_ ~ _ _

38 JERRY!>'lcBRlDE
Appendix III Seminar fOT Composition 1919-1920 (Schwarzwaldschule)
Leo Brsger
Erny Estermann
Heinrich Fath
Grete Feuer
Gustav Fuchs
Margit Halasz
Helene Herschel
Marianne Kirschner
Edith Komeiser
Lili Kowalska
Malvide Kranz
Friedrich Mahler
Hedwig Massarek
Hans Mayer
Alice Moller
Louise Flohn
Erwin Ratz
Magda Schwarz
Lisene Seybert
Christian Spanner-Hausen
Sofia Spatz
Lona Wassertrudinger
39
SCHOENBERG AND SCHOPENHAUER
Pamela C. White
Feeling is afreadyJorm, the fdea is afready (he Ward.:
1. INTRODUCTlON TO DOCUMENTARY EVlDENCE:
SCHOENBERG'S LIBRARY
In one of Schoenberg's Bibles, 2 at Deuteronomy
f.f.V Mose"), Chapter 22, there is an editorial subtitle which Schoen-
berg underlined in red: "Vermischte Vorschriften, besonders der
IVlenschenliebe und des lYliileidens mit Tieren Gesetze wegen Snden
und Unkeuschheit" (Various prescriptions, especially of lo-,,'e and
compassioll, with laws against vice and unchasteness). On the next
page, which begins with Deut. 22:6 and ends with 23 :26, a manila
paper marker is ripped in at the top cf the page. On it is viritten in
red pencil, "Siehe Schopenhaueri" The passage meant is indicated
by a red pencil in the margin at Deut. 22:6:
Vv'enn du auf dem V/eg findest ein Vogelnest auf einem Baum oder auf der
Erde, mit Jungen oder mit Eiern, und dass die Mutter auf den Jungen oder auf
den Eiern sitZI, so soilst du nicht die Mutter mit den Jungen nehmen.
(If on your way you find a bird's nest in a rree or on the ground, wiril young
ones or witil eggs, and the mather sitting on the yaung or on The eggs, you
shall not take toe mother wirh the yaung ones ... )
This biI of marginalia which makes the connection bet\veen the Bible
passage and Schopenhauer's concept of "Mitleid" (pity), belongs ro
a \vhole se ries of marginal inscriptions, underlinings and inserted
notes in the three complete Bibles in Schoenberg's Ebrary. ibis par-
ticular 1907 Bible, probably the first Schoenberg owned, is listed in
'Arno!d Schoenberg, "Problems in Teaching Art" (1911), Sryle {md Idea, ed. Leonard
Stein (New York: St. Manin's Press, 1975), p. 369.
zDle Bibel/oder die ganze/Heilige Schrifl/des/Allen und Neuen Teswmenls,/1!ach der
deutschen ()bersefzungID. Marrill Lu/hers (Berlin: Britische und Auslndische Bibelgesell
schaft, 1907). Ar the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, Los Angdes.
40
PAMELA C. \VHITE
his own library catalogue,; wirh an entry date of Jan. 23, 1913. VIhen
books do appear in this eatalogue-in which Schoenberg began in
January 1913 to list presumably all his books aequired up to that
date, and made his last entry in March 1918-it is of course then
possible to co me mueh eloser to the period of time in which Schoen-
berg was eoncerned with them, although there is the obvious caution
that one may read a book wel! before buying a copy of one's own,
and also one may buy a book and never read it. This sort of evidence
can only be useful in conjunction wirh other clues.
For example, many of the inseriptions oceur at various passages
which eoncerned Schoenberg at different limes, as related in his
letters or his vocal texts or essays. The passage from Deuteronomy
just cited probably was part of Schoenberg's reading in preparation
for Moses und Aron, since it is part of a section of law traditionally
attributed to Mosaic revelation.
Another useful indicator of when eertain marginalia were written
is Schoenberg's handwriting. The "Siehe Schopenhauer" note not
only pertains to Mosaic law, wh ich may suggest a possible connection
with Moses und Aron, but it is written in Gothic script, whieh Schoen-
berg abandoned after leaving Germany, and therefore a date not
later than the period of writing Moses und Aron is indicated.
In the same Bible, a lavish braided ribbon marker aceompanies a
piece of paper laid in at Leviticus with "Vershnungstag" (Yom
Kippur or Day of Atonement) wrilten on it and three passages: "3
Mose 16," "23" and "27." This appears in Gothic writing, in the
purpie indelible peneil which Sehoenberg favored in sketches in the
1920's and early 1930's, and has to do with Schoenberg's coneern
about the annulment of VOws on Yom Kippur and his re-entry imo
the Jewish community, nullifying his earlier Christian conversion-
a subjecr he was to address again in his unpublished notes to his
setting ofthe Kol Nidre, Op. 39 in 1938.'
3At the Arnold Sd'.Oenberg Institute. Adescription and lis[ of comems is published in
Clara Steuermann, "From the Archives: Schoenberg's Librar)' Catalogue," JASf, 3/2 (1979),
203-18. References to the same cmalogue are also made in H. H. Stuckenschmidt, Amofd
Schoenberg: His L!fe, World and Work, trans. H. Seade (New York: G. Schirmer, 1977),
p. 183, but are not entirely consistem with the catalogue as it no\\' stands.
4
Arno
ld Schoenberg, "To KaI Nidre," [co 1938], unpubtished notes to Ka! l\/feire, Op. 39
(in English), at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute.
SCHOENBERG .A."W SCHOPEr\HAUER 41
Nlarkers and an notations in the Psalms and some of the Prophets
are more generally applicable-they \vere important to his thought
late in life, but they are also reflected earlier in the blessing passages
of Moses und Aron, Die Jakobsleiter, and Der Biblische Weg.
The Bibles are only a sm all portion cf the entire personal library
preserved in the Schoenberg Nachlass. Hundreds of volumes are
kept at the Arnoid Schoenberg Institute, many rieh in annotations,
underlinings, and inserted notes and markers, all of which provide
clues to when Schoenberg was reading them and what he "vas think-
ing about at the time.
