Preface to Volume 24, 2 B

Whereas Volume 24, 1 of Series B is devoted exclusively to Pierrot lunaire, the present volume, Volume 24, 2, contains the Critical Commentaries to the other compositions published in Volume 24 A, namely Herzgewächse op. 20, Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, op. 41, Es ist ein Flüstern in der Nacht and Nachtwandler; of these works, sketches exist only of the Ode. The volume also contains the surviving fragments for Sprechstimme and instruments, along with the Critical Commentaries.

The editor is grateful to many people for their generous support: Halina Rodzinski †, who very kindly went through the archives of her late husband for materials pertaining to the Ode and provided copies; Leonard Stein (Los Angeles), who passed on his own textual study of the Ode; Wayne Shirley (The Library of Congress, Washington D.C.), who, as always, was at hand with professional advice and relevant help; Ethan Haimo (University of Notre Dame), who generously made available his list of doubtful readings for the Ode and discussed several variants in correspondence with the editor; R. Wayne Shoaf (Archive of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, Los Angeles), whose many instances of help and kindness are gratefully acknowledged; and Millard Irion (Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library, Harvard University), for his help with bibliographical enquiries. The following individuals provided valuable archival information: Bridget Carr (Archive of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), Barbara Hawes (Archive of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra), Ilse Hotzinger (Gabriele Münter und Hans Eichner Stiftung, Munich), Mario di Bonaventura and Ella Windfield (G. Schirmer New York / Schirmer Music) and Klaus Piper and Ernst Reinhard Piper (Munich). Special thanks are due to the members of the Forschungsstelle of the Schönberg-Gesamtausgabe for their cooperation and support: Tadeusz Okuljar produced the Stichvorlage of the music with his customary meticulousness, tracked down some problematic readings and read proofs; Dorothee Schubel transcribed the German Sprechstimme of the Ode and the fragments from the manuscripts and selflessly checked the editor’s text in its entirety.

It is only fair to record that there have been differences of opinion concerning the editorial guidelines between the Forschungsstelle of the Schönberg-Gesamtausgabe and the editor. The editor regards as problematical the principle decision that all volumes of the edition should be published in a form corresponding to Schönberg’s conception of 1930, and wished to publish the Ode to Napoleon with the original English-language instrumental and performance indications. In his view this procedure also seemed suitable in light of the work’s political content. The prevailing editorial guidelines of the Schönberg-Gesamtausgabe, on the other hand, which were drawn up many years after the editor had assumed responsibility for the volume and when he had already invested a considerable amount of work in it, stood in the way of such a course. The parties have attempted to find a compromise solution.

Brookline, Massachusetts and Berlin, autumn 1994
Reinhold Brinkmann
(Translated by Richard Deveson)