1.
1912 in music
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This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1912. February 28 – In a concert in Copenhagen, Carl Nielsen conducts the premiere of his Symphony No.3, march – Hart A. Wand publishes Dallas Blues, a jazz standard and an early published blues song. June 26 – Gustav Mahlers Symphony No.9 is premiered in Vienna by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter, handy publishes The Memphis Blues, one of the first blues songs to become a hit. October 16 – Arnold Schoenbergs Pierrot Lunaire debuts at the Berlin Choralion-Saal, aino Ackté founds an opera festival in Savonlinna, after a period of dormancy, the Savonlinna Opera Festival will become one of the most important cultural events in Finland. The Birmingham Triennial Music Festival is held for the last time, William Henry Bell becomes director of the South African College of Music in Cape Town. After All That Ive Been To You w. Jack Drislane m. Chris Smith Alexanders Ragtime Band w. m, Irving Berlin, E. Ray Goetz, A. Baldwin Sloane All Night Long w. m. Shelton Brooks And The Green Grass Grew All Around w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer At The Devils Ball w. m, Irving Berlin Baby Seals Blues m. Artie Matthews Bagdad w. Anne Caldwell m, victor Herbert Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee w. Stanley Murphy m. Henry I. W. Elmer Bowman m. Chris Smith Beckys Got A Job In A Musical Show w. m, Irving Berlin Come Back To Me, My Melody Irving Berlin, Ted Snyder Come Back To Playland With Me w. m. Irving Berlin Down In Dear Old New Orleans w. Joe Young m. Conrad & Whidden Dreams Of Long Ago w. Earl Carroll m, enrico Caruso The Elevator Man Going Up, Going Up, Going Up, Going Up. w. m. Irving Berlin Everybody Loves A Chicken w. m, bobby Jones Everybody Two-Step w. Earl C. Jones m. Wallie Herzer Florida Rag V. Lowry The Funny Little Melody w. m, Irving Berlin Giannina Mia w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml Goodnight, Nurse w. Thomas J. Gray m. W. Raymond Walker He Played It On His Fid, Fid, Fiddle-dee-dee w. m. E. Ray Goetz & Irving Berlin Hitchy-Koo w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Lewis F. Muir & Maurice Abrahams Im Afraid, Pretty Maid, Im Afraid w. m. Irving Berlin Im The Lonesomest Gal In Town w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer In My Harem w. m, Irving Berlin In the Garden w. m. C. Austin Miles Its A Long Way To Tipperary w. m, Jack Judge & Harry H. Williams Keep Away From The Fellow Who Owns An Automobile w. m. Irving Berlin Kentucky Sue by Lew Brown The Land Of Golden Dreams w. C. M. Denison m. E. F. Dusenberry Last Night Was The End Of The World w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer The Last Shot Got Him w. m, Leo Silesu Love Is Like A Firefly w. Otto Harbach m
2.
1904 in art
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April Octavian Smigelschi is selected to paint the interior decoration of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Sibiu. George Frederic Watts opens the Watts Gallery in the English village of Compton, Guildford, georges Braque leaves the Academie Humbert. Mary Cassatt is awarded the Légion dhonneur by the French government for her services to the arts, British Impressionist painter Wilfrid de Glehn marries American portrait painter Jane Erin Emmet. 13 January – Oliver Messel, English stage designer,14 January – Cecil Beaton, English photographer and stage and costume designer. 22 January – Kimon Evan Marengo, Egyptian-born British cartoonist,6 February – Dorothy Canning Miller American curator. 22 February – Peter Hurd, American artist,2 March – Theodor Seuss Geisel, American illustrator. 17 March – Chaim Gross, Austrian American sculptor,31 March – Đorđe Andrejević Kun, Serbian painter. 15 April Mary Adshead, English painter, arshile Gorky, Armenian-born abstract expressionist painter. April 21 Jean Hélion, French painter, gabriel Loire, French stained glass artist. 24 April – Willem de Kooning, Dutch abstract expressionist painter,2 May – Bill Brandt, German-born British photographer and photojournalist. 11 May – Salvador Dalí, Spanish surrealist artist,14 June – Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer and photojournalist. 2 August – Reg Parlett, English comics artist,11 September – Daniel Brustlein, Alsatian-born illustrator. 23 October – Svetoslav Roerich, Russian painter,13 November – Stephen Bone, English painter. 17 November – Isamu Noguchi, Japanese American artist and landscape architect,18 November – Jean Paul Lemieux, Canadian-American painter 22 November – Miguel Covarrubias, Mexican caricaturist and painter. 30 November – Clyfford Still, American Abstract Expressionist painter,11 December – Felix Nussbaum, German Jewish surrealist painter. 17 December – Paul Cadmus, American painter,21 December – Jean René Bazaine, French painter, stained glass artist and writer. Juan Bautista Garcia, Puerto Rican painter
3.