Much is already known in a general '.,vay about Schoenberg's philo-
sophical and literary interests and preferences, dra'vvn panIy from
the authors whose texts he chose to set: Dehmel, Balzac, etc., and
partly frem the company he kept and their recollections: comments
by contemporaries reveal a shared interest in Karl Kraus, Arthur
Schopenhauer, Friedrieh Nietzsche, and others.' The Schaenberg
library, however, provides an excellent primary rescurce for more
specific inquiries into this subjecL 6
2. SCHOENBERG AND SCHOPENHAUER:
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE
The philosophy of Anhur Schopenhauer was plan ted firmly in
Schoenberg's mind, generally , and also specifically in relation to
Schoenberg's probings for the text ef lvJoses und Aron. The mar-
ginalia described above demonstrate Schoenberg's interest in the
philosoph er. What further evidence exists concerning Schopen-
hauer's influence on Schoenberg, and of what philosophical concepts
does Ihis influence consist?
'See, for cxampie, imerviews with Schoenberg's comempo,aries in Joa" /\lkn Smh,
"Sprechstimme-Geschich(e: An Oral History of the Genesis of ,he Twelve-Tone Idea,"
Ph.D. diss. Princeron University, 1977.
Dctailed discussions of literary and philosophieal influene on Schoenberg's creative
process, incorporating evidenee from Schoenberg's library, especially in connection with fin-
de-sieck literary ini1uenees on early voca! texts, expressionist tCX'1S, Balzac, Schopenhauer
and Kar! Kraus, are given in my Ph.D. dissertation, "Idea and Representation: Source-
Criticai and Anaiytical Studies of Musie, Text and Religious Thought in Sehoenberg's
'Moses und Aron,'" Harvard University, 1983. A comple1:e listip.g of the coments of the
personal Ubrary, including notes on insened papers and marginalia in Sehoenberg's hand,
firsl assembled in connection wh this research, lS eurrently in preparation for pubiication
in the Jomnal.
42 ?:\MELA C. WHrn:
Schoenberg owned alm ost all of the works of Schopenhauer in
his private library by the year 1913. Extant in the collection are the
Smtliche Werke, all six volumes of the first Reclam edition, 1891,'
edited by Eduard Grisebach. These are all entered by Schoenberg in
his library catalogue with the date January 23, 1913. Marginal anno-
tations appear in four volumes: in voL H, a marginal note" Jakobs-
leiter!" on p. 264 of Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung; in Vol. IV,
Parerga und Paralipofnena, in the essay "Von Dam, was Einer Vor-
stellt" marginalia plus a small sheet tipped in, as well as a small
sheet 01' notes inserted in "Baranesen und Marimen;" in Val. V,
ber religion, many marginal notes plus two large pages tipped in
dated "12/XI1.1914" and "5/12.1914"; and in Vol. VI, Farben-
lehre, a brief note and a longer sheet dated "6.4.1922" as well as a
separate sheet tipped in containing notes on God. In addition, one
of the most well-worn books in the library is the Parerga und Para-
lipomena: Kleine Philosophische Schriften, vol. 2, a second copy of
the Reclam Werke. The Book is not listed in Schoenberg's own
catalogue, and therefore was probably added to the collection after
1918. The margins of this book are heavily annotated, covering a
wide range of topics, and there is heavy pencil underlining on every
page, indicating very elose reading.
Additional evidence exists for dating Schoenberg's interest in
Schopenhauer, beginning as early as 1911, when Schoen'oerg made
reference to Schopenhauer (Parerga und Paralipomena) in the first
edition of the Harmonielehre.' The following year, Schoenberg also
referred to Schopenhauer in two essays: "Gustav Mahler,''' and
"The Relationship to the Text." '0 The two short essays inserted into
the Schopenhauer Werke, Vol. V, both bear dates indicating a simi-
lar, only slightly later period of interest: "12/XIl 1914," and "5!l2
1914." In addition, the quotation at the head of this article, from
"Problems in Teaching Art" (1911)," already contains the words
'Reclam pI. nos. 2761-5, 1781-5, 2801-5, 2821-5, 2841-5, 2861-5, date in
Hbscher, Schopenhauer-Bibliographie (StuHgart; F. Frommann-G. Holzboog, 198 i),
pp . .)-6.
STheory oJ Harmony, trans, R. Carter (Berkdey: Univers)' 01' California Press, 1978;
based on 3rd German ed., 1922), p. 414.
9Sly1e and Idea, pp. 457-8.
I 0S{yleond !deo, pp. 141-2.
"S{yle und !deo, p. 369.
SCHOEl\BERG A:-':D SCHOPEl\HAUER
43
"feeling" and "form," "idea/' and "word,)) the importance cf
which will 'oe described below.
Schopenhauer continued to be important to Schoenberg through-
out the 1920's as \veIl: an unpublished manuscript in the Nachlass
entitled "Schopenhauer und Sokrates" is dated "Potsdach, 23.VII.
1927."
Oskar Adler was an important personal inf1uence on Schoenberg's
philosophy and Da doubt abaut reinforced the latter's in te rest in
SchoDenhauer. Schoenberg acknowledged Adler as an importam
early influence on his philosophical thinking in the essay "My Evolu-
tion" (1949):
Through him [Os kar Adler] llearned of the existence of a [heo!y of music,
and he directed my first steps therein. He also slimu!aled my imeres[ in poeuy
arid phi!osophy and ail my acquaintance wirh ciassical music derived from
piaying quanets \vith hirn, for even then he was already an excellem first
vioEnist.'2 (emphasis mine)
Adler's personal influence has also been described by CODl.:empo-
raries of Schoenberg as communicating a specific im:erest in the
philosophy of Schopenhauer. Lona Truding, one of the pianists in
the Verein fr musikalische Privatauffhrungen, and a student of
Schoenberg at the Schwarzwald school seminar, is recorded as say-
ing, 'Oskar Adler was a great admirer of Schopenhauer and they
were all Kantians. That was the time. Yes, Kantianism hadn't died
out yet."'3
Karl Kraus, \vhose influence on Schoenberg \vas also very impor-
rant in the formulation of his philosophieal, literary and political
thinking, I has also been described as deriving his philosophical
orientation from Schopenhauer. Janik and Toulmin, authors cf
JiVittgenstein 's Vienna, have written:
Kraus himsetf \vas no philosopher, sll less a scicntisL If Kraus' s vic\vs haVe
a philosophical ancestry, this comes most assuredly horn Schopenhauer; for
alone among the great philosophers, Schopenhauer was a kindred spirit, a
man of philosophical profundity, \vith a strang talent for poiemic and
i2S{)!!e and Idea, pp. 79-80.
