!character,!Max!Aruns,!is!a!figure!combining!elements!of!Moses!and!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!60!In!1924,!Schoenberg!wrote:!“The!reJestablishment!of!a!Jewish!state!could!come!into!being!

only!in!the!way!similar!events!have!always!occurred!in!history:!not!through!words!and!

morality,!but!through!successful!military!might!and!a!fortunate!commonality!of!interests.”!

Quoted!in!Moshe!Lazar,!"Arnold!Schoenberg!and!His!Doubles:!A!Psychodramatic!Journey!to!

His!Roots,"!Journal$of$the$Arnold$Schoenberg$Institute!17,!no.!1J2!(1994):!54.!

! 95!

Theodor!Herzl,!intent!on!saving!his!fellow!Jews!from!their!degraded!state!in!

Europe.61!Schoenberg!took!the!play!extremely!seriously.!He!hoped!it!might!be!

staged!by!Max!Reinhardt!or!a!director!of!similar!stature,!and!went!as!far!as!creating!

sketches!for!scenery.!But!it!was!in!fact!never!produced!or!even!published!until!

1994.62!!!!

Der$Biblische$Weg!remained!significant!however!as!a!kind!of!primer!for!

Schoenberg’s!opera!Moses$und$Aron,!the!culminating!work!of!his!European!period,!

written!(though!never!completed)!between!1928!and!1932.!This!latter!work!centers!

on!the!aesthetical,!theological,!and!metaphysical!dilemma!of!the!tension!between!

pure!thought!and!expression,!between!religious!faith!and!historical!action,!between!

a!truth!recognized!in!the!inner!precincts!of!the!self!and!the!ability!to!communicate!

that!truth!through!outward!representations,!be!they!linguistic,!musical!or!otherwise.!

In!the!opera!these!concepts!are!associated,!respectively,!with!the!biblical!characters!

of!Moses!and!Aron,63!through!a!core!distinction!already!introduced!in!Der$Biblische$

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!61!Later!commentators!have!naturally!seen!Max!Aruns!as!a!projection!of!Schoenberg’s!own!

selfJunderstanding!in!the!midJ1920s!“as!a!composer!and!musical!activist!who!had!struggled!

in!the!wilderness!and!who!had!succeeded!in!leading!a!regenerated!music!to!its!promised!

land,!and!who!now!felt!ready!to!sacrifice!his!art!to!a!new!relentless!dream—that!of!

becoming!a!visionary!political!leader!who!would!deliver!his!rediscovered!Jewish!brethren!

from!the!bondage!of!a!degrading!diaspora!and!an!antiJSemitic!Europe.”!See!ibid.,!11.!On!a!

related!note,!the!play!is!often!dated!to!1926J27,!the!years!of!its!completion.!Yet!

Schoenberg’s!correspondence!with!Alban!Berg!suggests!it!was!conceived!as!early!as!1922!or!

1923,!which!would!place!it!in!much!closer!proximity!to!the!event!at!Mattsee.!See!

Schoenberg!to!Berg,!16!October!1933,!in!Brand,!Hailey,!and!Harris,!The$BergFSchoenberg$Correspondence,!446.!!!62!In!one!letter!Schoenberg!introduced!the!play!as!“a!very!upJtoJdate!treatment…!of!the!

story!of!how!the!Jews!became!a!people.”!Schoenberg!to!Jakob!Klatzkin,!26!May!1933,!as!

reprinted!in!Arnold!Schoenberg,!Letters,!ed.!Erwin!Stein,!trans.!Eithne!Wilkins!and!Ernst!Kaiser!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!1987),!181.!For!the!original!German!texts!of!

the!play,!alongside!an!English!translation,!see!"Der!Biblische!Weg."!

63!There!are!two!schools!of!opinion!on!why!Schoenberg!dropped!the!second!‘a’!in!Aaron:!

either!to!ensure!that!his!title!has!12!letters,!thereby!according!with!his!nearJmystical!

! 96!

Weg,!where!the!characters!are!described!as:!“Moses,!to!whom!God!granted!the!Idea!

but!from!whom!He!withheld!the!gift!of!speech;!and!Aron,!who!could!not!grasp!the!

Idea!but!had!the!ability!to!communicate!it!and!move!the!masses.”64!!

In!the!opera,!for!which!Schoenberg!wrote!the!libretto!very!loosely!based!on!

sections!of!the!Book!of!Exodus,!Aron’s!communicative!gifts!are!represented!by!the!

fact!that!he!sings!in!a!mellifluous!tenor!while!Moses,!with!the!exception!of!a!single!

line,!only!speaks,!using!the!pitched!declamation!style!known!as!Sprechstimme.!The!

second!act!crests!in!the!wild,!orgiastic!Dance!around!the!Golden!Calf.!When!Moses!

returns!with!the!tablets,!the!calf!instantly!disappears.!He!is!furious!that!even!his!ally!

Aron,!described!in!the!libretto!as!his!“mouthpiece,”!has!betrayed!him,!but!Aron’s!

eloquent!rebuttals!confound!Moses’s!attempts!to!reprimand!him!about!the!purity!of!

the!Idea.!Moses’s!final!anguished!line!at!the!conclusion!of!Act!II,!before!he!collapses!

to!the!ground,!is!“O!Wort,!du!Wort,!das!mir!fehlt!”!(“Word,!O!Word,!that!I!lack!”)!!

Schoenberg!wrote!the!libretto!for!the!opera’s!concluding!third!act!but,!

despite!his!oftenJprofessed!desire!to!complete!the!work,!he!never!composed!music!

for!Act!III!beyond!initial!sketches.!The!work!was!never!performed!during!his!

lifetime!with!the!exception!of!one!scene—the!Dance!Around!the!Golden!Calf—which!

made!a!seismic!impression!on!its!first!audience!when!performed!in!Darmstadt!in!

1951!under!the!baton!of!Hermann!Scherchen,!less!than!two!weeks!before!

Schoenberg’s!death.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

preoccupation!with!the!number!12,!or!to!form!an!anagram!with!the!first!four!letters!of!his!

own!first!name.!See!Joseph!Auner,!"Schoenberg!as!Moses!and!Aron,"!The$Opera$Quarterly!23,!no.!4!(2007):!374.!

64!Schoenberg,!"Der!Biblische!Weg,"!303.!

! 97!

The!interpretive!literature!on!Moses$und$Aron$is!vast65!and!a!close!reading!of!

the!opera!would!exceed!the!parameters!of!the!current!chapter.!I!will!instead!focus!

on!positioning!the!work!more!broadly!in!the!narrative!arc!that!we!have!been!tracing!

up!to!this!point.!As!a!work!on!a!quintessential!Jewish!subject!written!in!the!strictly!

12Jtone!language!Schoenberg!had!dedicated!to!securing!the!supremacy!of!German!

music,!Moses$und$Aron,!I!suggest,!may!be!seen!as!a!final!herculean!attempt!by!

Schoenberg!to!defend—by!articulating—his!own!sui!generis!artistic!reconciliation!

of!Deutschtum$and!Judentum.$Its!subject!matter!reflects!the!extent!to!which!

Schoenberg!had!in!fact!internalized!a!new!Jewish!identity,!positioning!himself!as!an!

interpreter!of!one!of!Judaism’s!most!canonical!texts,!much!in!the!same!way!that!

Freud!did!at!almost!precisely!the!same!time!in!Moses$and$Monotheism.66!Yet!here!

Schoenberg!had!not!given!up!on!the!process!of!trying!to!overtly!reconcile!his!

Judaism!with!his!hardJwon!position!at!the!forefront!of!German!musical!life,!with!his!

investment!in!the!notion!of!his!own!role!as!an!innovator!who!had!revolutionized!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!65!Some!of!the!most!significant!responses!to!the!opera!include!that!of!Adorno,!who!

positioned!it!as!a!“Sacred!Fragment”!in!a!secular!age,!one!whose!incomplete!status!reflected!

a!sense!of!Schoenberg’s!ultimate!awareness!of!its!metaphysical!impossibility;!and!that!of!

George!Steiner,!who!situates!it!powerfully!against!the!backdrop!of!the!emerging!fascist!

threat.!He!also!identified!it!as!“one!of!the!most!moving,!overwhelmingly!dramatic!moments!

in!the!history!of!opera!and!of!the!modern!theatre.”!See!“Sacred!Fragment”!in!Theodor!W.!

Adorno,!Quasi$Una$Fantasia:$Essays$on$Modern$Music!(London:!Verso,!1992),!225J48.!And!George!Steiner,!"Schoenberg's!'Moses!and!Aaron',"!Encounter,!no.!24!(1965).!See!also!the!perceptive!chapter!on!the!opera!in!Goldstein,!Reinscribing$Moses.!66!It!is!not!known!whether!Schoenberg!was!familiar!with!Freud’s!book,!but!reading!Freud’s!

work!in!conjunction!with!the!narratives!that!comprise!Schoenberg’s!own!biography!and!

artistic!production!would!itself!be!a!suggestive!exercise.!Among!the!many!points!of!note,!

given!Schoenberg’s!own!earlier!psychological!investment!in!the!idea!of!redemption!through!

Deutschtum,!is!the!fact!that,!in!Freud’s!account!of!Biblical!“history,”!the!original!Moses!was!in!fact!a!member!of!the!host!nation.!Moses—in!Freud’s!interpretation—was!Egyptian.$For!a!classic!interpretation!of!Moses$and$Monotheism,$see!Yosef!Hayim!Yerushalmi,!Freud's$Moses:$Judaism$Terminable$and$Interminable!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!1991).!

! 98!

German!musical!traditions!not$as!a!guest!within!the!temple!of!heilige$deutsche$Kunst,!

but!as!a!legitimate!member!of!its!own!spiritual!congregation.!!

It!is!against!this!backdrop!that!we!may!profitably!contextualize!Schoenberg’s!

emphasis!in!the!opera!on!two!specific!concepts!capable!of!mediating!between!these!

fields!of!his!identity!in!the!late!1920s!as!described!above.!First!among!these!

conveniently!multivalent!concepts!must!be!the!notion!of!chosenness,!a!trope!that!as!

we!have!seen!Schoenberg!had!applied!to!his!own!status!as!a!musical!innovator,!

borne!forward!by!some!power!greater!than!himself,!having!been!almost!mystically!

selected!to!pursue!his!lonely!path!by!the!forces!of!musical!progress.!In!purely!

aesthetic!terms,!the!stunning!compositional!achievement!represented!by!this!opera!

de$facto$restates!Schoenberg’s!claim!to!leadership!of!German!music’s!modern!wing.!

Describing,!for!instance,!the!aural!impact!of!the!extraordinary!music!of!the!final!

scene!of!Act!II—the!last!music!that!Schoenberg!wrote!for!the!opera—Adorno!

conveyed!his!own!astonishment!through!a!metaphor!perhaps!more!apt!than!he!even!

intended.!He!wrote!of!the!vertiginous!mastery!of!this!passage:!“[t]he!attentive!ear!

must!behave!much!like!someone!entering!a!church!who!finds!his!gaze!jerked!

upwards!towards!the!roof.”67!Schoenberg,!in!other!words,!has!here!created!a!

veritable!cathedral!of!echtJmodern!German!sound.!!

And!yet!“chosenness”!of!course!has!also!been!furnished!with!an!entirely!

separate!meaning!in!this!opera!connected!to!God’s!covenantal!relationship!with!his!

chosen!people,!and!with!Moses!as!his!chosen!prophet.!The!notion!of!chosenness!also!

remained!central!to!Schoenberg’s!idiosyncratic!Judaism!for!the!remainder!of!his!life.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!67!From!the!“Sacred!Fragment”!essay,!as!published!in!Adorno,!Quasi$Una$Fantasia,!244.!Adorno’s!observation!is!also!quoted!in!Auner,!"Schoenberg!as!Moses!and!Aron,"!381.!!

! 99!

As!we!will!see,!when!he!set!out!to!create!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw,$it!was!the!Jews’!

collective!recollection!of!this!covenantal!relationship!that!became!the!narrative!crux!

of!the!memorial!as!a!whole.!!

A!second!multivalent!concept!through!which!Schoenberg!achieves!what!I!

have!suggested!is!a!kind!of!intellectual!retrofitting!of!an!earlier!identity!for!the!

reality!he!faced!in!the!1920s,!is!the!notion!of!the!Idea!(Gedanke).!This!term!appears!

repeatedly!in!Schoenberg’s!work!as!a!central!concept!over!the!course!of!several!

decades,!though!its!precise!meaning!(in!Schoenberg’s!usage)!remained!at!least!

somewhat!elusive.!In!musical!contexts,!“Idea”!related!to!the!global!vision!and!

inspiration!behind!a!particular!work.!At!one!point!Schoenberg!wrote!that!“[a]!

musical!idea…!though!consisting!of!melody,!rhythm,!and!harmony,!is!neither!the!one!

nor!the!other!alone,!but!all!three!together.”68!At!the!time!of!his!death,!he!left!behind!

hundreds!of!pages!now!referred!to!as!the!Gedanke!manuscripts—writing!

undertaken!for!a!book!on!the!subject!that!he!never!completed.69!!

In!Moses$und$Aron,$however,!the!term!Gedanke$takes!on!an!overwhelmingly!

theological!orientation.!It!is!used!to!represent!Moses’s!divine!belief,!his!conception!

of!God!in!its!purest!form,!which,!in!keeping!with!the!Second!Commandment,!must!

remain!“invisible,”!“unrepresentable,”!“immeasurable.”!It!is!what!Moses!cannot!

express!in!his!words,!but!what!Aron,!as!his!eloquent!mouthpiece,!attempts!to!

communicate!to!the!masses.!The!word!Gedanke!appears,!in!its!grammatical!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!68!This!definition!appears!in!his!essay!“Composition!with!Twelve!Tones,”!as!published!in!

Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!220.!!69!Many!of!those!manuscripts!were!later!collected!and!published!in!a!single!volume.!See!The$Musical$Idea$and$the$Logic,$Technique,$and$Art$of$Its$Presentation,!trans.!Patricia!Carpenter!and!Severine!Neff!(New!York:!Columbia!University!Press,!1995).!!

! 100!

variations,!no!less!than!27!times!in!the!libretto.!In!Act!II,!scene!5,!Aron!states!“Ich!

liebe!dieses!Volk,!ich!lebe!für!es”!(“I!love!this!people,!I!live!for!them”)!to!which!

Moses!replies!“Ich!liebe!meinen!Gendanken!und!lebe!für!ihn.”!(“I!love!my!Idea!and!

live!just!for!it.”)!!

!In!his!insightful!discussion!of!the!opera’s!musical!and!biographic!contexts,!

Joseph!Auner!suggests!that!“the!religious!connotations!of!the!Idea!were!themselves!

only!a!means!to!think!about!something!that!was!still!more!inherently!musical!and!

aesthetic.”70!I!am!suggesting!here,!however,!that!the!notion!of!the!Idea!may!also!be!

read!in!far!broader!terms!than!those!bounded!by!the!strictly!musical!or!aesthetic.!

Like!the!notion!of!chosenness,!it!may!be!seen!as!another!nodal!point!around!which!

Schoenberg!attempts!to!reconcile!earlier!(preJMattsee)!configurations!of!his!

religious!and!cultural!identity!with!those!taking!shape!in!the!late!1920s.!And!it!may!

not!be!fanciful!to!go!even!further;!that!is,!to!link!the!content!of!the!Idea,!at!this!

juncture,!with!this!very!attempt!at!reconciliation.!Indeed,!returning!to!the!earlier!

musical!definition!of!the!Idea,!if!one!considers!the!“total!vision”!behind!Moses$und$

Aron—the!“Idea”!of$this$opera!as!such—in!the!terms!that!have!been!laid!out!here,!we!

realize!there!may!be!more!than!one!“inexpressible”!truth!at!issue.!For!Schoenberg’s!

Moses!it!is!the!monotheistic!“Gottesgedanken”—the!pure!and!undiluted!belief!in!the!

one!God!of!Israel.!For!Schoenberg’s!Aron!it!may!be!the!political!and!social!

implications!of!that!belief.!For!the!composer!himself,!whether!consciously!or!not,!

the!most!“inexpressible”!total!vision!behind!this!opera!was!the!simultaneous,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!70!Auner,!"Schoenberg!as!Moses!and!Aron,"!378.!

! 101!

coexistent,!coFconstitutive!relationship!of!Judentum$and!Deutschtum—a!relationship!

most!extraordinarily!distilled!by!the!opera!itself.!!

By!redefining!the!notion!of!the!Idea!in!this!way,!at!least!in!the!context!of!this!

opera,!we!are!positioned!to!grasp!anew!the!poignancy!behind!Moses’s!ultimate!

failure!and!collapse!at!the!end!of!Act!II.!He!could!not,!finally,!hold!the!threads!

together.!Neither!he!nor!Schoenberg!(for!whom!Moses!is!a!mouthpiece,!just!as!Aron!

is!to!Moses),!could!communicate!the!truth!of!the!unity!they!sensed.!Moses’s!

anguished!cry!of!defeat!(“O!Wort,!du!Wort,!das!mir!fehlt”)!speaks!powerfully!in!this!

context.!It!also!suggests!a!clear,!if!probably!unconscious,!reason!why!Schoenberg!

could!not!bring!himself!to!complete!the!music!for!the!third!act!of!Moses$und$Aron$

after!his!expulsion!from!Germany—his!“ejection”!from!Deutschtum—in!1933.!The!

reconciliatory!impulse—the!subterranean!Idea!of!Moses$und$Aron!as!I!have!sketched!

it!here—had!by!that!point!collided!with!history.!$

Of!the!two!acts!of!Moses$und$Aron$that!were!written!in!the!early!1930s,!it!may!

be!said!that!they!represent!at!once!a!kind!of!high!point!and!terminus.!Schoenberg!

composed!much!of!this!score!away!from!Berlin,!which!he!had!already!come!to!view!

as!teeming!with!“swastikaJswaggerers!and!pogromists.”71!By!that!point,!

demonstrations!by!brownshirts!outside!centers!of!modern!music!such!as!the!

Krolloper!were!already!a!routine!occurrence,!and!the!innovations!at!the!heart!of!his!

work!were!being!increasingly!cast!as!“alien”!and!“degenerate”!elements,!a!blight!on!

the!corpus!of!postJWagnerian!music.!All!the!more!reason!why!it!is!worth!

momentarily!pausing!here!to!acknowledge!what!Schoenberg!nonetheless!managed!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!71!Schoenberg!to!Joseph!Asch,!24!May!1932,!in!Schoenberg,!Letters,!164.!

! 102!

to!achieve!in!the!two!acts!he!composed.!Indeed,!one!might!summarize!by!saying!that!

the!power!and!extraordinary!tension!in!the!music!of!Moses$und$Aron$was!ultimately!

generated!by!the!ferocious!intensity!of!Schoenberg’s!individual!attempt!to!hold!

together!the!disparate!elements!that!comprised!the!vaunted!GermanJJewish!

modernism!of!the!Weimar!Republic—as!both!an!aesthetic!phenomenon!and$as!a!

historical!chapter!in!the!postJEmancipation!career!of!central!European!Jewry—at!

the!precise!moment!of!its!insipient!dissolution.!!!

!

!

III.(From(Schönberg(to(Schoenberg:(The(Composer(in(Migration(

!

In!May!1933,!following!Hitler's!rise!to!power!and!Schoenberg’s!de!facto!

expulsion!from!the!Prussian!Academy!of!the!Arts,!the!composer!fled!Berlin!for!

France,!with!his!second!wife!Gertrud!and!his!young!daughter!from!his!second!

marriage,!Nuria.!In!Paris,!on!14!July!1933,!he!took!part!in!an!adJhoc!ceremony!at!the!

Union$libérale$israëlite$on!rue!Copernic,!under!the!supervision!of!Rabbi!LouisJ

Germain!Lévy,!declaring!his!return!to!Judaism.!Though!as!the!preceding!discussion!

has!hopefully!demonstrated,!this!was!not!a!spontaneous!protest!against!his!exile!but!

merely!a!ratification!of!a!shift!that!had!been!long!in!gestation.72!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!72!Though!he!does!not!address!Schoenberg’s!particular!case,!Todd!M.!Endelman!offers!a!

helpful!context!for!thinking!about!the!broader!phenomenon!of!the!“return”!of!Jewish!

converts.!See!“Memories!of!Jewishness:!Jewish!Converts!and!Their!Jewish!Pasts”!in!Elisheva!

Carlebach,!John!M.!Efron,!and!David!N.!Myers,!eds.,!Jewish$History$and$Jewish$Memory:$Essays$in$Honor$of$Yosef$Hayim$Yerushalmi!(Waltham,!Mass.:!Brandeis!University!Press!1998),!311J29.!James!Loeffler!addresses!the!most!famous!case!of!a!musical!convert!in!the!nineteenth!

century,!that!of!Russian!Jewish!composer!and!pianist!Anton!Rubinstein!(1829J1894),!in!

! 103!

A!window!into!Schoenberg’s!thinking!at!roughly!the!time!of!the!conversion!

may!be!gleaned!again!from!his!essay!“Every!Young!Jew.”!Schoenberg!here!writes!of!a!

painful!process!of!selfJevaluation!whereby!he!had!determined!that!“the!hope!for!

'redemption'![through!German!culture]!was!cruelly!disappointed.”!He!had!by!then!

apprehended!“how!little!assimilation!equates!with!redemption.”!To!have!believed!in!

this!false!God,!Schoenberg!continued,!was!not!only!a!grave!mistake!but!one!that!

required!both!acknowledgment!and!a!kind!of!expiation:!!

!

Many!of!us!have!become!conscious!of!our!guilt!only!through!our!misery,!and!

only!few!among!us!can!bring!ourselves!to!recognize!it!completely,!to!confess!

to!it!fully,!and!to!attempt!to!exonerate!ourselves!by$endeavoring$to$reverse$everything.”!!

!

By!reversing!everything![alles$rückgängig$zu$machen],!Schoenberg!seemed!to!

have!in!mind!nothing!less!than!a!kind!of!personal!and!collective!campaign!of!deJ

Germanicization,!a!process!of!separation!in!a!way!parallel!(as!Schoenberg!

acknowledges!in!the!following!passage)!to!Nazi!attempts!to!make!German!culture!

judenfrei.$In!the!composer's!words:!!

!

Yes,!all!achievements!must!be!reversed!!We!do!not!want!any!human!rights,!

for!they!only!inflame!the!fury!of!suppressed!bestiality…!We!do!not!want!any!

civil!rights,!which!only!provide!the!totally!superfluous!proof!that!they!were!

not!ours!to!have….!We!do!not!wish!to!have!a!part!in!Western!culture….!We!no!

longer!want!their![the!Germans']!knowledge,!their!arts,!their!manners;!we!

want!to!free!ourselves!from!them!and,!like!the!fox!–!isn't!he!clever!–!who!

tears!out!his!leg!if!he!has!been!caught!in!a!trap,!we!want!to!have!everything!

torn!out!which!they!want!to!retain!–!if!only!we!become!free!of!them!!What!do!

we!care!about!their!culture!which!they!are!now!forced!to!reverse,!

painstakingly!but!artificially,!in!order!to!clean!out!of!it!the!Jewish!element!

which!they!have!wrested!from!us.!Rather!lose!one's!legs,!rather!be!unable!to!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

James!Loeffler,!The$Most$Musical$Nation:$Jews$and$Culture$in$the$Late$Russian$Empire!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2010),!1J55.!!

! 104!

ever!move!again,!rather!lie!mutilated!in!a!dark!and!hidden!place,!than!to!

continue!being!connected!to!them!through!their!traps.73!!!!!

!

!

Schoenberg's!comments!in!this!essay!provide!a!context!for!the!more!famous!

and!oftenJquoted!letter,!written!in!August!1933!shortly!after!his!conversion,!to!his!

former!student!Anton!Webern.!In!it!he!not!only!declares!the!supposed!realignment!

of!his!loyalties,!but!also!his!intention!to!translate!this!belief!into!a!new!campaign!of!

political!activism.!In!his!words:!

!

For!fourteen!years!I!have!been!prepared!for!what!has!now!happened.!During!

this!long!time!I!have!been!able!to!prepare!myself!for!it!thoroughly,!and!have!

finally!cut!myself!off!for!good…!from!all!that!has!tied!me!to!the!Occident.!I!

have!long!been!resolved!to!be!a!Jew…!And!now,!as!from!a!week!ago,!I!have!

also!returned!officially!to!the!Jewish!religious!community…![I]!am!

determined—if!I!am!suited!to!such!activities—to!do!nothing!in!the!future!but!

work!for!the!Jewish!national!cause.74!!

!

In!the!same!letter,!Schoenberg!states!that!he!viewed!working!for!“the!Jewish!

national!cause”!as!“more!important!than!my!art.”!He!planned!to!devote!himself!

entirely!to!organizing!attempts!to!save!endangered!German!Jewry,!essentially!

translating!onto!a!vast!scale!the!decisions!he!had!already!come!to!in!his!own!private!

life.!“The!time!will!come,”!he!wrote!one!month!later,!“when!we!shall!demand!from!

the!Jews!in!every!land!that!they!renounce!the!emancipation,!that!they!put!aside!their!

citizenship,!and!they!be!only!Jews.”75!(It!was!also!around!this!time!that!Schoenberg!

changed!the!spelling!of!his!last!name,!eliminating!the!German!umlaut!in!favor!of!the!

“oe”!spelling,!which!may!of!course!be!read!as!both!a!practical!step!in!preparing!to!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!73!“Every!Young!Jew,”!as!reprinted!and!translated!in!Brown,!Schoenberg$and$Redemption,!200J01.!

74!Schoenberg!to!Webern,!4!August!1933,!Quoted!in!Reich,!Schoenberg,!189.!75!Fragment!dated!September!2,!1933,!collected!in!“Notes!on!Jewish!Politics,”!published!in!

Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!247.!

! 105!

live!in!an!EnglishJspeaking!land,!as!well!as!a!kind!of!orthographic!renunciation!of!

German!identity,!however!patently!aspirational!it!would!always!remain.)!

Indeed,!at!the!same!time,!Schoenberg's!closest,!nonJJewish!European!

supporters!continued!to!argue!on!behalf!of!the!constitutive!and!essential!German!

elements!of!his!identity!and!his!music.!In!a!touching!letter!less!than!a!year!after!

Schoenberg's!migration,!Berg!wrote!to!him!to!announce!his!own!dedication!of!his!

opera!Lulu!to!his!teacher!Schoenberg.!“Please!accept!it,!not!only!as!a!product!of!

years!of!work!most!devoutly!consecrated!to!you,!but!also!as!an!outward!document:!

the!whole!world—the!German!world,!too—is!to!recognize!in!the!dedication!that!this!

German!opera—like!all!my!works—is!indigenous$to$the$realm!of$that$most$German$

of$music,!which$will$bear$your$name$for$all$eternity.”76!

After!the!summer!in!France,!Schoenberg!and!his!family!moved!to!the!United!

States,!arriving!at!the!end!of!October!1933.!His!first!destination!was!Boston,!where!

he!accepted!a!position!to!teach!at!the!Malkin!Conservatory,!an!institution!that!could!

offer!nothing!of!the!prestige!or!financial!compensation!commensurate!with!what!he!

had!enjoyed!in!Berlin,!yet!secure!enough!to!enable!him!to!relocate.!The!choice!to!

accept!Malkin's!rather!modest!terms!of!employment!can!also!be!understood!against!

the!backdrop!of!Schoenberg's!private!determination!to!shift!the!focus!of!his!work!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!76!Berg!to!Schoenberg,!28!August!1934,!published!in!Brand,!Hailey,!and!Harris,!The$BergFSchoenberg$Correspondence,!452.!Emphasis!added.!As!if!seeking!to!ease!the!starkness!of!his!former!teacher’s!radical!rupture!with!his!own!past,!Berg!also!sent!Schoenberg!a!300Jpage!

special!issue!of!Kraus’s!Die$Fackel,!a!journal!to!which,!as!previously!mentioned,!both!men!had!been!extremely!dedicated.!!

! 106!

and!to!dedicate!himself!to!extraJmusical!tasks!on!behalf!of!world!Jewry!(a!subject!to!

which!we!will!shortly!return).77!!

To!his!surprise,!Schoenberg's!teaching!appointment!in!Boston!also!came!with!

adjunct!responsibilities!in!New!York,!but!the!harshness!of!the!New!England!winter!

threatened!his!health!and!exacerbated!his!chronic!asthma.!In!1934,!he!moved!to!Los!

Angeles,!where!he!spent!the!remaining!17!years!of!his!life.!Over!the!course!of!the!

next!decade,!Schoenberg!found!himself!joined!by!a!large!number!of!refugees!

displaced!from!Europe.!Estimates!of!the!Southern!California!German!refugee!

population!during!this!period!have!in!fact!ranged!as!high!as!10,000!and!15,000.78!

Among!the!new!Californians!was!an!improbably!high!proportion!of!Europe's!

artistic!and!intellectual!elite,!including!Thomas!Mann!and!his!brother!Heinrich!

Mann,!Bertolt!Brecht,!Theodor!Adorno,!Max!Horkheimer,!Leon!Feuchtwanger,!Max!

Reinhardt,!Franz!Werfel,!Aldous!Huxley,!and!Christopher!Isherwood.79!Beyond!these!

literary!and!intellectual!figures,!many!musicians!and!composers!in!particular!ended!

up!in!Southern!California!thanks!to!the!agreeable!climate,!the!promise!of!work!in!the!

film!studios,!and,!in!later!stages!of!the!migration,!the!existence!of!a!large!émigré!

community.!Beyond!Schoenberg,!the!prominent!musical!émigrés!in!Los!Angeles!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!77!The!correspondence!with!Malkin!leading!to!Schoenberg’s!appointment!has!been!

published!in!its!entirety.!See!R.!Wayne!Shoaf,!"The!SchoenbergJMalkin!Correspondence,"!

Journal$of$the$Arnold$Schoenberg$Institute!XIII,!no.!2!(1990).!For!an!overview!of!Schoenberg’s!brief!stay!in!Boston,!see!Jeremy!Eichler,!“Revolutionary!on!Beacon!Street:!

Recalling!Arnold!Schoenberg’s!Time!as!a!Bostonian,”!The$Boston$Globe,!1!November!2009.!For!a!description!of!Schoenberg’s!lack!of!diplomacy!upon!arrival,!and!his!disconnection!

from!a!Boston!musical!public!initially!eager!to!receive!him,!see!Leichtentritt,!A$Musical$Life$in$Two$Worlds,!408J10.!78!Estimates!vary!widely.!See!Alexander!Stephan,!Die$Deutsche$Exilliteratur$1933F1945:$Eine$Einführung!(München:!Beck,!1979),!7.!See!also!Bahr,!Weimar$on$the$Pacific,!3.!79!For!a!broader!survey!of!this!unprecedented!cultural!ingathering,!one!which!does!not$focus!on!Los!Angeles!per!se,!see!Heilbut,!Exiled$in$Paradise:$German$Refugee$Artists$and$Intellectuals$in$America.!

! 107!

included!the!composers!Igor!Stravinsky,!Sergei!Rachmaninoff,!Hanns!Eisler!and!

Erich!Korngold,!the!conductors!Bruno!Walter!and!Otto!Klemperer,!and!the!

instrumentalists!Jascha!Heifetz!and!Gregor!Piatigorsky.80!There!were!also!two!prime!

social!mediators!among!the!various!émigré!groups:!Salka!Viertel,!the!Austrian!

actress!who!became!a!scriptwriter!for!Greta!Garbo!and!hosted!a!fabled!salon,!and!

Alma!Mahler,!who!lived!next!door!to!Bruno!Walter,!and!seemed!to!supply!all!with!a!

healthy!diet!of!gossip!and!dinner!parties.!!

Traditional!characterizations!of!Schoenberg’s!émigré!period!have!been!

largely!negative,!emphasizing!his!artistic!isolation,!his!financial!struggles,!and!the!

lack!of!interest!in!his!music!from!American!concert!organizations.!The!coloring!of!

these!views!owes!something!to!broader!trends!in!German!Exilforschung!(outlined!in!

Chapter!I)!and!to!the!zealous!efforts!of!some!of!Schoenberg's!European!students,!

who!sought!to!emphasize!the!primacy!of!the!European!career!at!times!implicitly!at!

the!expense!of!the!composer's!American!coda.!A!more!nuanced!portrait!of!

Schoenberg's!Los!Angeles!period!has!begun!to!emerge,!however,!through!the!work!

of!revisionist!scholars.!In!Schoenberg's$New$World,!for!instance,!Sabine!Feisst!

debunks!many!of!the!most!pervasive!myths!about!Schoenberg's!rejection!of!(and!

from)!America,!including!those!surrounding!his!finances,!the!publication!and!

performance!of!his!work,!and!even!his!broader!personal!embrace!of!American!

culture.!As!Feisst!and!others!have!suggested,!America!was!where!Schoenberg's!

various!jostling!identities,!as!German,!Jew,!12Jtone!and!tonal!composer,!could!

coexist.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!80!For!a!wideJangle!portrait!of!the!musical!migration!to!Southern!California,!see!Crawford,!A$Windfall$of$Musicians:$Hitler's$Èmigrès$and$Exiles$in$Southern$California.!

