| The Book of the Hanging Gardens | |
|---|---|
| by Arnold Schoenberg | |
 Portrait of Arnold Schoenberg by Man Ray, 1927 | |
| Native name | Das Buch der hängenden Gärten |
| Opus | 15 |
| Genre | Song cycle |
| Style | Free atonality |
| Text | The Book of the Hanging Gardens by Stefan George |
| Language | German |
| Composed | 1908–1909 |
| Duration | about 30 minutes |
| Movements | 15 songs |
| Scoring | Soprano and piano |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 14 January 1910 |
| Location | Vienna |
| Performers | Martha Winternitz-Dorda (soprano) Etta Werndorf (piano) |
The Book of the Hanging Gardens (German: Das Buch der hängenden Gärten), Op. 15, is a fifteen-part song cycle composed by Arnold Schoenberg between 1908 and 1909, setting poems of Stefan George. George's poems, also under the same title, track the failed love affair of two adolescent youths in a garden, ending with the woman's departure and the disintegration of the garden. The song cycle is set for solo voice and piano. The Book of the Hanging Gardens breaks away from conventional musical order through its usage of atonality.
The piece was premiered by Austrian singer Martha Winternitz-Dorda and pianist Etta Werndorf on January 14, 1910, in Vienna.