':-Quoted from a personai imcrvlew in Joan Allen Smith, "Sprechsti!Eme-Gchichle,"
p.43.
:4This lOpic is discussed in detail in my Ph.D. dissertation, "ldea and Represcntation,"
pp. 126-34.
44
PA!'1iELA C. \\'1-111"E
ism, a literary as weIl as philosophicat genius. Schopenhauer, indeed, was the
only philosopher \vho at aB appealed to Kraus.' 5
Schoenberg's use of his Schopenhauer vo]umes may be compared
to his books by other philosophers: of Kant, Schopenhauer's direc!
intel!ectual forebear, he owned practically everything: the Reclam
Smtliche Werke in eight volumes, plus Kritik der reinen Verkunfl,
Kritik der Urteilskraft, and Prolegomena zu einer jeden Kunfiigen
Metaphysik, die als Wissenschaft wird auftreten knnen (also
undated Reclam editions). Of Hegel, no books at all! Of Nietzsche,
who admitted a great debt to Schopenhauer," several works: Der
Face Wagner: Gtzen Dmmerung, Nietzsche Contra Wagner, Um-
wertung aller Werte, Dichtungen Vo!. VIII (pub!. 1904), Das Geburt
der Tragdie Vo!. I (pub!. 1903), Also Sprach Zarathustra (pub!.
1906), and Gedichte und Sprche (Pub!. 1901). Other philosophical
writings in his library include one v01ume of Feuerbach, Ein Ver-
mchtnis (1912); several volumes of Hemi Bergson; complete Werke,
volumes (1910), Entweder/Oder, 2 vo1s. (1911), and Die Tagebcher,
vo!. 2 of two volumes (1923) of S0fen Kierkegaard; the Wrterbuch
der Philosophischen Begriffe by Rudolf Eisler (father of the com-
poser Hanns Eisler), (published in Berlin in 1927 and like]y acquired
there); as weIl as Aristotle, Nikomachische Ethik (1909); Hippocra-
tes, Erkenntnisse (1907); and Plato, 8 volumes published in the years
1906-1910, including Platon Staat (1909), wh ich contains a book-
mark and one sm al! annotation, and appears wel! worn.
As for the dating of the period during which Schoenberg's interest
in these other phi10sophers began, Schoenberg's own library cata-
10gue further confirms datings earlier than the 1920's for his reading
of other philosophers. Schoenberg entered eleven volumes of Kant
in the catalogue on January 23, 1913, with five of Bergson, four
of Nietzsche and one of Swedenborg in 1913 as wel!. Feuerbach is
i5 Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmin, Wiugensrein's Vienna (New York: Simn and
Schusrcr, 1973), p. 74. The ~ m e amnors also liken Kraus [0 Kierkegaard, pp. 79 alle 179fr.
Schopenhauer, Kant and Nietzsehe are all mentioned many times in Kraus' literaTY joumai,
Die Fackel.
IONierzsche wrmc of The Worid as Wit! and Idea [hat it was "a mirror in "vhieh I eSDl0u
the wodd, life, and my o\\'n nature depicted wirh a frightfuJ grandeur," and "It seemed '-1.5
if Schopenhauer \vere addressing me personally. I feIt his enthusiasm, and seemed 1O see
him before rne. Every Ene cried aloud for renunciation, denial, resignation." Trans. "Vii!
Duram, The Story ofPhifosophy, 2nd ed. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961), p. 303.
SCI-IOE0iBERC AND SCHOPE;\H.\LER 43
listed with one volume, an undated entry probably made between
1915 and 1918, as deduced from surrounding entries in Schoenberg's
library catalogue. (Klerkegaard is not listed, moving the probable
date cf purehase of the [hree Kierkegaard volumes in the current
library to a date after 1918.) Schoenberg also made references ta
Nierzsche in essays dated as early as 1911," also in 1922," and as
late as 1947. "
It may be seen from these data that Schoenberg's interesr in Scho-
penhauer, Kant and Nietzsehe was wel! developed by 1913 (Schoen-
berg was then 39 years old), and he had done extensive reading cf
other philosophers by that time as \Nell.
Vlhat is rem ar kable by its absence is any evidence in Schoenberg's
library of the \vorks of Ludwig \Vittgenstein (1889-1951) and his
cirde. \A/hile Wittgenstein's writings became available as early as
1914, there is no evidence that Schoenberg ever investigared 'Chis line
of philosophical thought, although it was heing developed viTtually
in his Oi,vn backyard. The curious intermingling of philosophers,
artists and critics in Vienna at this time, and the resurgence of
interest in Kant
J
Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard occurring simul-
taneously witt "modernist" movements in philosophy like logical
positivism, are described in more detail in Wittgenstein 's Vienna by
Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmin. 20
3. THE INFLUENCE OF SCHOPENHAUER ON SCHOENBERG
The influence of Schopenhauer on Schoenberg's thinking can be
seen in several different ways. First, the influenee 1S refleeted directly
in Schoenberg's own essays, and philosophical 'Vvritings about music
and other matters. Schopenhauer's use of the Platonic Idea (Idee)
becomes extremely important. On the basis of the documentary evi-
dence from Schoenberg's library, it seerns that it is primarily through
Schopenhaner that Schoenherg became preoccupied wirh this con-
cept of !dea, (Gedanke, Platonic Idee, or, as in Schopenhauer, Vor-
:7"Problems in Teaching An," Slyieand Idee!, pp. 365-8.