Symphonic poem
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Poema is an American acoustic singer-songwriter duo from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The group, was signed with Tooth & Nail Records and has released two EPs and a full-length album with them. Elle and Shealeen Puckett, sisters born and raised in the American Southwest, the female duo has been playing music ever since they can remember. At ten and twelve, the equal and opposites would walk to the gas station to play Elvis covers for anyone filling up that day until they made enough money to buy candy. They were surrounded by music their lives, starting with their parents being in bands to playing music since pre-adolescence. The sisters never planned to be professional musicians until a positive reception following a benefit show in 2008 in their hometown of Albuquerque. After pondering shortly after the show, the sisters formed Poema, won a Battle of the Bands competition, in 2009, Poema signed to Tooth & Nail Records. At the time, Elle and Shealeen Puckett were 17 and 19, the record deal came as a result of a personal call from Brandon Ebel, founder and president of Tooth & Nail Records. The call followed a play from a representative whose attention had been caught by one of Poemas performances. Aaron Sprinkle worked with Poema on several projects, in 2014, they announced their separation from Tooth & Nail Records to become an independent band. In 2010, Poema was featured on every date of the Warped Tour in the Girlz Garage, Elle Puckett – lead vocals, guitar Shealeen Puckett – backing vocals, keys Official website
4.
Budapest
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Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary, one of the largest cities in the European Union and sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. It has an area of 525 square kilometres and a population of about 1.8 million within the limits in 2016. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the Danube river with the unification of Buda and Óbuda on the west bank, the history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century and their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–1242. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century, following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, the region entered a new age of prosperity, and Budapest became a global city after its unification in 1873. It also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a power that dissolved in 1918. Budapest was the point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic of Councils in 1919, the Battle of Budapest in 1945. Budapest is an Alpha- global city, with strengths in arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts the Budapest Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks and it is the highest ranked Central and Eastern European city on Innovation Cities Top 100 index. Budapest attracts 4.4 million international tourists per year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world, further famous landmarks include Andrássy Avenue, St. It has around 80 geothermal springs, the worlds largest thermal water system, second largest synagogue. Budapest is home to the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Police College, over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including the Eötvös Loránd University, Central European University and Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Budapest is the combination of the city names Buda and Pest, One of the first documented occurrences of the combined name Buda-Pest was in 1831 in the book Világ, written by Count István Széchenyi. The origins of the names Buda and Pest are obscure, according to chronicles from the Middle Ages, the name Buda comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of the Hunnic ruler Attila. The theory that Buda was named after a person is also supported by modern scholars, an alternative explanation suggests that Buda derives from the Slavic word вода, voda, a translation of the Latin name Aquincum, which was the main Roman settlement in the region. There are also theories about the origin of the name Pest. One of the states that the word Pest comes from the Roman times. According to another theory, Pest originates from the Slavic word for cave, or oven, the first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD
5.
