Event

Schoenberg and Hollywood

Arnold Schoenbergs connections to Hollywood were vital to his American career, and he left a lasting impact on many American and exile composers who studied and worked with him. Among his American friends in Hollywood were George Gershwin, Alfred Newman, and David Raksin, who all feature prominently in this lecture-concert at the Villa Aurora on Saturday, May 26, from 4 to 7 pm. Professor Kenneth Marcus (University of La Verne) will highlight aspects of his recent book, Schoenberg and Hollywood Modernism (hardback 2016, paperback 2018), in which he demonstrates the fascinating ties between Schoenberg, the Hollywood entertainment industry, and the modernist movement in southern California.
Even before moving to the West Coast from New York in 1934, Schoenberg saw the entertainment industry as his main source for students, and he hoped to teach theory and harmony to film composers and studio musicians. Hollywood figures also commissioned works, performed in concerts of Schoenbergs music, and even tried to persuade him to write a film score, for which sketches survive. And when Schoenberg first referred to himself as a California composer, Alfred Newman had just arranged the first complete recording of the Four String Quartets on a Hollywood sound stage.
Program:
Program:

Introduction by Kenneth Marcus: Schoenberg and Hollywood

Presentation by Larry Schoenberg: Arnold Schoenberg's Friendship with Alfred Newman

Performance: Schoenbergs Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47 (featuring UCLA professors of music, violinist Movses Pogossian and pianist Jocelyn Ho)

Performance:World Premiere:
Transscription of Alfred Newmans Academy Award-winning score of The Song of Bernadette for string quintet and piano by David Newman (in person)

Reception and Book Signing

Film Screening
String Trio, Los Angeles 1946 by David Starobin