Two Transcriptions celebrates the release of G Douglas Barrett's vinyl record project--a historical revision of Arnold Schoenberg's Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, Op. 41 performed by transgender artists Theo Baer and Zackary Drucker.
Sounds amazing, right?
The totally free evening at Incubator Arts Project--housed in the perpetually free-thinking St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery at 131 East 10th Street and 2nd Avenue--will function as a release party, in addition to a roundtable involving Barrett, Baer, musicologist Benjamin Piekut and activist Che Gossett.
This one-night-only event is scheduled for Saturday, May 25; call time is 8:00 p.m.
Two Transcriptions/Ode to Schoenberg is Barrett's re-recording, of sorts, of Schoenberg's 1942 composition for string quartet, piano and, most importantly, male voice.
Like a lot of Schoenberg's work, this setting of Lord Byron's verse, too, has an interesting history on record.
Back in 1950 Los Angeles, producer Ross Russell made a recording performed by a female vocalist--entirely against the wishes of Schoenberg.
The composer went so far as to dictate a letter to Russell vehemently decrying the producer's "disregard[ing of] an artist's wishes," as well as Russell's failure to keep a "contract" by publishing his female-gendered version.
Earlier this week, Classicalite exchanged some emails with G Douglas Barrett, and he was kind enough to point us to both Schoenberg's screed and Russell's recording.
Again, pretty amazing. Right?
Barrett went on to make the following astute assertion:
"Interestingly, Schoenberg described his intention for writing the work in part as a statement against fascism. In his unwavering adherence to the score, Schoenberg's politics regarding authorship may be seen to come closer to the very totalitarianism he denounces," he wrote.
Barrett's fabrication, then, challenges Schoenberg further with respect to musical authorship--all the while considering identities beyond the gender binary that is at the heart of this dispute.
As Schoenberg (Schönberg?) would go on to remake a version of Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte (Bonaparte?) for full string orchestra, himself, consider G Douglas Barrett's transtastic rendering a most welcome remodel.
© 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