! 108!

Indeed,!as!I!will!seek!to!sketch!in!the!following!section,!during!his!period!in!

America,!Schoenberg!softened!his!puritanism!regarding!the!historical!imperative!of!

12Jtone!music;!he!tempered!his!elitism,!as!he!found!himself!yearning!for!a!broader!

and!more!popular!acceptance!of!his!music;81!and!he!repositioned!his!art!outward.!

On!this!last!point,!Schoenberg!(and!others)!had!often!emphasized!the!importance!of!

his!music's!autonomy!from!the!surrounding!social!forces,!be!they!commercial!

pressures,!the!responses!of!a!philistine!public,!or!of!a!hostile!press.82!As!we!have!

seen,!in!the!development!of!his!own!musical!language!before!his!exile,!he!had!linked!

his!own!innovations!with!a!teleology!of!music's!own!internal!logical!evolution,!or!

with!the!burning!needs!of!the!psyche!for!unmediated!expression.!Yet!in!Los!Angeles,!

he!implicitly!called!that!autonomy!into!question!by!writing!engagé$works,!music!

responding!directly!to!the!European!catastrophe.!!

Many!émigrés!had!taken!refuge!elsewhere!before!arriving!in!California,!or!as!

Brecht!put!it,!they!had!been!“changing!countries!more!often!than!our!shoes.”83!When!

they!did!arrive,!the!émigrés!naturally!saw!their!new!California!home!through!the!

eyes!of!their!past!experience.!Thomas!Mann!described!“a!hilly!landscape!strikingly!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!81!In!just!one!small!illustration!of!this!point,!when!the!Los!Angeles!Chamber!Music!Society!

scheduled!his!Second!String!Quartet!for!a!performance!in!December!1934,!a!newspaper!

preview!stated!that!Schoenberg!was!seeking!to!have!the!German!poems!by!Stefan!George!

translated!into!English,!a!surprising!gesture!given!his!tendency!to!treat!the!details!of!his!

original!scores!as!quasiJsacred!texts.!Even!Pierrot$was!performed!on!another!occasion!in!an!English!translation!by!Ingolf!Dahl.!See!“Chamber!Music!Society!to!Give!Concert!Series,”!4!

November!1934,!Los$Angeles$Times.!82!Reflecting!these!sensitivities,!Schoenberg!had!founded!in!Vienna!in!1918!the!Verein$für$musikalische$Privataufführungen,!“to!give!artists!and!music!lovers!a!real!and!exact!knowledge!of!modern!music”!(according!to!Alban!Berg’s!prospectus!for!the!society).!Auner,!

A$Schoenberg$Reader,!151.!See!also!Christopher!Hailey’s!“Musical!Expressionism:!The!Search!for!Autonomy”!in!Shulamith!Behr,!David!Fanning,!and!Douglas!Jarman,!eds.,!

Expressionism$Reassessed!(Manchester:!Manchester!University!Press,!1993).!83!Bertolt!Brecht,!“An!die!Nachgeborenen”.!For!full!English!translation!see!Bertolt!Brecht,!

Poems,$1913F1956,!ed.!John!Willett!and!Ralph!Manheim!(New!York:!Methuen,!1979),!320.!

! 109!

similar!to!Tuscany;”84!and!Brecht!confessed!in!one!of!his!first!letters!from!California,!

“I!feel!here!as!I!if!were!in!Tahiti.”85!Schoenberg!described!his!new!Hollywood!

neighborhood!as!resembling!Mödling,!a!suburb!of!Vienna!where!he!lived!for!several!

years!after!World!War!I.86!!

The!composer!did!not!deny!“feeling!the!wrench!in!my!very!bones”87!upon!his!

departure!from!Europe,!but!scarcely!one!month!after!he!arrived!in!California,!he!

was!already!breathing!easier.!In!one!letter,!as!he!describes!it:!“I!am!sitting!by!the!

open!window,!writing,!and!my!room!is!full!of!sunshine!”88!The!same!month!of!his!

arrival,!he!was!honored!at!a!reception!in!Los!Angeles;!his!speech!on!that!occasion!

reflected!a!deep!gratefulness.!“I!came!from!one!country!into!another!country!where!

neither!dust!nor!better!food!is!rationed!and!where!I!am!allowed!to!go!on!my!feet,!

where!my!head!can!be!erect,!where!kindness!and!cheerfulness!is!dominating!and!

where!to!live!is!a!joy!where!to!be!an!expatriated!of!another!country!is!the!grace!of!

God.$I!was!driven!into!paradise!”89!!

Gratefulness!was!soon!tempered!by!frustration,!as!Schoenberg!quickly!

discovered!how!difficult!it!was!to!secure!performances!of!his!music.!Part!of!the!

difficulty!can!be!attributed!to!his!arrival!without!institutional!support!or!public!

fanfare.!Before!he!had!come!to!Boston,!Joseph!Malkin!had!conducted!a!successful!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!84!Thomas!Mann,!Letters$of$Thomas$Mann,$1889F1955,!trans.!Richard!and!Clara!Winston!(Berkeley:!University!of!California!Press,!1990),!269.!

85!Bertolt!Brecht,!Letters,!ed.!John!Willett,!trans.!Ralph!Manheim!(London:!Methuen,!1990),!336.!

86!Schoenberg,!“Circular!to!my!Friends!on!my!Sixtieth!Birthday,”!as!published!in!Schoenberg,!

Style$and$Idea,!28.!!!87!Schoenberg,!“Thanks!for!Birthday!Wishes,”!Letters,!191J92.!!88!Style$and$Idea,!29.!89!Reprinted!in!Walter!Frisch,!ed.!Schoenberg$and$His$World!(Princeton:!Princeton!University!Press,!1999),!298.!

! 110!

public!relations!campaign!which!placed!prominent!articles!in!both!the!national!and!

local!press.90!But!no!similar!effort!was!made!in!Los!Angeles.91!Adding!to!the!

difficulty,!there!was!not!the!same!history!of!commitment!to!contemporary!classical!

music!in!Southern!California.92!What's!more,!Schoenberg!also!seemed!to!lack!the!

diplomacy!skills!necessary!to!build!new!alliances,!or!to!take!advantage!of!ones!that!

he!might!naturally!have!built!upon.93!!

From!the!beginning!of!his!Los!Angeles!period,!teaching!took!on!an!expanded!

role!in!his!life.!His!first!summer!in!California,!Schoenberg!taught!a!course!at!USC,!

and!from!1936!to!1942,!he!taught!at!UCLA.!He!also!gave!courses!at!the!Music!

Academy!of!the!West!in!Santa!Barbara.!He!was!not!impressed!by!the!overall!level!of!

the!American!students,!whose!backgrounds!he!compared!to!Swiss!cheese!in!their!

number!of!holes,!but!he!praised!their!eagerness!to!learn.!In!the!early!years,!the!

courses!pressed!his!English!to!its!limits,!and!tested!his!ability!to!function!in!the!less!

hierarchical!pedagogic!environment!of!the!United!States.!!

At!UCLA,!he!recruited!two!young!musicians,!Gerald!Strang!and!later!Leonard!

Stein,!to!be!his!teaching!assistants,!with!Strang!beginning!as!early!as!1935.!As!Strang!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!90!See,!for!example,!“Schoenberg,!Exile,!to!Teach!in!Boston,”!8!September!1933,!New$York$Times;!“The!Enigma!of!Modern!Music!Arrives,”!10!November!1933,!Musical$America.$See!also!Joseph!Malkin!to!Schoenberg,!7!September!1933,!in!Shoaf,!"The!SchoenbergJMalkin!

Correspondence."!

91!See!Dorothy!Lamb!Crawford,!"Arnold!Schoenberg!in!Los!Angeles,"!Musical$Quarterly!86,!no.!1!(2002):!7.!The!first!mention!of!Schoenberg’s!arrival!in!the!Los$Angeles$Times$appears!as!an!aside!in!a!column!by!Isabel!Morse!Jones!on!14!October!1934.!!

92!Henry!Cowell’s!New$Music!moved!from!Los!Angeles!to!San!Francisco!in!1926J27.!See!ibid.!93!For!example,!he!had!been!in!Los!Angeles!scarcely!one!month!when!he!rejected!an!offer!to!

attend!a!reception!in!Otto!Klemperer’s!honor!at!the!Los!Angeles!Philharmonic!because!he!

felt!the!orchestra!had!not!done!enough!for!his!music!in!the!past,!and!it!did!not!deserve!his!

endorsement!without!first!making!an!attempt!to!reconcile!him.!See!Schoenberg!to!

Klemperer,!8!November!1934,!in!Letters,$192J93.!The!same!sentiment!made!it!into!print!less!than!a!month!after!his!arrival;!see!“Composer!and!Wife!to!be!Guests!of!Pro!Musica,”!28!

October!1934,!Los$Angeles$Times.$For!more!on!this!point,!see!ibid.!

! 111!

once!described,!his!duties!went!far!beyond!pedagogic!and!included!helping!

Schoenberg!navigate!a!culture!entirely!foreign!to!him.!According!to!Strang,!

Schoenberg!was!prone!to!feeling!personally!slighted.!If!a!student!or!colleague!did!

not!come!to!shake!hands,!the!composer!would!be!concerned!that!he!had!offended!

him,!or!even!that!an!offence!was!intended!by!the!student.94!

Despite!the!varying!levels!of!his!students,!many!of!whom!were!not!even!

music!majors,!Schoenberg!committed!himself!to!his!teaching!with!great!seriousness,!

according!to!Stein95!and!many!others!who!encountered!him!in!that!context.!He!

devoted!large!portions!of!his!time!to!producing!four!different!text!books!specifically!

designed!to!address!the!needs!of!his!own!students.96!His!pedagogic!approach!called!

for!a!deep!immersion!in!the!work!of!the!AustroJGerman!masters,!such!as!Bach,!

Beethoven,!Brahms,!and!Mozart,97!and!he!actively!discouraged!students!from!

writing!in!more!modern!styles!before!earlier!techniques!had!been!mastered.!As!his!

students!progressed,!he!took!great!pride!in!their!accomplishments,!and!he!would!

showcase!their!work!at!regular!Sunday!afternoon!parties!at!his!home!in!

Brentwood.98!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!94!Oral!history,!Gerald!Strang!interviewed!by!Vivian!Perlis.!Special!Collections,!Arnold!

Schönberg!Center,!Vienna.!!!

95!Leonard!Stein,!interview!by!author,!13!May!2003,!Los!Angeles,!Calif.!!

96!Structural$Functions$of$Harmony;!Preliminary$Exercises$in$Counterpoint;!Models$for$Beginners$in$Composition;!and!Fundamentals$of$Musical$Composition.!!97!See!“First!California!Broadcast”!selected!and!introduced!by!Sabine!Feisst,!in!Frisch,!

Schoenberg$and$His$World,!285.!Feisst’s!introduction!to!this!transcription!of!a!radio!interview!appears!to!misdate!the!interview!as!occurring!in!the!fall!of!1934.!Schoenberg’s!

interviewer,!Max!van!Leuwen!Swarthout,!refers!to!Schoenberg’s!having!taught!at!the!recent!

summer!session!at!USC,!which!he!did!not!do!until!1935.!He!also!refers!to!Schoenberg!as!

having!been!in!America!for!two!years.!The!likely!date!of!this!interview!is!fall!1935.!

98!Dika!Newlin,!Schoenberg$Remembered:$Diaries$and$Recollections$(1938F1976)!(New!York:!Pendragon!Press,!1980),!173.!

! 112!

For!much!of!his!American!period,!Schoenberg!struggled!financially.!He!was!

forced!to!retire!from!UCLA!when!he!reached!the!age!of!70,!and!his!pension!

amounted!to!just!$38!dollars!a!month.!He!applied!in!1945!to!the!Guggenheim!

Foundation!for!funding!that!he!thought!would!allow!him!to!complete!his!unfinished!

opera!Moses$und$Aron,!among!other!works,!but!his!request!was!rejected.99!He!came!

to!believe!that!the!war!years!had!amplified!a!particularly!xenophobic!brand!of!

American!cultural!nationalism,!one!that!had!also!crept!into!the!minds!of!the!concert!

music!world.!He!described!himself!as!“the!first!victim!of!the!nationalistic!

movement.”100!!

Schoenberg!initially!supplemented!his!income!by!giving!private!lessons!to!

film!composers.101!He!even!had!his!own!memorable!encounter!with!the!film!

industry!in!1936.!The!renowned!MGM!producer!Irving!Thalberg,!having!heard!one!

of!his!early!tonal!works,!invited!the!composer!to!write!the!score!for!the!screen!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!99!Schoenberg!to!Henry!Allen!Moe,!22!January!1945,!in!Schoenberg,!Letters,!231.!100!Schoenberg!to!K.!Aram,!15!November!1947.!Quoted!in!Alan!Lessem’s!“The!Émigré!

Experience:!Schoenberg!in!America”!in!Brand!and!Hailey,!Constructive$Dissonance,!60.!As!Lessem!and!others!have!emphasized,!the!issue!was!not!only!a!kind!of!populist!antiJTeutonic!

sentiment!of!a!public!at!war,!but!also!a!conscious!effort!to!cultivate!an!American!national!

identity!in!music,!a!project!that!had!begun!as!early!as!the!1890s!with!Dvorak’s!presence!in!

New!York.!And!indeed,!the!American!search!for!a!usable!musical!past!led!a!younger!

generation!of!composers!to!explore!sources!far!from!Schoenberg’s!valorized!AustroJGerman!

canon.!This!cultural!climate!may!indeed!have!temporarily!dimmed!the!American!interest!in!

Schoenberg’s!music,!but!it!is!to!Schoenberg’s!credit!as!a!teacher!that!he!was!nonetheless!

able!to!influentially!instruct!American!composers!in!search!of!their!own!new!directions.!The!

two!most!natural!examples!to!list!here!would!be!the!future!American!mavericks!John!Cage!

and!Lou!Harrison,!both!of!whom!studied!with!Schoenberg.!Harrison!later!thanked!his!

teacher!thusly:!“No!person!has!given!me!so!much!confidence!in!myself,!and!I!have!had!much!

need!since!then,!in!the!face!of!fads!and!fashions,!of!just!that!intense!and!real!belief!in!the!

importance!of!honesty!towards!oneself!and!honesty!towards!the!art!which!I!profess!that!

you!seemed!to!give!me.”!From!a!letter!–!Harrison!to!Schoenberg,!4!November!1944!–!quoted!

in!Lessem,!“The!Émigré!Experience”!in!ibid.,!66.!!!

101!Some!were!surprised!and!disappointed!to!learn!that!Schoenberg!would!not!teach!them!

his!12Jtone!method.!See!Oscar!Levant,!A$Smattering$of$Ignorance!(New!York:!Doubleday!Doran!&!Co.,!1940),!125.!

! 113!

adaptation!of!Pearl!S.!Buck's!“The!Good!Earth.”!The!actress!Salka!Viertel!helped!to!

broker!the!meeting!and!recalled!it!vividly!in!her!memoirs.102!Thalberg!apparently!

invited!Schoenberg!into!his!office!and!began!by!complimenting!the!composer!on!his!

lovely!music.!“I!don't!write!'lovely'!music,”!Schoenberg!replied,!and!proceeded!to!

inform!Thalberg!that!the!music!in!most!films!was!abysmal,!and!that!if!he!were!to!

write!the!score,!he!would!need!full!control!of!not!only!the!music!but!the!actors!as!

well.!But!even!with!all!of!Schoenberg's!demands,!Thalberg!apparently!did!not!balk!

until!the!composer!doubled!his!$25,000!dollar!fee.!“If!I!do!commit!suicide,”!

Schoenberg!told!Alma!MahlerJWerfel!at!the!time,!“I!want!to!at!least!live!well!on!

it.”103!

The!nearJmiss!with!MGM!hints!at!the!broader!ways!in!which!Schoenberg!

grew!increasingly!enmeshed!in!the!culture!of!Los!Angeles!and!America!more!

generally.!He!purchased!a!home!off!of!Sunset!Boulevard,!on!the!same!street!as!

Shirley!Temple.!He!became!a!U.S.!citizen!in!1941.!He!and!Gertrude!had!two!more!

children:!Ronald,!whose!name!is!an!anagram!of!his!own,!and!Lawrence.!And!far!from!

making!their!home!into!an!island!of!European!culture,!Schoenberg!seemed!to!

embrace!his!surroundings,!especially!in!regard!to!his!children.!He!was!a!devoted!fan!

of!Ronald's!tennis!career,!and!devised!a!special!notational!method!for!recording!the!

progress!of!games!point!by!point.!Lawrence!Schoenberg!recalled!going!out!to!dinner!

as!a!family!to!the!Thrifty!Drugstore!on!Wilshire!Boulevard!and!Fourth!Street!in!

Santa!Monica:!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!102!Salka!!Viertel,!The$Kindness$of$Strangers!(New!York:!Holt,!Rinehart,!and!Winston,!1969),!206J08.!

103!As!recounted!by!Alma!Mahler!in!her!memoir.!See!Alma!Mahler,!And$the$Bridge$Is$Love!(New!York:!Harcourt,!Brace,!1958),!280.!

! 114!

We!would!get!the!fortyJniner…!a!fortyJnine!cent!meal.!It!was!probably!

chicken!and!mashed!potatoes!and!a!coke!and!hot!fudge!Sundae.!We!would!sit!

at!the!counter….!I!think!he!really!wanted!us!to!grow!up!being!Americans,!

although!I!was!not!allowed!to!be!in!the!cub!scouts,!because!he!obviously!

associated!little!kids!wearing!uniforms!with!Hitler!Youth…!So!I!couldn't!do!

that.!But!he!did!want!us!to!grow!up!and!be!part!of!the!culture,!which!we!did.!

I'm!a!little!disappointed.!I!wish!I!had!had!more!European!culture!growing!

up.104!!

!

In!1950,!Schoenberg!was!contacted!by!the!writer!Albert!Goldberg,!who!was!

preparing!a!column!for!the!Los$Angeles$Times!on!how!the!different!émigré!

composers!felt!that!America!had!changed!them.!Schoenberg's!response!has!often!

been!quoted!in!the!secondary!literature!and!largely!taken!at!face!value.!In!

Schoenberg's!words:!“If!immigration!to!America!has!changed!me—I!am!not!aware!of!

it…!Maybe!I!would!have!written!more!when!remaining!in!Europe,!but!I!think:!

nothing!comes!out,!what!was!not!in.!And!two!times!two!equals!four!in!every!climate.!

Maybe!I!had!four!times!four!times![sic]!harder!to!work!for!a!living.!But!I!made!no!

concessions!to!the!market.”105!!!

! If!it!is!true!that!Schoenberg!did!not!go!as!far!as!Stravinsky,!who!showed!few!

scruples!in,!for!example,!accepting!a!commission!from!the!circus!to!write!a!“Polka!

for!a!Young!Elephant,”!but!Schoenberg's!nearJmiss!with!Thalberg!and!MGM!simply!

suggests!that!the!composer!had!a!higher!price!for!concessions.!But!it!is!Schoenberg's!

line!“two!times!two!equals!four!in!every!climate”!that!bears!more!scrutiny.!It!follows!

from!an!earlier!passage!in!Schoenberg's!remarks!to!Goldberg,!where!the!composer!

sarcastically!wonders!whether!“I!would!be!expected!to!write!another!style!as!often!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!104!Lawrence!Schoenberg,!interview!with!the!author,!16!May!2003,!Pacific!Palisades,!Calif.!!

105!“The!Transplanted!Composer,”!14!May!1950,!Los$Angeles$Times.!!

! 115!

as!I!live!in!a!different!country:!extremely!cold!in!Alaska!or!Siberia,!very!hot!near!the!

equator,!damp!in!the!jungles!and!so!forth.”!!

! This!reductio$ad$absurdum!approach!to!Goldberg's!question!belies!the!more!

complex!reality!of!Schoenberg's!exile!experience.!His!commitment!to!the!historical!

imperative!of!12Jtone!music!did!in!fact!soften!and!grow!more!flexible!in!America;!he!

confessed!to!often!feeling!“an!upsurge!of!desire!for!tonality,”106!an!urge!he!obeyed!in!

works!such!as!the!Second!Chamber!Symphony,!the!Suite!for!String!Orchestra,!and!

several!others!composed!in!this!country.107!Even!in!his!strictly!12Jtone!pieces,!he!

suddenly!seemed!to!care!about!the!music!finding!an!audience!far!beyond!a!small!

circle!of!connoisseurs.!Schoenberg!had!in!earlier!years!penned!the!prickly!epigram:!

“If!it!is!art!it!is!not!for!everyone,!and!if!it!is!for!everyone!it!is!not!art.”!The!same!

composer!wrote!from!Los!Angeles,!“there!is!nothing!I!long!for!more!intensely!than!

to!be!taken!for!a!better!sort!of!Tchaikovsky!–!for!heaven's!sake,!a!bit!better!but!

really!that's!all….!People!should!know!my!tunes!and!whistle!them.”108!

$

The(War(Years(

! As!the!size!of!the!émigré!community!in!Southern!California!swelled!during!

the!war!years,!many!artists!registered!the!extreme!disjunction!between!the!daily!

events!taking!place!on!the!continent!of!Europe!and!the!landscapes!of!natural!(and!

artificial)!beauty!in!which!they!lived.!!Carl!Zuckmayer,!for!instance,!wrote:!!

Never!have!I!been!so!wrapped!in!the!mists!of!depression!as!in!this!land!of!

eternal!spring,!in!whose!irrigated!gardens,!with!their!chlorinated!swimming!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!106!Schoenberg!to!Josef!Rufer,!May!25,!1948!as!reprinted!in!Schoenberg,!Letters,!254J55.!107!See!also!“On!Revient!Toujours”!(1948)!in!Style$and$Idea,!108J9.!108!Schoenberg!to!Hans!Rosbaud,!12!May!1947.!Letters,!243.!

! 116!

pools!and!dream!castles!perched!on!the!slopes!of!canyons,!shortJlived!

pleasure!is!at!home,!while!in!the!depths!sprawls!a!dreary,!murderous!

wasteland:!the!city!of!Los!Angeles,!one!of!the!ugliest!and!most!brutal!

metropolises!in!the!world.109!!

!

The!home!of!Lion!and!Marta!Feuchtwanger!became!a!gathering!place!in!those!years.!

When!interviewed!in!1976,!Marta!Feuchtwanger!recalled!“[e]verybody!was!in!a!way!

homesick,!not!for!going!back,!but!homesick!for!what!was,!what!we!left,!what!was!

before!and!what!we!thought!would!never!come!again.”110!

! !The!specific!postwar!circumstances!that!led!to!the!composition!of$Survivor!

from!Warsaw,!which!Schoenberg!wrote!in!the!summer!of!1947,!will!be!examined!in!

detail!in!Chapter!IV,!but!it!is!important!at!this!point!to!situate!this!early!Holocaust!

memorial!in!the!context!of!Schoenberg's!experience!during!the!war!years!and!his!

relationship!to!the!Holocaust!itself.!!

Returning!momentarily!to!Der$Biblische$Weg,$we!may!recall!a!crucial!line!

from!the!play’s!final!act,!in!which!the!protagonist,!Max!Aruns,!rejects!the!necessity!of!

dividing!the!archetypal!qualities!associated!with!Moses!and!those!of!Aron!across!the!

personalities!of!two!different!people.!As!Aruns!states:!

To!me,!Moses!and!Aron!represent!two!activities!of!one$man—a!statesman,!

whose!two!souls!ignore!each!other’s!existence.!The!purity!of!his!Idea!is!not!

blurred!by!his!public!actions;!and!these!actions!are!not!weakened!by!his!

thoughtful!consideration!of!yet!unsolved!problems!that!the!Idea!presents.111!!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!109!Mark!M.!Anderson,!ed.!Hitler's$Exiles:$Personal$Stories$of$the$Flight$from$Nazi$Germany$to$America!(New!York:!New!Press,!1998),!276.!In!his!chronicle!of!what!he!terms!“exile!modernism,”!Ehrhard!Bahr!observes!that!“the!idyllic!landscape!functioned!like!a!Hollywood!

movie!set!that!produced!alienation!because!of!its!apparent!perfection.”!Bahr,!Weimar$on$the$Pacific,!11.!110!Marta!Feuchtwanger!was!interviewed!by!Lawrence!Weschler!for!an!extensive!oral!

history.!See!M.!Feuchtwanger,!An$Emigre$Life:$Munich,$Berlin,$Sanary,$Pacific$Palisades!(UCLA!Library!Center!for!Oral!History,!1976),!1319.!!

111!Schoenberg,!"Der!Biblische!Weg,"!305.!

! 117!

!

From!1933!through!the!end!of!the!war,!Schoenberg!enacted!his!commitment!to!this!

dual!Moses/AronJstyle!statesmanship.!As!detailed!by!Feisst,!his!activism!was!

tireless!and!extensive,!though!it!was!also!rather!quixotic!and!poorly!received.112!The!

reasons!for!this!reception!are!not!difficult!to!surmise!after!spending!even!a!brief!

amount!of!time!surveying!Schoenberg’s!political!writing!from!this!period.!Much!of!it!

betrays!an!aggressive!style!of!argumentation!and!a!tendency!toward!militaristic!

thinking,!as!well!as!at!times!a!disturbing!inclination!to!blame!Jewish!victims!or,!

worse!still,!to!suggest!a!kind!of!perverse!divine!logic!in!the!persistence!of!antiJ

Semitism.!In!“A!FourJPoint!Program!for!Jewry,”!for!instance,!Schoenberg!writes:!!

What!makes!us!a!nation!is!not!so!much!our!race,!as!our!religion...!This!

imposes!upon!us!the!duty!of!selfJpreservation.!Larger!minorities!than!ours!

among!dominating!people!have!been!absorbed.!Assimilation!was!never!

successful!with!us,!and!when!many!of!us!were!ready!to!assimilate,!

persecution!arose!to!preserve!the!nation,!as$if$it$were$a$tool$of$God!to!stimulate!us!when!we!were!in!danger!of!forgetting!our!inherited!belief.113!!

!

!

Elsewhere,!in!1935,!he!wrote!that!“when!Jewry!was!endangered!by!assimilation,!

Providence…!made!the!newJstarting!racial!antiJSemitism!her!instrument.”114!The!

extent!to!which!Schoenberg's!diagnosis!of!the!problems!facing!European!Jewry!track!

with!his!own!personal!biography!is!striking.115!Further!contributing!to!the!reception!

of!his!ideas!was!no!doubt!his!disinclination!to!take!any!kind!of!supporting!role!in!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!112!Feisst,!Schoenberg's$New$World,!85J90.!113!“A!FourJPoint!Program!for!Jewry,”!further!addressed!below,!was!published!for!the!first!

time!by!Alexander!Ringer,!appearing!as!an!appendix!in!his!book.!See!Ringer,!Arnold$Schoenberg,!230J44.!114!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!503.!115!These!overlaps!will!be!further!explored!in!Chapter!4.!!

! 118!

campaign!to!save!world!Jewry;!as!a!MosesJandJAronJstyle!statesman,!Schoenberg!

saw!himself!as!uniquely,!if!reluctantly,!prepared!for!the!mantle!of!leadership.!

With!that!mindset,!the!composer!approached!many!Jewish!leaders!in!

America!and!Europe,!including!Einstein,!who!did!not!reply!to!Schoenberg’s!attempt!

to!engage!him!on!his!views!of!Zionism,!and!Stephen!Wise,!with!whom!Schoenberg!

tried!to!earn!credibility!by!listing!numerous!previous!occasions!on!which!he!had!

displayed!his!foresight!in!political!matters.!(He!stated,!for!instance,!that!he!had!

foreseen!the!embattled!state!of!democracy!in!Europe!in!the!1920s.!Displaying!less!

AronJlike!political!savvy,!however,!he!also!attempted!to!persuade!Wise!of!his!own!

capacities!for!political!leadership!by!stating!that!he!had!once!appointed!himself!as!

the!dictator!of!an!artistic!group,!adding!“I!called!myself!then!the!first!dictator!in!

Europe!”)116!

! Schoenberg’s!claims!to!foresight,!however,!turned!out!to!be!more!than!just!a!

rhetorical!strategy!for!persuading!Jewish!leaders.!In!this!context,!one!is!almost!

obligated!to!quote!from!the!striking!first!paragraph!of!the!“FourJPoint!Program!for!

Jewry,”!which!was!written!prior!to!November!1938,!and!has!been!described!by!

many!commentators!as!a!uniquely!prescient!document:!

500,000!Jews!from!Germany,!300,000!from!Austria,!400,000!from!

Czechoslovakia,!500,000!from!Hungary,!60,000!from!Italy—more!than!one!

million!and!eight!hundred!thousand!Jews!will!have!to!migrate!in!how!short!a!

time,!one!does!not!know.!May!God!provide!there!will!not!be!an!additional!

3,500,000!from!Poland,!900,000!from!Rumania,!240,000!from!Lithuania!and!

160,000!from!Latvia—almost!5,000,000;!and!Yugoslavia!with!64,000,!

Bulgaria!with!40,000!and!Greece!with!80,000!might!follow!at!once,!not!to!

speak!of!other!countries,!which!are!at!present!less!active.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!116!Schoenberg’s!correspondence!with!Wise!and!Einstein!appears!in!E.!Randol!Schoenberg,!

"Arnold!Schoenberg!and!Albert!Einstein:!Their!Relationship!and!Views!on!Zionism,"!Journal$of$the$Arnold$Schoenberg$Institute!X,!no.!2!(1987).!

! 119!

!!!!Is!there!room!in!the!world!for!almost!7,000,000!people?!

!!!!Are!they!condemned!to!doom?!Will!they!become!extinct?!Famished?!

Butchered?117!!

!

!

As!the!war!began,!Schoenberg!seemed!to!experience!the!fate!of!world!Jewry!

on!his!own!shoulders,!but!his!lack!of!political!skills!and!seeming!inability!or!

disinclination!to!alter!his!tone!for!the!sake!of!broadcasting!his!message,!left!him!

unable!to!publish!his!warnings.!According!to!Feisst,!as!he!became!increasingly!

desperate,!Schoenberg!contemplated!starting!his!own!newspaper,!radio!station,!or!

even!renting!an!airplane!to!disseminate!his!views.!He!dreamed!of!a!plan!whereby!he!

was!“President!of!the!Gov[ernment]!in!Exile!of!the!Jewish!Nation,”!located!on!a!ship!

provided!by!President!Truman.118!On!a!more!practical!level,!he!approached!Thomas!

Mann!for!help!in!publishing!his!“FourJPoint!Program”!but!Mann!was!taken!aback!by!

some!of!authoritarian!qualities!in!his!writing!described!above.!After!the!war,!

Schoenberg!claimed,!perhaps!revising!the!record!somewhat,!that!he!had!exercised!

restraint!in!his!political!activism!in!the!United!States,!out!of!deference!to!his!status!

as!a!naturalized!citizen.119!!

Returning!to!our!agenda!of!placing!A$Survivor$From$Warsaw!in!its!

appropriate!context!as!a!memorial!work,!we!must!also!understand!the!nature!of!

Schoenberg's!personal!losses!during!the!war!years.120!Indeed,!discussions!of!this!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!117!“A!FourJPoint!Program!for!Jewry,”!as!published!in!Ringer,!Arnold$Schoenberg,!230.$118!See!Feisst,!Schoenberg's$New$World,!87J89.!119!See!for!instance!“My!Attitude!Toward!Politics,”!from!February!1950,!in!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!506.!!120!Jay!Winter’s!cautionary!words!would!seem!pertinent!here:!“[h]ow!healing!occurs,!and!

what!quietens!embitterment!and!alleviates!despair!can!never!be!fully!known.!But!not!to!ask!

the!question,!not!to!try!to!place!the!history!of!war!memorials!within!the!history!of!

bereavement,!a!history!we!all!share!in!our!private!lives,!is!both!to!impoverish!the!study!of!

! 120!

work!are!often!oddly!separated!from!Schoenberg's!own!experiences,!which!must!

have!included!mourning!the!death!of!his!own!brother!Heinrich.!As!one!might!recall,!

it!was!Heinrich!who!had!married!the!daughter!of!the!mayor!of!Salzburg.!He!was!

arrested!by!the!Gestapo!in!that!city!in!1941.!Schoenberg’s!niece!Inge!Blumauer!was!

also!gunned!down!with!her!husband!in!the!forests!outside!of!Dresden.!Schoenberg!

learned!of!their!fate!in!gruesome!detail!in!a!letter!from!Heinrich's!wife,!Bertel!Ott!

Schoenberg.!An!excerpt!from!the!letter!reads!as!follows:!!

On!the!day!before,!four!SS!or!SA!men!came!to!their!home!and!said!they!

should!both!come!with!them,!promising!that!nothing!would!happen!to!them.!

