Arnold Schönberg

Litanei, op. 10, No. 3

Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951) composed his String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 in 1908 during a troubled time in his life. While the work includes the dedication "to my wife," his wife Mathilde was engaged in an affair with their friend, the artist Richard Gerstl. The work is unusual in that the third and fourth movements include a soprano soloist, singing a setting of poems by Stefan George. The third movement, Litanei (Litany), functions as a prayer, with the singer listing the ways that they have been worn down by their love for another and imploring at the end that their love be taken away from them so that they may be happy. This reduction for voice and piano was completed by Schönberg's friend Alban Berg in 1912. Reprint edition.