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August 19, 2005
What about Schreker?
Two leftover scraps from my piece on the luminously strange operas of Franz Schreker. 1) Not one of Schreker's operas has ever been performed in the United States, according to scholar Christopher Hailey. It would be a fine thing if an adventurous opera company — Santa Fe? St. Louis? — took them up. 2) I wanted to write a brief description of Schreker's famous "shimmering" effects, but couldn't shoe-horn it into the piece. In the opening page of the Gezeichneten Prelude, the harmony oscillates between D major and B-flat minor, and what's really interesting is that this alternation takes place in separate layers, at different rates of speed. In the first layer, piano and harps spell out the chords in swirling arpeggios. In the second layer, celesta and second violins sound them in even more rapid succession. The first violins, meanwhile, snake around in sinuous patterns, while bass clarinet, violas, and cellos present Carlotta's yearning, ambiguous theme. It's one of the most bewitching soundscapes ever devised — an interior Magic Fire.
Photo from the Schreker Foundation. The "What About Schreker?" story was told to me by David Denby. This recording is a good introduction, though not ideal. CDs and a DVD of the Salzburg Gezeichneten may be forthcoming.
Originally posted by Alex Ross from Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise, ReBlogged by jeff on Aug 19, 2005 at 11:40 AM
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