Trusting!them,!the!pair!followed!and!were!driven!in!the!car!about!an!hour!to!

a!stony!brook.!There!the!SA!men,!without!saying!another!word,!shot!down!

Inge!and!her!husband.!Werner!was!dead!immediately,!and!Inge!was!left!to!lie!

with!two!lung!wounds,!one!stomach!wound,!an!arm!shot!through!from!11!pm!

until!8!am!the!next!morning,!when!she!could!drag!herself!to!the!street!and!

then!was!found!and!brought!to!the!Dresden!hospital.121!!

!

!

Schoenberg!also!corresponded!with!his!daughter!from!his!first!marriage,!

Getrud!Greissle,!and!her!husband!Felix!Greissle,!both!of!whom!were!desperately!

attempting!to!flee!Vienna!following!the!Anschluss.!Interestingly,!these!letters!convey!

a!certain!lack!of!understanding!from!Schoenberg,!or!an!inability!to!grasp!the!reality!

of!the!violent!and!precarious!situation!facing!Austrian!Jews.!These!blind!spots!may!

seem!surprising!given!Schoenberg's!foresight!regarding!European!antiJSemitism,!as!

previously!discussed.!But!they!may!also!underscore!the!extent!to!which!the!

composer's!deep!fears!about!a!future!for!Jews!in!Europe!coexisted!with!a!residual!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

history!and!to!evade!our!responsibility!as!historians.”!Winter,!Sites$of$Memory,$Sites$of$Mourning,!116.!121!Bertel!Ott!Schönberg!to!Arnold!and!Gertrud!Schoenberg,!9!June!1946.!Quoted!in!

Crittenden’s!“Texts!and!Contexts!of!‘A!Survivor!from!Warsaw,’!Op.!46”!in!Cross!and!Berman,!

Political$and$Religious$Ideas$in$the$Works$of$Arnold$Schoenberg,!238.!

! 121!

humanistic!belief!in!the!basic!functioning!of!the!core!institutions!underpinning!

Austrian!civil!society.!When!faced!with!Schoenberg's!persistent!anger!and!

bafflement!that!his!daughter!and!sonJinJlaw!had!not!waited!in!occupied!Vienna!for!

the!arrival!of!an!affidavit!he!had!sent,!Felix!Greissle!eventually!replied!to!the!

composer:!“Surely!you!cannot!understand!everything!because!you!did!not!go!

through!it!yourself,!and!your!personal!sense!of!justice!certainly!rebels!against!

believing!such!a!thing,!but!these!things!can!be!explained!with!one!sentence:!

Germany!is!no!longer!a!republic.”122!!

This!portrait!of!personal!loss!is!an!important!corrective!to!certain!tendencies!

to!romanticize!the!Southern!California!exile,!a!tendency!that!began!with!comments!

by!the!exiles!themselves.!Thomas!Mann!for!instance,!who!was!regarded!in!the!words!

of!one!acquaintance!as!“the!uncrowned!emperor!of!the!refugees,”123!could!at!times!

elide!distinctions!between!those!in!exile!for!their!political!views!as!liberals!like!

himself,!and!those!in!exile!on!account!of!exterminationist!antiJSemitism!in!

Europe.124!!!

It!is!against!this!full!backdrop!that!A$Survivor$From$Warsaw!can!be!most!

fruitfully!viewed.!Indeed,!the!next!chapter!will!look!closely!at!the!work!itself,!but!it!is!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!122!Felix!Greissle!to!Schoenberg,!11!June!1938.!Quoted!in!Camille!Crittenden’s!“Texts!and!

Contexts”!in!ibid.,!236.!Crittenden!was!the!first!scholar,!to!my!knowledge,!to!note!these!

paradoxical!aspects!of!Schoenberg’s!relationship!to!the!developing!facts!on!the!ground!after!

the!Anschluss.!!!

123!The!phrase!comes!from!Konrad!Kellen,!Mann’s!former!secretary,!interviewed!by!the!

author!on!2!November!2003.!!

124!“Exile!creates!a!special!form!of!life,”!Mann!observed,!“and!the!various!reasons!for!

banishment!or!flight!make!little!difference.!Whether!the!cause!is!leftism!or!the!opposite!–!

the!sharing!of!a!common!fate!and!class!solidarity!are!more!fundamental!than!such!nuances!

of!opinion,!and!people!find!their!way!to!one!another.”!See!Thomas!Mann,!The$Story$of$a$Novel:$The$Genesis$of$Doctor$Faustus,!trans.!Richard!and!Clara!Winston!(New!York:!Knopf,!1961),!149J50.!

! 122!

hoped!that!the!preceding!sketch!of!Schoenberg's!biographic!and!musical!journey!

will!suffice!to!rule!out!more!circumscribed!readings!of!this!piece!that!have!sought!to!

limit!its!fields!of!references.!Camille!Crittenden,!for!instance,!has!cautioned!against!

overstating!the!connection!between!Survivor!and!Schoenberg's!Jewish!faith,!by!

pointing!out!ways!in!which,!even!in!Los!Angeles,!his!affiliation!with!the!organized!

Jewish!community!remained!marginal!and!his!personal!religious!praxis!may!have!

also!been!minimal.125!She!further!cites!an!exchange!of!letters!from!1962!between!

Getrud!Schoenberg!and!George!Rochberg,!in!which!the!importance!of!Schoenberg's!

1933!conversion!is!discussed.!Getrud,!who!was!Catholic!and!was!allowed!by!

Schoenberg!to!raise!their!three!children!in!the!Catholic!faith,!suggests!her!husband's!

reconversion!deserves!nothing!more!than!“a!short!footJnote.”!Crittenden!writes!that!

the!exchange!“suggests!Schoenberg's!Judaism!was!less!important!to!him!than!some!

scholars!have!hoped!and!implied.”126!

And!yet,!to!describe!it!in!this!manner!misses!several!larger!contexts!I!have!

tried!to!illuminate!in!this!chapter.!Firstly,!Schoenberg's!religious!and!cultural!

affiliations!and!investments!over!the!course!of!his!long!life!were!not!always!the!

product!of!elective!choices.!Indeed,!the!historical!and!political!forces!that!drove!

Schoenberg!from!Vienna!to!Berlin!to!Los!Angeles,!had!a!power!that!was!based!only!

partially!on!selfJdefinitions!of!identity.!Secondly,!we!must!be!careful!not!to!approach!

these!broader!questions!of!identity!in!a!reductive!manner.!It!has!been!suggested!in!

this!chapter!that!Schoenberg’s!Jewish!identity!was!not!some!kind!of!transhistorical!

constant,!an!essential!quality!present!with!him!from!his!birth,!dormant!during!his!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!125!Cross!and!Berman,!Political$and$Religious$Ideas$in$the$Works$of$Arnold$Schoenberg,!246.!126!ibid.!!

! 123!

Protestant!period,!then!defiantly!recrudescent!in!the!wake!of!his!encounters!with!

antiJSemitism.!Instead!I!have!attempted!to!sketch!a!portrait!of!an!independentJ

minded!composer!who!was!nonetheless!very!much!a!product!of!his!times,!an!artist!

with!a!complex!situational!identity!forged!in!the!crucible!of!the!racialialized!

ideology!of!Wagnerism.!!I!have!suggested!ways!that!his!new!Jewish!identity!in!the!

1920s!was!just!that—not!a!“return”!but!a!creation!essentially!ex$nihilo—based!on!

tropes!of!selfJdefinition!that!he!had!honed!in!earlier!decades!as!a!modernist!

revolutionary.!I!have!attempted!to!point!out!echoes!of!these!processes!in!

Schoenberg’s!musical!works,!most!critically,!in!his!opera!Moses$und$Aron,!which!I!

have!suggested!can!be!interpreted!as!a!site!of!centripetal!negotiation!between!

Judentum$and!Deutschtum!precisely!at!a!point!when!this!dyad,!so!central!to!Weimar!

modernism,!was!being!subjected!to!its!greatest!centrifugal!pressures.!!$!

Indeed,!given!all!of!this,!how!well!Schoenberg!knew!Hebrew,!even!by!the!end!

of!his!life,!or!whether!he!permitted!his!children!to!be!raised!in!the!Catholic!faith!or!

any!other,!is!in!this!sense!immaterial.!As!we!will!see,!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$may!

be!viewed!as!less!of!a!statement!about!what!Schoenberg!believed!in!a!dogmatic!

sense,!than!as!an!assertion!of,!simply!put,!who!he!was!and!what!he!had!experienced.!

We!may!indeed!flip!the!question!around!ask!whether!anyone!else!could!have!

created!this!work?!I!would!contend!that!the!piece!could!scarcely!have!been!

conceived!without!the!full!historical!arc!that!no!doubt!began!at!least!one!generation!

before!Schoenberg!was!born:!from!the!emancipation!of!Austrian!Jews,!to!the!

“emancipation!of!dissonance,”!to!the!emancipation!of!memory.!Indeed,!it!is!this!

work's!ability!to!encapsulate!and!synthesize!these!multiple!historical,!ethnic,!

! 124!

religious,!and!musical!journeys!that!comprises!its!power!as!a!personal!artistic!

statement!and!as!a!memorial.!With!this!background!behind!us,!we!are!now!equipped!

to!proceed!to!a!closer!study!of$Survivor$itself.!To!adapt!a!comment!by!Maurice!

MerleauJPonty!from!a!very!a!different!context,127!it!is!not!(only)!the!artist's!life!that!

can!illuminate!his!work;!but!(also)!the!work!that!will!illuminate!the!life.!!

!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!127!See!the!essay!“Cezanne’s!Doubt”!in!Maurice!MerleauJPonty,!Sense$and$NonFSense,!trans.!Hubert!and!Patricia!Dreyfus!(Evanston,!Ill.:!Northwestern!University!Press,!1971).!

! 125!

Chapter(4(((

Night(Transfigured:((A!Survivor!from!Warsaw(in(focus(((!!

“The!effect!of!the!Survivor$from$Warsaw!is!no!less!powerful—a!companion!

piece!to!Picasso’s!Guernica—in!which!Schoenberg!made!the!impossible!

possible,!standing!up!to!the!contemporary!horror!in!its!most!extreme!form,!

the!murder!of!the!Jews,!in!art.!This!alone!would!be!enough!to!earn!him!every!

right!to!the!thanks!of!a!generation!that!scorns!him,!not!least!because!in!his!

music!that!inexpressible!thing!quivers!that!no!one!any!longer!wants!to!know!

about.!If!music!is!to!escape!from!the!nullity!that!threatens!it,!the!very!loss!of!

[its]!raison!d'être…!then!it!can!only!hope!to!do!so!if!it!accomplishes!what!

Schoenberg!accomplished!in!the!Survivor$from$Warsaw—if!it!confronts!the!

utter!negativity,!the!most!extreme,!by!which!the!entire!complexion!of!reality!

is!made!manifest.”!

!

–!Theodor!Adorno,!“On!the!Contemporary!Relationship!

of!Philosophy!and!Music”!

!

!

“The!historian!is!a!prophet!turned!backwards.”!!

!

–!Friedrich!von!Schlegel,!Philosophical$Fragments!!

!

!

When!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!appears!on!concert!programs!today,!it!is!often!

regarded!as!a!“universal”!and!emblematic!twentiethJcentury!Holocaust!monument!

in!sound.!Since!it!is!only!approximately!seven!minutes!long,!conductors!are!often!in!

the!position!of!selecting!repertoire!to!be!heard!alongside!Schoenberg’s!memorial!

work,!an!exercise!that!can!itself!be!revealing.!Typically,!one!of!two!routes!is!taken:!!

placing!the!work!in!dialogue!with!other!works!of!mourning,1!or!still!more!

frequently,!connecting!it!with!canonical!works!of!nineteenthJcentury!music!such!as!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!For!a!performance!with!Boston!University!forces!in!2011,!for!instance,!conductor!David!

Hoose!paired!Survivor!with!the!Verdi!Requiem.!!

! 126!

Beethoven’s!Ninth!Symphony.2!Whether!this!strategy!of!pairing!Survivor$with!

Beethoven!is!used!to!qualify!the!latter’s!fullJthroated!paean!to!Enlightenment!ideals,!

or,!more!problematically,!to!link!both!works!as!“triumphs!of!the!spirit”!varies!from!

case!to!case.3!!

Both!approaches,!however,!have!the!unavoidable!effect!of!lifting!the!work!

from!its!context!and!obscuring!the!extent!to!which!it!was!deeply!bound!up!in!

Schoenberg's!personal!history,!his!political!dreams!and!failures,!and!his!sweeping!

biographic!journey.!In!this!chapter,!I!will!attempt!to!contribute!new!readings!of!A$

Survivor$from$Warsaw,!in!part!by!bringing!to!bear!the!contexts!missing!from!live!

performances!yet!here!presented!in!the!previous!two!chapters.!!

Indeed,!despite!its!champions’!attempts!to!emblematize!its!meanings,!or!its!

detractors’!attempts!to!criticize!this!memorial!for!any!number!of!aesthetic!or!ethical!

sins,!Survivor$is!most!fully!understood!when!restored!to!its!own!earlier!moment!in!

the!asJyetJunmastered!cultural!memory!of!catastrophe,!and!when!placed!in!the!

context!of!Schoenberg’s!own!complex!American!odyssey.!Paradoxically,!our!efforts!

to!place!the!work!back!in!its!times!will!ultimately!revitalize!it!for!our!own.!!

As!we!are!now!finally!ready!to!engage!with!the!music!and!text!in!detail,!this!

introductory!section!will!conclude!by!briefly!reJintroducing!A$Survivor$from$

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2!This!was!the!program!chosen!for!the!work’s!belated!Boston!Symphony!Orchestra!premiere!

on!18!April!1969!under!the!baton!of!Erich!Leinsdorf.!!

3!On!the!former!use,!see!Applegate,!"Saving!Music."!For!examples!of!the!latter!use,!we!may!

quote!for!instance!the!conductor!Vladimir!Jurowski’s!comments!explaining!his!decision!to!

program!Survivor!on!a!concert!with!music!from!Beethoven’s!Fidelio.!Both,!according!to!Jurowki,!are!“connected!with!the!ideas!of!freedom,!and!the!strength!of!the!human!spirit….”!

(Quote!taken!from!an!interview!uploaded!by!the!London!Philharmonic!Orchestra.!See!

http://tinyurl.com/lr3jg97.!Last!accessed!20!December!2014.)!See!also!Calico’s!discussion!

of!performances!by!Daniel!Barenboim,!Jurowski!and!other!conductors,!Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!in$Postwar$Europe,!3J4.!

! 127!

Warsaw,!summarizing!its!narrative!and!quoting!its!text!in!full.!The!first!section!of!

this!chapter!will!then!discuss!the!circumstances!of!its!commission!from!the!

Koussevitzky!Music!Foundation,!and!attempt!to!situate!the!precise!dates!of!its!

composition!in!the!context!of!Schoenberg’s!other!activities!during!the!summer!of!

1947,!as!far!as!they!can!be!surmised!from!correspondence!preserved!in!the!

archives.!In!the!following!section,!I!will!introduce!the!first!in!a!series!of!interpretive!

strategies!for!engaging!with!this!memorial!work.!First,!I!suggest!that,!although!

Schoenberg!had!no!direct!contact!with!what!has!been!called!“the!concentrationary!

universe,”!the!dominance!of!the!narrator's!role!and!the!nature!of!the!firstJperson!

text!he!recites!allows!us!to!view!it!as,!adapting!George!Steiner’s!phrase,!“a!kind!of!

survivor!testimony.”!In!this!spirit!I!then!draw!from!the!analytic!literature!pertaining!

to!survivor!testimony,!and!suggest!it!does!in!fact!offer!a!helpful!lens.!!

In!the!Section!III,!entitled!“Survivor!as!Double,”!I!will!explore!the!work’s!

autobiographical!resonances,!which!as!I!endeavor!to!illustrate,!are!even!more!

numerous!than!has!often!been!acknowledged.!!In!Section!IV,!I!take!a!step!back!from!

biographic!contexts!and!engage!with!the!work!as!such,!its!narrative!structure!and!its!

implicit!treatment!of!ideas!of!history!and!memory.!This!section!also!includes!an!

attempt!to!bring!concepts!from!Walter!Benjamin’s!writings!on!memory!and!

experience!into!dialogue!with!Schoenberg’s!work,!and!to!more!cogently!position!

Survivor$in!a!tradition!of!memoryJart!that!is!activist!and!critical!of!false!resolution!or!

false!consolation.!Doing!so!also!prepares!us!to!revisit!the!question!of!the!work’s!

ending,!which!is!the!aspect!of!the!piece!that!has!received!the!most!trenchant!

criticism,!in!particular!for!its!purported!triumphalism,!a!mode!deemed!ethically!

! 128!

questionable!in!a!piece!of!Holocaust!art,!or!worse,!as!exploitative!of!victims’!

memories.4!I!offer!a!new!interpretation!of!this!ending,!one!that!reexamines!the!

work's!dramaturgy!and!draws!to!the!surface!the!existence!of!multiple!temporalities!

within!Schoenberg's!work.!Overall,!my!readings!are!premised!on!the!notion!that!any!

work's!significance!should!not!be!considered!without!regard!to!authorial!intention,!

but!that!such!intention!cannot!delimit!the!range!of!the!work's!potential!meanings.!

With!that!said,!we!may!proceed!to!reacquainting!ourselves!with!the!musical!and!

narrative!contours!of!the!work!itself.! !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4!For!the!most!trenchant!and!rigorously!argued!critique!of!Survivor!as!a!whole,!and!of!the!ending!in!particular,!see!Móricz,!Jewish$Identities,!255J99.!!

! 129!

!

!

Fig.!1.!!Manuscript!page!from!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$with!dedication!(“For!the!Koussevitzky!Music!Foundation”)!and!the!statement!“this!text!is!based!partly!upon!

reports!which!I!have!received!directly!or!indirectly.”!Image!courtesy!of!the!Library!

of!Congress,!used!by!permission.!

!

A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$is!scored!for!narrator,!men's!chorus,!and!orchestra,!

and!while!the!work!lasts!only!seven!minutes,!it!has!an!intensity!and!accumulated!

power!in!live!performance!that!belies!its!length.5!In!capsule!form,!to!be!further!

explored!below,!the!piece!consists!of!two!sections.!In!the!first,!the!narrator!relates!a!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5!The!AustrianJborn!music!critic!and!broadcaster!Hans!Keller,!himself!a!refugee!who!had!

been!imprisoned!and!interrogated!by!the!Nazis,!conveyed!this!quality!when!he!wrote!that!

“the!music!itself…!is!so!condensed!and!compressed!that!it!would!be!liable!to!burst!if!the!

pressure!of!the!form!upon!the!content!were!not!just!as!strong!as!the!content’s!pressure!

upon!the!form.”!Keller,!Essays$on$Music,!81.!

! 130!

dramatic!scene!of!Jewish!prisoners!in!a!camp!being!awoken,!beaten,!and!ordered!by!

a!German!sergeant!to!count!off!before!being!sent!to!the!gas!chambers.!In!the!second!

section,!in!momentary!defiance!of!their!fate,!the!prisoners!rise!up!and!sing!the!

central!prayer!of!Judaism,!the!Shema$Yisrael.$!

! Schoenberg!wrote!the!text!himself,!though!it!should!be!noted!that!this!fact!in!

itself!does!not!distinguish!the!work,!in!that!Schoenberg!penned!texts!for!a!number!of!

his!pieces!including!several!with!autobiographical!valences,!as!in!Modern$Psalms!and!

Moses$und$Aron.!What!is!unique!is!that!the!Survivor$text!contains!three!different!

languages:!the!English!of!the!narrator,!the!German!of!the!sergeant,!and!the!Hebrew!

of!the!choir!at!the!end,!singing!the!Shema.$The!text!of!the!work!is!as!follows:!!

!

I!cannot!remember!ev'rything.!

I!must!have!been!unconscious!most!of!the!time.!

I!remember!only!the!grandiose!moment!

when!they!all!started!to!sing!as!if!prearranged,!

the!old!prayer!they!had!neglected!for!so!many!years!

the!forgotten!creed!!!

!

But!I!have!no!recollection!how!I!got!underground!

to!live!in!the!sewers!of!Warsaw!for!so!long!a!time.!!

!

The!day!began!as!usual:!Reveille!when!it!was!still!dark.!!

Get!out!!Whether!you!slept!or!whether!worries!kept!you!awake!the!whole!

night.!

You!had!been!separated!from!your!children,!from!your!wife,!from!your!

parents;!!

you!don't!know!what!happened!to!them…!how!could!you!sleep?!

!

The!trumpets!again—!

Get!out!!The!sergeant!will!be!furious!!

They!came!out;!some!very!slow:!the!old!ones,!the!sick!ones;!some!with!

nervous!agility.!

They!fear!the!sergeant.!They!hurry!as!much!as!they!can.!

!

! 131!

In!vain!!Much!too!much!noise;!much!too!much!commotion—and!not!fast!

enough!!

The!sergeant!shouts:!“Achtung!!Stilljestanden!!Na!wirds!mal?!Oder!soll!ich!

mit!dem!Jewehrkolben!nachhelfen?!Na!jutt;!wenn!ihrs!durchaus!haben!

wollt!”![“Stand!at!attention!!Hurry!up!!Or!do!you!want!to!feel!the!butt!of!my!

gun?!Okay,!then!you've!ask!for!it!”]!

!

The!sergeant!and!his!subordinate!hit!everybody:!

young!or!old,!quiet!or!nervous,!guilty!or!innocent.!

It!was!painful!to!hear!them!groaning!and!moaning.!

!

I!heard!it!though!I!had!been!hit!very!hard,!!

So!hard!that!I!could!not!help!falling!down.!!

We!all!on!the!ground!who!could!not!stand!up!were!then!beaten!over!the!

head.!!

!

I!must!have!been!unconscious.!The!next!thing!I!knew!was!a!soldier!saying:!

“They!are!all!dead,”!!

whereupon!the!sergeant!ordered!to!do!away!with!us.!

There!I!lay!aside—halfJconscious.!

It!had!become!very!still—fear!and!pain.!!

!

Then!I!heard!the!sergeant!shouting:!“Abzählen!”![“Count!off!”]!

They!started!slowly!and!irregularly:!one,!two,!three,!four!

“Achtung!”!the!sergeant!shouted!again,!

“Rascher!!Nochmal!von!vorn!anfangen!!

In!einer!Minute!will!ich!wissen,!

Wieviele!ich!zur!Gaskammer!abliefere!!

Abzählen!”!

[Quicker!!Again!from!the!beginning!!In!one!minute!I!want!to!know!how!many!

I'm!going!to!deliver!to!the!gas!chamber!!Count!off!”]!

!

They!began!again,!first!slowly:!one,!two,!three,!four,!

became!faster!and!faster,!so!fast!

that!it!finally!sounded!like!a!stampede!of!wild!horses,!!

and!all!of!a!sudden,!in!the!middle!of!it,!

they!began!singing!the!Shema$Yisrael.!!

The!Chorus!then!enters!with!selections!from!the!Shema!(Deuteronomy!6:!4J7)!sung!

in!Hebrew:!

!

Hear!Israel:!The!Lord!our!God!is!one!Lord,!

And!you!should!love!the!Lord,!your!God,!

With!all!your!heart!and!with!all!your!soul!

And!with!all!your!might.!

And!these!words,!which!I!command!you!today,!!

! 132!

Shall!be!in!all!your!heart;!!

And!you!shall!teach!them!diligently!to!your!children!and!talk!of!them!

When!you!sit!in!your!house!

And!when!you!walk!along!your!way,!!

When!you!lie!down!and!when!you!rise.6!

!

!

!

!! The!above!text—until!the!entrance!of!the!chorus—is!recited!by!the!narrator!

in!Sprechstimme,!the!hybrid!speechJsong!style!that!Schoenberg!had!used!in!several!

works!including!Gurrelieder$and!Moses$und$Aron.!The!musical!language!Schoenberg!

adopted!for!Survivor!harkens!back!to!the!fractured!and!violent!expressionistic!

gestures!first!heard!in!the!composer's!Erwartung!monodrama!of!1909.!Survivor's$

musical!score!has!been!extensively!and!microscopically!analyzed!by!musicologists,7!

with!special!attention!paid!to!the!contour!and!permutations!of!its!row—(F�G!C!A

�E!

E�B�D�A!D!F!B)—as!well!as!its!use!for!the!melodic!material!of!the!Shema!section.!

The!row!includes!an!augmented!triad!(A�JC!J!E)!that!recurs!frequently!in!the!piece!

and!has!been!described!as!the!“God!motif.”8!This!triad!has!also!been!interpreted!as!

representing!a!concept!of!localized!memory!that!links!both!text!and!music.9!!

!

Origins(of(a(Commission(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!6!This!version!of!the!text!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw,!with!slightly!adapted!translations!of!the!German!and!Hebrew!portions,!is!taken!from!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!319J20.!!7!See,!for!instance,!Christian!Martin!Schmidt,!"Schönbergs!Kantate!'Ein!Überlebender!Aus!

Warschau'!Op.!46,"!Archiv$für$Musikwissenschaft!xxxiii!(1976);!Beat!A.!Föllmi,!"'I!Cannot!Remember!Ev'rything':!Eine!Narratologische!Analyse!Von!Arnold!Schönbergs!Kantate!'a!

Survivor!from!Warsaw'!Op.!46,"!ibid.55,!no.!1!(1998);!Schiller,!Bloch,$Schoenberg,$and$Bernstein,!73J126.!Several!of!the!earliest!responses!to!the!work,!including!that!of!Adorno,!noted!the!similarities!to!Erwartung$mentioned!above.!!8!See!Bloch,$Schoenberg,$and$Bernstein,!103J04.!!9!See!Amy!Lynn!Wlodarski,!"An!Idea!Can!Never!Perish:!Memory,!the!Musical!Idea,!and!

Schoenberg's!'a!Survivor!from!Warsaw'!(1947),"!The$Journal$of$Musicology!24,!no.!4!(2007):!601J04.!!

! 133!

The!piece's!origins!date!back!to!Schoenberg's!contact!with!the!AmericanJ

based!RussianJJewish!dancer!Corinne!Chochem,!who!in!April!1947!attempted!to!

commission!a!work!that!would!commemorate!Jewish!suffering!at!the!hands!of!the!

Nazis,!sending!Schoenberg!the!text!of!a!partisan!song!she!claimed!had!been!sung!by!

those!interned!in!the!Vilna!Ghetto.10!Schoenberg!replied!to!accept!the!commission,!

stating!“I!plan!to!make!it!this!scene—which!you!described—in!the!Warsaw!ghetto,!

how!the!doomed!Jews!started!singing,!before!gooing![sic]!to!die.”!In!the!same!letter,!

however,!he!also!stated!that!his!fee!for!the!project!would!be!$1000.11!Chochem!

replied!that!she!could!not!afford!this!amount,!pleading!for!a!reduction.12!Schoenberg!

still!declined!to!lower!his!fee,!replying!“I!have!done!throughout!my!life!so!much!for!

idealistic!ends!(and!so!little!has![been]!returned!to!me!in!kind)!that!I!have!done!my!

duty.”13!His!statement!may!easily!be!read!as!a!reference!to!his!failed!political!

activism!on!behalf!of!world!Jewry,!though!by!age!72,!Schoenberg!had!accumulated!

enough!grievances!that!we!cannot!be!sure.!Whatever!the!case,!Chochem's!

involvement!with!the!project!appears!to!have!ended!there.!!

Coincidentally,!a!few!months!later,!the!Koussevitzky!Music!Foundation!

approached!Schoenberg!to!renew!its!offer!of!a!commission!for!“a!composition!for!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!10!Corinne!Chochem!to!Arnold!Schoenberg,!2!April!1947.!Library!of!Congress,!image!scan!at!

Arnold!Schönberg!Center.!The!Chochem!connection!was!first!documented!by!Michael!

Strasser!in!"'A!Survivor!from!Warsaw'!as!Personal!Parable,"!Music$&$Letters!76,!no.!1!(1995).!Strasser!also!published!the!first!detailed!account!of!the!correspondence!with!

Koussevitzky!surrounding!the!commission,!in!ibid.!!

11!Schoenberg!to!Chochem,!20!April!1947.!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!image!scan!at!

Arnold!Schönberg!Center!

12!Chochem!to!Schoenberg,!22!April!1947.!Library!of!Congress,!image!scan!at!Arnold!

Schönberg!Center!

13!Schoenberg!to!Chochem,!23!April!1947.!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!image!scan!at!

Arnold!Schönberg!Center!

! 134!

symphony!orchestra,”!an!offer!it!had!originally!extended!in!194414.!Schoenberg!

could!not!fulfill!the!commission!at!that!earlier!time—with!his!stated!reason!being!

that!he!did!not!want!to!deviate!from!his!plans!to!complete!two!longstanding!and!

significant!projects!both!dating!back!to!the!interwar!period:!the!oratorio!Die$

Jakobskeiter!and!the!opera!Moses$und$Aron.!But!in!July!of!1947,!responding!to!the!

Koussevitzky!Music!Foundation's!renewed!invitation,!Schoenberg!was!ready!to!

accept!at!once.!He!stated!he!had!in!mind!a!work!“for!a!small!group!of!about!24!

musicians,!one!or!two!'speakers'!and!a!mens![sic]!chorus!of!adequate!size”!but!that!

he!could!conceivably!write!instead!a!“symphonic!poem”!for!instrumental!forces!

alone,!if!doing!so!would!be!a!requirement!of!the!commission.15!Koussevitzky's!

secretary!replied!that!Koussevitzky!felt!it!was!important!for!the!composer!to!have!

“complete!liberty!to!choose”!the!format!of!the!new!piece.!

With!that!license!granted,!Schoenberg!set!out!to!work!realizing!a!version!of!

the!scenario!he!had!originally!conceived!with$Chochem.!It!is!worth!noting!here!that!

nowhere!in!the!existing!archival!record!is!there!any!indication!that!Schoenberg!had!

informed!Koussevitzky!about!the!memorial!nature!of!his!work,!or!the!Holocaust!

scenario!he!was!considering.!Whether!this!absence!of!clarity!was!a!fluke!of!

circumstance,!or!a!strategically!diplomatic!decision!on!Schoenberg’s!part!given!the!

lessons!he!may!have!belatedly!learned!through!his!failed!career!as!a!political!

activist,!we!do!not!know.!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!14!Serge!Koussevitzky!to!Schoenberg,!27!March!1944.!Library!of!Congress,!image!scan!at!

Arnold!Schönberg!Center!

15!Unlike!the!other!correspondence!(quoted!above)!surrounding!the!commission,!the!text!of!

this!letter!from!Schoenberg!is!not!found!in!the!archives!of!the!Arnold!Schönberg!Center.!It!is!

reprinted!however!in!Strasser,!"'A!Survivor!from!Warsaw'!as!Personal!Parable,"!54.!

! 135!

But!this!absence!of!declared!intentions!about!his!work—an!absence!which!to!

my!knowledge!has!not!been!noted!in!other!discussions!of!the!commission—

becomes!germane!when!trying!to!understand!the!longstanding!mystery!of!

Koussevitzky's!response!to!the!work!once!it!was!finally!submitted.!Specifically,!in!a!

departure!from!the!pattern!he!had!established!with!his!other!commissions,!

Koussevitzky!declined!to!give!the!premiere!of!Survivor!with!his!own!Boston!

Symphony!Orchestra,!a!decision!we!will!examine!more!closely!in!Chapter!5.!(Sabine!

Feisst!provides!the!relevant!context,!writing!that!“between!1942!and!1947!all!the!

other!Koussevitzky!orchestral!commissions!received!premieres!in!Boston,!except!

Burrill!Phillips's!overture!Tom$Paine.”16)!We!may!plausibly!speculate!that!the!

finished!work—in!its!subject!matter,!if!not!in!its!style—came!as!a!complete!surprise!

to!Koussevitzky.!Indeed,!while!its!title!page!(see!Figure!1)!states!it!was!“For!the!

Koussevitzky!Music!Foundation,”!nowhere!in!the!existing!documentation!around!

this!commission!do!we!have!any!evidence!to!suggest!Koussevitzky!thought!he!was!

actually!commissioning!a!memorial!to!the!Holocaust.!$

According!to!the!dates!Schoenberg!inscribed!on!the!manuscript,!the!

composition!of!Survivor$took!place!the!following!month,!between!August!11!and!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!16!Feisst!also!however!reports!that!the!Foundation!did!not!acknowledge!receipt!of!

Schoenberg’s!condensed!autograph!score.!They!did!in!fact!do!so,!in!correspondence!dated!

Sept.!2!and!Oct.!4,!1947.!The!latter!date!appears!on!a!telegram!sent!by!Koussevitzky!himself!

to!Schoenberg.!The!maestro!was!in!Europe!at!the!time!that!Schoenberg!first!sent!the!work,!

and!he!replied!only!stating!“Just!arrived.!Thank!you!manuscript.!Forwarding!honorarium!

next!week.”!See!Feisst,!Schoenberg's$New$World,!289J90.!See!also!Betty!Randolph!Bean!to!Arnold!Schoenberg,!2!September!1947.!Library!of!Congress,!image!scan!at!Arnold!

