The Music Plays On — Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht

Gustav Klimt — The Kiss, 1907/08

Composed in 1899, Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) represents the hyper expressivity that was flourishing in the arts. While in polite society displaying one’s emotions was frowned upon, the most subtle and private feelings were being explored by artists in all media, from Paul Gaugin’s Two Tahitian Women,

Paul Gaugin — Two Tahitian Women 1899

and J.W. Godward’s The Mirror

J. W. Godward — The Mirror, 1899

to Constantin Meunier’s The Horse at the Pond

Constantin Meunier — The Horse at the Pond, 1899

The expression contained in these works of art, both of the subjects and of the artists, are in anxious suspension, wanting to burst forth if only they could be animated into flesh and blood.

The music that was being composed at this time also had emotion bubbling out of the kettle and Verklärte Nacht is a prime example. Inspired by the hyper-expressive eponymous poem by Richard Dehmel…