Schoenberg - Friede auf Erden, Op. 13

Composed in 1907 (a cappella) ; 1911 (with orchestra). Text : Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898).
Schoenberg wrote Friede auf Erden in 1907, at a moment in his life when his highly stylized late-Romanticism was agitating toward transformation into a more rigidly structured, atonal Expressionism. The piece did not receive its premiere until 1911 and though he had indicated in the earliest sketches that the music was meant to be performed a capella, Schoenberg was obliged to create an orchestral accompaniment for the concert to support the incredibly challenging vocal writing. The text for Peace on Earth was taken from an 1886 poem by the Swiss writer Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. The first verse is a depiction of the Nativity while the second tells of bloodshed and imploring angels. The third and fourth verses gradually deliver the peace of the title but the comfort supplied by this beautiful conclusion in the music has an air of caution to it. Schoenberg eventually became disillusioned on the concept of universal harmony among men and his choral evocation, one of the last pieces of his early “tonal” period, would later elicit a somber remembrance from the composer. He wrote in 1923 that Friede auf Erden was merely an “illusion,” one created when he still believed such a unity was possible. With one World War just ended and another little more than a decade away, it is no surprise that he lost the faith of that more innocent time. He was surely not alone. (utahsymphony)
Performers : Rundfunkchor Berlin, Kent Nagano

[@SamDavies94]

I sang this with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, I will never forget bashing out the notes in sectionals, and then coming together in the full rehearsal and realising what a beautiful piece of music this is. Thank you NYCGB for all the memories.

[@TimCutts]

My first concert singing with Cambridge University Music Society in December 1989 was this piece, followed by Brahms Requiem. We spent slightly less than two rehearsals on the whole of the Brahms, and the remaining time (about 7 or 8 2 hour rehearsals) solely on this piece. What a baptism of fire! By far the hardest piece I'd ever learned to sing up to that point. I loved it though, and the effect of those those chords (such as 4:09) echoing away in King's College Chapel was magical. It was a close run thing, though. As late as the penultimate rehearsal, Stephen Cleobury was seriously worried we weren't going to perform it well enough and threatened to remove it from the concert programme. It all came good in the end, though...

[@schonkable]

Gorgeous piece! Supposedly this is the last piece that Schoenberg wrote before entering his atonal phase.

[@SmeagolTheBeagle]

Yes I read that as well - also intrestingly he actually returned to his work Gurre-lieder which he started 7 years prior to his atonal quest, and finished its second half in a Mahlerian writting style (First half is a Wagnerian style) in 1911 and despite its enormous success he was angered by its positive reception as his peers, friends, students and such ridiculed him and did not support him in his quest for what is now called 'Dodecaphonic Serialism'.

[@catherinepruettpianist4971]

i love it! Never heard it before

[@CelinnaMawar]

Op. 13? I thought he hated the number 13.

[@GustavoCGomes-qq1bn]

Well spotted! hahah

[@benschweitzer6307]

That's probably why he published an older already-completed work. This was written before opp. 10-12.

[@klangschatten5610]

Gorgeous choir composition.

[@robertmanno5749]

An exceedingly difficult piece to sing A Capella. This choir does a credible job, although broader tempi would have helped the ability to ascertain all of the shifting chromaticism in the writing. Intonation is generally OK, although the sopranos when going above the staff tend to be slightly under pitch.

[@84SophieA]

It's ironic that the advert shown to me at the beginning of this video was from the FPÖ Wien (Viennese branch of the right wing political party of which Jörg Haider was a member). A pensioner moaning about how Vienna is being taken over by foreigners and he feels like he's in a minority. So much for peace on earth and goodwill to all men.

[@PhilipDaniel]

Well, it's not entirely inappropriate ... Arnold Schoenberg himself was a "right-winger" (a monarchist with a strong dislike of socialism and distrust of democracy). www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n20/nick-richardson/set-on-being-singular

[@Vanium_G5]

the irony is so sharp here it hurts

[@myleg...]

@@PhilipDaniel pretty based for a Jew

[@Fabio_Costa_Music]

I have a hard time trying to hear/understand the rich and complex harmonies. Perhaps it is a limitation of the medium a capella choir itself... and the piece might benefit from being done mixing instrumental parts in the manner of Bach motets.

[@12Trappor]

Pretty good performance (apart from the sound quality of course). Too bad Nagano doesn't respect the "a tempo" marking on the last page! It kind of ruins the jubilant ending of the piece.

[@caaaathyyy]

2:00

[@georgemosarm1345]

6:52 -N14

[@stevedanko2422]

sounds pretty atonal to me

[@alexanderzemlinsky6681]

The first two minutes are written in an idiom comparable to that of the Ave Maria by Verdi ; admittedly, it then turns out much complex harmonically - but it's certainly never atonal.

[@alexanderdevaux661]

The sound quality is garbage

[@hildeskunstmusikheim5429]

Unfortunately the sound is garbage, really! (Not the composition!)

[@teafx3]

@@hildeskunstmusikheim5429 I can understand how somebody might get confused about which he meant.

[@somebody9033]

​@@teafx3 I cannot...