Schönberg!Center.!!

! 136!

August!23,!1947.17!As!described!in!Chapter!1,!there!have!been!many!contrary!and!at!

times!ideologically!freighted!assessments!of!Schoenberg's!broader!period!of!exile,!

and!whether!it!should!be!understood!as!one!of!gloomy!isolation!and!neglect!or!as!a!

period!of!richer!and!more!diverse!possibilities.!While!the!overall!characterizations!

are!important,!we!would!do!well!to!situate!the!composition!of!Survivor$more!

precisely!in!the!immediate!period!of!its!birth.!A!brief!look!at!Schoenberg's!

correspondence!from!the!month!of!August!1947!provides!one!avenue!for!doing!so,!

and!offers!several!suggestive!windows!onto!the!composer's!personal!circumstances,!

his!state!of!mind,!and!the!contemporaneous!postwar!events!playing!out!in!Germany!

at!precisely!the!time!that!this!memorial!was!created.!!!!

Notable!in!the!first!category!is!a!letter!present!in!the!archives!that!

Schoenberg!wrote!on!6!August!1947,!just!five!days!before!he!would!begin!to!

composer$Survivor.$It!is!a!formal!notice!addressed!to!one!Jacob!Zeitlin!in!Los!

Angeles,!granting!Zeitlin!exclusive!license!to!sell!the!original!manuscript!score!of!

Moses$und$Aron!as!well!as!the!manuscript!of!the!opera's!libretto.!In!this!letter!

Schoenberg!states!his!asking!price!of!$2500!for!each.!Considering!how!large!this!

opera!loomed!in!Schoenberg's!own!conception!of!his!life's!work,!and!how!fervently!

he!had!pleaded!for!time!to!complete!this!work!during!his!years!in!America,18!this!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!17!The!manuscript!is!housed!at!the!Library!of!Congress,!but!it!was!also!recently!published!in!

facsimile!form.!See!Arnold!Schoenberg,!"A!Survivor!from!Warsaw,!Opus!46,"!(Laaber:!

LaaberJVerlag,!2014).!

18!See,!most!famously,!Schoenberg’s!letter!to!the!secretary!general!of!the!Guggenheim!

Foundation,!written!in!1945!to!request!a!grant.!He!states,!“I!feel,!as!long!as!I!am!living!I!must!

try!to!complete!at!least!some!of!the!works!which!for!a!number!of!years!wait!for!that.!I!feel:!

my!task!would!be!fulfilled!only!fragmentarily!if!I!failed!to!complete!at!least!those!two!largest!

of!my!musical,!and!two,!or!perhaps!three!of!my!theoretical!works.”!Schoenberg!goes!on!to!

list!his!uncompleted!works,!the!first!being!Moses$und$Aron.!Letters,!232.!!!

! 137!

decision!to!part!with!the!opera's!original!manuscripts!cannot!have!been!taken!

lightly.!At!a!minimum,!this!act!signals!the!composer's!dire!financial!straits!at!the!

time,!though!it!is!of!course!possible!to!read!further!into!this!decision.!!

Despite!his!own!insistence!that!it!was!a!compositional!priority!during!his!

American!years,!Schoenberg,!as!discussed!in!Chapter!3,!never!completed!the!third!

act!of!Moses$und$Aron,!and!the!opera's!status!as!a!torso!has!provoked!numerous!

musicological!and!critical!responses!over!the!years,!as!the!unwritten!music!has!

come!to!stand!in,!by!turns,!for!all!of!the!'lost'!music!of!a!career!riven!by!exile,!or!for!

the!impossibility!of!resolving!the!themes!of!this!Biblical!opera!in!the!wake!of!the!

Nazi!rise!to!power!and!the!Final!Solution.19!Speculative!responses!to!this!

uncompleted!work!have!even!ranged!beyond!the!domain!of!music!into!the!domain!

of!architecture.20!I!offered!my!own!reading!of!the!work’s!incomplete!status!in!the!

previous!chapter.!

All!of!this!is!worth!noting!to!contextualize!a!line!of!interpretation!that!has!

come!to!view!Survivor$itself!as$the!metaphorical!completion!of!Moses$und$Aron,!a!

view!first!hinted!at!by!Adorno!in!his!essay!“Arnold!Schoenberg”!and!later!espoused!

by!the!composer!Luigi!Nono,!according!to!his!wife!(and!Schoenberg's!daughter),!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!19!George!Steiner!has!been!the!most!forceful!exponent!of!this!view,!noting!that!“[T]he!words!

Volk$and!Führer$figure!prominently!in!the!opera;$they!designate!its!supreme!historical!values,!Israel!and!Moses.!Now!they!were!wrested!out!of!Schoenberg’s!grasp!by!the!million!

voices!bawling!them!at!Nuremberg.”!He!also!reads!the!famous!conclusion!of!Act!II!as!a!kind!

of!Adornian!“after!Auschwitz”!prohibition!avant!la!lettre:!“Moses’!despairing!cry,!his!

collapse!into!silence,!is!a!recognition…that!words!have!failed!us,!that!art!can!neither!stem!

barbarism!nor!convey!experience!when!experience!grows!unspeakable.”!Steiner,!

"Schoenberg's!'Moses!and!Aaron',"!46.!

20!The!architect!Daniel!Libeskind!has!stated!that!his!design!for!the!Jewish!Museum!of!Berlin!

was!in!fact!his!own!attempt!to!complete!the!third!act!of!Moses$und$Aron.!See!“Director!Takes!Flight!With!St.!Francis’s!Birds,”!10!July!2002,!New$York$Times!

! 138!

Nuria!Schoenberg!Nono.21!One!might!add!to!this!speculative/interpretive!line!that!

Moses$und$Aron!and!Survivor$were!also!de!facto!linked!by!the!Koussevitzky!Music!

Foundation's!commission!offers!described!above,!the!first!time!being!declined!so!

that!Schoenberg!could!try!to!complete!his!opera,!and!the!second!being!accepted,!so!

that!he!could!in!fact!write!A$Survivor$From$Warsaw.!In!this!same!vein,!Schoenberg's!

attempt!to!sell!the!Moses$und$Aron!manuscript!immediately!prior!to!embarking!on!

Survivor$may!also!be!seen!as!overdetermined,!providing!evidence!not!just!of!

financial!hardship!but!also!perhaps!of!a!kind!of!symbolic!leaveJtaking!from!this!

grand!operatic!project$in!its!original!form,!or!at!the!very!least,!a!psychological!

distancing!sufficient!to!allow!such!a!concession!to!financial!exigencies.22$I!will!return!

to!this!subject!when!further!exploring!below!the!thematic!linkage!between!the!two!

scores.!!

A!second!item!of!note!from!Schoenberg's!correspondence!in!the!month!of!

August!1947!is!a!letter!from!the!chief!of!the!education!and!religious!affairs!branch!of!

the!U.S.!Office!of!the!Military!Government.!He!writes!Schoenberg!to!inform!him!of!

his!successful!if!belated!efforts!to!deJNazify!the!family!of!one!of!Schoenberg's!

students,!Josef!Rufer.!In!this!same!period,!a!second!Schoenberg!student—Hanns!

Eisler—was!being!summoned!before!the!House!Committee!on!UnJAmerican!

Activities!and!later!deported.!These!details!help!to!place!the!precise!period!of!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!21!For!Nuria!Schoenberg!Nono’s!comments,!see!the!preface!to!Schoenberg,!"A!Survivor!from!

Warsaw,!Opus!46.".!For!Adorno’s!observations!casually!linking!the!two!works,!see!Adorno,!

Prisms,!171.!22In!case!more!speculative!evidence!is!sought!for!metaphorical!links!between!the!two!

compositions,!it!may!be!noted!that,!in!his!early!correspondence!with!Koussevitzky,!

Schoenberg!on!two!occasions!refers!to!the!fact!that!he!was!considering!casting!his!new!

work!for!two!“speakers,”!chorus!and!orchestra,!a!configuration!that!would!of!course!have!made!Survivor!still!more!continuous!(in!format)!with!the!unfinished!opera.!!

! 139!

composition!in!the!context!of!both!the!stillJheated!aftermath!of!World!War!II!and!

the!onset!of!the!Cold!War.23!Meanwhile!Schoenberg's!sense!of!personal!wellbeing!in!

the!United!States!seemed!to!have!fallen!to!a!temporary!low.!On!August!19,!during!

the!extremely!brief!period!in!which!he!was!actually!at!work!on!Survivor,!he!wrote!to!

his!daughter!from!his!first!marriage,!Gertrud,!“I!believe!that!not!in!more!than!30!

years!have!I!suffered!as!many!humiliations!as!I!have!suffered!here!over!the!last!five!

or!six!years.”24!

!Five!days!later,!in!apparent!ill!health,!Schoenberg!sent!the!completed!score!

of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$to!the!Koussevitzky!Music!Foundation.!In!his!cover!letter!

he!explained!his!habit,!due!to!his!failing!eyesight,!of!writing!in!short!score!on!

enlarged!music!paper.!He!assured!the!conductor,!however,!that!“these!manuscripts!

always!contain—except!for!possible!errores![sic]—all!I!can!say,!in!music!at!least.”25!!!

!

$

Survivor!as(Testimony((

(

Who!was!the!'survivor'!in!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw?!A!clarifying!note!on!the!

title!page!of!the!score!(see!Figure!1)!would!seem!to!only!deepen!the!mystery,!as!it!

reads:!“this!text!is!based!partly!on!reports!which!I!have!received!directly$or$

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!23!For!an!insightful!discussion!of!how!the!reception!of!early!European!performances!was!

itself!shaped!by!the!dynamics!of!the!Cold!War,!see!Calico,!Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!in$Postwar$Europe,!99J100,!34J35.!!24!Schoenberg!to!Gertrud!Greissle,!19!August!1947.!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!

image!scan!at!Arnold!Schönberg!Center.!(“Ich!glaube!seit!mehr!als!dreissig!Jahren!habe!ich!

nicht!soviele!Demutigungen!erliebt,!wie!hier!in!den!letzten!fünf!oder!sechs!Jahren.”)!

25!Schoenberg!to!Koussevitzky,!24!August!1947,!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!image!

scan!at!Arnold!Schönberg!Center!

! 140!

indirectly.”26!Scholarly!efforts!to!locate!the!origins!of!the!dramatic!scenario!depicted!

in!Survivor$have!been!inconclusive,!raising!source!possibilities!that!range!from!a!

novel!the!composer!had!read!around!the!time,!to!a!screenplay!by!his!wife,!to!a!letter!

he!had!received!“in!which!a!survivor!of!a!Nazi!concentration!camp!related!the!

moment!in!which!prisoners!facing!death!began!to!sing!a!Jewish!prayer.”27!Whatever!

the!original!source!of!the!“direct!or!indirect”!reports!that!Schoenberg!dramatized!in!

his!score,!the!purportedly!documentary!aspect!of!this!work,!as!we!will!see!in!the!

chapter!5,!proved!enormously!important!in!its!early!reception.!!

The!notion!of!Survivor!as!a!kind!of!12Jtone!documentary—an!aural!snapshot!

of!something!that!actually!occurred!in!the!camps—found!its!purest!expression!in!an!

account!written!for!a!German!newspaper!in!1949!by!the!conductor!René!Leibowitz,!

who!gave!the!work's!European!premiere.!In!that!article!Leibowitz!stated!that!

Schoenberg!“was!prompted!by!the!story!of!a!real!survivor!from!the!Warsaw!Ghetto;!

a!few!years!later,!he”—the!survivor—“came!to!Schoenberg!and!told!him!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!26!Italics!mine.!!

27!The!letter!theory!(and!quotation)!comes!from!Nuria!SchoenbergJNono’s!personal!

recollections!written!for!the!preface!to!the!facsimile!edition.!See!Schoenberg,!"A!Survivor!

from!Warsaw,!Opus!46."!Camille!Crittenden!has!offered!the!broadest!and!most!thorough!

consideration!of!the!range!of!possible!sources,!deeming!none!of!them!“entirely!satisfactory”!

and!stating!“it!seems!far!more!likely!that!Schoenberg!assembled!his!various!impressions!of!

the!ghettos,!Nazi!occupation,!and!the!concentration!camps!to!arrive!at!his!own!dramatic!

synthesis!of!the!experience.”!She!also!emphasizes!the!connection!to!a!screenplay!by!Gertrud!

Schoenberg!written!in!1943.!See!Camille!Crittenden’s!“Texts!and!contexts!of!‘A!Survivor!

from!Warsaw,’!op.!46”!in!Cross!and!Berman,!Political$and$Religious$Ideas$in$the$Works$of$Arnold$Schoenberg,!231J241.!See!also!Therese!Muxeneder’s!article!“‘I!saw!it!in!my!imagination’:!zur!Textwerdung!von!Arnold!Schönbergs!A!Survivor!from!Warsaw”!in!

Hartmut!Krones,!ed.!Arnold$Schönberg$in$Seinen$Schriften:$Verzeichnis,$Fragen,$Editorisches!(Wien:!Böhlau,!2011).!

! 141!

following!story…!Schoenberg!used!the!story!verbatim.”28!!Indeed,!in!this!telling,!

Schoenberg!was!not!only!memorializing!the!past;!he!was!transcribing!it.!!

A!report!in!Time$magazine!at!the!time!of!the!premiere!offered!still!another!

scenario!for!the!background!of!the!work,!again!presumably!building!off!of!

Schoenberg’s!masterfully!vague!statement!of!attribution.!The!Time$report!stated!

that!Schoenberg!!

had!heard!a!story!('partly!true')!of!a!group!of!Jews!marked!to!die!in!a!Nazi!gas!

chamber,!who,!with!their!powerful!singing!of!the!Shema$Jisroel…!had!unnerved,!then!frenzied,!their!executioners!into!bludgeoning!them!to!death.!

Schoenberg!fashioned!a!text,!with!a!sole!survivor!as!narrator,!then!poured!

out!the!music!in!three!weeks.29!!

!

The!composer!never!exactly!showed!his!cards!on!this!matter,!but!he!came!

very!close!to!doing!so!in!a!letter!to!the!composer!Kurt!List,!who!had!questioned!him!

about!the!dramatic!scenario.!Schoenberg!replied:!“Even!if!such!things!have!not!been!

done!in!the!manner!in!which!I!describe!in!the!Survivor,!this!does!not!matter.!The!main!

thing!is,!that!I!saw!it!in!my!imagination.”30!But!Schoenberg's!obfuscation,!if!we!may!

describe!it!thusly,!was!a!highly!productive!one,!whether!intentionally!or!accidentally!

so.!Almost!all!program!notes!still!underscore!the!work’s!reportorial!relationship!to!

an!event!in!either!the!Warsaw!Ghetto!or!a!death!camp!(we!will!return!shortly!to!this!

additional!geographic!ambiguity).!Indeed,!Schoenberg’s!statement,!as!later!

amplified!with!liberties!taken!by!Leibowitz!and!others,!allowed!the!work!to!make!a!

claim!to!both!artistic!representation!and$documentary!realism.!It!allowed!Survivor!

to!function!simultaneously!as!memorial!art!and!as!a!kind!of!stylized!oral!testimony.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!28!Quoted!in!Reich,!Schoenberg,!222J23.!Italics!in!original.!!29!“Destiny!and!Digestion,”!Time,!15!November!1948.!30!Arnold!Schoenberg!to!Kurt!List,!1!November!1948,!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!

image!scan!at!Arnold!Schönberg!Center!

! 142!

The!significance!of!this!dualJfunctioning!in!establishing!the!work’s!early!

prominence!would!be!hard!to!understate.!The!work's!testimonial!cast!is!

underscored!by!Schoenberg's!use!of!a!narrator!speaking!in!the!firstJperson.!To!put!it!

in!the!simplest!of!terms,!many!of!the!work’s!first!audiences!were!being!confronted!

by!a!figure!who,!within!the!narrative!framing!of!the!work,!had!survived!the!

atrocities!of!the!Shoah!and!was!standing!before!them!to!relate!his!story.!At!the!time!

of!its!creation,!in!1947,!it!is!important!to!recall!that!survivor!testimony!as!a!whole!

was!still!a!completely!unestablished!genre,!its!rawness!and!power!undimmed!by!

overexposure!or!the!appearance!of!repetition.!Indeed,!David!P.!Boder's!book!of!

interviews!with!survivors,!entitled!I$Could$Not$Interview$the$Dead,!was,!according!to!

Geoffrey!Hartman,!the!very!first!EnglishJlanguage!book!of!survivor!testimony,!yet!it!

did!not!appear!until!1948.31!!

In!later!years!historians!would,!as!we!know,!bring!more!critical!perspectives!

to!bear!on!survivor!testimony!as!a!form!of!“mythic!memory,”!but!in!the!early!

postwar!years,!as!Annette!Wieviorka!has!written,!“[t]estimony!had!the!status!of!an!

archival!document.”32!!More!to!the!point,!for!its!earliest!American!viewers,!Survivor,$

with!Schoenberg's!testimonial!gloss,!offered!a!simulacrum!of!direct!access!to!a!

moment!in!a!geographically!distant!catastrophe.!Even!if!the!work’s!earliest!audience!

members!had!seen!televised!news!footage!of!the!liberated!camps,!such!images!can!

be!consigned!to!a!distant!temporal!sphere;!they!can,!in!Hartman’s!words,!“induce!us!

to!create!a!defense!by!thinking!of!all!this!as!‘events!in!the!past.’”!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!31!Geoffrey!H.!Hartman,!The$Longest$Shadow:$In$the$Aftermath$of$the$Holocaust!(Bloomington:!Indiana!University!Press,!1996),!139.!

32!See!Wieviorka’s!essay!“On!Testimony”!in!Holocaust$Remembrance,!24.!!

! 143!

By!contrast,!Survivor’s!testimonial!framing!had!the!potential!to!eliminate!

such!distance!with!its!bald!directness!of!statement,!a!directness!only!heightened!by!

the!music’s!unrelenting!intensity.!Early!listeners!were!thus!able!to!confront!the!

events!depicted!much!more!directly!than!would!have!been!possible!at!that!time!

through!reportage!delivered!by!other!media.!During!the!work’s!first!few!decades!of!

performance,!these!linkages!were!underscored!by!a!tendency!to!cast!an!actual!

Holocaust!survivor!in!the!role!of!the!narrator.33!!

The!place!of!survivor!testimony!as!a!genre!in!the!constellation!of!Holocaust!

memory!has!obviously!evolved!over!time,!but!the!directness!of!this!work’s!

narration—when!experienced!in!live!performance—still!holds!the!possibility!of!

burning!through!what!Jean!Amery!has!called!“the!cold!storage!of!history.”34!The!

same!directness!of!expression,!however,!has!exposed!the!work!to!criticism!of!a!kind!

leveled!at!other!explicitly!representational!early!Holocaust!memory!art.!Survivor$

lacks!the!cooler!distance!from!its!subject!reflected!in,!for!instance,!Steve!Reich’s!

memorial!work!Different$Trains.$Perhaps!Survivor’s!closest!memorial!sibling,!both!

temporally!and!in!its!naturalistic!representations,!is!in!fact!a!sculptural!memorial:!

Nathan!Rapoport's!famous!!“Warsaw!Ghetto!Monument,”!unveiled!in!April!1948,!

less!than!a!year!after!the!composition!of!Survivor!and!before!its!world!premiere.35$

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!33!The!first!performances!of!Survivor!in!Czechoslovakia,!in!the!1960s,!featured!two!actual!survivors!–!Josef!Cervinka!and,!later,!Karel!Berman!–!in!the!role!of!the!narrator.!See!Calico,!

Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw$in$Postwar$Europe,!136J60.!!34!Quoted!in!Hartman,!The$Longest$Shadow,!137.!35!The!two!works!were!even!visually!linked!in!a!film!for!Polish!television!by!Jan!Kulma.!In!

interviews,!Rapoport!also!attested!to!the!pressures!on!early!postwar!artists!to!adopt!clear!

figurative!imagery!rather!than!abstract!treatments!of!their!subjects.!In!his!words:!“Could!I!

have!made!a!stone!with!a!hole!in!it!and!said!‘Voila!!The!Greatness!of!the!Jewish!People’?!No,!

I!needed!to!show!the!heroism,!to!illustrate!it!literally!in!figures!everyone,!not!just!artists,!

! 144!

The!monument’s!career!among!public!memorials!has!also!run!similarly!parallel!to!

that!of!Survivor,$with!much!public!renown,!a!mixed!critical!reception,!and!a!

figurative!scheme!that!has!been!likewise!attacked!as!kitsch.36!I!have!suggested!in!

this!dissertation!that!memorials!of!this!nature,!however,!face!special!aesthetic!and!

ethical!challenges!unique!to!their!task,!and!thereby!deserve!a!separate!metric!for!

judgment,!one!that!does!not!import!wholesale!a!set!of!aesthetic!criteria!developed!

for!judging!art!unburdened!by!the!weight!of!this!explicit!grappling!with!history!and!

memory.!!!!

$

A(Survivor!as(Double(

“Everything!I!have!written!has!a!certain!inner!likeness!to!myself.”!

JJ!Schoenberg!to!Berg,!5!August!1930!

!

In!her!scholarship!on!the!literature!of!trauma,!Cathy!Caruth!has!written!that!

it!is!“the!inextricability!of!the!story!of!one's!life!from!the!story!of!a!death,!an!

impossible!and!necessary!double!telling,!that!constitutes!their!historical!witness.”37!!

A!second!answer!to!the!question!of!who!is!the!'Survivor'!comes!from!the!

tradition!of!identifying!the!composer!himself!behind!the!mask!of!his!doubles,!an!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

would!respond!to.!This!was!to!be!a!public!monument!after!all.!And!what!do!human!beings!

respond!to?!Faces,!figures,!the!human!form.!I!did!not!want!to!represent!resistance!in!the!

abstract:!it!was!not!an!abstract!uprising.!It!was!real.”!!Quoted!in!Young,!"The!Biography!of!a!

Memorial!Icon:!Nathan!Rapoport's!Warsaw!Ghetto!Monument,"!82.!See!also!Calico’s!

discussion!of!the!two!monuments!in!Calico,!Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw$in$Postwar$Europe,!161J63.!36!Young,!"The!Biography!of!a!Memorial!Icon:!Nathan!Rapoport's!Warsaw!Ghetto!

Monument,"!2.!

37!Cathy!Caruth,!Unclaimed$Experience$:$Trauma,$Narrative,$and$History!(Baltimore:!Johns!Hopkins!University!Press,!1996),!7.!

! 145!

interpretive!approach!that!has!found!Schoenberg's!own!ideas!deeply!embedded!in!

the!protagonists!of!his!dramas,!including!Max!Aruns!(of!Schoenberg's!agitJprop!play!

Der$Biblische$Weg)!and!both!title!characters!of!his!Biblical!opera!Moses$und$Aron.38$

Michael!Strasser!has!likewise!offered!an!important!reading!of!Survivor$from$Warsaw!

as!a!“personal!parable,”!one!in!which!“Schoenberg!saw!in!this!tragic!and!inspiring!

story!a!parallel!to!the!events!of!his!own!personal!struggle.”39!!But!the!work's!links!to!

Schoenberg's!political!ideas!and!personal!biography!in!fact!run!even!deeper!than!

has!been!previously!articulated!in!the!scholarly!literature,!and!date!back!further!

than!the!Mattsee!incident!typically!marked!as!the!beginning!of!the!reemergence!of!

Schoenberg's!Jewish!identity.!!

Indeed,!the!narrator!of!Survivor,$in!the!work's!earliest!moments,!prepares!the!

listener!by!previewing!what!will!become!the!score's!dramatic!climax—the!choral!

setting!of!the!Shema—when!he!states:!“I!remember!only!the!grandiose!moment!

when!they!all!started!to!sing!as!if!prearranged,!the$old$prayer$they$had$neglected$for$

so$many$years,!the$forgotten$creed!”!Here!we!may!do!well!to!recall!that,!long!before!

his!own!reJconversion!to!Judaism,!or!even!before!his!embrace!of!an!idiosyncratic!

brand!of!Zionist!politics!in!the!1920s,!Schoenberg!had!articulated!a!similar!narrative!

in!more!universalized!terms.!!

His!vision!took!the!form!of!an!idea!for!an!oratorio!to!which!he!once!attached!

the!title!“Modern!Man's!Prayer.”!In!1912,!Schoenberg!wrote!to!Richard!Dehmel,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!38!See,!most!importantly,!Lazar,!"Arnold!Schoenberg!and!His!Doubles:!A!Psychodramatic!

Journey!to!His!Roots."!

39!Strasser,!"'A!Survivor!from!Warsaw'!as!Personal!Parable,"!58.!

! 146!

whose!poem!had!inspired!his!sextet,!Verklärte$Nacht,!beseeching!Dehmel!to!write!

the!text!for!this!new!work.!As!Schoenberg!described!it:!!

!

For!a!long!time!I!have!been!wanting!to!write!an!oratorio!on!the!following!

subject:!modern!man,!having!passed!through!materialism,!socialism,!and!

anarchy!and,!despite!having!been!an!atheist,!still$having!in$him$some$residue$of$ancient$faith!(in!the!form!of!superstition),!wrestles!with!God…!and!finally!succeeds!in!finding!God!and!becoming!religious.!Learning!to!pray!!It$is$not$through$any$action,$any$blows$of$fate,$least$of$all$through$any$love$of$woman,$that$this$change$of$heart$is$to$come$about…!Originally!I!intended!to!write!the!words!myself.!But!I!no!longer!think!myself!equal!to!it.40!!!!

!

!

This!striking!letter!could!bear!interpretation!as!another!emblematic!text!in!a!

generational!struggle,!that!of!Viennese!artists—the!children!of!emancipated!Jewish!

families—and!their!negotiation!between!the!ideals!of!Judentum!(present!here!as!a!

kind!of!invisible!residue)!Deutschtum,!and!Bildung.!Yet!for!the!purposes!of!the!

present!chapter,!we!may!focus!on!what!appears!to!be!an!early!kernel!of!the!religious!

dramaturgy!of!Survivor:!the!notion!of!modern!man$“learning!to!pray.”!Here!we!have!

it$presented!by!Schoenberg!at!a!time!when!he!was!living!in!Berlin!as!a!converted!

Protestant,!before!the!First!World!War,!a!period!that!produced!some!of!his!most!

fervent!declarations!of!allegiance!to!German!culture.!(As!such!this!letter!is!also!a!

cautionary!example!for!interpreters!who!have!framed!Survivor$exclusively!as!a!

paean!to!Schoenberg's!own!Jewish!identity!as!rekindled!in!exile.41)!As!a!whole!the!

letter!clearly!reflects!the!composer's!inchoate!spiritual!yearnings,!but!at!a!time!

when!they!were!still!seeking!an!appropriate!outlet.!!In!the!timeless!manner!of!

universalizing!from!one's!own!personal!experience,!Schoenberg!writes!of!secular!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!40!Schoenberg!to!Richard!Dehmel,!13!December!1912,!as!reprinted!in!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!118J19.!Italics!added.!41!See,!for!instance,!Ringer,!Arnold$Schoenberg,!203.!!

! 147!

“modern!man”!still!possessing!“the!residue!of!ancient!faith,”!though!he!is!far!more!

vague!on!precisely!how!modern!man's!religious!awakening!is!to!take!place.!He!does!

go!as!far!as!stipulating!the!move!must!be!innerJdirected:!“not!through!any!action,!

any!blows!of!fate.”!!

It!was,!however,!precisely!one!of!those!blows!that!prompted!the!next!stage!in!

Schoenberg's!own!religious!awakening:!the!antiJSemitic!incident!at!Mattsee,!

discussed!at!length!in!the!previous!chapter.!As!also!previously!discussed,!after!the!

rise!of!Hitler,!Schoenberg's!political!work!on!behalf!of!German!Jewry!became!his!

guiding!obsession!and!raison$d'être,!a!cause!he!determined!as!“more!important!than!

my!art.”!Schoenberg's!efforts!between!1926!and!1946!encompassed!both!practical!

measures!such!as!assisting!with!the!migration!and!settlement!of!Jewish!refugees,!

and!quixotic!plans!undertaken!in!a!kind!of!radical!isolation!from!the!efforts!of!the!

organized!Jewish!community.!There!is!a!desperation!to!some!of!these!efforts,!as!

previously!discussed,!and!on!more!than!one!occasion,!a!troubling!willingness!to!

suggest!that!persecution!itself!had!a!kind!of!divine!sanction,!and!that!it!might!

produce!a!return!to!faith.42!The!latter!aspect!was!of!course!an!abstraction!from!

Schoenberg’s!own!personal!experience,!as!outlined!above.!We!find!the!same!

notion—of!renewed!belief!prompted!by!radical!adversity—at!the!center!of!the!

dramatic!narrative!reflected!in!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw.$!

On!an!individual!level,!Schoenberg's!advocacy!for!friends!and!family!in!

Europe!was!intermittently!successful.!But!on!the!larger!public!level,!his!two!decades!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!42!Two!such!instances!from!Schoenberg’s!writing!were!quoted!in!the!previous!chapter.!

Contemporary!readers!may!also!be!struck!by!a!reference!in!the!Survivor$text!to!the!prisoners!being!beaten!regardless!of!whether!they!were!“young!or!old,!quiet!or!nervous,!

guilty$or!innocent.”!Italics!mine.!!!

! 148!

of!fervent!political!agitation!ultimately!proved!spectacularly!ineffective.!As!noted!in!

the!previous!chapter,!he!lacked!the!diplomacy—the!willingness!or!ability!to!

modulate!the!stridency!of!his!tone—necessary!to!secure!the!publication!of!his!most!

prescient!writing!on!the!future!of!European!Jewry.!Yet!in!the!immediate!postwar!

years,!Schoenberg!seemed!eager!to!distance!himself!from!his!own!failed!career!in!

Jewish!activism,!and!his!correspondence!accordingly!reveals!a!marked!disavowal!of!

politics.!Indeed,!he!bitterly!attacks!artists!with!what!the!temerity!or!stupidity!to!

stray!beyond!their!own!artistic!corridors.43!Survivor!in!this!sense!may!be!seen!as,!in!

part,!a!kind!of!working!through!of!Schoenberg’s!own!failures,!and!as!a!transposition!

his!own!accumulated!beliefs—about!the!hydraulics!of!identity!formation!through!

adversity,!and!about!the!covenantal!status!of!the!Jewish!people—back$into!the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!43!Two!striking!letters!merit!quoting!to!illustrate!the!extent!of!Schoenberg’s!postwar!

reversal,!his!renunciation—even!condemnation—of!political!involvement.!To!his!former!

student!Josef!Rufer,!he!wrote!in!May!1948,!less!than!a!year!after!completing!Survivor:!“[H]aving!a!general!view!of!it!all!as!I!now!have,!I!should!really!like!to!say!to!this!to!you:!It!is!

absolutely!pointless!associating!oneself!with!the!political!ideals!of!any!of!the!existing!

parties.!None!of!these!ideals,!of!whatever!colour,!will!stand!up!to!a!closer!examination.!

Suitable!though!they!may!be!for!publicity!purposes,!as!a!pretext,!a!masquerade,!ideals!have!

no!vital!force!of!their!own,!for!they!are!nonJmaterial.!I!am!convinced!that!every!adept!

politician!knows!this!and!turns!it!to!his!own!account.!We$who$live$in$music$have$no$place$in$politics$and$must$regard$them$as$something$essentially$alien$to$us.!We!are!aJpolitical!and!the!most!we!can!do!is!endeavor!to!stay!quietly!in!the!background.”!Only!a!few!months!earlier,!

Schoenberg!again!wrote!to!Rufer,!this!time!regarding!Hanns!Eisler’s!progressive!political!

sympathies.!This!letter,!one!of!his!more!bitter!and!ungenerous!statements!about!a!former!

student,!reads!in!part:!“[I]t’s!really!too!stupid!of!grownJup!men,!musicians,!artists,!who!

honestly!ought!to!have!something!better!to!do,!to!go!in!for!theories!about!reforming!the!

world,!especially!when!one!can!see!from!history!where!it!all!leads….!If!I!had!any!say!in!the!

matter!I’d!turn![Eisler]!over!my!knee!like!a!silly!boy!and!give!him!25!of!the!best!and!make!

him!promise!never!to!open!his!mouth!again!but!to!stick!to!scribbling!music.”!Schoenberg,!

Letters,!252,!55.!!

! 149!

domain!of!art.!One!may!recall!here!Schoenberg’s!aphorism!of!1912:!“the!portrait!

need!not!resemble!the!model,!only!the!artist.”44!!!

Indeed,!the!narrator!figure!of!Survivor$can!in!this!sense!be!read!as!another!