:s"i\bout Ornamems, Primitive RhYIhms, ete. and Bird Song," S!}'!!e und Idea, pp. 298-
302.
] :"Brahms the Progressive, " Style und Idea, pp. 398,414.
2vSee especiaHy pp. 18- i 9, 92-119.
46 PAMEL-\ C. \\"Hl: L
siellung)," and its Represenration (Darstellung)."
These concepts had become a commonplace by 1910 in virtually
all fields of Viennese cultural debate," and were an importanr envi-
ronmental influence on all creative artists of the time in one way or
another. The discussion of these concepts inc!uded, for example,
works before 1900 by science theorists Gustav Hertz (1887-1973)
and Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894), and inspired the linkage of
philosophy and aesthetics with criticism of language (Sprachkritik)
and theory of knowledge in the first decade of the twentieth eentury
by such philosophers as Ernst Mach (1838-1916), Fritz Mauthner
1849-1923), Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945)" as wel! as Wittgenstein.
Schoenberg did not own any writings by these authors, however, and
there is no documenrary evidence that they played a direet role in
the formulation of his thoughts about ldea and Represenration, as
Schopenhauer's writings c1early did.
The Platonic ldea in Schopenhauer is particularly expounded con-
cerning art.
The trmh which lies at the foundation of all thaI we have hilherto said about
an, is that the object of an, the Represemmion of which is the aim of the
artist, and the knowledge of which must therefore precede his \vork as its germ
and saurce, is an Idea in Plato's sense, and never anything else; tlor the par-
Iicular thing, the object of common apprehension, and not the concept, thc
object of rational thought and of science. cl
Schopenhauer even develops a specific view of the purpose of
music, from which the connection with Schoenberg is easily drawn:
The Platonic Ideas are thc adequate objec[jfication of \vill. To excite or suggest
the know!edgc of these by means of the Representation of particular things
(for works of an are themselves always Represenrations of panicular things)
is thc end of all thc other arts, which can only be attained a corresponding
change in the knowing subjecL Thus all these arts objectify the will indireclly
2'For example, sec Schopenhauer's uses cf the term Vorstellung, in Die V/ei! als }Vj/fe
und Vorste{{ung, cd. 1.. Berndl, Bibliothek der Philosophen 1lI; Schopenhauers !-Vake il!
(Munieh: Georg Mller, 1912), pp. 3rT; and Vorstellung as Platonic Idee, pp. 203fL
22Ibid., see especiall;.' Darstellung as expression of an, pp. 257ff.
"3 For funher discussion of [his phiJosophical debale, see Ja"ik a!ld Toulr:lin, 0]). ci,
pp. 31, 120-66.
for example, E. Cassirer, Philosophie der s)"mboiischen Formen, Tei! f: Dii? Sprach'.!
(Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1923).
25Trans. D. H. Parker in Schopenhauer, Selecrions (New York: CharJes Scribncr's Sons,
1928), p. 154.
SCHOENBERG A:--;D SCHOPENHAUER
onl)' by means of the ldeas; and since our world is nothing but the manifesta-
tion of the Ideas in multiplicity, through their entrance into the principle of
individualit)' (the form of the knowledge possible for the individual as such),
musie also, since it passes over the Ideas, is emireI)! independent of the phe-
nomenai \\'orld. ignores it altogether, could 10 a cerrain extent exist if Ihere
\"..as no warld at all, ,"vhieh cannot be said of the other arts. Music is as
an objectifica[ion and cOPY of the whole will as rhe world rtse!f, nay, even
as [he Ideas, ',vhose multiplied manifestation constitutes the world of indi-
vidual things. Music is thus by no means like the other ans, Ihe copy of the
Ideas, but the copy of the Will itself, whose objectivity the Ideas are. This 15
why the effect of music is so much more po\verful and peneLrating than that
of the Lher ans, fr [hey speak only of shadO\vs, bur it speaks of the [hing
itself. ,6
Schoenberg adopted these cnstructs virtually \'vho1e. The most
familiar expression of these ideas by Schoenberg in prose is the nov;,
famous essay "New Music, Outmoded Music, Style and Idea'J
(1946), in which the whole issue of the Idea and Represenration is
thrashed out, and the Idea in any true art form is proclaimed as pri-
mary, and style the servant \vhieh expresses it, and never the other
\.vay around.
2i
In the same year, in "Heart and Brain in I'!Iusic/
l
Sehoenberg also stated that in \.vriting Verkine lVachr he "'t,:anted
lO express the idea behind the poem."" Schoenberg's essays emitled
"Der musikalische Gedanke, seine Darstellung und Durchfhrung,"
and "Der musikalische Gedanke und die Logik, Technik, und Kunst
seiner Darstellung," unpublished manuscripts at the Arnold Schoen-
berg Institute Archive, (dated "6.7.1925" and '21," "22," and
"29.6.34" "'lith an earlier outline dated and a later intro-
duetion dated "Ende September 1934"),2'1 reflee! this artistic pre-
occupation with Idea and RepresentaIion.
Schoenberg dealt directly and not uneritically with Schopenhauer's
"demand that the evaluation of works of an can only be based on
authority" in fr the Evaluation of Music" (1946):
Unfortunately he does not say who bestows authority Dor how one can acquire
i[; nor whe[her Ir \vill remain uncontested, and whal will happen if such an
26lbid., pp. 176-7.
rStpieand fdea, PD. 113-24.
:'''St:rfe cmd Idea, p: 55.
descripIion 01' this material are given in Akxander Goeh:, "Schoenberg's
Cedanke :vlanuscript," JAS! 2 (1977), pp. 4-25; also described in Rufer, The 0/
/-lrnofd Schoenberg, trans. Dika Newlin (London: Faber ar:d Faber, 1962), pp. 127-8.
