Poster Portrait of Arnold Schonberg (1905)
Portrait of Arnold Schonberg (1905)
Portrait by Richard Gerstl, via wikimedia commons
Performance Today®

Arnold Schoenberg's Brahms makeover

Composer Arnold Schoenberg liked the Piano Quartet No. 1 by Johannes Brahms, but he decided that it needed a few changes. Schoenberg arranged the quartet for orchestra and threw out the piano part entirely. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Schoenberg's orchestral makeover of the Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 1, from a concert at the Aspen Music Festival.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Georg Phillip Telemann: Tafelmusik: Quartetto in D Minor, TWV 43:d1: Movement 4 Allegro
Musica Amphion; Pieter-Jan Belder, conductor
Telemann: Tafelmusik
Brilliant 93311

Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto in D Major for Four Violins, TWV 40:202
Daniel Phillips, violin; Danbi Um, violin; Yura Lee, violin; Arnaud Sussmann, violin
CMSLC & University of Georgia, Performing Arts Center, Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, GA

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
Jonathan Biss, piano
The Aspen Music Festival and School, Harris Hall, Aspen, CO

Camille Saint-Saens: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33
Sol Gabetta, cello; Houston Symphony; John Storgards, conductor
Houston Symphony, Jones Hall, Houston, TX

Hour 2

Robert Burns: Ae Fond Kiss
Nicola Benedetti, violin; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Rory Macdonald, conductor
Homecoming: A Scottish Fantasy
London/Decca 21290

Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront
Minnesota Orchestra; Osmo Vanska, conductor
Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

Johannes Brahms (arr. Arnold Schoenberg): Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25: Movements 3 & 4
Aspen Festival Orchestra; Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Aspen Music Festival and School, Benedict Music Tent, Aspen, CO

Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major Movement 1 Preludio
Nicola Benedetti, violin
Schubert Club of Minnesota, Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, TX

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About Performance Today®

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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