Arnold Schoenberg - Verklärte Nacht, Op.4
I listened to this twice - once at work out of my speakers at a relatively low volume, and then once at home with headphones while fairly stoned.
I did a fair amount of research on Arnold Schoenberg and he is one interesting mother****er. I had never heard any music by him before today, but I knew of him and of his influence. Not only was he a revolutionary in terms of composition and writing techniques, but he was also the direct teacher of some other absolute legends (you all may have heard of John Cage, perhaps, for example). He was also kind of a weirdo: he was absolutely terrified of the number 13, and this fear dictated much of his life. He was horribly depressed and anxious throughout the 76th year of his life....because 7+6=13. He died in the final minutes of Friday the 13th of July 1951. Also very weird.
Now onto the composition itself. I found it to be absolutely magnificent. I was consumed from start to finish and overwhelmed by the cinematic quality of it. It is equal parts beautiful, haunting, terrifying, and uplifting. His mastery of tonal shifts was positively jaw-dropping, and I envisioned a horror film of sorts in my mind as it all played out. Upon further research, the composition was actually based on a poem about a woman who reveals to her lover that she is pregnant with another man's child. The music is astonishingly great at conveying the feelings one would have while going through such a situation. The chaotic twists and turns reflect the maddening, suffocating anger and exhaustion one would feel upon the initial reveal. But the latter half of the piece reflects the feelings of acceptance that the man in the poem feels as he decides to forgive and pursue a life with the woman anyway.
Twas definitely a magical ride, and one I plan to take again. This isn't a piece I can see myself coming back to in the near future, but one that I will certainly experience again at some point. I thought it was musical perfection for what Schoenburg was trying to do, and I give this composition an easy
10/10.