Claire Barnett-Jones, Mezzo Soprano

Ryan Bancroft, conductor

Tapiola Sinfonietta

Alban Berg: Altenberg Lieder op. 4

Arnold Schönberg: Chamber Symphony no. 1 in E major op. 9

Gustav Mahler: Kindertotenlieder

In March 1913, Arnold Schönberg conducted a programme at the Musikverein in Vienna that was later dubbed the ‘scandalous concert’. The programme included his Chamber Symphony no. 1 op. 9, which took a sledgehammer to the established musical order, and two sets of songs – Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Alban Berg’s songs to poems written by Bohemian poet Peter Altenberg on landscape postcards. A general commotion erupted during the Altenberg Songs, an altercation between the pro-modernist and anti-modernist factions. The concert organiser was interrupted in his announcement slapped his opponent in the face. This was described by a witness as “the most mellifluous sound in the entire concert” and later led to a court case. The concert was eventually discontinued by the police. The Tapiola Sinfonietta hopes to complete the programme and kindly requests the audience to refrain from violence.