Het Collectief - Robin Engelen

The final concert in this cycle is dedicated mainly to the later, more radical Schoenberg. The Suite opus 29, for example, is one of the first strictly dodecaphonic works. The rigidity of the structure contrasts with the generous undertone of the work. Both the baroque dance suite and the dance rhythms from the 1920s offer a source of inspiration. Moreover, with an arrangement for three clarinets, string trio and piano, Schoenberg alludes to the ballroom orchestras of his time. Schoenberg wrote his String Trio opus 45 when he was 75, after a severe heart attack. Even if he did not forego dodecaphonic priniciples, the work has an explicitly nostalgic undertone. Every ¾ time signature betrays a longing for Vienna, so it is as if the modernist Schoenberg had always remained a romantic at heart… To complete the circle the concert begins with Alban Berg's opus 1, a single-movement piano sonata which he wrote during his first year of study under Schoenberg. The work is pointedly romantic in style, and a liberated use of tonality shows the eagerness of the young Berg. Despite the conspicuous influence of Schoenberg, this sonata is still regarded as one of the best works in twentieth-century piano literature.