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- In addition, there was one
other matter that affected his relations with the university adversely.
This had to do with the preservation of his musical manuscripts.
I believe it was some time during 1942, that is, before he was
informed about his retirement pension, I journeyed with him to
the office of the university librarian Lawrence Clark Powell,
to discuss the contribution of his manuscripts for safekeeping
at the library.
September 6, 1944
Dear Mr. Powell:
I am very pleased about your intention of preservation of my life’s
materials. This means very much to me, because so many of my unfinished
works might easily get lost, in spite of the great care Mrs. Schoenberg
takes to keep everything in order…
No
date (1944/45)
Dear Mr. Powell:
I have to inform you that because of recently happened circumstances
I must renounce the privilege of having my manuscripts, etc.,
incorporated in the university library…
And finally:
January 4, 1945
Dear Mr. Powell:
I think I have no reason not to tell you what forced me to renounce
this opportunity: I feel that the Administration and the Authorities
of the University treat me in a very unsatisfactory manner in
the matter of my retirement. This is why I feel I cannot longer
remain in friendly relations with this institution […] (Arnold
Schönberg Lebensgeschichte in Begegnungen 391)
-
MK An opportunity
lost for the university, obviously. But whatever happened to
the collection of Schoenberg’s works subsequently?
LS Well, as you
probably know, it finally ended up at the  University
of Southern California in 1975, a gift from Schoenberg’s
heirs. Recently, in 1998, the archives from USC were removed to
a new location in Vienna, still another loss for the Los Angeles
community. However, I might add, UCLA tried to make its amends
for the difficulty over the retirement pension,  first,
by asking Schoenberg to give a lecture around the time of his
seventy-fifth birthday in 1949—the aforementioned lecture
on "My Evolution"—and then to honor him in a special
ceremony as an outstanding professor.
-
However,
the greatest honor bestowed by the university was the construction
and naming of Schoenberg Hall, the music building on the UCLA
campus. Unfortunately this recognition of Schoenberg’s
importance to the university occurred five years after his death,
that is, in 1956. It is commemorated by the sculpture of the
composer by Anna Mahler, daughter of another famous composer
who supported Schoenberg in the early days, which adorns the
entrance to the Hall. The dedicatory ceremony took place on
May 15, 1956. It included an acceptance speech by Schoenberg’s
widow, Gertrud, and a musical program consisting of Schoenberg’s
Band Variations, op. 43a, De Profundis for a cappella
choir, Op. 50b, and the Orchestral Songs, Op. 8. Vern Knudsen
also participated.
UCLA
further recognized its indebtedness to Arnold Schoenberg when
it named its new music building Schoenberg Hall. I had the
honor of presenting the incomium to Arnold on the occasion
of the Hall’s dedication, an honor I greatly prize, not
only because a warm friendship had developed between him and
me, but also because it was requested by his widow, Gertrud.
(Zam 225)
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With
many, many thanks to Lawrence Schoenberg, Betty Freeman, Garby
Leon, and Robert Winter for the generous permission to reproduce
many of the materials in this article.
1
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WORKS CITED
Alderman, Pauline. "Reminiscences:
Arnold Schoenberg at USC." Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg
Institute V/2 (November 1998): 203-10.
Nono-Schoenberg, Nuria,
Catherine Lorenz, and Anita Luginbuehl. Arnold Schönberg
Lebensgeschichte in Begegnungen. Klagenfurt: Ritter Klagenfurt,
1992.
Schoenberg, Arnold. Arnold
Schoenberg Letters. Ed. Erwin Stein. London: Faber, 1964.
---. Fundamentals
of Musical Composition. Ed. Gerald Strng and Leonard Stein.
London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1967.
---. Preliminary Exercises
in Counterpoint. 2nd ed. London: Faber and
Faber, 1969.
---. Style and Idea:
Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg. Ed. Leonard Stein.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1975.
Zam, Maurice. "How
Schoenberg Came to UCLA." Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg
Institute III/2 (October 1979): 223-8.
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