Online exhibition in 50 objects
String Quartet No. 4, op. 37
Arnold Schönberg
String Quartet No. 4, op. 37
Themes on hotel stationary. 1936
Drafts of melodies for a four-movement work are sketched on stationary of Santa Barbara’s Hotel El Mirasol. It is possible Schönberg was brought to the place for a concert by the Abas String Quartet. These musicians regularly played his works for String Quartet at concerts in and around Los Angeles in the years 1935/36. The fact that an American ensemble was willing to take on his most recent twelve-tone quartet may have made Schönberg hopeful for the future of his music. The pitch series under “II“ could be connected, in retrospect, with the row used for String Quartet No. 4, op. 37: it corresponds with the first four pitches of the primary form. The “Largo“ would become the third movement of the quartet, but with a completely new theme in correlation with a complete statement of the row. The motive written under “III“ ended up as an accompaniment in the scherzo-like second movement. This small sheet of paper is illuminating for Schönberg’s working method: At the beginning is inspiration – melodic ideas that are realized later in detail. The twelve-tone row emerges only gradually, in accord with the development of the themes.
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1
Object 1
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Theory of Harmony
Object 2
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Chamber Symphony, op. 9
Object 3
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
String Quartet No. 2, op. 10/iv. Rapture
Object 4
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Der Blaue Reiter. Almanac
Object 5
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Pierrot lunaire, op. 21
Object 6
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Arnold Schönberg in military uniform
Object 7
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Symphony
Object 8
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Jacob’s Ladder
Object 9
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Five Piano Pieces, op. 23/i
Object 10
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Serenade, op. 24/iii. Variations
Object 11
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Autograph Card with Quote from Gurre-Lieder
Object 12
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Suite for Piano, op. 25/i. Prelude
Object 13
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Suite for Piano, op. 25/iv. Intermezzo
Object 14
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Letter to Alma Mahler
Object 15
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Self-Portrait
Object 16
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
On the Essence of Music
Object 17
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Sketch for Serenade, op. 24/v. Dance Scene
Object 18
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Ruler
Object 19
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Claude Debussy: Sonate pour Violoncelle et Piano
Object 20
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Suite for Piano, op. 25/iii. Musette
Object 21
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Analysis (in the form of Program notes) of the four String Quartets
Object 22
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Twelve-tone selection dial
Object 23
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Letter to Arnold Schönberg
Object 24
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Four Pieces for Mixed Chorus, op. 27/iv
Object 25
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Presentation of the Idea
Object 26
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Suite, op. 29
Object 27
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Suite, op. 29
Object 28
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Inversions and (superfluous) devices, Twelve tone dice
Object 29
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
String Quartet No. 3, op. 30
Object 30
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Letter to Rudolf Kolisch
Object 31
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene, op. 34
Object 32
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
From Today till Tomorrow, op. 32
Object 33
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Analysis of Variations for Orchestra, op. 31
Object 34
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Piano Piece, op. 33a
Object 35
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Moses and Aron
Object 36
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Enigma of Modern Music
Object 37
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Lecture in Princeton
Object 38
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
String Quartet No. 4, op. 37
Object 39
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Variations on a Recitative for Organ, op. 40
Object 40
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, op. 42
Object 41
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, op. 41
Object 42
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Prelude for Genesis op. 44
Object 43
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
A Survivor from Warsaw op. 46
Object 44
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Doktor Faustus
Object 45
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
String Trio, op. 45
Object 46
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, op. 47
Object 47
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Thrice A Thousand Years, op. 50A
Object 48
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Modern Psalm, op. 50C
Object 49
![](http://wriggle.schoenberg.at/components/com_bagallery/assets/images/default-lazy-load.webp)
Fragment for Voice, Cello, and Piano
Object 50