Chamber Symphony No. 1 (Schoenberg)

Portrait of Arnold Schoenberg by Richard Gerstl (ca. June 1905) (Vienna Museum)

The Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9 (also known by its title in German Kammersymphonie, für 15 soloinstrumente, or simply as Kammersymphonie) is a composition by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg.

Schoenberg's first chamber symphony was finished in 1906 and premiered on 8 February 1907 in Vienna by the Rosé Quartet together with a wind ensemble from the Vienna Philharmonic, under the composer's baton. In 1913, Schoenberg again conducted the piece, as part of the famed Skandalkonzert, in which the heterodox tonalities of Schoenberg's Symphony and, more so, of his student Alban Berg's works incited the attendees to riot in protest and prematurely end the concert.

Leopold Stokowski gave the work its US premiere with the Philadelphia Orchestra on 5 November 1915. The first British performance was on 6 May[1][2] (or possibly on 16 April)[3] 1921, at the Aeolian Hall, London, conducted by Edward Clark, Schoenberg's champion and former student. The players included Charles Woodhouse (violin), John Barbirolli (cello), Léon Goossens (oboe), Aubrey Brain and Alfred Brain (horns).[4]

The piece is a well-known example of the use of quartal harmony.

  1. ^ P. A. S., "Music of the Week: Schönberg and Kreisler", The Observer (8 May 1921), p. 10
  2. ^ Jennifer Ruth Doctor (1999), The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922–1936: Shaping a Nation's Tastes, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521661171, p. 425, note 44.
  3. ^ British Library, Notable Acquisitions 1985–1994
  4. ^ Jennifer Ruth Doctor (1999) The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922–1936: Shaping a Nation's Tastes, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521661171, p. 339