Disaster: Arnold Schoenberg archive is destroyed in LA fires – Slipped Disc

Alastair MacaulayRuth Leon recommendsballetUncategorizedaboutmainNewsAlbum Of The WeekEditors ChoiceRIPWhy BeethovenWhy MahlerPremiumDaily Comfort ZoneOrchestrasOperaTop ArtistComment Of The DayShare this article: norman lebrechtJanuary 11, 2025A grim message from Larry Schoenberg, the composer’s son:UPDATE: Larry lost his own home in the fires Previous postNext post The main benefit of Schoenberg’s music is to make astrology seem respectable !Not the moment for this, Wayne.Vote blue no matter who gets you no water in the reservoirFoolish and ignorant.Schoenberg probably would have voted for tRump, so he probably deserves this, right Wayne?I’ve tried to listen to schoenberg’s music but it’s of no use there’s no music to listen to…..You just don’t have earsThis really isn’t the place or time for a discussion on Schoenberg’s music, but…has it occurred to you that not one of his works, not one, has made it into the so-called Standard Repertoire? Audiences, orchestras, conductors have pretty much, by consensus, cast Arnold’s music aside and don’t want to hear it. I like his early works a lot: Pelleas & Melisande, Gurrelieder…but the 12-tone rubbish not so much.Wayne, if you wanted to make a joke and it was clever, that would be one thing…. Btw, the original quip, which you amateurishly cribbed, is “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable”. So by switching music with economic forecasting, it really no longer makes any sense since music is abstract and doesn’t purport to posit data. I mean….total fail on your part, dude.Frankly, Carl’s Carwash soundtreck is more entertaining than Schoenberg’s music.That’s not funny.I hope they had made digital copies of all those materials and saved them to the cloud.This is just one of so many tragedies resulting from these horrific fires. Having twice visited the Getty Center Museum, I was fearful for its survival even though the fires seemed well away. I had read about the host of fire fighting and smoke avoidance facilities which protected the collection in the Getty Villa which could have been severely affected by the Pacific Palisades fire. But now evacuation has been ordered for the area near the main Getty Center Museum. It seems to have been designed with similar fire avoidance in mind and hopefully, unlike so many thousands and thousands of other structures, it will not be affected. My heart goes out to all those whose homes have been lost and livelihoods affected.Oh Gee. How Awful.Schoenberg’s former home is in Brentwood, which has been on the edge of the fire zone this weekend. It’s not far from Stravinsky’s old house too. Hoping for the best.My condolences to Belmont. Could you clarify the difference between the archive in LA and the one removed to Vienna?Does anyone know if AS’s paintings were destroyed as well? Belmont owned all of them, but they often loan them to exhibits.I think nature’s finally healing. Even many of his tonal-ish things like Pelléas or the Gurre-Lieder are overblown.Your ego is overblownThe only silver lining in the cloud!I believe It was Belmont Music destroyed not the Schoenberg Archives. Those moved from USC to Vienna some time ago.Sad news. A lot of people have suffered tremendous loss in these fires. I hope the Schoenberg archive was digitized and preserved in that way.we have devolved to a society without dignity, compassion, or sophistication. this is a great tragedy.The Huntington Library and Gardens near Pasadena has a bomb shelter for emergency storage of their priceless collections including Gainsborough’s ‘Blue Boy’.Autographs and 1st publications no doubt, but clearly the music is published and still available.Not a clear article. If their entire collection, including manuscripts, was destroyed, how are they going to digitize it?I’m confused. They say it’s all lost, but they also say they intend to make it all digitally available. Does this indicate what was lost was copies and the originals are safe somewhere else? Or, the originals were lost but a copy or copies are safe somewhere else? Or does it indicate something else?they lost business records and stock of already-printed music. The original music was not kept there. Unclear if other original materials (paintings, for example) might have been lost.I believe substantially all of his music has been published. I know the university music library located where I work has a surprisingly large set of shelves filled with the large gray volumes. Reprint houses have long sold music without access or perhaps even surviving original printing plates, etc. My take: no music has been lost forever, but buying a new copy of some of it may be challenging for a while.Please allow me to do what any normal human being should, to express my heartfelt sorrow to the Schoenberg family. I had the pleasure of getting to know Melanie in Los Angeles, and visiting the family home. They have not only lost their home and the priceless artefacts under the custodianship of the estate, but their community. I am in touch with many friends from a place I used to call home, and the life-altering devastation is beyond imagination. Human connections, family inheritances, a whole way of life, and a bustling, creative economy have been wiped out. I am heartbroken at 6,000 miles. I cannot imagine how they feel, contemplating the smouldering embers of a home, of a life’s work. I am deeply sorry for their loss, and for the loss endured by tens of thousands. Love to L.A….[Footnote: The level of wholly inappropriate commentary I find on SD assures me that there is absolutely no given correlation between a classical music education and basic human decency. The thesis that music transforms society and creates better citizens – the moral justification for El Sistema’s current tour in Europe – too often finds its manifest antithesis in these pages.]What a tragedy! Reconstruction will be a long haul.Life took me to California for several years. I survived the Loma Prieta earthquake (no picnic, that) and fled from the Oakland Hills fire. The fire was worse than the earthquake which had leveled so much. I’m comfortable in saying nothing important should ever be in California. Things are just not safe there and never will be.Larry, my condolences on losses of Belmont & your own house. How can i help ?norman lebrechtJanuary 13, 2025Anghela Gheorghiu has announced the death of her…norman lebrechtJanuary 11, 2025A grim message from Larry Schoenberg, the composer’s…norman lebrechtJanuary 13, 2025Theater Bremen has announced the death of Michael…norman lebrechtJanuary 13, 2025From a review of Maria by Donna Perlmutter:…We are doing our best to ensure that Slipped Disc is free to all readers. 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Source: https://slippedisc.com/2025/01/disaster-arnold-schoenberg-archive-is-destroyed-in-la-fires/