Schoenbergian!double.!He!is!witness!to!an!unimaginable!crime,!another!Idea!that!

cannot!be!expressed!in!words!nor!even!remembered!in!full!(the!narrator’s!very!first!

line,!to!be!further!discussed!below,!is!“I!cannot!remember!ev'rything”).!!Yet!in!this!

work,!the!witness!now!seeks!his!own!witness!for!what!he!has!experienced,!as!

Schoenberg!himself!appeared!to!be!seeking!in!so!much!of!his!own!personal!writing!

and!testimony!from!this!period.45!The!narrator!is!a!figure!who,!in!this!scenario,!

belongs!to!the!group!and!is!subjected!to!its!fate,!to!the!blows!of!the!German!

sergeant,!and!yet!he!stands!apart!from!them.!They!move!as!a!herd.!He!moves!as!an!

individual.!We!are!given!precious!few!details!about!this!narrator,!but!they!are!

suggestive.!Chiefly:!he!is!from!Warsaw,!and!has!lived!in!its!sewers,!like!the!fighters!

of!the!uprising.!!As!many!commentators!have!noted,!the!title!A$Survivor$from$

Warsaw!appears!to!be!misleading,!as!the!events!described!in!the!narration—the!

selection!of!prisoners!and!the!reference!to!the!gas!chambers—would!not!have!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!44!This!aphorism!is!collected!and!reprinted!in!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!105.!I!am!grateful!to!Joseph!Auner!for!bringing!it!to!my!attention.!!45!Many!documents!could!be!cited!here,!but!the!most!pertinent!is!perhaps!the!famous!

“boiling!water!speech,”!of!May!1947!(only!months!before!composing!Survivor),!in!which!he!stated,!“I!had!fallen!into!an!ocean,!into!an!ocean!of!overheated!water,!and!it!burned!not!only!

my!skin,!it!burned!also!internally.!And!I!could!not!swim.”!This!speech!is!an!enigmatic!

document!with!a!peculiar!mixture!of!heavily!ironic!language!with!confessions!like!the!one!

quoted!here.!It!also!may!be!read!as!containing!a!kind!of!postJtraumatic!undertone.!

Specifically,!Schoenberg!appears!to!make!the!implicit!point!that!he!acted!better!toward!the!

“enemies”!of!his!music!than!did!the!Nazis!toward!the!Jews.!The!speech!is!reprinted!in!full!in!

ibid.,!245J46.!

! 150!

occurred!in!the!Warsaw!ghetto.46!The!text!instead!would!seem!to!be!describing!a!

scene!from!an!extermination!camp.!!

Yet!it!is!also!possible!that!this!scene!does!in!fact!take!place!in!a!camp,!but!that!

the!opening!paragraph!of!the!narrator's!text!applies!to!the!narrator!alone,!situating!

him!as!being!“from!Warsaw”—a!statement!of!not!only!geographic!but!also!spiritual!

origins.!Clearly!“Warsaw”!here!functions!as!a!metonym!for!Jewish!resistance;!it!is!

the!place!where!Jews!embraced!the!politics!of!militant!selfJdetermination!that!

Schoenberg!had!been!so!fruitlessly!espousing.47!One!may!also!note,!parenthetically,!

that!by!creating!a!memorial!that!linked!tropes!of!Jewish!heroism!and!resistance!with!

those!of!Jewish!martyrdom,!Schoenberg!in!fact!here!anticipated!the!choreography!

and!narrative!arc!of!the!official!rituals!of!remembrance!later!enacted!in!the!State!of!

Israel.48!!

If!the!narrator,!in!my!reading!here,!may!be!seen!as!Schoenberg’s!double,!the!

prisoners!in!Survivor!may!be!seen!as!representatives!of!the!heedless!European!

Jewry!to!which!Schoenberg!attempted!to!preach.!Here,!in!their!last!moments!of!life,!

they!finally!absorb!the!idea—or!in!Schoenbergian!parlance,!the!Idea!(see!Chapter!

3)—of!national!politicalJreligious!awakening,!one!which!Schoenberg!had!attempted!

to!spread!through!both!his!musical!life!and!his!activist!work!for!the!previous!two!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!46!Michael!Strasser,!for!instance,!discusses!it!in!Strasser,!"'A!Survivor!from!Warsaw'!as!

Personal!Parable,"!58J59.!Lieberman!also!addresses!it!in!Cross!and!Berman,!Political$and$Religious$Ideas$in$the$Works$of$Arnold$Schoenberg,!212J213.!47!According!to!Diner,!the!freighted!symbolism!around!the!Warsaw!ghetto!spread!early!and!

quickly!through!the!rituals!of!American!Jewish!communal!remembrance.!See!Diner,!We$Remember$with$Reverence$and$Love,!73J76.!!48!On!this!subject,!see!Yael!Zerubavel,!Recovered$Roots:$Collective$Memory$and$the$Making$of$Israeli$National$Tradition!(Chicago:!University!of!Chicago!Press,!1995).!And!Tom!Segev,!The$Seventh$Million:$The$Israelis$and$the$Holocaust,!trans.!Haim!Watzman!(New!York:!Hill!and!Wang,!1993).!

! 151!

decades.!This!acknowledgment!prompts!their!spontaneous!recitation!of!the!Shema,$

“the!forgotten!creed”!as!the!narrator’s!text!describes!it,!or!as!Schoenberg!put!it!three!

decades!earlier,!in!the!situationally!specific!language!tailored!to!an!earlier!era,!the!

“residue!of!an!ancient!faith.”!!

Survivor$in!this!sense,!even!while!it!has!come!to!assume!a!status!as!a!

“universal”!memorial!in!sound,!contains!within!its!layers!an!extremely!personalized!

statement,!born!of!Schoenberg’s!own!biographic!journey,!and!reflecting!a!kind!of!

fantasy!or!counterJnarrative!of!collective!awakening.!In!a!letter!to!the!composer!

Kurt!List!in!1948,!Schoenberg!affirms!these!essential!components!of!the!work's!

personal!significance:!

!

Now,!what!the!text!of!the!Survivor!means!to!me:!it!means!at!first!a!warning!to!

all!Jews,!never!to!forget!what!has!been!done!to!us—never!to!forget!that!even!

people!who!did!not!do!it!themselves,!agreed!with!them!and!many!of!them!

found!it!necessary!to!treat!us!this!way.!We!should!never!forget!this….!The!

Shema!Jisroel!at!the!end!has!a!special!meaning!to!me.!I!think,!the!Shema!

Jisroel!is!the!“Glaubensbekenntnis,”!the!confession!of!the!Jews.!It!is!our!

thinking!of!the!one,!eternal,!God!who!is!invisible,!who!forbids!imitations,!who!

forbids!to!make!a!picture!and!all!these!things,!which!you!perhaps!have!

realized!when!you!read!my!Moses!und!Aron!and!Der!biblische!Weg.!The$miracle$is,$to$me,$that$all$these$people$who$might$have$forgotten,$for$years,$that$they$are$Jews,$suddenly$facing$death,$remember$who$they$are.!And!this!seems!to!me!a!great!thing.49!

!

!

This!revealing!letter!to!List!also!lays!bare!some!of!the!most!potentially!problematic!

aspects!of!Survivor,$its!instrumentalization!of!the!victims’!memory,!their!example!

used!to!serve!as!“a!warning!to!all!Jews”!for!the!future,!rather!than!being!simply!

honored!on!its!own!terms.!This!aspect—together!with!the!personalized!connections!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!49!Schoenberg!to!Kurt!List,!1!November!1948,!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!image!scan!

at!Arnold!Schönberg!Center!

! 152!

explored!in!this!section—illustrates!why!the!work’s!later!recruitment!as!a!universal!

sonic!memorial!to!the!Holocaust,!a!purpose!Schoenberg!never!stated!was!his!goal,!is!

not!a!seamless!fit.!Indeed!it!is!Survivor’s!simultaneous!status!as!memorial,!religioJ

political!counterJnarrative,!and!metaphorical!autobiography!that!both!contributes!

to!its!power!and!generates!the!unresolved!tensions!that!remain!within!the!work!to!

this!day.!!

!

History(and(Memory(in!A!Survivor!From!Warsaw((

! !

! The!biographically!contextual!readings!of!Survivor$take!us!only!so!far!toward!

a!full!understanding!the!work,!not!only!for!reasons!of!general!interpretive!

principle—the!creator's!life!and!artistic!intentions!cannot!exhaust!the!meanings!of!a!

work—but!also!because!Schoenberg's!own!conceptions!of!the!larger!cultural!

signification!of!his!own!art!was!always!limited.!Even!during!his!own!lifetime,!

contemporaries!such!as!Thomas!Mann!and!Adorno!heard!in!his!music!and!found!in!

his!ideas!profound!statements!on!the!crisis!of!modernity,!and!on!the!nature!of!the!

society!that!permitted!two!world!wars—statements!toward!which!Schoenberg!

remained!by!turns!oddly!detached,!ignorant,!or!at!times!even!hostile.!Adorno!

himself!summarized!this!disjunction:!“In!Schoenberg!different!historical!moments!

collide.!The!composer!who,!in!immanentJmusical!terms,!was!lightJyears!ahead!of!his!

epoch,!remained!a!child!of!the!nineteenth!century!where!its!terminus$ad$quem,!its!

function,!was!concerned.”50!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!50!Adorno,!Prisms,!161.!

! 153!

! With!that!said,!this!section!now!proceeds!to!examine!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!

in!terms!of!its!“function.”!Specifically,!I!will!examine!this!work!as!a!kind!of!anatomy!

of!memory,!drawing!attention!to!the!different!aspects!of!recollection!at!play,!and!

mapping!those!aspects!onto!the!twoJpart!structure!of!the!work.!I!will!suggest!that!

the!conceptions!of!memory!embedded!in!each!part!of!Survivor!may!be!seen!as!

standing!in!a!productive!dialectical!relationship.!This!process!will!involve!a!new!

reading!of!the!work's!ending,!one!that!hopefully!addresses!the!criticism!of!its!

purported!triumphalism.!Through!this!process,!I!seek!to!identify!some!of!the!roots!

of!this!work's!longevity!and!its!evident!effectiveness!as!a!musical!memorial!when!

performed!today.!

! The!crucial!role!of!memory!in!the!narrator's!text!is!both!signaled!and!

problematized!in!its!very!opening!sentences:!“I!cannot!remember!ev'rything.!I!must!

have!been!unconscious!most!of!the!time.!I!remember!only!the!grandiose!moment!

when!they!all!started!to!sing…!But!I!have!no!recollection!how!I!got!underground!to!

live!in!the!sewers!of!Warsaw!for!so!long!a!time.”!!Schoenberg!here!conveys!the!

instability!of!memory!in!the!wake!of!trauma.!We!may!in!fact!borrow!from!Lawrence!

Langer's!helpful!distinction!in!survivor!testimonies!between!“common!memory,”!

defined!as!the!ordered!narrating!of!the!past!from!the!perspective!of!the!present,!and!

“deep!memory,”!a!kind!of!visceral!and!immersive!remembering!of!“the!Auschwitz!

self!as!it!was!then.”51!In!these!terms,!we!might!say!that!the!integrity!of!the!narrator's!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!51!Langer!draws!his!terms!from!Charlotte!Delbo’s!notion!of!“mémoire$profonde”!and!“mémoire$ordinaire.”!See!Lawrence!L.!Langer,!Holocaust$Testimonies:$The$Ruins$of$Memory!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!1991),!5J6.!!

! 154!

common!memory!has!been!fractured!by!what!he!has!endured.!His!deep!memory,!

however,!remains!acute.!

!The!subtle,!complex,!and!evolving!interaction!of!music!and!text!suggests!yet!

additional!layers!of!memory!in!Survivor,!which!I!will!try!to!sketch!here.$The!

orchestra!itself,!it!may!be!said,!serves!as!another!witness.$Before!the!narrator's!

initial!entrance!in!measure!12,!Schoenberg!sketches!the!scene!with!many!telling!

musical!details,!including!an!opening!jagged!trumpet!fanfare;!acid!dissonances;!a!

military!drum!roll,!figures!that!begin!sharply!but!then!trail!off!suggesting!

disorientation;!woodwind!fragments!and!trills!suggesting!broken!shards!of!

marches;!and!tremolo!growls!from!the!cellos!and!basses.!These!introductory!details!

are!not!descriptive!in!a!direct!naturalistic!sense—this!is!not!an!aural!snapshot!of!

camp!life—but!rather!evoke!the!place!itself!as!recollected!through!the!prism!of!an!

unstable!memory,!one!that!has!been!stamped!with!the!marks!of!trauma!and!fear.!!!

When!the!opening!trumpet!motif!recurs,!the!narrator!names!it!as!the!

“Reveille”!heard!in!the!camp!every!morning.!Thus!we!may!retroactively!understand!

the!very!first!bracing!measures!of!the!score!as!a!call!to!awaken.52!Interestingly!

while,!as!previously!stated,!Schoenberg!had!no!personal!experience!in!a!camp,!he!

intuited!some!of!the!most!salient!features!of!its!auditory!topography.!Primo!Levi!

wrote!of!the!reveille!at!Auschwitz,!and!more!generally,!of!the!music!of!the!camp!that!

had!seared!itself!into!his!own!deep!memory!at!a!profound!level:!!

The!tunes!are!few,!a!dozen,!the!same!ones!every!day,!morning!and!evening:!

marches!and!popular!songs!dear!to!every!German.!They!lie!engraven!on!our!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!52!Amy!Wlodarski!examines!this!and!other!examples!of!“motivic!recapitulation”!in!

Wlodarski,!"An!Idea!Can!Never!Perish:!Memory,!the!Musical!Idea,!and!Schoenberg's!'a!

Survivor!from!Warsaw'!(1947)."!

! 155!

minds!and!will!be!the!last!thing!in!Lager!that!we!shall!forget:!they!are!the!

voice!of!the!Lager,!the!perceptible!expression!of!its!geometrical!madness,!of!

the!resolution!of!others!to!annihilate!us!men!in!order!to!kill!us!more!slowly!

afterwards.53!

!

! In!addition!to!the!common!and!deep!layers!of!memory!reflected!in!the!first!

portion!of!Survivor,!and!the!accompanying!“witness”!of!the!orchestra,!we!have!of!

course!the!climactic!entrance!of!the!male!chorus!singing!the!Shema,!the!revitalized!

memory!of!what!the!narrator!calls!(and!thereby!once!more!suggests!himself!as!

Schoenberg's!double)!“the!forgotten!creed.”!Structurally,!Schoenberg!placed!great!

emphasis!on!the!division!between!these!two!portions!of!the!work.!While!the!pitch!

material!for!the!first!half!is!derived!from!the!tone!row!mentioned!earlier!in!this!

chapter,!it!is!only!in!the!choral!setting!of!the!Shema!that!we!hear!the!row!in!its!prime!

form.54!The!two!portions!of!the!work!are!also!strictly!demarcated!by!the!nature!of!

the!vocal!delivery!permitted!in!each!half.!The!narrator's!part,!as!previously!

mentioned,!is!to!be!delivered!only$in!Sprechstimme!while!the!choral!section!is!only!

sung.!In!a!letter!to!René!Leibowitz,!who!was!preparing!the!work's!European!

premiere,!Schoenberg!placed!uncommon!emphasis!on!the!importance!of!this!

division.55!

! The!division!itself,!however,!may!mark!more!than!simply!the!transition!point!

between!the!two!different!musical!styles.!It!may!also!be!seen!as!signaling!the!break!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!53!Levi,!Survival$in$Auschwitz:$The$Nazi$Assault$on$Humanity,!51.!!54!For!more!on!the!significance!of!these!musical!relationships,!see!Schiller,!Bloch,$Schoenberg,$and$Bernstein,!103J15,!and!Wlodarski,!"An!Idea!Can!Never!Perish:!Memory,!the!Musical!Idea,!and!Schoenberg's!'a!Survivor!from!Warsaw'!(1947)."!!

55!He!wrote!to!Leibowitz!that!“[the!narrator’s!part]!must!never!be!made!so!musical!as!other!

strict!compositions!of!mine.!This!never!has!to!be!sung,!never!should!there!be!a!real!pitch….!

This!is!very!important,!because!singing!produces!motives!and!motives!must!be!carried!out.”!

Schoenberg,!Letters,!257.!

! 156!

between!what!we!might!call!two!different!temporalities!in!this!work,!two!different!

approaches!toward!measuring!the!past,!each!existing!on!opposite!sides!of!what!

David!N.!Myers!has!called!“the!yawning!chasm…!between!history!and!faith.”56!Myers!

draws!on!the!classic!distinction,!as!articulated!by!Yosef!Yerushalmi!in!Zakhor,!

between!the!modern,!positivistic!enterprise!of!Jewish!historiography!and!the!

cyclical,!organic,!communallyJembedded!tropes!of!Jewish!memory.!!!

As!Yerushalmi!and!others!have!shown,!the!latter!tradition!of!Jewish!collective!

memory!tended!to!recast!episodes!of!religious!persecution!and!even!massacre!

through!ancient!narrative!archetypes.!These!included!the!Akedah$(the!binding!of!

Isaac),!Hurban!(the!urJcatastrophes!of!the!destructions!of!the!Temples)!and!Kiddush$

Hashem$(martyrdom).57!David!Roskies!has!also!illustrated!that!while!the!earliest!in$

situ!Jewish!chroniclers!of!catastrophe!in!the!twentieth!century!set!out!to!document!

violence!and!suffering!with!modern!positivistic!methods,!they!nonetheless!fell!back!

on!these!ancient!tropes.58!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!56!David!N.!Myers,!Resisting$History:$Historicism$and$Its$Discontents$in$GermanFJewish$Thought,!Jews,!Christians,!and!Muslims!from!the!Ancient!to!the!Modern!World!(Princeton,!N.J.:!Princeton!University!Press,!2003),!4.!

57!See!Gabrielle!Spiegel,!“Memory!and!History:!Liturgical!Time!and!Historical!Time.”!History$and$Theory!41!(2009);!David!G.!Roskies,!Against$the$Apocalypse:$Responses$to$Catastrophe$in$Modern$Jewish$Culture!(Cambridge,!Mass.:!Harvard!University!Press,!1984),!15J52;!and!The$Literature$of$Destruction:$Jewish$Responses$to$Catastrophe!(Philadelphia:!Jewish!Publication!Society,!1988).!!

58!Roskies!has!charted!the!growth!of!such!efforts,!beginning!with!the!documentation!of!the!

Kishinev!pogrom!and!S.!Ansky’s!assembled!sixJvolume!chronicle!on!the!First!World!War!in!

Galicia.!These!efforts!extended!into!the!Second!World!War,!most!famously!with!the!Oneg!

Shabbes!archive!in!Warsaw.!See!“The!Library!of!Jewish!Catastrophe”!in!Hartman,!Holocaust$Remembrance,!33J41.!See!also!Yael!Feldman’s!exploration!of!the!particular!trope!of!sacrifice!in!Yael!S.!Feldman,!Glory$and$Agony:$Isaac’s$Sacrifice$and$National$Narrative$(Stanford,!Calif.:!Stanford!University!Press,!2010).!!

! 157!

Marking!these!distinctions!between!the!two!modes!of!approaching!the!past!

allows!us!to!better!understand!the!two!sections!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw.59$The!

first!section!falls!under!the!regime!of!testimony!and!“history,”!with!the!narrator!

presenting!the!shocking!scene!in!descriptive,!naturalistic!language.!His!voice,!

through!Schoenberg’s!notated!Sprechstimme$strains!toward$music,!but!the!

composer!strictly!forbids!the!narrator!to!actually!cross!the!line!into!song.!That!mode!

of!expression!is!reserved!for!the!second!section,!which,!in!echo!of!the!scribes!of!

Jewish!catastrophes!past,!places!the!Holocaust!on!the!plane!of!collective!Jewish!

memory.!The!chorus,!in$the$narrator’s$recollection,$sings!the!Shema.!In!this!sense,!the!

ending!can!in!fact!be!read!as!Schoenberg's!sui!generis!attempt!to!bring!meaning!not!

to!the!catastrophe!itself,!which!would!thereby!suggest!a!false!redemptive!narrative,!

a!higher!significance!to!be!found!in!their!extermination.!Rather,!the!meaning!is!

derived!from$the!memory!of!the!catastrophe,!as!recollected!by!one!who!witnessed!it,!

and!by!its!link!with!millennial!tropes!of!Jewish!prayer!and!Jewish!identity.!!

In!this!discussion!of!the!ending,!however,!it!is!important!to!note!that!A$

Survivor$from$Warsaw!still!nonetheless!resists!the!temptations!of!consolation!or!

false!closure;!I!would!suggest!that!the!Shema$section!is!not,!in!the!negative!sense,!a!

facile!escape!to!the!plane!of!myth.!Schoenberg!in!fact!cuts!short!his!chorus,!

preventing!the!singing!of!the!full!Shema,!or!even!the!conclusion!of!its!first!

paragraph.!Rather,!he!ends!the!choral!setting!prematurely!with!the!word!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!59!My!reading!here!builds!on!an!observation!made!by!Steven!Cahn!that!Schoenberg!“does!

not!give!up!the!distinction”!between!history!and!memory!in!Survivor.!To!illustrate!his!point,!Cahn!quotes!from!Spiegel’s!“Memory!and!History.”!See!Steven!J.!Cahn,!“On!the!

Representation!of!Jewish!Identity!and!Historical!Consciousness!in!Schönberg’s!Religious!

Thought.”!Journal$of$the$Arnold$Schönberg$Center$5!(2003):!105.!!

! 158!

“uv'kumekha”!(“and!when!you!rise!up”).!The!orchestra!then!continues!with!two!

additional!–!highly!dissonant!–!wordless!measures!of!music!before!the!work!ends!in!

one!final!piercing!sforzando!blast.!This!ending!has!been!heard!in!many!different!

ways.!To!my!ears,!the!final!two!bars!do!not!suggest!a!triumphant!spiritual!

apotheosis!but!something!much!darker,!more!complex,!and!resistant!to!mythic!

appropriation,!as!I!will!explore!in!the!following!section.!!!

!

Resisting(Closure:(Schoenberg(and(Benjamin(

!

! The!preceding!discussion!of!Survivor!also!prepares!us!to!place!the!work!in!

dialogue!with!Walter!Benjamin's!increasingly!influential!writings!on!memory.!

Benjamin!in!his!way!was!keenly!attuned!to!the!distinctions!between!history!and!

memory!articulated!above,!though!he!understood!them!through!the!lens!of!what!he!

perceived!to!be!a!deeper!crisis!in!the!nature!of!experience![Erfahrung],!and!its!

organic!communicability,!in!the!wake!of!the!First!World!War.!A!famous!passage!in!

his!essay!The$Storyteller!distills!his!insights:!!

With!the![First]!World!War!a!process!began!to!become!apparent!which!has!

not!halted!since!then.!Was!it!not!noticeable!at!the!end!of!the!war!that!men!

returned!from!the!battlefield!grown!silent!–!not!richer,!but!poorer!in!

communicable!experience?!What!ten!years!later!was!poured!out!in!the!flood!

of!war!books!was!anything!but!experience!that!goes!from!mouth!to!mouth.!

And!there!was!nothing!remarkable!about!that.!For!never!has!experience!been!

contradicted!more!thoroughly!than!strategic!experience!by!tactical!warfare,!

economic!experience!by!inflation,!bodily!experience!by!mechanical!warfare,!

moral!experience!by!those!in!power.!A!generation!that!had!gone!to!school!on!

a!horseJdrawn!streetcar!now!stood!under!the!open!sky!in!a!countryside!in!

which!nothing!remained!unchanged!but!the!clouds,!and!beneath!those!

! 159!

clouds,!in!a!field!of!force!of!destructive!torrents!and!explosions,!was!the!tiny,!

fragile!human!body.60!!!!

!

! After!the!war,!in!other!words,!positivistic!historical!knowledge!of!the!conflict!

(“war!books”)!proliferated!but!the!connections!with!organic!communal!memory!

were!ruptured,!the!speaker!or!storyteller!rendered!mute.!One!may!think!here!of!the!

despair!of!Schoenberg’s!Moses!falling!silent!at!the!end!of!Act!I!of!Moses$und$Aron,!or!

the!elisions!present!in!the!text!recited!by!the!narrator!of!Schoenberg’s!Survivor.!He!

cannot!remember!everything.!!

As!Martin!Jay!has!shown,!Benjamin's!writing!in!the!postJWorld!War!I!era!put!

him!at!odds!with!the!culture!of!public!commemoration!and!consolation,!discussed!in!

Chapter!2,!with!its!ritualized!choreography!of!civic!mourning.!Against!such!practices!

designed!to!heal!social!rupture!and!numb!private!pain!(or!in!George!Mosse's!

interpretation,!to!reconsolidate!state!power),!Benjamin!sought!to!preserve!the!

unreconciled!loss!as!a!reminder!of!its!roots!not!only!in!war!but$in$the$contradictions$

of$a$society$that$created$the$war$in$the$first$place.61!By!not!papering!over!or!

distorting!the!past,!its!buried!sparks!of!emancipatory!potential,!its!power!to!

influence!the!present,!remained!intact.!As!John!McCole!has!summarized!Benjamin’s!

view,!“for!a!life!(or!a!society)!whose!future!has!not!been!foreclosed,!the!past!can!

never!become!a!closed!book.”62!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!60!Benjamin,!Illuminations,!84.!Also!quoted!in!Martin!Jay’s!essay!“Against!consolation:!Walter!Benjamin!and!the!refusal!to!mourn”!in!Winter!and!Sivan,!War$and$Remembrance$in$the$Twentieth$Century.!61!See!War$and$Remembrance$in$the$Twentieth$Century,!226.!62!John!McCole,!Walter$Benjamin$and$the$Antinomies$of$Tradition!(Ithaca,!N.Y.:!Cornell!University!Press,!1993),!263.!

! 160!

! With!this!in!mind,!the!two!halves!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$when!

considered!as!a!unity,!offer!what!we!might!call!a!kind!of!stereoscopic!memory,!with!

regimes!of!history!and!faith!placed!in!dialectical!tension.!In!the!first!part,!the!

narrator's!pained!recollection,!his!recitation!italicized!by!Schoenberg's!music!of!

teeming!anxiety,!functions!in!a!way!that!reJsensitizes!a!numbed!audience,!breaks!

down!protective!defenses,!and!“burns!through”!(Amery’s!phrase)!the!frozen!image!

of!the!Holocaust!as!a!distant!historical!occurrence.!One!may!recall!here!

Schoenberg’s!rather!Benjaminian!statement:!“Reject!all!comfort:!it!wants!only!to!rob!!

you!of!what!is!worth!preserving.”63!The!first!part!reinforces!this!sentiment!by!

recasting!the!traumatic!scene!not!as!a!closed!event!to!be!objectified!and!then!

forgotten!but!as!an!Erfahrung!to!be!grappled!with!in!the!realJtime!process!of!

recollection.!As!Angelika!Rauch!has!distilled!Benjamin's!thinking!on!the!subject,!

“[t]he!mission!of!tradition”!–!and!here!I!would!add!also,!the!mission!of!the!work!of!

memoryJart!“is!precisely!not$to!make!experience!into!an!event!or!an!object!because!

only!the!power!of!feeling!humbles!us,!sensitizes!us!to!an!other,!and!teaches!us!to!live!

with!what!Kant!had!identified!as!the!monstrosity!of!the!sublime.”64!!

Benjamin's!writing!on!memory!and!against!mourning!also!provides!a!route!

toward!bridging!the!score’s!first!part!with!its!conclusion,!what!the!narrator!calls!

“the!grandiose!moment”!when!the!prisoners!recall!“the!forgotten!creed”!and!begin!

to!sing.!Indeed,!elsewhere!in!his!writing!Benjamin!articulates!what!we!might!call!an!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!63!The!line!appears!in!a!Requiem$text!Schoenberg!composed!in!1923!in!response!to!the!death!of!his!first!wife,!Mathilde.!It!is!excerpted!and!reprinted!in!Auner,!A$Schoenberg$Reader,!181.!

64!Angelika!Rauch,!"The!Broken!Vessel!of!Tradition,"!Representations,!no.!53!(1996):!90.!Quoted!in!Winter!and!Sivan,!War$and$Remembrance$in$the$Twentieth$Century.!

! 161!

epistemology!of!danger—a!notion!that!the!nature!of!the!world!that!has!produced!

this!abyss!may!be!fully!grasped!only!when!staring!directly!into!it.!Or!in!his!oftenJ

quoted!line!from!the!Theses!on!the!Philosophy!of!History,!“[t]o!articulate!the!past!

historically…!means!to!seize!hold!of!a!memory!as!it!flashes!up!at!a!moment!of!

danger.”65!!

The!singing!of!the!Shema$in!this!account!becomes!not!some!contrived!or!

sentimental!appendage!to!the!narrator's!harrowing!descriptions,!but!a!kind!of!

radical!insight!that!“flashes!up”!from!the!murderous!moment!in!which,!as!

Schoenberg!viewed!it,!the!profound!lie!of!the!GermanJJewish!symbiosis!was!finally!

laid!bare.!In!sympathy!with!this!reading,!and!apropos!what!I!have!called!Benjamin's!

epistemology!of!danger,!we!may!here!also!recall!Benjamin’s!statement!about!Kafka!

in!a!letter!from!1938!to!Gershom!Scholem.!“The!experience!that!corresponds!to!that!

of!Kafka!as!a!private!individual,”!Benjamin!wrote,!“will!probably!first!become!

accessible!to!the!masses!at!such!time!as!they!are!about!to!be!annihilated.”66!!

Schoenberg!too!seems!to!have!believed,!at!least!retrospectively,!in!an!

epistemology!of!danger.!Insights!about!his!own!identity!came!to!him!after!

experiences!of!antiJSemitism!in!which!he!saw!the!possibilities!of!darker!and!more!

criminal!deeds.!Likewise!in!this!score,!it!is!not!in!the!prisoners’!deaths,!but!in!their!

own!collective!act!of!memory—recollecting!their!identities!as!Jews—that!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!65!This!statement!appears!in!the!sixth!of!Benjamin’s!Theses$on$the$Philosophy$of$History,$as!translated!in!Benjamin,!Illuminations,!255.!Amy!Wlodarski!also!quotes!it!as!an!epigraph!in!Wlodarski,!The$Sounds$of$Memory,!29.!!!66 Walter Benjamin to Gershon Scholem, 12 June 1938. As translated and reprinted in Gershom Scholem, ed. The Correspondence of Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem, 1932-1940 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), 220. !

! 162!

Schoenberg!may!be!said!to!locate!sparks!of!what!Benjamin!called!simply!“hope!in!

the!past.”!!

None!of!that!has!diminished!its!enduring!power!as!a!memorial!in!sound—for!

all!the!reasons!I!have!suggested!above,!and!also!sketched!in!Chapter!2—its!ability!to!

speak!far!beyond!the!circumstances!of!its!birth.!“His!is!a!supreme!case!of$applied$

music$becoming$absolute,”!wrote!the!critic!and!broadcaster!Hans!Keller,!who!was!

himself!interned!by!the!Nazis.!And!here!we!may!extend!Keller’s!“applied!music”!to!

its!broadest!possible!definition,!that!is!to!include!both$the!depictions!of!the!violent!

scene!described!in!Survivor$but!also,!as!discussed,!the!encompassing!of!so!many!of!

the!composer’s!own!autobiographical!narratives.!Keller!continued!his!insightful!

response!to!the!work:!!

feeling!himself!fully,!with!uncanny!depthJknowledge,!into!the!dramatic,!still!

topical!situation,![Schoenberg]!offers!an!immanent!solution!which!only!music!

can!offer!and!which,!to!the!musical!mind,!is!all!the!more!inevitable!for!

that….[W]hat!higher!praise!can!the!Survivor$receive!than!a!musicianJsurvivor’s!confession!that!never!since!his!escape!from!the!Nazis!did!he!feel,!at!

the!same!time,!so!terrifyingly!near!and!so!redeemingly!far!from!the!memory!

of!his!experiences?67!!!!

!

!

Responses!such!as!Keller’s!are!made!possible!by!the!fact!that!in!Survivor,!

perhaps!for!the!first!time,!culture!and$barbarism!are!not!shone!as!naively!opposing!

forces!but!wrenched!into!the!frame!of!a!single!explosive!work!of!art.!Its!

incorporation!of!horror!and!suffering!is!what!provided!its!truth!content,!in!Adorno’s!

terms,!a!kind!of!klieg!light!“by!which!the!entire!complexion!of!reality!is!made!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!67!From!a!1951!essay,!“Schoenberg:!‘A!Survivor!from!Warsaw,’”!as!collected!in!Keller,!Essays$on$Music,!81.!!!

! 163!

manifest.”!It!is!also!what!allowed!the!work’s!dissonant!musical!language!to!be!

understood!by!audiences!with!a!newfound!clarity.!!

At!the!same!time,!as!I!have!attempted!to!show,!the!work!also!carries!a!

different!kind!of!truth!content,!one!of!a!profound!biographic!valence.!It!can!indeed!

be!said!that!Moses,!after!falling!silent!in!1932!at!the!end!of!Act!II,!does!speak!again!as!

