Arnold Schönberg
Transfigured Night String Sextet op. 4
In setting Richard Dehmel’s poem “Verklärte Nacht” (Transfigured Night) in his op. 4, the young Arnold Schönberg pursued the intention, as he himself said, of “attempting those new forms in chamber music which have been created in orchestral music based on a poetic idea”. Composed in September 1899 in a few weeks whilst he was on holiday, the Sextet incorporates the ideas of the symphonic poem in its programmatic character and its one-movement form, and also displays late Romantic traits in its opulent tone. Already at its premiere in 1902 in Vienna, the special quality of the work was recognised, characterised by “peculiar sound combinations and groundbreaking figures”, a work which was to become a true modern classic in the 20th century. For this Urtext edition, both the autograph score and the 1905 first edition have been consulted, as well as Schönberg’s personal copies which are preserved in Vienna and contain numerous markings by the composer.
About the Authors
Annette Oppermann (Editor)
Dr. Annette Oppermann, born in 1965, trained as a music dealer in Frankfurt am Main and studied historical and systematic musicology as well as modern German literature at Hamburg University.
From 1993 to 1996 she worked as an editor for Sony Classical International in Hamburg; from 1996 to 1999 she was a doctoral candidate in the postgraduate programme Textkritik at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, in January 2000 she earned her doctorate with a dissertation on “Musikalische Klassikerausgaben” (Hans-Joachim Marx, Hamburg). From 2000 to 2008 she worked as a research associate at the Joseph Haydn-Institut in Cologne, and was editor of the Oratorio “Die Schöpfung” in the Complete Edition of Joseph Haydn’s Works. Since February 2008 she has been an editor at G. Henle Publishers in Munich, with a particular focus on vocal music, chamber music and books.
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