The Republic of the Mind: Politics, the Arts and Ideas in Schoenberg's Post-War Projects

Abstract

Falling asleep at his desk, Hanserl is visited by Stravinsky, Ravel, Richard Strauss, Julius Bittner, Franz Schreker and Pfitzner - the 'modern masters' as Schoenberg dubs the set - who encourage Hanserl's 'Genius' to compose a popular masterpiece that will 'be accepted by the theatres immediately': Hanserl awakes to find the music composed and the libretto bound and typed. The parody must have struck close to home. Schoenberg, too, in the post-war years, was caught between his obligation, as he saw it, to reinforce and extend the influence of the German musical line, and his desire to follow and to set new trends, especially in opera and theatre.