48 PA\1ELA C, \VH1TE
authority makes mistakes. Mistakes like his own, when hc, disregarding Bee-
thoven and Mozart, called Beliini's Norma the greatest opera. 30
Schoenberg criticized Schopenhauer's theory cf music D1uch earlier
in "The Relationship to the Text" (1912), beginning lhe essay as
follows:
Even Schopenhauer, who at first says something really exhaustive about the
essence of music in his wonderful thought. The composer reveais the inmOSE
essence of the \vorld and utters the most profound wisdom in a language \vhich
his reason does not understand, just as a magnetie somnambulist gives dis-
closures about things which she has no idea of when awake-even he loses
himself later \vhen he tries to transJate details of Ihis language which {he reason
does no{ undersland imo our terms. Ir mUSI, however, be dear to hirn that in
this translation into rhe terms of human Ianguage, which is abstraction, reduc-
[ion to the recognizable, the essential, the language of the \Vorld, \",hieh ouglll
perhaps to remain incomprehensible and only perceprible, is lost. But even so
he is justified in this procedure, sinee after all it is his aim as a philosoph er ro
represent [he essence of the world, its un5urveyable weallh, in terms of con-
cepts \vhose poverty is all wo easily seen through. '
He also referred to Schopenhauer's distinction between sorrow and
sentimentality in regard to Mahler's music in his essay "Gusta'!
Mahler" (1912;1948).
\iVhat is true feeling? Btil [hat is a quesIion of feeling! That can only be
answered by feeling! Whose feelings are fight? Those cf the man who disputes
the true feelings of anolher, cr Ehose of the man \vho gladly grams another his
[fUe feelings, so lang as he says just \'ihat he has IO say? Schopenhauer expiains
the difference between senmentality and tfue SOrrQ\\". He chooses as an exam-
pie Penareh, 'ivhom the painters of broad $r[okes would surely caU sentimental,
and shO\\'s [hat the differenee eonsists in this: true sorrow elevates itself w
resignation, \vhile sentimemality is ineapable of that, but ahvays grieves and
mourns, so that one has finally lost 'eanh and heaven together' . J:
Like the references to Schopenhauer in "The Relationship to the
Text," the untitled essay dated "5/12 1914" inserted into Vol. V of
the Schopenhauer Werke, ber Religion, also indicates that while
Schoenberg took Schopenhauer's writings very seriously, he did not
ab so rb them uncritically, whole. n In it, he criticizes Schopenhauer's
30Slyleand fdea, p. 136.
>IIbid., pp.
32Ibid., p. 457.
33Thanks tO David Schwarzkopf, Harvard Music Library, far assislance in lranscfloing
and [ranslating these unpublished essays.
SCHOE;\,BERG AND SCHOPE?\HAL!ER 49
attitude to\vard ludaism as careless and reDecting a personal a\'ersion
or prejudice. He criticizes very particular statements of Schopen-
hauer, pointing out that Judaism does not lack a messianic vision of
hope, and further criticizing Schopenhauer's uncritical lise of the
Ahasueras myth, citing the hardships of the chosen people as evi-
dence that ludaism continues to exist against all odds, because it
adheres to spiritual, not material rewards. (The shorter insened
essay, "12/ XII 1914," 1S a curious and rnisogynist excursus, acknovv'l-
edged by Schoenberg himself as fancifu!, expanding on a reference
by Schopenhauer to jealousy, stating that male jealousy is needed to
prevent women from fornicating \vith lo\ver life ferms and contami-
nating the human species!)
The 1927 unpublished essay "Schopenhauer und Sokrales" is also
a critical one, accusing Schopenhauer of indefensibly dismissing
Socrates as a fiction of Plato. Schoenberg argues that Schopenhauer
should knov-/ that great ideas cannot always be expressed easily, and
mal' be especial!y difficuit to pul on paper. Therefore, Socrales very
likely did exist but needed Plato for expression-the very issue cf
idea and Representation and the core issue of ]'vloses und Aron again.
In addition to these direcr references, elements of Schopenhauer's
thought seern to be echoed in oIher writings of Schoenberg as weIl.
Schoenberg comes dose to quoring Schopenhauer's philosophy of
art in a letter (c. 1913) to Emil Hertzka about the purpose of hls
opera" Die Glckliche Hand":
The whole thing should have the eHeet (not of a dream) but of ehords. Of
music. Ir must never suggest symbois, cr meaning, or {hougt!s, but simply the
play 01' cola urs and forms. Just as music never drags a meaning around with
it, at ieast not in [he form in which it (music) manifests irself, even though
meaning is inherent in its naIUre, so wo this should simply be like sounds for
the ey'e, and so far as I am concerned everyone i5 free to [hink or feel something
similar to \vhat he [hinks or f,,;els \vhile hearing muslc. 3"
A sirnilar passage occurs in a charming letter of Schoenberg to \\1a1-
ter Koons of NBC, weilten in English in 1934. Note in addition to
Schol!nberg Leuers, ed. Erwin Stein, trans. Eithne \Vilkins and ErnsI Kaiser
(London: Faber and Faber, 1964; 1st German ed. 1958), p. 44.
50
?A:VELA C. WHlTE
the definition of music, the Schopenhauerian attention to the theme
of fulfillment of desires:
Music is a simultaneous and a of tones and tone combinarions,
wh ich are so organized Ehat its impression on the ear is agreeable, and its im-
pression on the intelligence 1S comprehensibie, and that these Impressions have
the po\',:er W influence occuit pans of our soul and of our sentimental spheres
and that this influence makes us live in a dreamland of fulfilled desires, or in
adreamed hell of .... etc .. , etc .. , .. ,
What is water?
H,O; and \ve can drink it, and can wash us by it; and Ir is transparent; and
has no eolom; and we can use it to swim in and to ship; and it drives mills '
etc., ete.,
I know a nice and wuching story:
A blind man asks his guide: 'How looks milk?'
The Guide ansvlI'ered: 'Milk looks \vhite.'
The Blind Man: 'What's thm 'white'? I\'1ention a thing \vhich is white['
The Guide: 'A swan. It is perfect white, and iI has a long whire and bem neck .. '
The Blind Man: 'A bent neck'? How is Ihm'?'
The Guide, imitating \vith his arm the form of a swan's neck, lets the blind man
feel the form of his arm ..