Giacomo Puccini
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Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian opera composer who has been called the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi. Puccinis early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera, later, he successfully developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. Puccinis most renowned works are La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, Puccini was born Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini in Lucca in Tuscany, in 1858. He was one of nine children of Michele Puccini and Albina Magi, the Puccini family was established in Lucca as a local musical dynasty by Puccinis great-great grandfather – also named Giacomo. This first Giacomo Puccini was maestro di cappella of the Cattedrale di San Martino in Lucca and he was succeeded in this position by his son, Antonio Puccini, and then by Antonios son Domenico, and Domenicos son Michele. Each of these men studied music at Bologna, and some additional musical studies elsewhere. Domenico Puccini studied for a time under Giovanni Paisiello, each composed music for the church. In addition, Domenico composed several operas, and Michele composed one opera, Puccinis father Michele enjoyed a reputation throughout northern Italy, and his funeral was an occasion of public mourning, at which the then-famed composer Giovanni Pacini conducted a Requiem. However, when Michele Puccini died in 1864, his son Giacomo was only six years old, as a child, he nevertheless participated in the musical life of the Cattedrale di San Martino, as a member of the boys choir and later as a substitute organist. Puccini was given an education at the seminary of San Michele in Lucca. One of Puccinis uncles, Fortunato Magi, supervised his musical education, Puccini got a diploma from the Pacini School of Music in Lucca in 1880, having studied there with his uncle Fortunato, and later with Carlo Angeloni, who had also instructed Alfredo Catalani. Puccini studied at the conservatory for three years, sharing a room with Pietro Mascagni, in 1880, at the age of 21, Puccini composed his Mass, which marks the culmination of his familys long association with church music in his native Lucca. Puccini wrote a piece called the Capriccio sinfonica as a thesis composition for the Milan Conservatory. Puccinis teachers Ponchielli and Bazzini were impressed by the work, and it was performed at a student concert at the conservatory on 14 July 1883, conducted by Franco Faccio. Puccinis work was reviewed in the Milanese publication Perseveranza. After the premiere of the Capriccio sinfonica, Ponchielli and Puccini discussed the possibility that Puccinis next work might be an opera, Ponchielli invited Puccini to stay at his villa, where Puccini was introduced to another young man named Fernando Fontana. Puccini and Fontana agreed to collaborate on an opera, for which Fontana would provide the libretto, the work, Le Villi, was entered into a competition sponsored by the Sozogno music publishing company in 1883. Although it did not win, Le Villi was later staged at the Teatro Dal Verme, G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers assisted with the premier by printing the libretto without charge
6.
La Scala
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La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieris Europa riconosciuta, most of Italys greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. The theatre is regarded as one of the opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet. The theatre also has a school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy. La Scalas season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambroses Day, all performances must end before midnight, and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary. La Scala also hosts the Accademia dArti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo and its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers. A fire destroyed the theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced a design but it was rejected by Count Firmian. A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa, the new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of 3,000 or so seats organized into 678 pit-stalls and its stage is one of the largest in Italy. Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were decorated by their owners. La Scala soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people, in the tradition of the times, the platea had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in sight, as the golfo mistico had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the loggione—where the less wealthy can watch the performances, the gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers perceived successes or failures. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a casino, conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840, At the Opera they were giving Otto Nicolais Templario. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico, to prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets
7.
Brescia
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Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometres from the lakes Garda, with a population of 196,480, it is the second largest city in the region and the fourth of northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the city limits and has a population of 672,822. The city is the capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy. Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times, Brescia is considered the industrial capital of Italy. The metallurgy and the production of tools and firearms are of particular economic significance, along with mechanical. In addition, Brescia is the setting for most of the action in Alessandro Manzonis 1822 play Adelchi, Brescia and its territory will be the European Region of Gastronomy in 2017. Various myths relate to the founding of Brescia, one assigns it to Hercules while another attributes its foundation as Altilia by a fugitive from the siege of Troy. According to another myth, the founder was the king of the Ligures, Cidnus, colle Cidneo was named after that version, and it is the site of the medieval castle. Others scholars attribute the founding of Brescia to the Etruscans, the Gallic Cenomani, allies of the Insubres, invaded in the 7th century BC, and used the town as their capital. The city became Roman in 225 BC, when the Cenomani submitted to the Romans, during the Carthaginian Wars, Brixia was allied with the Romans. During a Celtic alliance against the city remained fateful to the Romans, with their Roman allies the city remain and attacked and destroyed the Insubres by surprise. Subsequently, the city and the tribe entered the Roman world peacefully as faithful allies, in 89 BC, Brixia was recognized as civitas and in 41 BC, its inhabitants received Roman citizenship. Augustus founded a colony there in 27 BC, and he. Roman Brixia had at least three temples, an aqueduct, a theatre, a forum with another temple built under Vespasianus, when Constantine advanced against Maxentius in 312, an engagement took place at Brixia in which the enemy was forced to retreat as far as Verona. In 402, the city was ravaged by the Visigoths of Alaric I, during the 452 invasion of the Huns under Attila, the city was besieged and sacked. Forty years later, it was one of the first conquests by the Gothic general Theoderic the Great in his war against Odoacer, in 568, Brescia was taken from the Byzantines by the Lombards, who made it the capital of one of their semi-independent duchies. The first duke was Alachis, who died in 573, later dukes included the future kings of the Lombards Rothari and Rodoald, and Alachis II, a fervent anti-Catholic who was killed in battle at Cornate dAdda in 688
8.