Survivor’s!narrator.!The!language!of!his!utterance—his!Sprechstimme—has!evolved!

from!German!to!English.!He!has!dreamed!many!AronJlike!dreams!of!political!

leadership,!and!he!has!foresworn!the!world!of!politics.!And!in!this!work,!it!is!now!

memory!itself—rather!than!language—that!is!called!to!the!impossible!task!of!

representing!the!unrepresentable.!Indeed,!the!larger!arc!is!clear.!To!adapt!the!

Schlegel!aphorism!with!which!we!began!this!chapter:!the!prophet!becomes!a!

memorialist!by!turning!backwards.!!!!

!

! 164!

Chapter(5(!

Monument(Unveiled:((Two(premieres(for(A!Survivor!from!Warsaw!

!

!

“The!audience!of!over!1600!was!shaken!by!the!composition!and!

applauded!until!we!repeated!the!performance.!This!happened!in!a!

town,!which!a!few!years!ago!was!considered!to!be!a!small!'Rail!road!

Town.’”!

!

–!Kurt!Frederick!to!Arnold!Schoenberg!on!the!world!premiere!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw1!

!

“It!was!the!extraordinary!newness!of!the!work!that!so!gripped!my!

audience.!Many!of!them!came!to!me!with!tears!in!their!eyes,!others!

were!so!shocked!that!they!could!not!even!speak,!and!only!talked!to!me!

about!their!impressions!much!later.!But!not!only!the!audience!were!

impressed!in!this!way;!from!the!first!rehearsal!onward,!the!entire!

orchestra!and!chorus!were!so!moved!that!there!was!none!of!the!usual!

resistance!one!tends!to!meet!in!rehearsing!a!new!work!of!such!

difficulty.!Rehearsals!proceeded!in!the!greatest!calm,!and!with!a!

seriousness!I!have!but!rarely!met.”!

!

–!Rene!Leibowitz,!on!the!European!premiere!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw2!

!

!

!

!

! In!the!previous!chapter,!we!have!attempted!to!interpret!Survivor!both!on!its!

own!terms!and!as!a!work!that!reflects!and!refracts!the!events!and!subterranean!

themes!that!comprise!Schoenberg’s!own!biography.!At!this!point!it!is!time!to!bring!

the!work,!finally,!into!the!noonday!sun!of!its!own!public!reception,!to!chart!the!

beginning!of!its!career!as!a!public!musical!memorial!and,!more!broadly,!as!a!lieu$de$

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!Kurt!Frederick!to!Schoenberg,!4!November!1948.!Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!Houghton!

Library,!Harvard!University$2!From!Leibowitz’s!article!originally!published!as!“Schoenberg!und!die!Tragödie!unserer!

Zeit,”!Der!Mittag,!15!November!1949.!This!article!was!excerpted!in!Reich,!Schoenberg,!222J23.!

! 165!

memoire.$Nora!himself!has!written!about!how!such!sites!of!memory!can!be!at!once!

unchanging!in!their!memorial!make!up!and!at!the!same!time,!completely!protean!

and!understood!anew!in!each!encounter.!Or!in!Nora’s!words:!“if!we!accept!that!the!

most!fundamental!purpose!of!lieux$de$mémoire$is!to!stop!time,!to!block!the!worst!of!

forgetting,!to!establish!a!state!of!things,!to!immortalize!death,!to!materialize!the!

immaterial...!it!is!also!clear!that!lieux$de$mémoire$only!exist!because!of!their!capacity!

for!metamorphosis,!an!endless!recycling!of!their!meaning!and!unpredictable!

proliferation!of!their!ramifications.”3!

! !By!their!very!nature,!commemorative!works!of!concert!music,!as!discussed!

in!chapter!2,!offer!unique!opportunities!for!scholars!engaged!in!the!study!of!postwar!

memory.!Unlike!a!novel,!for!instance,!musical!performances!require!the!

coordination!of!dozens!of!individual!musical!actors!and!their!institutions,!the!critical!

engagement!of!the!press,!and!of!course!the!audiences!themselves.!They!offer!

opportunities,!in!this!sense,!to!observe!reception!with!both!a!breadth!and!

granularity!not!often!available!with!other!forms!of!memoryJart.!!!

The!full!reception!history!of!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$would!of!course!include!

not!only!its!complete!geographic!itinerary!but,!in!Nora’s!phrase,!its!endless!“capacity!

for!metamorphosis.”!Joy!Calico!has!in!this!vein!recently!written!the!first!study!of!

Survivor!performances!across!Europe!in!the!early!postwar!period,!a!revelatory!

account!that!shows!how!the!work’s!meanings!were!interpreted!anew!in!each!

country,!and!how!the!work’s!own!memorial!agenda!was!refracted!through!the!

postwar!narratives!at!play!in!each!location.!Calico!is!particularly!interested!in!what!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3!Nora,!"Between!Memory!and!History,"!19.!

! 166!

she!calls!Schoenberg’s!own!“symbolic!remigration”!through!the!presence!of!

Survivor,!and!the!way!its!European!performances!offered!an!early!test!case!of!each!

country’s!responses!to!a!whole!litany!of!freighted!issues,!from!lingering!antiJ

Semitism,!to!postwar!guilt,!to!aesthetic!and!political!questions!connected!to!

modernism.!But!Survivor’s!story!is!incomplete!without!a!fuller!study!of!the!work’s!

reception!in!America,!not!only!as!a!kind!of!prehistory!to!its!European!career,!but!

also!as!a!way!of!drawing!out!the!nature!of!the!brief!transatlantic!moment!of!its!birth,!

a!time!when!the!meanings!of!American!and!European!cultural!memory!were!still!

fluid!and,!at!least!through!Survivor,!interconnected.!As!we!will!see,!the!PolishJFrench!

conductor!René!Leibowitz!proved!to!be!the!key!mediating!figure,!assisting!

Schoenberg!in!California!with!the!preparation!of!the!score,!declaring!it!a!

masterpiece!in!what!was!its!first!mention!in!the!American!press,!and!then!

conducting!the!European!premiere!in!Paris.!!!

This!current!chapter!will!focus!on!the!work’s!earliest!American!contexts,!

returning!us!to!the!scene!of!two!key!first!performances:!Survivor’s!improbable!

world!premiere!in!university!gymnasium!in!Albuquerque,!New!Mexico!in!1948,!

conducted!by!Kurt!Frederick,!and!its!first!New!York!performance!in!1950,!

conducted!by!Dimitri!Mitropoulos!leading!the!New!York!Philharmonic.!!

! Yet!the!story!of!this!work’s!early!American!career!has!also!been!marked!by!

the!mystery!of!its!absence!in!the!place!where,!as!mentioned,!it!should!have!naturally$

been!premiered:!with!Serge!Koussevitzky!and!the!Boston!Symphony!Orchestra,!

given!the!fact!that!Koussevitzky!premiered!almost!all!of!the!other!works!

commissioned!by!his!foundation!during!this!period.!I!will!examine!in!detail!this!

! 167!

strange!turn!of!events,!and!will!suggest!that!Survivor’s!silence!in!Boston—and,!

possibly,!the!decision!to!exclude!it!from!a!national!New!York!Philharmonic!radio!

broadcast!in!1950—signals!the!extent!to!which!Schoenberg!was!ahead!of!the!curve!

of!postwar!memory!in!the!United!States.!As!I!have!stated,!the!score!was!pioneering!

both!in!its!unflinching!address!of!the!Holocaust!as!such,!and!in!its!unmistakable!

particularization!of!the!genocide!of!the!Jews.!Perhaps!not!surprisingly,!it!was!

precisely!these!nonconformist!aspects!of!Survivor!that!defined!the!memorial’s!early!

career,!both!in!the!ways!it!was!presented!(or!not)!by!conductors!and!their!

orchestras,!and!in!the!responses!it!drew!from!audiences!and!the!musical!press.!!

These!background!circumstances!inform!our!story!of!how!a!score!by!one!of!

the!century’s!most!important!composers!came!to!be!premiered!under!

circumstances!that!almost!strain!belief!today,!as!they!did!at!the!time.!That!this!score!

itself!was!written!by!an!émigré!composer,!and!owed!its!world!premiere!to!the!

heroic!efforts!of!another!émigré!musician,!also!points!to!an!underJexamined!

dimension!of!the!musical!migration!to!America:!the!contributions!of!émigrés!to!the!

broader!culture!of!postwar!memory!in!their!adoptive!country.!!

At!the!same!time,!the!relegation!of!Survivor’s!world!premiere!to!the!

periphery!of!American!musical!life!offers!an!interesting!test!case!for!the!debate!

about!the!chronologies!of!Holocaust!awareness!in!America,!suggesting!caution!is!in!

order!that!we!must!avoid!replacing!one!myth!(that!of!a!prolonged!latency!period)!

with!its!revisionist!mirror!image!(that!Holocaust!memory!came!early!to!the!United!

! 168!

States!and!was!uniformly!widespread).4!As!we!will!see,!many!factors!were!at!play!in!

shaping!how,!where,!and!to!what!effect,!this!early!memorial!came!into!the!world.!!

More!broadly,!that!Schoenberg’s!12Jtone!music!in!Survivor$spoke!as!clearly!

as!it!did!to!its!first!audiences!underscores!the!point!I!have!made!about!the!newfound!

legibility!of!dissonance!in!this!context.!History!had!caught!up!with!the!violence,!

anxiety,!and!fear!that!had!for!decades!been!a!part!of!Schoenberg’s!idiom.!In!Survivor,$

his!modernist!innovations!were!unambiguously!attached!to!a!concrete!subject!

matter!that!allowed!them!to!resonate!with!firstJtime!listeners!with!a!new!clarity.!

And!this!was!true!for!not!just!newcomers!to!his!music.!The!composer!Hanns!Eisler,!

for!instance,!had!studied!closely!with!Schoenberg!and!could!hardly!have!been!better!

acquainted!with!his!approach.!Nonetheless,!he!now!found!a!powerful!new!

explanatory!framework!for!his!former!teacher's!music,!one!that!could!even!be!

extended!backward!to!confer!meaning!retroactively!on!the!earlier!works.!As!Eisler!

wrote!in!1948:!

One!could!almost!say!that!the!characteristic!feature!of!Schoenberg's!music!is!

fear.!Long!before!airplanes!were!invented!he!anticipated!the!horrors!of!

bombing!attacks!on!people!in!air!raid!shelters.!He!is!the!lyric!composer!of!the!

gas!chambers!of!Auschwitz,!of!Dachau!concentration!camp,!of!the!complete!

despair!of!the!man!in!the!street!under!the!heel!of!fascism.!That!is!his!

humanity.!It!is!proof!of!Schoenberg's!genius!and!instinct!that!he!gave!

expression!to!all!these!emotions!at!a!time!when!the!world!seemed!safe!for!

the!ordinary!man!in!the!street.!Whatever!one!may!say!against!him,!he!never!

lied.5!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4!See!Chapter!2,!where!this!debate!is!reviewed.!The!case!of!Survivor$would!seem!to!underscore!the!call!for!a!middle!ground,!or!as!Samuel!Moyn!observed!in!a!recent!review!

article:!“memory,!and!especially!the!collective!memory!of!societies,!is!not!like!a!light!switch:!

on!or!off.”!Silence$and$the$Shoah,$7!August!2013,!Times$Literary$Supplement.$5!“Basic!Social!Questions!in!Music,”!a!lecture!Eisler!delivered!in!May!1948!at!the!Second!

International!Congress!of!Composers!and!Music!Critics!in!Prague.!Reprinted!in!Hanns!Eisler,!

A$Rebel$in$Music:$Selected$Writings,!ed.!Manfred!Grabs,!trans.!Marjorie!Meyer!(New!York:!International!Publishers,!1978),!161.!

! 169!

! !

!

In!this!sense,!just!as!Schoenberg!created!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw,$it!may!also!be!said!

that!Survivor!helped!create!our!modern!image!of!Schoenberg.!!

Following!the!present!introductory!section,!this!chapter!begins!with!a!sketch!

of!the!life!and!career!of!Kurt!Frederick!himself,!a!VienneseJJewish!émigré!musician!

who,!by!a!quirk!of!circumstance,!ended!up!not!in!New!York!or!Los!Angeles!but!in!the!

American!Southwest!of!the!1940s.!Drawing!from!archival!materials!and!other!new!

sources,!I!present!a!fuller!portrait!of!Frederick’s!life!and!career!than!has!been!

previously!published!to!date,!and!a!fuller!account!of!the!Albuquerque!premiere.6!!

The!second!section!of!this!chapter!returns!to!the!mystery!of!Koussevitzky’s!

response!to!Survivor!and!offers!new!interpretations.!A!third!section!focuses!on!what!

Schoenberg!called!“a!miracle”!in!Albuquerque,!the!night!of!the!premiere!itself.!And!a!

fourth!section,!finally,!will!examine!the!work’s!first!New!York!performance,!with!

attention!paid!to!its!critical!reception,!an!incident!that!broke!out!around!liberties!in!

staging!taken!by!Mitropoulos,!and!a!stillJmore!significant!protest!that!ensued!after!

the!New!York!Philharmonic!declined!to!include!Survivor$in!its!national!radio!

broadcast.!As!this!chapter!seeks!to!demonstrate,!premieres!such!as!these,!while!

contingent!on!so!many!extraJmusical!factors,!nonetheless!set!in!motion!the!patterns!

of!interpretation!and!reception!that!can!define!a!work’s!trajectory!for!years!into!its!

future.!! !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!6!Frederick!is!not!mentioned!in!most!music!history!texts,!and!typically!receives!no!more!

than!a!few!sentences!in!accounts!referencing!the!premiere!of!Survivor.!This!chapter!draws!from!unpublished!documents!and!correspondence!present!in!the!Kurt!Frederick!Collection!

at!Harvard!University’s!Houghton!Library.!I!am!also!very!grateful!to!the!family!of!Kurt!

Frederick!for!making!additional!biographic!materials!available!for!the!first!time.!!!!

! 170!

!

!“A!real!Viennese!musician!of!the!best!tradition”!!

!

!

!!

Fig.!2:!Kurt!Frederick!in!a!photo!from!1951.!Used!by!permission.!

!

! !

During!the!period!of!Schoenberg’s!youth,!the!Stadttempel!at!

Seitenstettengasse!4!of!Vienna’s!Innere!Stadt!was!a!central!point!of!reference!the!

city’s!acculturated!Jews,!those!interested!in!a!confessionalization!of!Judaism!and!a!

harmonization!of!the!values!of!Bildung,!Deutschtum!and!Judentum.!Emblematic!of!

these!aspirations!was!the!attempt!by!the!Stadttempel's!founders!to!celebrate!the!

consecration!of!their!new!building!by!commissioning!an!oratorio!from!Beethoven!in!

1825.!(The!composer!declined.)!Also!emblematic!was!its!famous!“Vienna!Rite,”!the!

synagogue's!own!modernized!service!designed!by!the!cantor!Salomon!Sulzer!

(together!with!Isaak!Noah!Mannheimer),!with!sermons!in!German,!a!somewhat!

! 171!

shortened!liturgy,!and!an!emphasis!on!what!they!viewed!as!“greater!decorum!and!

aesthetically!pleasing!music.”7!!

$ Sulzer!was!a!fascinating!figure,!a!singer!who!also!performed!classical!art!

music!and!achieved!great!renown!as!a!tenor,!drawing!figures!such!as!Liszt!and!

Schumann!to!the!Stadttempel!to!hear!him!sing.!After!his!death!in!1890,!the!Vienna!

Rite!was!continued!at!the!Stadttempel,!the!tradition!carried!forward!by!a!series!of!

musical!figures!including!a!conductor!named!Kurt!Fuchsgelb,!a!VienneseJJewish!

musician!(born!in!1907),!whose!father!had!been!the!administrative!director!of!the!

Jewish!Kultusgemeinde.8!As!music!director!of!the!Stadttempel,$Fuchsgelb!presided!

over!the!synagogue's!musical!affairs!into!the!1930s.!While!also!performing!in!the!

orchestra!of!the!Vienna!State!Opera!and!participating!in!many!aspects!of!Vienna’s!

musical!life,!Fuchsgelb!was!custodian!of!the!Vienna!Rite!all!the!way!until!

Kristallnacht,!after!which!escaped!the!city!and!fled!to!the!United!States.!$

! Upon!arriving!in!the!U.S.,!Fuchsgelb!changed!his!named!to!Kurt!Frederick!and!

continued!his!musical!career!mostly!in!the!sphere!of!secular!concert!music,!

performing!with!New!YorkJbased!ensembles!and!serving!a!brief!tenure!(as!violist)!

in!the!famed!Kolisch!Quartet,!before!ultimately!settling!in!the!American!southwest.9!

In!the!1950s!he!earned!a!doctorate!in!music!theory!at!the!Eastman!School!of!Music!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!7!See!Tina!Frühauf,!Salomon$Sulzer:$Reformer,$Kantor,$Kultfigur!(Berlin:!Hentrich!&!Hentrich,!2012),!15.!

8!This!and!other!biographic!details!on!the!life!of!Kurt!Frederick!(né!Fuchsgelb),!unless!

otherwise!noted,!come!from!the!Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!held!at!Houghton!Library,!

Harvard!University.!!

9!Frederick!and!his!wife!were!en!route!to!settling!on!the!West!Coast!when!fear!of!a!Japanese!

attack,!as!well!as!complications!following!childbirth,!led!the!couple!to!settle!temporarily!in!

Albuquerque,!where!they!eventually!laid!down!roots.!“Reticent!Historian!Tells!of!Building!

City’s!Music,”!Albuquerque$Journal,!7!June!1987.!

! 172!

and!was!eventually!appointed!Professor!of!Music!at!the!University!of!New!Mexico!in!

Albuquerque.!!

! Schoenberg!later!praised!Frederick!as!“a!real!Viennese!musician!of!the!best!

tradition,!but!simultaneously!with!modernistic!spirit,”!qualities!which!persuaded!

the!composer!to!take!this!unprecedented!leap!of!faith.10!Schoenberg!was!correct!

about!Frederick’s!background,!and!Frederick!was!well!acquainted!with!

Schoenberg's!music!from!Vienna,!as!he!was!with!that!of!Alban!Berg!and!Anton!

Webern.!Not!only!was!the!Kolisch!Quartet!one!of!the!foremost!exponents!of!the!

music!of!the!Second!Viennese!School,!but!Frederick!while!in!Austria!had!in!fact!

participated!in!the!performances!of!the!International!Society!of!Contemporary!

Music,!through!which!he!had!come!into!direct!contact!with!Webern.!In!the!late!

1920s,!as!a!student!of!Franz!Schmidt!at!Vienna’s!Imperial!Academy!of!Music!and!the!

Performing!Arts,!Frederick!had!also!participated!in!a!rare!student!performance!of!

Pierrot$lunaire.11!Interestingly,!historical!accounts!often!give!the!impression!of!a!

wide!gulf!between!Jewish!musicians!active!in!liturgical!settings,!and!those!

participating!in!the!broader!concert!life!of!the!city.!Frederick’s!European!career!

suggests!these!boundaries!were!more!fluid.!!

Once!settled!in!Albuquerque,!Frederick!maintained!his!interest!in!

championing!contemporary!music,!and!the!Viennese!modern!masters!in!particular.!

He!first!initiated!correspondence!with!Schoenberg!in!1947,!trying!unsuccessfully!to!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!10!Schoenberg!to!Frederick,!12!November!1948.!Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!Houghton!

Library.!!

11!These!details!of!Frederick’s!European!career!are!taken!from!an!extended!interview!with!

Frederick,!conducted!on!9!November!1979!and!broadcast!the!following!day!on!the!

Albuquerque!radio!station!KHFM.!!

! 173!

obtain!music!for!a!local!performance!of!Pierrot.12$Frederick!renewed!their!

correspondence!in!March!of!1948,!after!having!read!a!note!in!the!New!York!press!

stating!that!Schoenberg!had!composed!a!new!work!entitled!A$Survivor$from$

Warsaw.13!He!expressed!his!interest!in!seeing!a!score!for!the!new!composition,!and!

if!it!did!not!prove!too!difficult,!Frederick!wondered,!might!he!perform!it!with!his!

own!ensemble?14!Schoenberg's!assistant,!Richard!Hoffmann,!replied!that!he!could!

indeed!send!a!copy!of!the!score!but!that!neither!the!parts!nor!the!score!had!yet!been!

published.!Instead!of!a!performance!fee,!Hoffmann!proposed,!perhaps!Frederick!

could!produce!the!parts!himself,!and!send!them!to!Schoenberg!after!the!

performance.15!$

“You!may!imagine!my!astonishment,”!Frederick!later!recalled,!“to!learn!in!

this!way”—because!no!parts!existed—“that!our!performance!should!be!a!

premiere.”16!He!wrote!to!Hoffmann!to!confirm!this!fact,!adding!“this!would!be,!of!

course,!a!tremendous!boost!for!our!young!orchestra,!and!would!make!my!work!in!

behalf!of!contemporary!good!music!much!easier.!I!also!have!no!doubt!that!in!this!

case!I!could!meet!our!board's!opposition!against!performances!of!modern!music!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!12!See!Schoenberg!to!Kurt!Frederick,!14!June!1947.!Kurt!Frederick!Collection.!!

13!Not!long!after!the!premiere,!Frederick!received!a!request!for!details!of!the!event!from!the!

New!YorkJbased!music!writer!H.W.!Heinsheimer.!A!heavily!edited!draft!of!his!reply!can!be!

found!in!Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!and!it!is!in!this!draft!that!he!states!the!source!for!his!

initial!information!about!the!work’s!title!as!the!New$York$Times.!The!newspaper’s!own!database,!however,!reflects!no!such!early!notice.!It’s!possible!that!Frederick!had!in!fact!seen!

it!mentioned!in!the!Partisan$Review,$in!an!article!by!Leibowitz!referenced!later!in!this!chapter.!

14!Kurt!Frederick!to!Arnold!Schoenberg,!12!March!1948,!Library!of!Congress.!!

15!Richard!Hoffman!to!Kurt!Frederick,!23!March!1948,!Kurt!Frederick!Collection.!

16!Frederick!to!Heinsheimer,!undated!draft.!Kurt!Frederick!Collection.!!!

! 174!

easily.”)17!By!late!summer,!Frederick!and!his!forces!had!begun!their!rehearsals.!We!

will!return!to!them!shortly.!!

!

!

Memory(Unsung:(Serge(Koussevitzky(and(Survivor!!

! !! !

“It!is!easy!to!foresee,”!wrote!Aaron!Copland!in!1944,!“that!the!story!of!Serge!

Koussevitzky!and!the!American!composer!will!some!day!take!on!the!character!of!a!

legend.”18!And!so!it!has.!During!his!25Jyear!tenure!with!the!Boston!Symphony!

Orchestra,!Koussevitzky!leveraged!his!considerable!prestige!to!champion!the!works!

of!living!composers!in!unprecedented!numbers.!The!conductor,!born!in!1874!in!

VyshnyJVolochyok,!some!190!miles!northwest!of!Moscow,!railed!against!the!

conservatism!already!well!established!in!classical!concert!canons,!and!advocated!for!

the!importance!of!concert!music!as!a!generative!art!form,!not!simply!a!culture!of!reJ

creation.!(Or!as!distilled!in!one!of!his!most!famous!remarks:!“Dee!next!Beethoven!

vill!from!Colorado!come!”19)!!He!took!his!case!to!the!popular!press,20!he!presented!

his!viewpoints!forcefully!through!the!programming!of!the!Boston!Symphony!

Orchestra,!and!he!enacted!his!beliefs!through!the!commissions!he!made!with!the!

Koussevitzky!Music!Foundation.!!

! As!previously!mentioned,!almost!all!of!those!commissions!ended!up!as!

premieres!with!the!Boston!Symphony,!but!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$did!not!receive!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!17!Kurt!Frederick!to!Richard!Hoffman,!26!March!1948,!Library!of!Congress.!

18!Aaron!Copland,!"Serge!Koussevitzky!and!the!American!Composer,"!The$Musical$Quarterly!30,!no.!3!(1944):!255.!

19!The!remark!has!been!frequently!quoted.!See,!for!instance,!Howard!Pollack,!Aaron$Copland:$The$Life$and$Work$of$an$Uncommon$Man!(New!York:!Henry!Holt,!1999),!122.!20!See!Serge!Koussevitzky,!“American!Composers,”!Life$Magazine,!24!April!1944.!!

! 175!

this!enviable!introduction.!What!really$transpired!between!Koussevitzky!and!A$

Survivor$from$Warsaw?$Unless!new!evidence!turns!up!we!may!never!know!for!

certain,!but!several!possibilities!may!be!explored.!The!first!is!that!Koussevitzky!did!

not!actually!pass!over!the!work!at!all,!but!had!simply!not!had!the!opportunity!to!

program!it!before!Schoenberg!preempted!him.!The!story!in!the!New$York$Times!

mentions!that!word!of!the!Albuquerque!premiere!was!“a!surprise!even!to!Serge!

Koussevitzky.”!For!his!part!Schoenberg!had!been!embittered!at!the!delay!in!issuing!

payment,21!and!even!anticipatorily!defensive!about!the!work's!brevity.!(He!wrote!to!

Koussevitzky:!“That!the!work!is!not!extremely!long!should!not!worry!you:!would!I!

write!like!my!contemporaries,!repeating!every!little!bit!of!an!idea!four!to!eight!times!

–!the!piece!might!have!become!25!minutes!longer,!without!a!grater![sic.]!profusion!

of!ideas.”22)!Perhaps!most!significantly!of!all,!Schoenberg!held!Koussevitzky’s!own!

musicianship!in!particularly!low!regard.!Never!one!to!privilege!discretion!or!tact!in!

his!correspondence,!Schoenberg!had!written!about!Koussevitzky!in!a!widely!

circulated!group!letter!to!friends!and!colleagues!on!the!occasion!of!his!own!60th!

birthday,!stating,!“In!my!firm!opinion![Koussevitzky]!is!so!uneducated!that!he!

cannot!even!read!a!score.”23

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!21!See!Arnold!Schoenberg!to!Serge!Koussevitzky,!1!January!1948,!Library!of!Congress.!$22!Schoenberg!to!Koussevitzky,!1!January!1948.!Library!of!Congress.!!

23!See!“Circular!to!My!Friends!on!My!Sixtieth!Birthday,”!as!reprinted!in!Schoenberg,!Style$and$Idea,!25J29.!That!Koussevitzky!was!also!a!known!champion!of!the!works!of!Schoenberg’s!rival,!Stravinsky,!probably!only!complicated!their!relationship.!Schoenberg’s!

observation!about!Koussevitzky’s!scoreJreading!ability!was!clearly!exaggerated!but!not!

completely!unfounded.!It!is!known!that!the!conductor!relied!on!repetitive!runJthroughs!

with!BSO!pianists!(among!them!Lukas!Foss)!in!order!to!absorb!challenging!contemporary!

scores.!!

! 176!

When!no!news!of!Koussevitzky's!intentions!was!immediately!forthcoming,!

Schoenberg!may!well!have!simply!chosen!to!take!matters!into!his!own!hands,!

despite!the!risks!entailed.!For!his!part,!Koussevitzky!was!not!indifferent!to!the!

outcome!of!the!premiere;!his!foundation!initiated!direct!contact!with!Frederick!five!

days!before!the!first!performance,!requesting!that!any!reviews!be!passed!along!to!its!

offices!directly.24!

All!of!this!said,!even!if!this!hypothesis!is!correct,!that!Schoenberg!essentially!

preJempted!Koussevitzky’s!decision!by!assigning!the!premiere!elsewhere,!there!is!

no!mistaking!the!Russian!maestro’s!lack!of!initiation!in!moving!toward!a!first!

performance.!Indeed,!taking!a!step!back,!we!might!well!wonder!how!Koussevitzky!

would!have!privately!responded!in!1947!to!Schoenberg's!climactic!treatment!of!the!

Shema!in!Survivor,!and!to!his!unsparing!portrait!of!a!scene!of!Jewish!extermination,!

not!to!mention!the!work's!clear!antiJassimilationist!message.!Like!Schoenberg,!

Koussevitzky!was!of!Jewish!descent.!Both!men!had!converted!along!the!paths!of!

their!rising!careers.!Yet!while!Schoenberg's!American!chapter!had!been!marked!by!a!

pained!reckoning!with!his!identity,!a!reJembrace!of!aspects!of!Judaism,!and!a!tireless!

devotion!to!wartime!Jewish!causes,!Koussevitzky!largely!avoided!any!sectarian!

association.!Or!to!summarize!the!contrast!in!a!single!pair!of!telling!details,!during!a!

period!when!Schoenberg!was!drafting!speeches!calling!for!a!militant!vision!of!world!

Jewish!unity,!Koussevitzky!was!encouraging!his!own!protégé,!Leonard!Bernstein,!to!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!24!Margaret!Grant!to!Kurt!Frederick,!30!October!1948,!Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!Houghton!

Library,!Harvard!University.!!!

! 177!

change!his!name!to!something!less!problematic:!Leonard!S.!Burns.25!Perhaps!

Koussevitzky's!apparent!reluctance!to!perform!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!with!the!

august!Boston!Symphony!Orchestra!is!less!of!an!abiding!mystery!than!it!first!seems.!

That!said,!we!should!remember!that!many!of!the!composers!most!closely!

associated!with!Koussevitzky!were!in!fact!Jewish!(including!Aaron!Copland,!George!

Gershwin,!and!yes,!Bernstein,!whom!he!chose!as!his!own!successor!though!the!BSO!

board!had!other!ideas)!and!he!also!championed!the!work!of!the!RussianJJewish!

composer!Joseph!Achron!as!well!as!the!specifically!“Hebraic”Jthemed!music!of!

Ernest!Bloch.26!Indeed,!the!most!likely!possibility!is!that!it!was!not!(only)!the!overtly!

Jewish!content!as!such!in!Survivor$that!gave!Koussevitzky!pause!as!much!as!its!

approach!to!memorialization.!As!explored!in!the!previous!chapter,!this!is!a!work!

that!militates!against!consolation!and!closure.!Its!reach!“beyond!the!aesthetic”!to!

acknowledge!barbarism!in!music!may!have!been!precisely!what!made!it!an!

appropriate!postJHolocaust!work!in!Adorno’s!eyes,!but!it!is!likely!that!these!very!

qualities!made!it!unplayable!for!Koussevitzky,!who!held!fast!to!an!older!belief!in!

music’s!ennobling!role,!its!power!as!an!agent!of!spiritual!and!moral!uplift.!!!!

Those!beliefs!come!through!vividly!in!some!of!the!speeches!Koussevitzky!

delivered!when!establishing!the!Berkshire!Music!Center!(the!Boston!Symphony’s!

school!for!advanced!training!at!Tanglewood).!In!articulating!a!vision!for!the!school!

in!1939,!the!conductor!spoke!of!“the!radiation!of!the!beams!of!high!culture!over!a!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!25!See!Allen!Shawn,!Leonard$Bernstein:$An$American$Musician!(New!Haven:!Yale!University!Press,!2014),!56.!

26!See!the!chapter!“Judaism!in!American!Music”!in!Hugo!Leichtentritt,!Serge$Koussevitzky,$the$Boston$Symphony$Orchestra$and$the$New$American$Music!(Cambridge:!Harvard!University!Press,!1946),!77J87.!

! 178!

nation!and!the!whole!world.”!When!the!BSO!trustees!tried!to!close!the!school!during!

World!War!Two,!he!accused!them!of!“an!act!of!vandalism”!and!chose!to!fund!the!

school!for!two!summers!singlehandedly,!because!the!artistic!values!it!represented!

had!never!been!more!desperately!needed.!The!Berkshire!Music!Center!did!

eventually!go!dormant!during!the!later!years!of!the!war,!but!when!it!reJopened!in!

1946,!Koussevitzky!addressed!the!new!class!of!students!in!a!speech!that!conveys!his!

highly!idealistic!vision!of!music’s!reconstructive!role!in!the!wake!of!catastrophe:!!

[I]n!the!light!of!music,!the!soul!beholds!the!good!and!the!beautiful;!the!heart!

awakens!to!faith!in!man!and!in!his!better!future.!If!you!deprive!men!of!

music—just!as!they!were!deprived!of!honor,!dignity,!human!rights,!

conscience,!faith,!and!freedom—you!will!witness!the!decline!of!the!world!to!a!

state!of!brutality!and!barbarism.!Music!alone!can!still!tame!the!beast!in!

man—it!is!our!comfort!and!hope.27!

!

!

Needless!to!say,!neither!“comfort”!nor!“the!good!and!the!beautiful”!were!to!be!found!

in!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw.!It!would!in!fact!be!hard!to!envision!a!postwar!musical!

work!more!distinctly!at!odds!with!Koussevitzky’s!vision.$!

