Schoenberg has new boss
NewsVienna’s Arnold Schönberg Centre has named the flautist Ulrike Anton as its next director, starting in May.
She replaces interim director Therese Muxeneder.
Anton, presently deputy head of Vienna’s Exilarte Zentrum, has specialised in retrieving and performing works by composers exiled, suppressed and murdered during the Nazi regime.
The Schönberg Centre moved to Vienna 25 years ago after being evicted from the campus of the University of Southern California.
photo (c)Julia Wesely.
“Evicted” sounds like the wrong description for the Schoenberg-USC split, based on what I remember of the news reporting at the time. From the Los Angeles Times in 1996 (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-12-me-23471-story.html):
“The dispute began when the family objected to USC’s efforts to widen use of the building beyond events relating directly to the 20th-century composer and other modernists. The university, citing a space crunch, said it could no longer limit the use of the hall and wanted to open it up to more general music classes and concerts…
“Another complaint from the composer’s children–Nuria Schoenberg Nono, Lawrence Schoenberg and Los Angeles Municipal judge Ronald R. Schoenberg–was that the family was excluded from USC’s decision. They said the university refused to convene the institute’s advisory board, on which the family holds three of seven seats.
“The conflict caused the Schoenberg family to seek–and win–a preliminary injunction requiring USC to use the building only for classes and activities consistent with maintaining the Schoenberg legacy, as well as to cease copying Schoenberg collection materials without permission of the heirs.”
From a year earlier when the family declared its intent to move the archive (https://news.usc.edu/22944/Schoenberg-Institute-to-leave-USC/):
“The Arnold Schoenberg Institute, which has housed the complete archives and library of the great 20th-century composer at USC since1973, will transfer its original collection to a new site at the request of the Schoenberg heirs.
“’The university has been honored to participate for the past 22 years in the care of the Schoenberg archives,’ said provost Lloyd Armstrong Jr. ‘Now, however, the heirs have notified us of their intention to relocate the collection.’”
Here are a few excerpts from our discovery process
The University and its representatives were consistently dishonest, oppressive always focusing on public image. They claimed all of the copyrights in a lawsuit knowing full well that it was false. They claimed that we constrained (academic freedom) the use of the archival materials which was exactly the opposite of what we did. It all came to a head when we noticed that the facility was being used for Chemistry classes. The administration refused to allow the oversight Advisory Committee to meet.
Dec 8, 1994 Paul Zukofky (Director) to Lynn Sipe (Head Librarian) copy to Provost, Solomon and Ide
Note that loss of the original Schoenberg gift would primarily only impact the financial value of the archive while the research value of the archive … while the research value of the Archive would be diminution would not be large.
We should not involve a faculty committee. We’ve done that, with little result.
Given present mortality statistics, we may expect the pleasure of at least one of Nuria, Ron or Larry for the next 25 years.
A third strategy would be for a small group to decide what USC can live with and then tell the Schoenbergs to agree or leave.
In principle, we should not alter the contract, as doing so makes it easier for the Schoenbergs to blame USC, but if in fact it is decided that that is what is needed, we should attempt to do so.
It is now time for USC to change its policy towards the Schoenbergs.
Letter from the Provost Lloyd Armstrong to Stanly Gold March 16, 1995
The Schoenbergs hold the copyright for almost all the materials in the Institute.
“ … they (the Schoenbergs) stated that there would be no flexibility on the use of the building. If they tick to that position, I think that we just want them out.
The desire of everyone who has been involved with the Institute over some period is to get rid of it.
Letter from the Provost Lloyd Armstrong to Forest Shumway, Executive Committee Board of Trustees, copy to President Sample April 11, 1995
We have communicated the message to the Schoenberg that unless they are prepared to completely rewrite our agreement, they should begin the process of moving the archives to another tax-exempt organization as specified in the original agreement.
… academic freedom is constrained by the so called Advisory Committee and most especially by the Schoenbergs use of their copyright ownership.
They (the Schoenbergs) have used their copyright ownership to frustrate a number of efforts at scholarly publication.
I am completely convinced this is the appropriate move. I should alert you that there are (at least) two possible downsides on the public relations side, however. The first is with the arts/music community of Los Angeles, and the second is with the Westside Jewish community. Based on conversations, we do not believe that either will be a significant problem, and we are working on strategies to respond to both possibilities should they arrive.
Perhaps no worse than UCLA, where Herb Alpert’s name is in much bigger letters than Schoenberg’s . . . and above Schoenberg’s name!
My favorite orchestral work by Schoenberg, “Begleitmusik zur einer Lichtspiel Szene”, is still in search of a cinematic home. I guess Hollywood didn’t quite work out.