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'A Critical Analysis Of Schönberg's Opus 15'

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Schönberg chose 15 central poems from George’s cycle “Das Buch der hängenden Gärten” for his Opus 15. They might continue the story of the previous poems, or they could be meant as an interlude that conveys either the speaker’s memories or dreams, or an experience of someone else. The start of the cycle is exciting and mystical as it invites the listener into a still unknown landscape. The first poem describes just a scenery: Protected by leaves, there is a marble fountain or pond into which gargoyles spout water. The poem’s calm tone, the stars of the second verse, the gentle voices that tell of their suffering and allude to chirping crickets, and the candles, which lighten the bushes and might be fireflies, suggest it is evening. The place seems to be devoid of people. Apart from a slightly melancholic, lonely tone, nothing hints at the speaker of the poem. Although the entire poem consists of only one sentence that describes the scenery, an arc of suspense leads towards the last two lines. Something was happening (vv. 7-8) at the place (v.1) where certain things occur at a certain though undesignated moment in time …show more content…

In my view, the seventh verse alludes to fireflies that suddenly light up the bushes. The alliteration “Kamen kerzen” followed by the accumulation of fricative and stop consonants in “gesträuch entzünden” conveys the sound of buzzing insects (although fireflies do not make noises). The sound of the alliteration inspires my sound on the marcato sixteenth notes in bar 17, but at this place, I must be careful not to drown the singer with my big chords. My second singer suggested that the verse could also refer to the panicles of chestnut trees as they could be thought of as red or white flames and are colloquially called “Kerzen”. Again, the text helps with the phrasing. It is easy to lose energy after the g sharp is reached for the first time, but the tension of the poem goes towards the next

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