The Blind Man (flowing softiy with his hand along the arm of (he Guide):
'Nmv I know how looks milk.''':'
he preoccupation wirh the Idea and its Representation is
clearly written into the text of l'vioses Lind Aron. oe, For exam
ple, the first mention of "Gedanke" is made by ivloses in
connection with God: "Gott meiner Vter, Gott Abrahams, Isaaks
und Jakobs, der du ihren Gedanken in mir \viederenveckt hasL"
("God of my father; God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who has
reawakened these ideas in me.") This passage may be compared to
the Biblical passage from wh ich it was drawn, Exodus 3:6: "And he
[God] said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'" echoed again at Ex. 3: 15
and 3:16. The concept of the Idea was Schoenberg's own addition
to the original Biblical material.
,5 fbid., p .. 186,
.i6A fun her brief descriptior. of the !dea (Gedanke) as cemral w lhough:
especial!y in relation [Q /'/foses und Aron, is given in Odil Hannes S,cck, (Yluses und Am!!:
Die Oper A .. Schn bergs und ihr biblischer sroffCvlunich: Kaiser, 1981), pp .. 42-4 ..
..0. .. :\0 SCHOPENHAUER 51
Schoenberg's "'\:\/ort" or \Vord is also akin to the conceDt of
Representation Of Darstellung .. At the end of Act II in the
powerful moment which eloses the musical portion of the opera as
it was left by the composer, Moses addresse; God as the itself:
"Unvorstellbarer Gottl Unaussprechlicher, vieldeutiger Gedanke 1"
(" !nconceivable God! Inexpressible, ambiguous Idea!") Here the
nominalism of Kant and Schopenhauer loudly resonates, equating
the ultimate ldea with the noumena which can never be directly
known. In reaction to the salvation of the people in splte of their
apostasy, Moses cries out in despair, "Lsst du diese Auslesung zu?
Darf Aron, mein Mund, dieses Bild machen? ... " ("Will you allow
this interpretation? Is Aron, my mouth, permined 'Co make this
Image?") The problem again is of Gedanken VS. Bild. "So habe
ich mir ein Bild gemacht, falsch, wie ein Bild nur sein kann! So bin
ich geschlagen1 So \var alles \Vahnsinn, \vas ich gedacht habe, .. ,"
have I created an image, false as an image can only bel So I am
defeated! So all was madness that ! thought before.")-the ultimate
realization that the nournena can never be fully kno'vvn-"und kann
und darf nicht gesagt \verdenl 0 vVort, das mir fehlt!" ('-"and can
and dares not oe spokenl 0 word, thou \vord that I lackl")
The \vords of the opening formula c\viger, allgegen-
wrtiger, unsichtbarer und unvorstellbarer Gott" appear frequently
throughout. Essential components cf Schoenberg's personal theol-
ogy, in lvfoses und Aron they take on an invocational, almest incan-
tational quality. The words also appear periodically by themselves
or in pairs, for example, "unvorstellbar-unsichtbar" in Aron's
\vords in Act 1, Scene 2, and, as nouns: "Allmchti2:er" or ;'der
,:, Allmchtiger." 01' all these adjectives, "unvorstellba;n is the
due to the philosophical genesis of Schoenberg's o\\'n GOllesgedank.
T h ., "U . h b ""
l. oget ,er \Vltn "nSlC t ar, unvorstellbar>? directly echoes the
language of Schopenhauer, the concept of ;'Vorstellung" and "Dar-
stellung" and the nominalist principle that nothing can oe kno\vn
in irs essence, but on1y incompletely through the senses .. This though!
is directly expressed in the dialogue between Moses and Aron in
Act I, Scene 2 in the oratorio, \vhen I\1oses says "Kein Bild kann Dir
ein Bild geben vom Unvorstellbaren."
52
PA.\1EL.:\ C. WH 11.:
Aron responds with a similar thought: "Nie wird Liebe Ermden
sichs vorzubilden." Schoenberg's o\vn religious application of this
Schopenhauerian concept is precisely in connection with the Biblical
idea of a Chosen People. The people are happy or blessed precisely
because they can think about or contemplate and love a God which
in its essence is invisible and unknowable. This working out of Scho-
penhauer's thought and terminology through a religious, and specif-
ically Old Testament mode, is perfectly exemplified in the following
excerpt from Act 1, Scene 2 in the oratorio text:
Moses: Nur im Menschen kann Gott bekmpft werden. Nur in seiner Vor-
stellung. Gou aber bertriff[ jede Vorsle!!ung.
Aron: Gebilde der hcbsten Phantasie, wie dankt sie dirs, dass Du sie reizes::
zu bilden.
Moses: Kein Bild kann Dir ein Bild machen vom Unvorstellbaren.
Aron: Nie wird die Liebe ermden siehs vorzubilden. Glckliches Volk das
so seinen GOlt liebt. Auserwhlres Volk, einen einzigen GOll, e\-vig zu lieben
mit tausendmal der Liebe mit der alle andern Volker ihre vielen Guer lieben
sie wechseln.
)Aoses: Auserwhltes Volk: ein in einzigen, ewigen, unvorstellbaren, allge-
genwrtigen, unsichtbaren Gott zu denken.
Aron: Unvorstellbar-unsichtbar-Volk, ausenvhlt den einzigen zu liebe, I,virst
Du ihn unvorstellbar wollen, \venn schon unsichtbar?
Moses: \-Vollen? Kann Gott sein, dass wir ihn uns vorsle!!en knnen"? 'Nenn
er sichtbar ist, kann er berblickbar sein? Wenn er berblickbar wre, also
nicht unendlich kann er dann ewig sein-wenn er endlich im Raum?"
This is the central conflict of the opera, the tension betv/een Idea
(God) and Representation"-the long chain of increasingly inac-
curate communication from God as thing-in-itself at the very open-
ing (\vordless sound, like Schopenhauer's description of music, com-
muning direetly with the noumena or Will), IO God speaking out of
the buming bush to Moses, through Moses to Aron, and from Aron
and the priests IO the people.