Before!leaving!this!matter,!it!is!worth!briefly!putting!Koussevitzky’s!

hesitancy!into!context.!While,!as!Diner!has!shown,!commemorative!activities!did!

take!place!during!the!early!postwar!years!in!many!quarters!of!the!American!Jewish!

community,!memory!clearly!moved!at!different!speeds!across!different!sectors!of!

American!society.!Moreover,!commemorating!the!victims!in!respectful!ceremonies!

also!meant!something!different!than!engaging!with!the!details!of!the!extermination!

camps.!Saul!Friedlander!has,!for!instance,!singled!out!the!reluctance!of!even!

renowned!Jewish!historians!of!the!1940s!and!1950s!(Felix!Gilbert,!Lewis!Namier,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!27!This!speech!and!Koussevitzky’s!other!quotes!appear!in!Peggy!Daniel,!Tanglewood:$A$Group$Memoir!(New!York:!Amadeus!Press,!2008).!

! 179!

and!Hans!Rosenberg)!to!address!the!genocide!as!such!in!their!work,!and!further!

points!to!the!instance!of!Franz!Neumann!at!Columbia!University!attempting!“to!

dissuade!Raul!Hilberg!from!writing!his!dissertation!on!the!extermination!of!the!Jews!

of!Europe.”!For!these!scholars!during!the!very!era!under!discussion,!Friedlander!

summarizes:!“‘Auschwitz!as!such—not!other!facets!of!Nazism—seemed!out!of!

bounds.”28!In!the!end,!it!took!until!1969!for!the!Boston!Symphony!Orchestra!to!

perform!Survivor,!under!the!baton!of!its!thenJmusic!director,!the!VienneseJJewish!

conductor!Erich!Leinsdorf,!who!had!settled!in!the!United!States!in!the!1930s!and!

made!his!American!reputation!at!the!Metropolitan!Opera!conducting,!naturally,!the!

works!of!Wagner!and!other!German!composers.!!

!

Mr.(Frederick's('Miracle'(

The!story!in!the!New$York$Times$ran!under!the!headline!“The!World!of!Music:!

Schoenberg!in!Albuquerque”!with!the!display!type!reading:!“Composer!Lets!

Orchestra!There!Have!Premiere!of!'A!Survivor!From!Warsaw.'“29!The!wording!was!

surely!not!incidental—even!the!phrase!“Schoenberg!in!Albuquerque”!(used!for!

headlines!by!both!the!New$York$Times$and!Newsweek)!reads!like!the!setJup!for!a!

joke.!If!this!composer’s!art!form!was!associated!with!a!native!habitat,!it!was!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!28!Friedlander!emphasizes!that!early!postwar!activities!of!Salo!Baron,!Adorno,!and!Hannah!

Arendt!must!be!regarded!as!“exceptions!within!the!wider$Jewish!intellectual!landscape,!as!were!the!specialists!at!YIVO!in!New!York,!those!working!in!Israel,!or!selfJtaught!historians!

such!as!Leon!Poliakov!in!France!and!Gerald!Reitlinger!in!England.”!See!Friedlander’s!essay!

“Trauma,!Memory,!and!Transference”!in!Hartman,!Holocaust$Remembrance,!258J59.!29!Ross!Parmenter,!“The!World!of!Music:!Schoenberg!in!Albuquerque,”!New$York$Times,$31!October!1948.!Newsweek!also!underlined!the!disjunction!between!music!and!place:!“[t]he!Albuquerque!Civic!Symphony!Orchestra,!annual!budget!$15,000,!had!a!world!première!last!

week!that!any!symphony!of!a!budget!of!half!a!million!or!more!might!have!envied.”!See!

“Schönberg!in!Albuquerque,”!Newsweek,!15!November!1948.!

! 180!

undoubtedly!the!refined!Viennese!settings!like!the!Society!for!Private!Musical!

Performances!which!he!had!founded!in!1918,!where!exacting!accounts!of!his!music!

and!other!new!works!could!be!offered!by!the!most!accomplished!professionals!in!an!

environment!viewed!as!shielded!from!the!barbs!of!Viennese!critics!and!the!

bafflement!of!a!philistine!public.!He!was!also!not!a!composer!inclined!to!

relinquishing!control!over!his!premieres,!as!one!senses,!for!instance,!in!this!example!

from!his!correspondence!with!the!singer!Marya!Freund,!to!whom!he!wrote!in!1922:!!

I am anxious to explain to you why I cannot allow any will but mine to prevail in realising the musical thoughts that I have recorded on paper, and why realising them must be done in such deadly earnest, with such inexorable severity, because the composing was done just that way. I should very much like to do some thorough rehearsing with you.30 !

Schoenberg!was!not!healthy!enough!to!attend!the!Albuquerque!premiere!or!

to!oversee!any!of!its!preparations,!but!Kurt!Frederick's!forces!approached!their!task!

with!a!level!of!enthusiasm!and!commitment!that!seemed!at!the!time!unprecedented!

for!a!12Jtone!work!by!Schoenberg.!(“I!played!in!rehearsals!of!modern!music!in!

Vienna!and!New!York,”!Frederick!noted,!“but!I!have!never!seen!as!much!cooperation!

and!seriousness!as!in!this!group!of!our!small!town.”31)!In!the!year!of!1948,!the!

nearby!farming!community!of!Estancia,!New!Mexico,!had!a!population!of!around!

1000!people.!In!the!fall!of!that!year,!a!group!of!14!amateur!singers!from!the!Estancia!

Choral!Association,!among!them!cowboys!and!ranchers,!began!joining!rehearsals!to!

prepare!for!the!premiere.32!The!singers!traveled!a!mountainous!110!miles!roundJ

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!30!Schoenberg, Letters, 74.!31!Frederick!to!Heinsheimer,!undated!draft.!Kurt!Frederick!Collection.!!!

32!For!two!key!descriptions!of!the!preparations!for!the!premiere,!and!the!event!itself,!see!

Kurt!Frederick!to!Arnold!Schoenberg,!8!November!1948,!Library!of!Congress,!and!Isabel!

! 181!

trip!for!rehearsals,!joining!the!amateur!forces!of!the!Albuquerque!Civic!Symphony!

Orchestra,!consisting!of!“lawyers,!doctors,!secretaries,!high!school!and!university!

students![and]!railroad!engineers.”33!Frederick’s!chorus!was!prepared!by!a!graduate!

of!Westminster!Choir!College!named!Edgle!Firlie.!The!allJimportant!role!of!the!

narrator!was!taken!up!by!Sherman!Smith,!best!known!locally!as!the!head!of!the!

university's!chemistry!department,!in!which!Frederick!had!in!fact!studied!during!an!

earlier!interlude!in!his!professional!life!when!he!had!contemplated!leaving!music.34!

Frederick!himself!prepared!the!orchestral!parts,!working!from!the!unpublished!

score.!!

The!work's!performance!was!initially!planned!for!the!first!program!of!the!

orchestra's!season!in!early!October,!but!the!difficulty!of!the!music!forced!Frederick!

to!postpone!it!until!November!4.!Throughout!that!period,!the!orchestra!needed!so!

many!instrumental!rehearsals!that!the!conductor!lost!count.!The!singers,!as!

Frederick!later!recalled,!were!“struggling!with!Hebrew!text!and!the!difficult!

intonation.”35!

The!premiere!ultimately!took!place!on!November!4,!1948!at!the!Carlisle!

Gymnasium!of!the!University!of!New!Mexico!campus.!Indeed,!despite!these!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grear!to!Arnold!Schoenberg,!8!November!1948,!Library!of!Congress.!See!also!Frederick’s!

draft!to!H.W.!Heinsheimer.!Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!Houghton!Library,!Harvard!University.!

Descriptions!of!the!premiere!that!follow!in!this!chapter!are,!unless!otherwise!noted,!based!

on!information!in!these!documents.!

33!Kurt!Frederick!to!Arnold!Schoenberg,!8!November!1948.!The!press!fastened!onto!the!

sheer!improbability!of!the!entire!affair,!with!Newsweek!further!describing!the!orchestra!as!containing!“a!doctor,!a!photographer,!a!tailor,!a!florist,!five!faculty!members!of!the!

University!of!New!Mexico,!and!30Jodd!students.”!See!“Schönberg!in!Albuquerque,”!

Newsweek,!15!November,!1948.!!34!Frederick!briefly!references!this!crisis!of!faith!in!his!musical!career!as!part!of!the!1979!

KHFM!interview!(see!footnote!11).!

35!Draft!of!letter!to!H.W.!Heinsheimer,!Kurt!Frederick!Collection!!

! 182!

improbable—almost!unbelievable—background!circumstances,!the!event!was!a!

resounding!success.!One!press!report!estimated!the!audience!number!at!1,500!and!

other!estimates!were!higher.!Just!after!midnight!on!the!night!of!the!premiere,!

Frederick!fired!off!a!telegram!to!Schoenberg,!stating!“SURVIVOR!FROM!WARSAW!

MADE!TREMENDOUS!IMPRESSION!UPON!PERFORMERS!AND!AUDIENCE.”36!He!

elaborated!in!a!letter!dated!that!same!night:!“The!audience!of!over!1600!was!shaken!

by!the!composition!and!applauded!until!we!repeated!the!performance.!This!

happened!in!a!town,!which!a!few!years!ago!was!considered!to!be!a!small!‘Rail!road!

Town.’”37!According!to!a!report!in!Time!magazine,!“applause!thundered!in!the!

auditorium.”38!Newsweek!stated,!“[i]f!there!was!ever!any!worry!about!how!the!

Schönberg!dissonance!would!go!in!Albuquerque!it!was!dispelled!as!‘A!Survivor’!

progressed.!The!production!was!so!impressive!that!the!audience!demanded,!and!got,!

an!immediate!repeat!performance.”39!The$Albuquerque$Journal!reviewer!wrote!that!

“the!first!performance!left!the!audience!a!little!breathless!and!bewildered…![but!the]!

second!playing!seemed!much!clearer!than!the!first,!and!the!thundering!applause!

which!followed!was!altogether!sincere,!and!was!meant!as!much!for!the!composer!as!

for!the!conductor,!musicians,!narrator,!and!chorus.”40!Schoenberg!was!thrilled!by!

the!reports!he!received,!writing!back!to!Frederick:!“Your!enthusiasm!and!capacity!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!36!Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!Houghton!Library,!Harvard!University.!

37!Kurt!Frederick!to!Schoenberg,!4!November!1948,!Library!of!Congress.!!

38!“Destiny!&!Digestion,”!Time,!15!November!1948.!!39!“Schönberg!in!Albuquerque,”!Newsweek,!15!November!1948.!40!“Civic!Symphony!Gives!First!Playing!of!Exciting!New!Schoenberg!Work,”!5!November!

1948,!Albuquerque$Journal.$!

! 183!

seems!to!have!produced!a!miracle,!about!which!not!only!Albuquerque!but!probably!

the!whole!of!Amerika!‘Kopfstehen!wird.’”41! !

All!of!this!said,!the!available!press!accounts!are!mostly!reportorial!in!nature,!

and!while!it!is!possible!that!a!recording!of!the!first!performance!was!in!fact!made,42!

nothing!has!yet!been!located.!!We!therefore!have!no!independent!means!of!

evaluating!the!actual!quality!of!the!performance.!Even!Frederick!himself,!in!his!

letter!to!Schoenberg,!stresses!the!remarkable!enthusiasm!of!his!amateur!forces.!We!

might!take!a!step!back!and!wonder!what!the!audience!actually!heard!that!night!from!

this!collection!of!farmers,!cowboys,!secretaries,!railroad!engineers,!high!school!

students,!and!a!chemistry!teacher!performing!in!the!limited!acoustics!of!a!university!

gymnasium.!Frederick!was!ideally!suited!to!his!task,!but!his!musicians!probably!less!

so.!Given!the!difficulty!of!this!music,!so!complex!that!exacting!performances!by!

professional!forces!are!rare!even!today,!and!given!what!we!might!surmise!about!the!

standards!of!amateur!performance!in!the!American!Southwest!of!the!1940s,!we!may!

speculate!that!not!many!subtleties!of!Schoenberg's!musical!score!could!have!been!

delivered!let!alone!absorbed!by!an!audience!at!such!a!performance.!!

The!question!then!arises,!what!precisely!were!the!Albuquerque!listeners!

responding!to!when!they!cheered!the!work!in!a!reaction!that!the!composer!later!

referred!to!as!“a!significant!moment!in!the!history!of!performances”?43!Even!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!41!Schoenberg!to!Frederick,!12!November!1948.!The!letter!is!in!English!with!the!exception!of!

the!one!German!phrase.!It’s!notable!that!Frederick!and!Schoenberg!corresponded!

exclusively!in!English,!despite!their!common!Viennese!roots.!This!is!the!only!letter!in!which!

Schoenberg!allowed!himself!momentary!recourse!to!their!shared!mother!tongue.!!

42!Frederick!left!behind!a!large!archive!of!recordings!of!concerts!through!the!years,!but!not!

all!have!yet!been!identified.!!

43!Schoenberg!to!Isabel!Grear,!13!November!1948,!Kurt!Frederick!Collection.!!

! 184!

Schoenberg!himself!was!aware!of!a!certain!improbability!to!it!all,!writing!that!

“everybody!whom!I!told!about!this!success!…!is!very!astonished!and!thrilled!by!it,!

almost!as!much!as!I!am….[The!choral!sections!were]!a!very!difficult!part!to!study.!Of!

course,!the!task!of!the!orchestra!was!a!very!difficult!one!and!it$is$astonishing$that$

people$who$have$probably$not$yet$played$a$work$of$this$difficulty$could$achieve$such$an$

excellent$performance.”44!!!

The!astonishment!also!came!because!Schoenberg!was!no!doubt!comparing!

the!response!to!Survivor!with!the!icy!reception!more!typically!afforded!his!own!

avantJgarde!works!since!1908.!But!if,!as!is!being!suggested!here!(based!on!an!

approach!introduced!in!chapter!2),!this!work's!reception!had!more!in!common!with!

that!of!early!Holocaust!memorials!than!with!other!abstract!12Jtone!works!of!

Schoenberg's!catalog,!then!it!becomes!easier!to!understand.!Under!Frederick's!

expert!direction,!the!rendering!by!his!forces!was!likely!approximate!enough!to!

capture!work's!atmosphere!of!terror.!But!the!highly!emotional!public!response!was!

more!likely!generated!by!the!work's!shocking!text,!as!delivered!by!the!narrator.!As!it!

turns!out,!the!audience!was!conditioned!to!hear!both!aspects!of!this!piece—its!

music!and!its!text—in!very!particular!ways!thanks!to!how!A$Survivor$From$Warsaw!

was!framed!on!the!program!that!night.!! !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!44!Ibid.!Emphasis!added.!

! 185!

!

!

Fig.!3:!A!page!from!the!program!produced!for!the!Albuquerque!world!premiere!of!A$Survivor$ from$ Warsaw$ on! November! 4,! 1948! in! the! Carlisle! Gymnasium! of! the!University!of!New!Mexico.!Reproduced!by!permission.!!!

! 186!

!

Frederick!was!the!first!conductor!to!face!the!difficult!question!of!how!to!

situate!Schoenberg’s!memorial!work!in!the!context!of!other!music.!As!we!have!seen,!

this!is!a!choice!with!implications!at!once!ethical/philosophical!(regarding!narrative!

framings!around!the!Shoah!and!its!memory);!aesthetic!(a!question!of!what!musical!

surroundings!sets!off!Schoenberg’s!memorial!to!best!effect);!and!

pragmatic/psychological!(how!to!prevent!conservative!audience!members!from!

leaving!before!their!dose!of!“modern!music,”!or!on!a!deeper!level,!how!to!overcome!

internalized!resistance!against!confronting!Survivor’s!deeper!meanings,!however!

they!are!defined,!particularly!in!a!setting!for!which!there!is!a!socially!conditioned!

expectation!of!entertainment).!!

Frederick’s!own!choices!were!telling.!Among!the!archival!documentation!that!

has!survived,!we!unfortunately!have!scant!record!of!the!conductor’s!private!

response!to!this!work,!but!given!his!own!background!as!sketched!above,!it!seems!

likely!that!his!relationship!to!Survivor!was!not!simple.!Most!of!Frederick’s!own!

family!had!managed!to!escape!Vienna,!but!not!all!of!it.!His!mother!had!been!interned!

in!Terezin!and!murdered!at!Auschwitz,!an!event!that!remained!too!painful!for!him!to!

discuss.45!The!draft!of!one!particular!letter!in!the!archive!would!seem!to!bear!out!

that!sense!of!reticence.46!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!45!Stated!by!Frederick’s!daughter,!Elizabeth!Young,!in!personal!communication!with!the!

author.!According!to!Young,!there!were!visa!complications!due!to!his!mother’s!status!as!a!

Czech!national.!Frederick!managed!to!secure!a!visa!for!her,!but,!according!to!Young,!“he!

missed!getting!her!out!by!two!days.”!!!

46!In!the!draft!of!the!letter!to!Heinsheimer,!Frederick!mentions!his!prior!interest!in!

Schoenberg’s!music!before!learning!about!the!existence!of!Survivor.!He!adds:!“For!this!reason—and!also!perhaps!for!some!personal!reasons—I!got!interested!in!this!composition.”!

! 187!

We!will!likely!never!know!to!what!extent!Frederick’s!choices!of!the!

surrounding!works!on!his!November!4!concert!were!colored!by!his!own!private!

dialogue!with!a!stillJrecent!personal!past,!or!stemmed!instead!from!his!broader!

pragmatic!considerations!for!what!his!own!audience!could!handle—considerations!

of!what!we!have!called!the!memory!landscape,!such!as!it!was,!in!Albuquerque!of!

1948.!But!it!is!notable!that!he!chose!to!frame!Survivor$in!a!context!that!seemed!

purposefully!designed!to!soften!its!blow.!(“I!was!afraid,”!Frederick!later!stated,!“the!

[audience]!would!be!shocked!by!the![illegible]!of!Survivor.”47)!The!program!

accordingly!opened!with!a!choice!at!once!topical!yet!conciliatory:!Leopold!

Stokowski’s!warmly!cast!and!sumptuously!orchestrated!arrangement!of!Bach's!

“Come,!Sweet!Death.”!The!Bach!was!introduced!by!a!program!note!penned!by!the!

University!of!New!Mexico!music!professor!Hugh!M.!Miller.!The!note’s!opening!line!

described!Bach’s!notion!of!“the!religious!concept!of!Death!as!a!glorious!reward!for!a!

life!spent!in!the!service!of!God.”!The!same!brief!note!wrote!of!the!music’s!treatment!

of!“[d]eath!in!terms!of!the!ultimate!sublimity!rather!than!as!a!dreaded!hereafter.”!A!

framework!had!been!set.!!

Survivor!followed!the!Bach!directly,!and!we!will!return!shortly!to!examine!the!

explanatory!text,!a!brief!note,!that!appeared!directly!below!the!title!of!Schoenberg’s!

work!on!the!program!page!(see!figure!3).!After!Survivor,!Frederick!placed,$of!all!

things,!another!new!work,!a!Concerto!for!Timpani!accompanied!by!an!ensemble!of!

brass!instruments,!written!by!Jaromir!Weinberger,!a!CzechJJewish!émigré!composer!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The!sentence!also,!however,!contains!many!words!that!Frederick!later!covered!with!“x”s!

making!them!illegible.!Presumably!the!deleted!words!are!an!elaboration!of!his!“personal!

reasons”!for!wanting!to!perform!Survivor.$!!!47!Frederick!to!Heinsheimer,!undated!draft.!Kurt!Frederick!Collection!!!

! 188!

who!had!studied!in!Leipzig!under!Max!Reger.!A!survey!of!correspondence!in!the!

archive!suggests!a!portrait!of!Frederick!as,!quite!obviously,!a!champion!of!modern!

music,!but!at!the!same!time,!also!as!a!highly!pragmatic!musician.!It!is!striking!that!he!

would!stack!a!second!unknown!work!on!top!of!Survivor,!and!one!suspects!it!was!not!

simply!an!idealistic!desire!to!expose!his!listeners!to!still!more!music!by!living!

composers.!Perhaps!the!effect!Frederick!instead!had!in!mind!was!a!further!

contextualizing!of!Schoenberg’s!memorial!work,!presented!here!almost!as!just!one!

exhibit!in!a!twoJpart!survey!of!European!émigré!composition!of!the!previous!

decade.!!

Following!the!intermission,!Frederick!chose!to!close!the!concert!with!

Beethoven’s!exuberant!Eighth!Symphony.!Once!again,!the!language!of!Miller’s!

program!note!seems!to!conspire!with!this!framing!narrative,!which!now!required!an!

affirmative!ending!for!the!concert.!Miller!describes!the!work!as!“one!of!Beethoven’s!

happier!symphonies,”!in!which!the!composer!“revert[s]!to!the!idiom!of!‘the!good!old!

days’….”!Overall,!it!is!impossible!to!miss!the!care!but!also!the!caution!taken!in!the!

preparation!and!curating!of!this!program,!as!if!Frederick!and!Miller!grasped!in!no!

uncertain!terms!that!they!bore!responsibility!for!carrying!into!the!world!a!package!

of!musical!dynamite,!one!whose!unpredictable!and!explosive!impact!they!clearly!

sought!to!contain.!!

Returning!to!Miller’s!condensed!program!description!of!Survivor$itself,$we!

find!that!it!in!fact!anticipates!and!signals!to!a!striking!degree,!the!later!patterns!of!

reception!and!response!to!this!work.!For!that!reason!the!note!merits!a!closer!look!

and!quotation!in!full.!As!Miller!wrote:!!!

! 189!

!

This!is!a!story!depicting!the!great!spirit!of!a!people!in!the!face!of!brutality!and!

horror.!It!was!told!to!Schoenberg!by!several!eye!witnesses.!The!setting,!

written!in!1947,!for!narrator,!male!chorus!in!unison,!and!orchestra,!is!made!

in!the!atonal!technique!originated!by!Schoenberg.!The!extreme!dissonance,!

the!disjunct!linear!style,!the!quasi!Sprechtstimme!style!of!narration,!and!the!

overall!severity!of!the!music!are!peculiarly!fitted!to!the!spirit!of!the!text.!

!

!

Let!us!begin!with!the!note's!very!first!sentence:!“This$is$a$story$depicting$the$

great$spirit$of$a$people$in$the$face$of$brutality$and$horror.”$Here!we!find!a!neat!

distillation!of!a!redemptive!narrative!for!Survivor,$an!interpretation!that!has,!as!

mentioned,!both!no!doubt!contributed!to!its!longevity!and!also!attracted!some!of!its!

harshest!critical!assessments.!Whether!or!not!this!is!an!accurate!interpretive!

narrative,!or!the!only!one!this!music!will!support,!48!it!is!clear!that!this!reading!was!

present!from!the!very!first!moments!of!the!memorial’s!public!unveiling.!As!works!of!

memoryJart!go,!Survivor$arrived!preJframed!as!a!story!of!spiritual!victory.!

One!surprisingly!germane!question,!however,!is!precisely!whose!spiritual!

victory!is!under!discussion?!As!we!have!discussed,!Survivor$was!on!the!leading!edge!

of!not!just!postwar!memory!as!such,!but!also!of!the!particularization!of!the!Nazi!

genocide!as!a!crime!against!the!Jews.!It!is!not!insignificant!that!nowhere!on!the!

program!do!the!word!“Jew,”!“Jewish,”!or!“Judaism”!appear.!Miller’s!note!mentions!

“the!great!spirit!of!a!people”!without!getting!into!details.!The!text!that!Schoenberg’s!

narrator!recites!is!printed!in!the!program,!with!the!choral!Shema!offered!in!

translation!(“Hear,!O!Israel…”),!but!in!Albuquerque!of!1948,!none!of!the!above!was!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!48!For!a!discussion!of!whether!Survivor$in!fact!permits!other!readings!beyond!those!taken!to!be!problematically!triumphalist!or!redemptive,!please!see!Chapter!4.!

! 190!

apparently!sufficient!to!alert!the!reviewer!from!the!Albuquerque$Journal!as!to!what!

the!work!was!actually!about.!Presumably!confused!by!the!title!itself,!the!anonymous!

reviewer!wrote!that!“[t]he!music,!and!the!spoken!words!which!accompany!it,!

describes!the!terror!and!despair!of!Polish!prisoners!which!suddenly!give!way!to!a!

spontaneous!prayer.”49!For!this!firstJtime!listener,!in!other!words,!the!work’s!actual!

memoryJcontent,!as!softened!and!fuzzily!framed!by!the!program!itself,!remained!so!

far!ahead!of!the!curve!as!to!remain!beyond!his!ken.!!

And!was!this!reviewer!alone!in!his!misunderstanding?!It!is!worth!keeping!in!

mind!that!the!critic!experienced!the!program!surrounded!by!an!audience!of!some!

1500!people,!and!that!there!was!an!intermission!after!Survivor$during!which!

presumably!the!work!was!discussed.!It!is!striking!that!the!reviewer!still!nonetheless!

left!with!such!a!fundamental!misimpression!of!the!work.!We!may!by!extension!

wonder!how!widely!this!misperception!was!in!fact!shared!on!the!night!of!its!

premiere.!!

Returning!to!the!program,!and!its!signaling!of!themes!that!would!loom!large!

in!Survivor’s!early!years,!the!next!line!states!that:!“[the$story]$was$told$to$Schoenberg$

by$several$eyeFwitnesses.”!Here!again!we!have!the!fruit!of!the!obfuscation!discussed!

at!length!in!the!previous!chapter,!where!Schoenberg's!artfully!ambiguous!note!on!

the!score!itself—“this!text!is!based!partly!upon!reports!which!I!have!received!

directly!or!indirectly”—becomes!in!fact!sharpened!into!claims!for!actual!

documentary!storytelling.!The!extent!to!which!the!work's!power!on!the!night!of!its!

Albuquerque!premiere!rested!on!this!supposed!documentary!aspect—the!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!49!Emphasis!added.!!

! 191!

confrontation!it!forced!with!the!sheer!facticity!of!life!and!death!in!a!camp!setting—

should!not!be!underestimated.!!

And!finally,!we!may!look!at!the!note’s!closely!two!sentences:!“The!setting…!is!

made!in!the!atonal!technique!originated!by!Schoenberg.!The!extreme!dissonance,!

the!disjunct!linear!style…!and!the!overall!severity!of!the!music!are!peculiarly$fitted$to$

the$spirit$of$the$text.”!!

Here!we!have!the!aboveJmentioned!linkage—between!musical!style!and!

external!historical!referent,!between!social!dissonance!and!musical!dissonance—

being!preJframed!for!a!general!audience!for!what!may!have!been!the!very!first!time.!

In!this!way,!Survivor!made!Schoenberg's!12Jtone!idiom!comprehensible!not!to!

specialist!expert!listeners!but!to!the!good!citizens!of!Albuquerque.50!It!was!this!unity!

of!medium!and!message!that!made!this!premiere!a!rare!departure!from!the!long!

history!of!antipathy!shown!to!Schoenberg's!music!at!its!first!performances—a!fact!

that!seemed!to!completely!elude!the!composer!himself,!who!hailed!“this!wonderful!

attitude!toward!a!new!work,”!suggested!it!be!come!“a!model!to!many,!many!other!

places,”!and!even!wondered!whether!America!might!finally!be!coming!around!to!his!

12Jtone!music.51!Notably,!our!anonymous!Journal$reviewer!did!pick!up!on!this!

aspect!of!Survivor.!Or!in!his!words:!“[The!piece]!is!written!in!the!atonal!technique!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!50!In!France!at!precisely!this!time,!the!larger!question!of!progressive!music’s!availability!to!

progressive!politics!became!an!intensely!debated!issue.!In!his!essay!“The!Artist!and!his!

Conscience,”!Sartre!attacked!the!complexity!of!Schoenberg’s!aesthetic!more!generally,!

stating!“Schoenberg!is!farther!removed!from!the!workers!than!Mozart!was!from!the!

peasants.”!Sartre’s!opponent!in!this!debate!was!Leibowitz!himself.!Sartre!as!quoted!in!Mark!

Carroll,!Music$and$Ideology$in$Cold$War$Europe!(Cambridge:!Cambridge!University!Press,!2003),!113.!!

51!Quotes!are!taken!from!Schoenberg!to!Isabel!Grear,!13!November!1948,!Kurt!Frederick!

Collection.!

! 192!

originated!by!Schoenberg,!but!does$not$really$need$the$narration$to$make$its$story$

clear….”!!

!

A!Survivor!in(New(York!!

Word!had!been!out!on$Survivor,!at!least!in!New!York!intellectual!circles,!since!

well!before!Frederick’s!premiere.!In!January!of!1948,!Partisan$Review!had!run!an!

article!by!Leibowitz!based!on!his!visit!to!both!Schoenberg!and!Stravinsky!in!

California!a!few!months!earlier.!The!rivalry!between!the!two!composers!was!as!

fierce!as!ever!among!their!devotees,!and!Leibowitz,!firmly!in!Schoenberg’s!camp,!

painted!a!damning!image!of!Stravinsky,!suggesting!his!inspiration!was!limited!and!

diminishing,!while!backhandedly!praising!Stravinsky’s!“ever!increasing!mastery!and!

control!applied!to!less!and!less!significant!musical!problems.”!Schoenberg’s!work!by!

contrast,!he!described!as!“dominated!by!passion,!boldness,!and!risk.!Like!a!gambler!

who!puts!everything!he!owns!on!one,!final,!perhaps!fatal,!stake,!Schönberg!

composes!every!work!with!his!entire!being.”!Leibowitz!went!on!to!report!on!

Schoenberg’s!newest!work,!sating!that!“the!wild!and!utterly!fresh!features!of!the!

Survivor$from$Warsaw…!demonstrate!a!vitality!and!creative!strength!which!are!

almost!inconceivable:!it!is!frankly!a!masterpiece.”52!!

Some!two!years!after!its!initial!mention!by!Leibowitz,!who!went!on!to!lead!

the!European!premiere!in!Paris!in!1949,!Survivor$made!its!way!to!New!York!for!two!

performances!by!the!New!York!Philharmonic!in!Carnegie!Hall.!A!preview!article!by!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!52!See!Leibowitz,!“Two!Composers:!A!Letter!from!Hollywood,”!Partisan$Review$15,!3!(March!1948),!365J65.!Leibowitz!had!occasion!to!examine!the!work!closely,!as!he!was!responsible!

for!creating!the!full!orchestral!score,!based!on!Schoenberg’s!particell.!

! 193!

Louis!Stanley!in!the!New$York$Times!appeared!the!week!of!its!two!performances,!

running!under!the!reassuring!headline!“The!Warsaw!Ghetto:!Schoenberg!Score!

Recalls!Survivors.”!The!story!pointed!out!that!the!New!York!premiere!would!

coincide!with!the!seventh!anniversary!of!“the!Battle!of!the!Warsaw!Ghetto,”!an!event!

it!went!on!to!summarize,!adding!that!“Schoenberg!heard!from!the!lips!of!survivors!

accounts!of!what!had!happened!to!Warsaw!Jews!during!the!Hitler!regime.!He!has!

retold!one!episode!in!the!words!of!such!a!survivor.”!Stanley!went!on!to!mention!how!

the!work!was!faring!abroad,!noting!that!a!performance!of!Survivor!was!scheduled!

for!later!that!month!in!Melbourne!Australia,!and!that!the!Warsaw!Philharmonic!had!

been!planning!one!as!well!“but!arrangements!could!not!be!carried!out!in!time.”!

Stanley!also!appends!notice!from!one!more!location:!“[m]ost!curious!is!a!report!

from!a!trustworthy!source!that!even!one!of!the!radio!stations!in!Western!Germany!

had!given!consideration!to!a!broadcast!but!had!decided!that!the!time!was!

psychologically!unripe.”53!!!!

The!New!York!performances!of!Survivor!were!given!under!Mitropoulos’s!

baton!on!April!13!and!14,!1950,!on!a!program!that!also!featured!Mendelssohn’s!“Ruy!

Blas”!Overture,!Schubert’s!youthful!Symphony!No.!2,!a!pair!of!selections!by!Chabrier,!

and!the!New!York!premiere!of!yet!a!second!work,!Alan!Schulman’s!Cello!Concerto.!

This!program’s!overall!mix!does!not!suggest!as!clear!a!narrative!framing!as!did!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!53!“The!Warsaw!Ghetto:!Schoenberg!Score!Recalls!Survivors!of!Battle,”!9!April!1950,!New$York$Times.$This!early!update!on!the!work’s!global!itinerary!underscores!the!transnational!and!comparative!nature!of!the!window!onto!postwar!memory!afforded!by!musical!works!

such!as!Survivor.!In!the!end,!the!West!German!premiere!of!Schoenberg’s!score!took!place!on!20!August!1950,!and!its!Polish!premiere!on!28!September!1958.!For!detailed!accounts!of!

these!premieres,!see!Calico,!Arnold$Schoenberg's$A!Survivor!from!Warsaw$in$Postwar$Europe,!20J40!and!112J35.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

! 194!