Henry Wood
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Sir Henry Joseph Wood CH was an English conductor best known for his association with Londons annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for half a century, introducing hundreds of new works to British audiences. After his death, the concerts were renamed in his honour as the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. Born in modest circumstances to parents who encouraged his musical talent, during his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he came under the influence of the voice teacher Manuel Garcia and became his accompanist. After similar work for Richard DOyly Cartes opera companies on the works of Arthur Sullivan and others and he was soon engaged by the larger Carl Rosa Opera Company. One notable event in his career was conducting the British premiere of Tchaikovskys Eugene Onegin in 1892. From the mid-1890s until his death, Wood focused on concert conducting and he was engaged by the impresario Robert Newman to conduct a series of promenade concerts at the Queens Hall, offering a mixture of classical and popular music at low prices. The series was successful, and Wood conducted annual promenade series until his death in 1944, by the 1920s, Wood had steered the repertoire entirely to classical music. When the Queens Hall was destroyed by bombing in 1941, the Proms moved to the Royal Albert Hall, Wood declined the chief conductorships of the New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestras, believing it his duty to serve music in the United Kingdom. In addition to the Proms, he conducted concerts and festivals throughout the country, Wood was born in Oxford Street, London, the only child of Henry Joseph Wood and his wife Martha, née Morris. It was a household, Wood senior was an amateur cellist and sang as principal tenor in the choir of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate. His wife played the piano and sang songs from her native Wales and they encouraged their sons interest in music, buying him a Broadwood piano, on which his mother gave him lessons. The young Wood also learned to play the violin and viola, cooper died when Wood was seven, and the boy took further lessons from Coopers successor, Edwin M. Lott, for whom Wood had much less regard. At the age of ten, through the influence of one of his uncles, Wood made his first paid appearance as an organist at St Mary Aldermanbury, being paid half a crown. At this time in his life, painting was nearly as strong an interest as music and he remained a life-long amateur painter. It is not clear whether he was a member of Manuel Garcias singing class, Wood also accompanied the opera class, taught by Garcias son Gustave. Woods ambition at the time was to become a teacher of singing and he attended the classes of as many singing teachers as he could, although by his own account, I possess a terrible voice. Garcia said it would go through a brick wall, in fact, a real conductors voice
9.
London Symphony Orchestra
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The London Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1904, is the oldest of Londons symphony orchestras. It was set up by a group of players who left Henry Woods Queens Hall Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services, the LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset, the LSO was organised on co-operative lines and this practice continued for the orchestras first four decades. The profit-sharing principle was abandoned in the era as a condition of receiving public subsidy for the first time. In the 1950s the orchestra debated whether to concentrate on work at the expense of symphony concerts. By the 1960s the LSO had recovered its position, which it has retained subsequently. In 1966, to perform alongside it in works, the orchestra established the LSO Chorus, originally a mix of professional and amateur singers. As a self-governing body, the orchestra selects the conductors with whom it works, at some stages in its history, it has dispensed with a principal conductor and worked only with guests. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in the Barbican Centre in the City of London, among its programmes there have been large-scale festivals celebrating composers as diverse as Berlioz, Mahler and Bernstein. At the turn of the century there were no permanent salaried orchestras in London. The main orchestras were those of Covent Garden, the Philharmonic Society and he would then engage another player to deputise at him for the original concert and the rehearsals for it. The treasurer of the Philharmonic Society described the system thus, A and he sends B to the first rehearsal. B, without knowledge or consent, sends C to the second rehearsal. Not being able to play at the concert, C sends D, in 1904, the manager of the Queens Hall, Robert Newman and the conductor of his promenade concerts, Henry Wood, agreed that they could no longer tolerate the deputy system. After a rehearsal in which Wood was faced with dozens of unfamiliar faces in his own orchestra, Newman came to the platform and announced, Gentlemen, in future there will be no deputies. Orchestral musicians were not highly paid, and removing their chances of better-paid engagements permitted by the deputy system was a financial blow to many of them. The principal movers were three players and a trumpeter, John Solomon. Busby organised a meeting at St. Andrews Hall, not far from the Queens Hall, invitations were sent to present and former members of the Queens Hall Orchestra
10.