37This fundamenta! fact has been remarked upon by authors as diverse as Theodo!" .A.do,:w
in "Sakrales Fragmem: ber Schnbergs ':V1oses und :\roo'," Gesammelte Schriften, ::-\0.16,
Musikalisches Schriften 3 (Frankfurt am ;vlain: Suhrkamp, 1971), pp. 454-75; Ka:I \Vrner
in Schoenberg's 'ArIoses und Aroll,' trans. P. Hamburger (Londor:.: Faber and Faber, 1963);
Hans Ke!ier in "Schoenberg's 'Moses und Aron,'" The Score 21 (1957), pp. 30-45; a!1d
David Lewin in "Moses und Aron': Some General Remarks, and AnalYIlcal fm"
Act I, Scene I," in B. Boretz and E. T. Cone, Perspeclives on Schoenberg and S!m')insk)
(New York: Vi. \V. Nonon, 1972), pp. 61-77.
SCHOE?'iSERG At"D SCHO?E:--iH..cER
53
This \\ias not a ne\v theme to Schoenberg. A development can be
seen in Schoenberg's texts from expressionism, the portrayal of feel-
ing, of ra\v emotion (either as an individual's unconscious, as in
or as essences of subjective states, as in the "Ich-drama"-
style Die glckliche Hand), to a more universal state-the ldea.
Idea is equated in Jakobsleiler as weH as in jVloses und Aron with the
holy, the universal. Die Jakobsleiter 1S the transitional \Vork, its
music stylistically an amalgamation of Schoenberg's pre-twelve-tone
compositional techniques, its text rooted in the rheosophical and
S\vedenborgian I Strindbergian influence described in the previous
section.
},;Joses und Aron inherits that stream cf development-the orgy
scene still retains some of the features of the expressionistlc \\lorks
a decade earlier. The concept of Idea is used in this context as simiIar
to the Platonic archetype-the artist drawn from anoIher '"plane' 1
>,vhere archetyp al images are eternally pre-existent. This transcends
the more lyrical heroic image of the artist in Die glckliche Iiand.
The dilemma 01' all art is the unattainability of the archetype-rhe
loss of the archetype to the concrete expression of it. It is impossible
to capture the archetype in a moment, on canvas, ete. The artisI's
product is always something less than the unformed VIsion. In
Sehoenberg's terms, Style ean hinder the Idea. The best use of style
is to come as close as possible to expressing the 1dea, the pre-existant
reality equated \vith the Ward, even \vith the Haly. Thus, in j'vJoses
und Aron the religious level and the level of meaning as an allegory
for the creative process are drawn tagether as the same mystery,
with the word as Idea and Holy at onee.
The concept of Gedanke is also expounded in a similar way in Der
biblische Weg, Schoenberg's play about founding a new Jewish
stare in Israel which just preceded his work on jVloses und Aron.
As in ,Vloses und Aron, Schoenberg is concerned with the invisible
and inconceivable God. The hero of rhe play, Max Aruns, is very
similar to Moses and represents a kind of Schopenhauerian genius.
The ring of Schopenhauer's philosophy is heard in Aruns' and his
aid Pinxar's words:
Aruns: Our belief in an invisibie and inconceivable God offers no material
fulfillment ...
54
PA;v'IELA C. WHTI E
Pinxar: Our religion will never be a very popular oue: it is too inteHecmal
for that.
Aruns: And for this very reason, our emire history is dominated by' religious
struggles. Everything in [his history culminates tn an attempt to explain the
pure concept of God. Everything tries to make [his concept compreht:!1sible
and popular. H
Schoenberg links the concept of the Chosen People with Ihis com-
prehension-that God cannal be known. The iengthy speech whieh
concludes the play is a didactic exposition of this belief, applied to
Schoenberg's vision of an ideal Jewish state, a political entity espoused
to this philosophical and religious ideal:
The Jewish people lives for one ldea: the Idea of a single, immortal, etemal,
and inconceivable God. Our only desire is to esrablish the mle of this concepL
Perhaps this idea in irs purest form will some day rule all the wodd .
Our destination is that of every aneient people: we muse spiritualize ourse!ves.
We must disassociate ourselves f,om aB material things.
But there ls one other goal: we must all learn to think the Idea of the one,
etemal, invisible, and inconeeivable God.
'0/e wish to lead our spiritual life and shall allow no onc to hinder us in so
doing.
We wish to perfeet ourselves spirituaHy, \ve wish 10 be permitted to dream our
dream of God iike all ancient peoples \vho have overcome materiaEsm and
left it behind them.
End of the Drama" 11
3SArnold Schoenberg, The Bib!ica! Woy, trans. W. V. Blomster !rom t'r.-;:. or;,ginal P."2.'1U-
script, Berlin, Jdy 18, 1927, at the Schoenberg Institu[e (unpublished manuscript
by counes)' of the 1ranslator).
lbid., pp. 103-4.
SCHOE\'BERG A0JD
APPENDIX: RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL
WORKS IN SCHOENBERG'S LIBRARY
I. Bibles
55
Die Bibel/oder die ganze/Heilige Schrift/der Allen und /\/euen Teslamenls,/nach
der deutschen OberselZung/D. lvfartin Luthers. BerEn: Britische und Ausln-
dische Bibelgesellschaft, 1907. Annotated, notes and braided ribbon marker
laid in.
Die Bibel/oder die ganze/Heilige Schrifl/der Alfen und /'v'euen Tes!arnents,/nach
der deulschen Dberseizung/D. /l;1arfin LUlhers. Berlin: Preussisehe HauDt-Bibel-
gesellschaft, 1925. Annotated, notes laid in. .
Die Heilige Schrijl//\/ach dem masorelischen Text neu bersetzt und erkidrt nebst
einer Einleilung von S. Bernfe!d, 3rd ed. Frankfun: Kaufmann, 1919. Annotated.
Das ]\leue Testament. BerEn: Britische und Auslndische Bibelgesellschaft, 1901.
(missingpp.1-4,13-18.)
The /'v'ew Teslamen! in Hebre,',! and English. London: TriniIarian Bibie Societv,
n.d. -
Psalter und Buch Hiob. Leipzig: Reclam, n.d. Selfbd. [Listed in Schoenberg's
o\>,:n library caralogue, but now lost?]