Frederick’s,!though!Mitropoulos!did!give!Survivor$his!own!theatrical!interpretation,!

about!which!more!in!a!moment.!!

From!the!composer!Henry!Cowell’s!report!in!Musical$Quarterly,!the!

performance!appears!to!have!been!a!success!with!its!first!New!York!listeners.!

Cowell!wrote:!“In!spite!of!typically!extreme!dissonance!and!tonal!fragmentation,!the!

regular!audience!of!the!PhilharmonicJSymphony!Orchestra!gave!the!work!a!

vociferous!ovation.!The!decision!of!Mitropoulos!to!repeat!it!was!in!response!to!a!real!

demand.”54!Cowell’s!reference!in!this!context!to!“the!regular!audience”!is!meant!to!

signal!the!work’s!acceptability!even!to!mainstream!subscribers!often!reflexively!

opposed!to!new!music.!Indeed,!a!folder!of!“Complaints!and!Compliments”!for!this!

season!in!the!New!York!Philharmonic’s!archive!contains!a!startling!number!of!

sharply!negative!and!even!openly!hostile!letters!from!audience!members!

complaining!about!their!forced!servings!of!modern!music.!Indeed,!these!letters!

suggest!an!oppositional!dynamic!between!the!orchestra’s!artistic!management!and!a!

highly!vocal!portion!of!its!subscribership,!a!dynamic!probably!exacerbated!by!the!

arrival!in!1949!of!Mitropoulos,!a!vigorous!champion!of!the!Second!Viennese!

School.55!If!Cowell’s!report!on!the!Survivor$premiere!was!an!accurate!rendering!of!

the!response!from!“the!regular!audience”!at!the!performance!he!attended,!this!is!

notable!indeed.!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!54!Henry!Cowell,!"Current!Chronicle,"!The$Musical$Quarterly!36!(1950).!55!See!the!folder!marked!Complaints!and!Compliments,!September!13,!1949!–!June!14,!1950.!

In!addition!to!protesting!the!heavy!dose!of!“modern!music,”!one!letter!writer!also!

complained!about!the!musical!judgment!of!Leonard!Bernstein,!writing!that!he!should!be!

“shot!or!burned!in!oil.”!For!access!to!these!documents!in!the!Philharmonic’s!digitized!

archives,!see!http://tinyurl.com/l7z8ho7!(last!accessed!25!December!2014).!!!

! 195!

Another!far!less!admiring!review!appeared!the!day!after!the!premiere!in!the!

New$York$Times,!penned!by!chief!critic!Olin!Downes.!He!wrote:!!

The!subject!is!so!moving,!the!imaginary!scene!so!tragical,!that!in!listening!to!

Schoenberg’s!musical!investiture!one!could!easily!believe!it!to!be!much!more!

significant!and!inspired!than!it!is.!For!the!plain!fact!is!that!it!is!poor!and!

empty!music,!even!though!it!be!couched!in!the!most!learned!Schoenbergian!

formulas!of!craftsmanship.!The!orchestra!makes!bogy!noises!which!have!

been!heard!many!times!before!in!Schoenberg’s!scores.!These!sounds!are!

neither!novel!nor!convincing.56!!

!

! This!was!in!fact!a!line!of!attack!that!Downes!had!taken!with!other!Schoenberg!

scores,!but!it!cannot!be!dismissed!on!those!grounds!alone!since!Downes’s!review!

also!anticipated!a!debate!over!the!work’s!“musical”!merits!that!has!continued!to!this!

day:!is!Survivor!a!late!masterpiece!or!a!work!about!which!Schoenberg!should!have!

been!(and!we!should!be!today)!somewhat!embarrassed?!The!question!itself,!I!have!

suggested!here,!rests!on!the!false!premise!that!the!work’s!musical!and!memorial!

properties!can!be!evaluated!separately!from!each!other.!!

Schoenberg’s!response!to!Downes’s!view!of!the!piece’s!quality!is!not!known,!

but!the!composer!was!enraged!by!something!else!in!this!review.!In!the!paragraph!

following!the!one!quoted!above,!Downes!described!Mitropoulos’s!addition!of!certain!

theatrical!staging!gestures!with!the!chorus,!presumably!prior!to!its!singing!of!the!

Shema:!!

A!melodramatic!concomitant!of!this!occasion!was!the!theatrical!device!by!

which!members!of!the!chorus,!as!the!narrator!described!the!scene,!rose!to!

their!feet,!first!one!by!one,!the!ranks!filling!more!and!more!rapidly,!until!they!

stood,!coats!discarded,!in!the!white!shirts!of!the!condemned.!We!regret!to!say!

that!the!effect!was!hammy,!and!regret!still!more!to!say!that!in!this!respect!it!

was!not!incongruous!with!the!character!of!the!composition.!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!56!“Schoenberg!Work!is!Presented!Here,”!New$York$Times,$14!April!1950.!!!

! 196!

An!irate!Schoenberg!wrote!to!Mitropoulos!to!confirm!whether!he!had!in!fact!

committed!the!offence.!The!composer!added:!“It!seems!to!me!that!you!should!have!

seen!that!I!did!not!compose!such!an!action,!not!only!because!of!higher!taste,!but!also!

because!the!concert!stage!is!not!a!theatre.”57!Mitropoulos!replied!that!he!had!been!

deeply!hurt!by!Schoenberg’s!letter,!and!that!“whatever!I!did!beyond!your!indications!

in!the!score!was!done!purely!on!an!overJdevotion!basis!to!make!the!work!as!

effective!as!possible,!and!believe!me,!I!don’t!think!that!I!harmed!your!spirit.”58!

! It!is!interesting!to!wonder!about!the!roots!of!Schoenberg’s!strenuous!

objection!to!this!relatively!minor!gesture!of!theatrical!underlining!in!a!work!that!

plenty!have!accused!precisely!of!the!sin!of!theatricality!or,!as!it!has!been!put!less!

generously,!“Hollywood!kitsch.”!I!would!suggest!that!Schoenberg’s!objections!may!

be!read!as!a!reaffirmation!of!the!actual!purity!of!his!intention,!of!his!desire!to!create!

a!forceful!depiction!without!resorting!to!overtly!melodramatic!visual!devices!that!

would!reduce!or!render conventional a crime whose monstrosity he sought to

depict only in sound. The exchange may also be seen as harkening metaphorically

back to the themes of Moses und Aron, suggesting memory itself as an Idea, one to

be reckoned with in a pure form but equally one which should not become a

source of false idolatry.

But!Mitropoulos’s!overzealous!theatrical!touch!was!only!one!incident!that!

disturbed!Schoenberg!about!the!New!York!premiere.!When!the!program!was!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!57!Schoenberg!to!Mitropoulos,!26!April!1950,!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!image!scan!

at!Arnold!Schönberg!Center!!

58!Mitropoulos!to!Schoenberg,!27!June!1950,!Library!of!Congress,!image!scan!at!Arnold!

Schönberg!Center!!

! 197!

repeated!on!Sunday!afternoon!(April!16)!for!the!prestigious!national!CBS!radio!

broadcast,!Survivor$was!omitted!altogether!and!a!substitution!was!made.!Any!

listeners!tuning!in!nationwide!with!the!express!purpose!of!hearing!A$Survivor$from$

Warsaw$would!have!been!surprised!to!find,!in!a!bitterly!ironic!turn,!the!Overture!to!

Wagner’s!Tannhäuser.!!

Schoenberg!shifted!immediately!into!his!own!wellJpracticed!battle!footing,!

circulating!a!letter!to!colleagues,!which!was!also!published!in!the!Los!Angeles!Times,!

declaring!that!“CBS!excludes!my!music—as!controversial—from!their!broadcasts”!

and!encouraging!anyone!opposed!to!such!a!policy!to!write!letters!to!the!board!of!

directors!of!the!New!York!Philharmonic.59!When!the!Philharmonic!management!

learned!of!Schoenberg’s!campaign,!it!wrote!to!Schoenberg!directly,!denying!the!

music!was!excluded,!citing!other!Schoenberg!works!that!had!been!performed!on!

previous!broadcasts,!and!explaining!that!in!this!case!the!substitution!was!solely!due!

to!“practical!considerations.”!More!specifically,!the!letter!stated,!“it!happened!that!

the!chorus!was!not!available!on!that!Sunday.”60!

Copies!of!correspondence!in!its!archive!indicate!that!the!Philharmonic!

management!repeated!the!claim!about!the!chorus!being!unavailable!to!all!the!letter!

writers!who,!heeding!Schoenberg’s!call!to!action,!had!written!to!protest!the!decision.!

This!institutional!alibi,!however,!seems!exceedingly!thin.!The!chorus!in!question!was!

the!Princeton!University!Chapel!Choir.!Orchestral!programs!are!planned!months!if!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!59!“Music!Mail!Box,”!7!May!1950,!Los$Angeles$Times$$60!The!quote!and!summary!of!the!Philharmonic’s!reply!to!Schoenberg!is!taken!from!an!

unsigned!letter!addressed!to!the!composer,!dated!16!May!1950,!a!copy!of!which!may!be!

found!in!the!New!York!Philharmonic!archives!under!Complaints!and!Compliments,!

September!13,!1949!–!June!14,!1950.!!!

! 198!

not!years!in!advance.!Are!we!really!to!believe!that!a!collegiate!choir!offered!the!

opportunity!to!perform!a!nationally!broadcast!premiere!with!the!New!York!

Philharmonic!would!conceivably!turn!down!the!opportunity!on!account!of!a!prior!

engagement?!If!it!were!as!simple!as!that,!Mitropoulos,!who!was!Schoenberg’s!

powerful!ally!and!often!addressed!the!composer!in!reverential!tones,!would!have!

simply!stated!so!when!Schoenberg!wrote!to!him!indignantly!to!ask!about!being!cut!

from!the!broadcast.61!Instead,!Mitropoulos,!in!his!reply,!quietly!ignored!the!subject!

altogether.62!!

It!is!interesting!to!note!the!presence!of!one!particular!letter!of!protest!from!a!

musicJlover,!written!to!Philharmonic’s!management,!with!a!moving!plea!for!the!

importance!of!disseminating!contemporary!music!over!the!airwaves.!The!letter!

began:!!!

I!feel!sure!that!I!am!expressing!the!thought!of!many!musicians!like!myself!

who!are!living!in!isolated,!small!communities—doing!pioneer!work—and!

who!do!not!have!much!opportunity!to!hear!important!musical!events.!A!short!

time!ago!an!important!musical!event!was!announced!by!the!Philharmonic!

concert—I!refer!to!the!playing!of!Schoenberg’s!Survivor$from$Warsaw.$You!can!imagine!my!dismay!when!this!composition!was!not!performed!on!your!

radio!broadcast.!I!am!very!sure!that!many!of!your!listeners!would!prefer!your!

omitting!some!compositions!which!are!available!on!recordings,!but!would!

certainly!rather!that!you!would![broadcast]!first!performances…!even!though!

it!may!be!disliked!by!part!of!your!audience.!!

!

Compared!to!many!other!letters!in!the!Philharmonic’s!“Complaints!and!

Compliments”!folder!for!the!season,!this!missive!stands!out!for!its!gentle!

persuasiveness!but!also!for!its!humility.!The!writer!does!not!mention!that,!while!he!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!61!Schoenberg!to!Mitropoulos,!26!April!1950,!Library!of!Congress!(carbon!copy),!image!scan!

at!Arnold!Schönberg!Center!

62!Mitropoulos!to!Schoenberg,!27!June!1950.!Library!of!Congress,!image!scan!at!Arnold!

Schönberg!Center!

! 199!

had!been!denied!an!opportunity!to!hear!Survivor!on!the!national!broadcast,!he!did$in!

fact!have!plenty!of!other!opportunities!to!acquaint!himself!with!the!score.!Nor!does!

he!mention!that!Survivor’s!actual!world!premiere,!over!one!year!earlier,!took!place!

in!precisely!one!of!those!“isolated,!small!communities”!which!he!describes,!in!a!

performance!under!his!own!baton.!The!letter’s!author!was!Kurt!Frederick!himself.63!

To!Frederick’s!missive!the!Philharmonic!management!replied!with!its!

standard!reference!to!the!unavailable!chorus,!but!then!went!slightly!further,!adding!

that!“you!must!realize!also!that!it!is!not!possible!to!repeat![for!broadcast]!every!

number!from!the!Thursday!and!Friday!programs!and!there!will!always!be!some!who!

disagree!with!the!choice!that!is!made.”!Here,!at!least,!the!Philharmonic!strongly!

hints!that!“a!choice”!was!actively!made.!!

!

Beyond(the(premieres(

!

The!full!story!for!why!Survivor$was!denied!its!national!broadcast!premiere!

may!well!remain!unknown,!but,!as!with!the!absence!of!a!premiere!in!Boston,!it!

seems!highly!likely!that!these!outcomes!resulted!from!the!ways!that!A$Survivor$from$

Warsaw$tested!the!limits!of!openness!to!art!addressing!the!Holocaust!in!the!

immediate!postwar!years.!Survivor’s$early!American!career!indeed!suggests!

Holocaust!awareness!and!postwar!memory!did!not!advance!as!a!single!unified!field!

but!rather!as!something!closer!to!a!patchwork!quilt.!In!this!sense,!we!might!say!that!

elements!of!both!Diner’s!and!Novick’s!theses!may!be!correct!at!the!same!time,!and!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!63!Kurt!Frederick!to!Board!of!Directors,!Philharmonic!Society!of!N.Y.,!15!May!1950.!

Complaints!and!Compliments,!New!York!Philharmonic!archive.!

! 200!

more!to!the!point,!Survivor’s!reception!underscores!a!need!to!characterize!the!

nature!of!postwar!Holocaust!memory!in!less!homogeneous!terms.!

In!the!case!of!Survivor,!there!were!different!factions,!stakeholders!and!

gatekeepers!involved!in!defining!the!contours!of!its!early!American!career,!and!in!

determining!the!work’s!field!of!meanings.!And!the!alliances!did!not!always!fall!as!

expected.!Specifically,!the!émigré!or!European!register!(represented!by!Frederick!

and!Leibowitz)!was!not!in!effect!a!separate!sphere!from!the!nonJelite!world!of!

middle!American!musical!culture,!the!mainstream!Albuquerque!and!New!York!

audiences!that!cheered!the!work,!possibly!as!no!other!Schoenberg$premiere!had!

been!cheered!since!Gurrelieder!in!1913.!Both!the!émigrés!and!the!mainstream!

concertgoers!proved!receptive!to!this!work,!perhaps!because!the!former!had!more$

invested!in!Holocaust!memory!and!the!latter!had!less$invested!in!particular!

expectations!of!modernism.!As!we!have!seen,!the!union!of!music!and!text!made!

Schoenberg’s!dissonant!idiom!graspable!for!this!broader!audience.!Meanwhile!the!

authoritative!and!institutional!gatekeepers!of!modern!music!(in!this!case,!Downes!

and!Koussevitzky)!showed!a!marked!ambivalence,!one!that!would!shadow!this!work!

for!many!years!into!its!future.!!!

The!irony!of!a!work!by!Arnold!Schoenberg,!who!was!accused!for!almost!his!

entire!career!of!forsaking!the!needs!of!a!popular!audience,!being!attacked!for!being!

too!“Hollywood,”!for!being!hammy,!or!in!essence!too$accessible,!should!not!go!

unnoted.!Nor!can!it!be!a!coincidence!that!A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$is!in!fact!the!only!

work!in!his!oeuvre$that!seems!to!attract!this!charge.!It!raises!questions!that!return!

us!to!the!themes!of!Chapter!2,!and!to!what!I!have!called!the!extraJmusicality!of!

! 201!

musical!memorials,!the!special!set!of!demands!and!expectations!that!are!placed!on!

them!both!by!their!performers,!their!receiving!publics,!the!press,!and!by!the!creators!

themselves.!Returning!to!the!Survivor$commission,!we!may!recall!that!Schoenberg!

essentially!had!carte!blanche!from!Koussevitzky!to!write!whatever!kind!of!work!he!

pleased.!And!even!as!a!creator!of!advanced!age,!he!still!had!the!full!range!of!his!

capacities!to!draw!on;!indeed,!his!String!Trio,!a!respected!work!of!recondite!

modernism—in!other!words!a!more!typically!“Schoenbergian”!composition—dates!

from!this!same!period.!Yet!for!this!memorial!occasion,!Schoenberg!determined!that!

something!entirely!different!was!called!for.!“In!the!midst!of!the!blindness!of!

specialization,”!Adorno!wrote,!“his!music!suddenly!saw!the!light!that!shines!beyond!

the!aesthetic!realm.”!For!Schoenberg,!some!needs!were!even!stronger!than!those!of!

aesthetic!correctness.!Prior!to!the!war,!it!had!been!the!political!needs!of!European!

Jewry.!After!the!war,!it!was!the!needs!of!memory.!!!

The!performances!described!here!did!launch!Survivor$in!the!United!States,!

though!its!early!American!career!was!not!exactly!triumphant.!Indeed,!

Survivor’s!!relationship!to!the!shifting!currents!of!American!Holocaust!memory!

remained!sufficiently!oblique!that!there!were!surprisingly!few!performances!in!its!

earliest!decades.!Exact!statistics!are!not!available!but!the!royalty!statements!sent!

from!the!score’s!publisher!to!Schoenberg’s!widow!between!1951!and!1964!list!just!

eight!American!performances,!while!indicating!significantly!more!across!Europe!

! 202!

during!this!same!period,!a!fact!that!hints!at!the!vast!differences!across!memory!

landscapes.64!

In!the!intervening!years!since!its!premiere,!American!Holocaust!memory!has!

caught!up!with!Survivor!and!in!some!ways,!surpassed!it,!as!have!the!preferred!

aesthetic!norms!for!memorial!art.!Particularly!celebrated!in!recent!years!has!been!

Different$Trains,!a!work!by!the!American!minimalist!composer!Steve!Reich,!which!is!

encountered!in!concert!halls!far!more!often!than!Survivor!and!appears!to!suit!the!

needs!of!the!Holocaust!memory!of!later!decades.$Indeed,!its!title!refers!to!the!

contrast!between!the!trains!taken!by!the!composer!growing!up!in!America!in!the!

1940s,!and!the!“different!trains”!he!might!have!been!on!if!he!had!grown!up!in!

Europe!at!the!same!time.!This!framing!concept!captures!a!distinctly!American!sense!

of!simultaneous!connection!to,!and!distance!from,!the!Holocaust!itself.!Younger!

generations!of!listeners!may!also!transpose!the!geographic!distance!into!a!metaphor!

of!temporal!distance!from!the!catastrophe;!they,!too,!ride!different!trains.!

The!defining!musical!gesture!of!Reich’s!score!is!the!transfer!of!actual!

survivor!voices,!present!through!samples!taken!from!recorded!interviews,!into!the!

“voices”!of!the!instruments,!which!play!lines!transcribed!from!the!contours!of!the!

survivors'!spoken!words.!Memory!here!is,!quite!literally,!inscribed!in!sound.!Yet!it!is!

what!we!might!call!the!work’s!aesthetic!of!negation—the!voices!of!the!past!are!

present!but!also!vanished!–!that!brings!Reich’s!masterwork!in!line!with!more!

current!trends!in!memorial!art.!In!this!sense,!the!work’s!trope!of!absence!may!be!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!64!For!their!generous!assistance!with!these!royalty!statements,!and!other!correspondence!

from!the!Gertrud!Schoenberg!Collection,!I!am!very!grateful!to!archivists!Eike!Fess!and!

Therese!Muxeneder!of!the!Arnold!Schönberg!Center.!!!

! 203!

compared!to!another!critically!lauded!memorial,!the!underground!room!designed!by!

Micha!Ullman!in!Berlin’s!Bebelplatz,!unveiled!in!1995!on!the!site!of!the!notorious!

book!burning.!Ullman’s!room!is!visible!from!the!plaza!through!a!clear!glass!window.!

It!is!entirely!white,!its!walls!lined!with!empty!bookshelves.!!!

In!comparison!to!Survivor,$the!Reich!and!the!Ullman!memorials,!to!adapt!

another!Schoenbergian!metaphor,!breathe!the!air!of!a!very!different!memory.!

Survivor$indeed!memorialized!its!subject!from!within$the!grand!nineteenthJcentury!

tradition!of!German!music!that!Schoenberg!himself!continued!to!embody!through!

the!end!of!his!life!in!1951.!In!approaching!Schoenberg’s!score$today!we!must!take!

care!to!avoid!the!memorial!equivalent!of!backshadowing,!that!is,!judging!one!of!the!

very!first!works!of!Holocaust!memoryJart!through!the!prism!of!our!own!postJ

Spielbergian!memory!culture.!Survivor$today!does!have!a!dated!quality,!which!this!

chapter!has!sought!to!unpack!and!contextualize!by!returning!to!the!actual!moments!

when!this!work!was!new!and,!in!so!many!ways,!ahead!of!its!time.!But!this!dated!

quality!cuts!both!ways.!The!work’s!proximity!to!the!very!history!it!memorializes!is!

precisely!what!lends!the!piece!its!scorching!heat.!Schoenberg!experienced!the!

period!from!1933!to!1945!too!personally,!too!directly,!and!too!intensely!to!compose!

a!memorial!of!a!cooler,!more!somber!and!reflective!mien.!As!a!result!his!work!

retains!its!power!to!draw!strong!responses,!to!disturb,!and—in!ways!I!have!

suggested!are!unique!to!musical!memorials!as!a!genre—to!connect!the!world!of!a!

presentJday!listener!to!a!much!vaster!and!more!sweeping!history!that!remains!

behind!its!notes.!

! 204!

Conclusion:(‘Art(as(its(Unconscious(Chronicle’(

!

!

!

It!may!not!have!gone!unnoticed!that!we!have!arrived!at!the!conclusion!of!this!

study!without!a!single!reference!to!Adorno’s!muchJquoted,!muchJabused!dictum!

that!writing!poetry!after!Auschwitz!is!barbaric!(“Nach!Auschwitz!ein!Gedicht!zu!

schreiben!ist!barbarisch”).!Historians!of!Holocaust!memorial!culture!have!parsed!its!

meaning!without!end!because,!while!becoming!virtually!a!cliché,!it!still!may!serve!as!

a!gateway!to!many!of!the!larger!questions.!!

Poetry!in!this!formulation,!or!“even!one!poem,”!to!be!more!precise!about!

Adorno’s!words,!becomes!a!standJin!for!all!art.!What!has!been!largely!forgotten,!by!

contrast,!is!that!even!as!Adorno!deemed!it!not!only!immoral!but!“impossible!to!write!

poetry!today,”!he!anointed!music!with!a!singular!promise!and!responsibility!as!the!

appropriate!carrier!for!the!historical!experience!of!the!Holocaust.!He!also!appointed!

A$Survivor$from$Warsaw!as!this!new!memorial!culture’s!chief!representative.!!

This!dissertation!has!labored!to!recover!something!of!Adorno’s!insight!into!

music’s!potential!role!as!a!medium!of!public!memory.!We!have!done!so!by!looking!at!

sonic!memorials!as!a!genre,!and!by!examining!the!creation!and!reception!of!one!of!

that!genre’s!earliest!and!most!important!postwar!exemplars.!!We!have!found!in!this!

work!deep!resonances!with!its!composer’s!own!complex!journey!through!a!culture!

framed!and!coJconstituted!by!the!forces!of!Deutschtum$and!Judentum!at!a!historical!

point!of!maximum!reciprocal!tension—a!tension!both!generative!and!unstable—

! 205!

when!modernism!was!emerging!alongside!the!volatile!modern!world!it!was!

simultaneously!attempting!to!describe,!to!direct,!and!to!change.1!!!!!

In!later!years,!as!we!know,!Adorno!issued!various!qualifications!of!his!

pronouncement!about!art!after!Auschwitz.!Perhaps!most!germane!at!this!juncture!is!

the!following!variation!on!his!earlier!theme:$

$The!concept!of!a!resurrection!of!culture!after!Auschwitz!is!illusory!and!

senseless,!and!for!that!reason!every!work!of!art!that!does!come!into!being!is!

forced!to!pay!a!bitter!price.!But!because!the!world!has!outlived!its!own!

demise!it!needs!art!as!its!unconscious!chronicle.2!!!

!

A$Survivor$from$Warsaw$has,!as!Adorno!predicted,!“paid!a!bitter!price.”!Its!aesthetic!

flaws,!in!particular!the!melodrama!of!its!text,!are!forgivable!for!those!inclined!to!

view!this!work—and!perhaps!the!composer’s!oeuvre!as!a!whole—with!sympathy.!

For!those!opposed!to!his!aesthetic,!or!who!resent!its!hegemonic!role!in!forming!the!

twentieth!century’s!musical!myths,!its!teleologies!of!progress,!Survivor!makes!an!

easy!target,!as!a!postwar!work!in!which!Schoenberg!made!one!of!his!boldest!

gestures!toward!reaching!a!wider!audience.!A!composer!who!had!once!received!the!

uncharacteristically!rapturous!applause!of!a!1913!premiere!by!literally!turning!his!

back!to!the!crowd,!now!in!1947!stood!facing!his!public!head!on.!True,!of!course,!a!lot!

had!changed!in!the!intervening!years,!but!Survivor!also!had!something!different!at!

stake.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!I!am!referring!here!back!to!T.J.!Clark’s!definition!of!modernism,!first!discussed!in!Chapter!

1.!!

2!Quoted!by!Rolf!Tiedemann!in!his!introduction!to!his!collection!of!Adorno’s!essays.!See!

Theodor!W.!Adorno,!Can$One$Live$after$Auschwitz?:$A$Philosophical$Reader,!ed.!Rolf!Tiedemann!(Stanford,!Calif.:!Stanford!University!Press,!2003),!xvi.!

! 206!

We!have!looked!closely!at!the!many!types!of!memory!enfolded!in!this!work,!

and!its!modes!of!transmitting!that!memory.!They!are!not!unproblematic.!Indeed,!

Survivor$was!ahead!of!its!time,!too,!in!crystallizing!ethical!questions!that!would!

bedevil!memoryJart!for!years!to!come,!about!the!proper!relationship!between!a!

work’s!aesthetic!and!memorial!functions.!Even!Adorno,!who!as!we!have!seen!was!

one!of!Survivor’s!most!rigorously!forceful!early!champions,!later!questioned!its$

suitability!for!the!task.!In!his!1962!essay,!“Commitment,”!he!wrote:!!

!

[E]ven!Schoenberg’s!Survivors$of$Warsaw$[sic]!remains!caught!in!the!aporia!in!which!it!has!involved!itself!as!an!autonomous!artistic!construction!of!

heteronomy!intensified!to!the!point!where!it!becomes!hell.!!There!is!

something!awkward!and!embarrassing!in!Schoenberg’s!composition—and!it!

is!not!the!aspect!that!irritates!people!in!Germany!because!it!does!not!allow!

them!to!repress!what!they!want!at!all!costs!to!repress.!When!it!is!turned!into!

an!image,!however,!for!all!its!harshness!and!discordance!it!is!as!though!the!

embarrassment!one!feels!before!the!victims!were!being!violated.!The$victims$are$turned$into$works$of$art,$tossed$out$to$be$gobbled$up$by$the$world$that$did$them$in.$The!soJcalled!artistic!rendering!of!the!naked!physical!pain!of!those!who!were!beaten!down!with!rifle!butts!contains,!however!distantly,!the!

possibility!that!pleasure!can!be!squeezed!from!it…!The$aesthetic$stylistic$principle,$and$even$the$chorus’s$solemn$prayer,$make$the$unthinkable$appear$to$have$had$some$meaning;$it$becomes$transfigured,$something$of$its$horror$removed.!By!this!alone!an!injustice!is!done!the!victims,!yet!no!art!that!avoided!the!victims!could!stand!up!to!the!demands!of!justice.3!!

!!

I!believe!that!the!readings!of!Survivor$I!have!proposed!in!Chapter!4!may!in!fact!parry!

some!of!the!charges!Adorno!brings!in!this!passage.!But!the!larger!dilemma—what!

Adorno!calls!Survivor’s$$“aporia”—remains:!legitimate!art!after!Auschwitz!cannot!

avoid!the!victims.!But!to!instrumentalize!or!aestheticize!their!memory!is!to!violate!

it.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3!See!“Commitment”!in!Ibid.,!252.!Italics!added.!

! 207!

We!see!here,!with!granular!precision,!precisely!the!set!of!concerns!that!

motivated!the!turn!toward!an!aesthetic!of!abstraction!in!later!Holocaust!

memorialization,!an!aesthetic!that!sought!to!represent!without!depicting.!In!this!

sense,!to!return!to!a!metaphor!I!introduced!in!Chapter!1,!memory!has!grown!more!

“musical”!in!its!qualities.4!It!has!also!grown!more!musical!in!the!straightforward!

sense,!as!judged!by!the!vast!proliferation!of!projects!currently!being!undertaken!by!

various!cultural!organizations,!scholars,!chamber!ensembles,!and!others,!to!recover!

the!music!of!this!earlier!era,!the!sounds!that!bear!some!mark!of!an!authentic!

relationship!to!this!past.!!!

In!Adorno’s!final!critical!assessment!of!Survivor,!we!find,!too,!that!we!have!

come!full!circle!and!returned!to!the!paradox!outlined!in!chapter!2:!specifically,!the!

mutually!exclusive!modes!of!comprehending!the!Shoah—as!an!event!assimilable!

into!our!existing!regimes!of!knowledge,!or!as!an!event!that!must!remain!outside!of!

them,!unknowable!and!sacred.!Survivor—and!all!Holocaust!memoryJart,!it!may!be!

said—faces!the!nearJimpossible!task!of!holding!in!tension!these!two!modes!of!

addressing!the!past.!The!work!must!represent,!translate!or!in!some!way!evoke!the!

violence!done!to!victims!in!a!language!that!is!legible!to!those!who!stand!after!the!

event.!And!at!the!same!time,!it!must!preserve!the!event’s!utter!inscrutability,!its!

illegibility,!its!absolute!rejection!of!all!attempts!to!confer!redemptive!meaning.!

! As!we!have!seen,!the!constellation!of!traits!we!might!summarize!as!the!

“Moses”!in!Schoenberg,!was!no!stranger!to!ideas!that!must!remain!invisible,!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4!There!are,!however,!signs!that!the!trend!toward!highly!abstract!memorialization!may!have!

run!its!course.!See,!for!instance,!Michael!Steinberg’s!essay!“Grounds!Zero:!History,!Memory,!

and!the!New!Sacredness!in!Berlin!and!Beyond”!in!Steinberg,!Judaism$Musical$and$Unmusical.!

! 208!

incommunicable,!unrepresentable.!At!the!same!time,!the!“Aron”!in!Schoenberg!had!a!

desperate!will!to!communicate,!to!be!understood,!to!describe!the!reality!of!a!

political!situation!that!could!not!be!kept!invisible.!Indeed,!it!is!tempting!to!suggest!

that!Schoenberg’s!Aron!wrote!Survivor’s!text!while!his!Moses!composed!its!music.!

More!relevant!is!the!broader!point!that!Survivor$embodied!both!the!promise!and!

peril!that!all!subsequent!postwar!memorial!art!would!later!face.!!

!

*!*!*!

!!

In!his!reflections!on!built!monuments!to!the!Holocaust,!Andreas!Huyssen!has!

wisely!called!for!reintegrating!their!“public!dimension”!back!into!our!understanding,!

rather!than!judging!the!monument!solely!as!“aesthetic!sculpture.”!He!adds:!“the!

criterion!for!its!success!could!therefore!be!the!ways!in!which!it!allows!for!a!crossing!

of!boundaries!toward!other!discourses!of!the!Holocaust,!the!ways!it!pushes!us!

toward!reading!other!texts,!other!stories.”5!

It!is!my!hope!that!I!have!demonstrated,!at!least!by!this!criterion,!that!Survivor!

could!hardly!be!a!more!successful!monument,!since!our!journey!into!this!work’s!

true!content!has!opened!views!onto!many!other!texts,!many!stories,!and!indeed!

many!discourses.!Perhaps!first!and!foremost,!it!has!led!to!some!new!ways!of!

speaking!about!the!intersection!of!sound!and!memory,!music!and!history.!Indeed,!

Survivor,!which!is!also!to!say!Schoenberg!himself,!has!the!capacity!to!summon!all!of!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5!See!Huyssen,!Twilight$Memories,!258.!

! 209!

the!above!when!we!restore!the!music!to!its!times.!And!in!so!doing,!renew!its!address!

to!our!own.!$!

!

! 210!

Bibliography!!

!

!

!

!

Archival!Collections!Consulted!!

Kurt!Frederick!Collection,!Houghton!Library,!Harvard!University!

!

Music!Division,!Library!of!Congress,!Washington!D.C.!

!

Arnold!Schönberg!Center,!Vienna!!!

!

New!York!Philharmonic!Archive,!New!York!

!

Feuchtwanger!Memorial!Library,!University!of!Southern!California!!

!

!

!

!

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