My War Years: Arnold Schoenberg

"The merest child could hear your utter incompetence in music," said one of the kinder critic's of the Vienna-born 19th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg. Lacking formal musical training, Schoenberg would nevertheless transform the heretofore harmonious nature of music with his jarring atonal "melodies"--seemingly cacophonous battles between the various instruments which would occasionally spark riots in the audience as Vienna's finest beat each other silly in the aisles of the music hall. Chronicling the years between 1906-1923, My War Years is a clever piece of mockumentary legerdemain originally created for German television. Interwoven between the archival footage, contemporary renditions of Schoenberg's music, and dramatic skits linked to various pieces, are a running series of interviews with Schoenberg's friends and pupils such as Anton Webern, Alban Berg, and the painter Wassily Kandinsky, all, of course, played by actors. Yet, even with the generous dollops of gossip (at one point, we're told that Schoenberg's wife ran off with a painter who later hung himself, purportedly in shame), this is primarily a film for serious students of music. Among the many excerpts included are sections from Verklarte Nacht, Erwartung, Gurre Lieder, and Pierrot Lunaire. Highly recommended for larger collections with strong musical holdings, and for universities with an extensive music studies program. (R. Pitman)