11. Other Reiigious and Philosophica! Works
Adler, Oskar. Einfhrung in die Astrologie als Geheimwissenschaft. Vols. 1 and 2.
Vienna: Oskar Adier, 1935. Hand\\'riucn dedicmion tO Schocnben<.. Bound in
one 1,'01. by Schoenberg.
__ . Das Testament der Astrologie: Einfhrung in die Astro!ogie als Geheini-
,vissenschafl, VoL 1. 2nd improved cd. \/ienna: 'vValter Krieg, 1950. Hand-
\\Titten dcdication 1O Schoenberg.
Adorno, Theodor. "Amwon eines Adepten, an Hans F. Rediich." Leuer in galle\'
.
___ . Philosophie der neuen /vlusik. Tbingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1949. Dedicared
to and annotated by Schoenberg.
Aristotel. Nikomachische Efhik. Trans. (German) Adolf Lasson. Jena: Eugen
Diederich , 1909.
Bergson, Hemi. Schupferisehe Enrwicklung. Trans. Gertrud Kantorowicz. Jena:
Diederich, i912.
___ . Zeir und Freiheit: eine Abhandlung ber die Unrni!lelbaren Bewuss!sein-
stalsachen. Jena: Diederich, 1911.
Eisler , Rudolf. Wrterbuch der Philosophischen Begrijj'e, 4rh ed. 3 vols. Berlin:
E. S. Minler u. Sohn, 1927-30.
Feuerbach, Anse1m. Ein Vermchtnis. BerEn: Meyer u. Jessen, 1912.
56
PA\1ELA C. \,"/}-llTE
Haggadah: Erzhlung von Israels Auszug aus Aegypren. Fr die heiden Abende
des Pesach-Fesles. (Passover Haggadah in Hebrew and German.) 'henna: los.
Schlesingers Buchhandlung, 1909.
Hippokrates. Erkenntnisse. (Greek-German) Trans. Theodor Beck. Jena: Diederich,
1907.
Josephus, Flavius. Geschichte des Jdischen Krieges. Trans. (Germ an) Heinrich
Clementz. Berlin: Benjamin Harz, 1923. Signed by Otto Klemperer on page i.
Kandinsky, \\-'assily. ber das Geistige in der Kunst: Insbesondere in der kla!erei.
Munieh: Piper, 1912. Dedication cf author on page 1; two photographs of
sketches laid in.
Kant, Immanuei. Kritik der reinen Vernunft. Leipzig: Reclam, n.d.
___ . Kritik der Urteilskraft. Leipzig: Redam, n.d.
___ . Prolegomena zu einer jeden knstigen jlderaphysik, die als Wissenschafr
wird auftreten knne. Leipzig: Reclam, n.d.
(Also 8 other volumes in a collection of Kant's works.)
Kierkegaard, Soren. Gesammelte Werke. Vols. land 2: Entweder/Oder. Trans.
Wolfgang Pfleiderer and Christoph Schrempf. Vols. 6 and 7: Philosophische
Brocken/ Abschliessende unwissenschaftliche .Nachlschrift. Trans. H. Gottsched
and Christoph Schrempf. Jena: Diederich, 1910-13.
___ . Die Tagebcher. 2 vols. Trans. Theodor Haecker. Innsbruck: Brenner,
1923. (VoL 1 missing.)
Der Koran. Abridged ed. E. Harder. Leipzig: Insel, n.d. [no. 172],
Kraus, KarL Die Fackel. Selfod. Nos. 261-86 (1908-09), 293-314 (1910), 384!5-
405 (1913-15), 454-73 (1917), 474-507 (1918-19), 514-18 (1919-20 w! pp. miss-
ing), 800-805 (1929), 890-905 (1934).
___ . Die Letzten Tage der lVienschheit: Trgodie in fnf Akien mit Vorspiel
und Epilog. '/ienna: Verlag Die Fackel, 1918-19. Selfbd.
___ . Traumstck. Vienna: Verlag Die Fackel, 1922.
Worte in Versen, 7 'lols. Leipzig: Verlag der Schriften von Karl Kraus,
1916-23. (Vol. VI missing; Vol. IV was a gift from Webern, \vith a letter laid in
daled 1919.)
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Also Sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch fr Alle und Keinen.
Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1906.
___ . Gedichte und Sprche. Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1901. Gift wh inscrip-
tion: "In tiefer Verehrung 25.11.1905" [by Webern?].
___ ' Werke, Part I, Vol. 1: Die Geburt der Trgodie; Unzeilgemsse Bezrach!Ul!-
gen. Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1903. Pan I, Vol. 8: Der Fall Wagner; G61:;;en-
Dmmerung; j\iietsche contra Wagner; Umwethung alle Werrhe; Dichfungen.
Leipzig: C. G. Naumann, 1904.
AND SCHOPENHAUER 57
Plato. PlalOns Apologie und Kriton. Trans. (German) Friedrich Schleiermacher.
Leipzig: Reclam, n.d. Selfbd.
---' Gasmzahl. 2nd ed. Trans. (German) Rudolf Kassner. Jena: Diederich, 1906.
---' Parmenides/Philebos. Trans. (German) Ouo Kiefer. Jena: Diederich, 1910,
___ . Phaidon. Trans. (Germ an) Rudolf Kassner. Jena: Diederich, 1906.
---' PlalOns Phaidros. Trans. (German) Rudolf Kassner. Jena: Diederich, 1910.
---' Prolagoras/Theaitetos. Trans. (German) Kar! Preisendanz. Jena: Died-
erich,191O.
___ . Staat. Trans. (German) Karl Preisendanz. Jena: Diederich, 1909.
Schopenhauer, Arthur. Smtliche Werke, 6v01s. Leipzig: Reclam [1891]_ Annotated
1,'lith additional notes laid in.
- ___ Parerga u. Paraiipomena: Kleine Philosophische Schriften, VoL 11. Leipzig:
Redam, [1891]. Annotated heavily.