Wellington
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Wellington is the capital and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 405,000 residents. It is at the tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. Wellington is the population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the worlds windiest city, with a wind speed of over 26 km/h. Situated near the centre of the country, Wellington was well placed for trade. In 1839 it was chosen as the first major planned settlement for British immigrants coming to New Zealand, the settlement was named in honour of the Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. As the nations capital since 1865, the New Zealand Government and Parliament, Supreme Court, despite being much smaller than Auckland, Wellington is also referred to as New Zealands cultural capital. The city is home to the National Archives, the National Library, architectural sights include the Government Building—one of the largest wooden buildings in the world—as well as the iconic Beehive. Wellington plays host to artistic and cultural organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It has an urban culture, with many cafés, restaurants. One of the worlds most liveable cities, the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world, Wellingtons economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, and government. It is the centre of New Zealands film and special effects industries, Wellington ranks as one of New Zealands chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is served by Wellington International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, Wellingtons transport network includes train and bus lines which reach as far as the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the South Island. Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo, his title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers took up the views of the directors with great cordiality, in Māori, Wellington has three names. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a W, and shaking it slightly from side to side twice. The citys location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leads to its vulnerability to strong gales, legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the 10th century. The earliest date with hard evidence for Maori living in New Zealand is about 1280, European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840
11.
Arnold Schoenberg
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Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg or Schönberg was an Austrian composer, music theorist, and painter. He was associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, by 1938, with the rise of the Nazi Party, Schoenbergs works were labeled degenerate music, because he was Jewish. He moved to the United States in 1934, Schoenbergs approach, both in terms of harmony and development, has been one of the most influential of 20th-century musical thought. Many European and American composers from at least three generations have consciously extended his thinking, whereas others have reacted against it. Schoenberg was known early in his career for simultaneously extending the traditionally opposed German Romantic styles of Brahms, later, his name would come to personify innovations in atonality that would become the most polemical feature of 20th-century art music. In the 1920s, Schoenberg developed the technique, an influential compositional method of manipulating an ordered series of all twelve notes in the chromatic scale. He also coined the term developing variation and was the first modern composer to embrace ways of developing motifs without resorting to the dominance of a melodic idea. Schoenbergs archival legacy is collected at the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg was born into a lower middle-class Jewish family in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna, at Obere Donaustraße 5. His father Samuel, a native of Bratislava, was a shopkeeper and he took only counterpoint lessons with the composer Alexander Zemlinsky, who was to become his first brother-in-law. In his twenties, Schoenberg earned a living by orchestrating operettas, while composing his own works and he later made an orchestral version of this, which became one of his most popular pieces. Strauss turned to a more conservative idiom in his own work after 1909, Mahler adopted him as a protégé and continued to support him, even after Schoenbergs style reached a point Mahler could no longer understand. Mahler worried about who would look after him after his death, Schoenberg, who had initially despised and mocked Mahlers music, was converted by the thunderbolt of Mahlers Third Symphony, which he considered a work of genius. Afterward he spoke of Mahler as a saint, in 1898 Schoenberg converted to Christianity in the Lutheran church. According to MacDonald this was partly to strengthen his attachment to Western European cultural traditions and he would self-identify as a member of the Jewish religion later in life. In October 1901, he married Mathilde Zemlinsky, the sister of the conductor and composer Alexander von Zemlinsky and he and Mathilde had two children, Gertrud and Georg. Gertrud would marry Schoenbergs pupil Felix Greissle in 1921, during the summer of 1908, his wife Mathilde left him for several months for a young Austrian painter, Richard Gerstl. This period marked a change in Schoenbergs work. This was the first composition without any reference at all to a key, also in this year, he completed one of his most revolutionary compositions, the String Quartet No
