Remembered as the composer who untangled the Gordian knot of overstressed, chromatic harmony of late romanticism, ending classical harmony and introducing dodecaphony, Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951) is according to some the savior, and according to others, the executor at the turning point in musical history.

His radically new ideas found numerous admirers, who interpreted them in their own way and at their own speed, heading down the multi-lane autostrada of 20th century music. Although the era of radical atonality and dodecaphonic and serial music remained in the 20th century, many of Schönberg's valuable works have remained in the repertoire, from the early composition for the string sextet Transfigured Night, the monodrama Erwartung, the melodrama Pierrot Lunaire, the unfinished opera Moses and Aaron, to the late works such as the cantata Survivors from Warsaw and many others.

Although it is known that he was self-taught in music, at the age of twenty, Arnold Schönberg began to study with Alexander von Zemlinsky, an Austrian composer and conductor only three years older than him, and falling in love with his sister Mathilde (whom he would later marry), he gained inspiration for the composition that is considered his first important work: it is Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), string sextet op. 4, created in 1899 based on the poem of the same name by one of the most important German poets of the period before the First World War, Richard Dehmel.

His sensual and erotic poetry, which caused some scandals, but also inspired leading composers, such as Richard Strauss, Max Reger, Kurt Weill, Zemlinsky and others, often deals with the themes of the pain of parting and transformation, abounding at the same time with a sense of vitality and exuberance. and characterized by a richly decorated linguistic style. The theme of eros also dominates this poem, in which during a night walk, under the oaks illuminated by the bright moonlight, a woman admits to a man that she is carrying the child of a previous lover. Anxiety and fear, however, disappear when the man accepts her child as his own, enlightened as the bright and shining night and the universe that surrounds them.

The piece is one-stanza, but consists of five recognizable parts, which correspond to the five stanzas of Dehmel's poem. Although tonally, Schönberg's musical language is chromatically saturated, metrically blurred, bringing the musical metaphors of the poetic text. This, as well as Dehmel's reputation, were the reasons why the first performance in 1902 at the Vienna Musikverein did not meet with full approval. A special bone of contention was a single chord, which was uncategorized and therefore not allowed - a nonachord in the reversal, which is why the composition was rejected by the Vienna Music Association. Schönberg commented on this in his characteristic lapidary way: "and thus (the work) cannot be performed because something that does not exist cannot be performed".

Many of the techniques that Schönberg brought to the fore and radicalized, imposing them as concepts in the music of the Second Viennese School, he did not in fact invent himself, but inherited them and harnessed them in a new way. Sprechstimme in the melodrama Pierrot Lunaire is a good example, and the genre of this composition itself is inherited, but shaped in a new way, so that it is often determined by the German term Melodrama.

In 1901, Schönberg began experimenting with atonality, and each of his new works is increasingly dissonant, raising more and more dust in Viennese musical circles. His advocates, such as Mahler, help him to perform works such as the Chamber Symphony, the Second String Quartet, the Book of Hanging Gardens, and this period culminates in the landmark works of 1909 – Piano Pieces Op. 11, Five orchestral pieces op. 16 and the monodramas Erwartung (Expectation).

Despite the circumstances that were not always in his favor, especially when he tried to act as a professor at the conservatories in Vienna and Berlin, his works are increasingly being performed. However, teaching takes up most of his time, and most of his works are created in the summer. In the summer of 1912, Pierrot lunaire was created, one of the compositions that brought him considerable success, when it was premiered in Berlin in October of the same year (although the ovations were mixed with strong cries of opposition to the work).

Full title Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire" (Three times seven poems from the collection "Pierrot in the Moonlight" by Albert Giraud), op. 21, the piece was written for Sprechstimme – a reciter with musical accompaniment, usually performed by a soprano voice. Sprechstimme or spoken part, is not really spoken, but the singer roughly follows the pitches, and strictly the rhythm written in the part of the score, as well as other musical markings of the performance, and should be shaped by herself, guided by certain instructions, the so-called Sprechmelodie, spoken melody.

In his composition, Schönberg transforms the already existing style of melodrama, in which the voice often recites in a sentimental style with instrumental accompaniment, most often the piano. The instrumental composition of this completely atonal work includes flute (duplicated by piccolo), clarinet (duplicated by bass clarinet), violin (duplicated by viola), cello and piano, a composition that would become typical in 20th century music and generally known as "Pierrot ensemble". The work is predominantly satirical in tone, sometimes parodic, and sometimes truly terrible, guided by lyrics that are often grotesque, macabre, as well as deliberately sentimental.

Three large units of seven songs each (the number seven plays a multiple role in this work, so the main musical motif has seven tones), bring the themes of love, sex and religion, then violence, crime and blasphemy, and the third tells about Pierrot's return home to Bergamo, where he is haunted by his past. The forms that Schonberg uses are traditional, such as fugue, passacaglia, ronda, etc. Together with the nuances in the instrumentation, they help to express the old French poetic form of the rondeau, in which Giraud's lyrics (in German translation by Otto Erich Hartleben) were written, in which the verse with the chorus is repeated according to a certain pattern.

ARTEMIS music and art association based in Split and Kaštel Gomilica, was founded in 2009 by professional musicians with rich international experience, who are also professors of the Music Department of the Art Academy of the University of Split. Since its founding, the association has performed more than a hundred concerts and classical music events in Croatia and abroad in cooperation with internationally renowned musicians, such as Yuliya Gorenman (USA), Grigory Gruzman (Germany), Zoran Dukić, Edin Karamazov, Petrit Çeku, Mario Hossen (Austria), Mai Suzuki (Japan), Kim Cook (USA), Fritz Gearhart (USA), Arman Mourzagaliev (Kazakhstan), Tartini Quartet Ljubljana, West Village Choral New York etc.

ARTEMIS music and art association successfully cooperates with Music Youth Split, Split Summer, Osijek Summer of Culture, music festivals in Hvar, Kaštela, Pula, Gospić, Šibenik, Omiš, Imotski, Ploče, Skradin, Novi Vinodolski, Metković, Drniš, Koprivnica, Petrinja , Poreč, Korčula, Pag, HNK Split and Šibenik, the Art Academy of the University of Split and the Music School Josip Hatze.

In 2012, through a public audition, the ARTEMIS association founded a new chamber orchestra Split Virtuosi, which has since held forty concerts in seventeen cities in Croatia. Active internationally renowned musicians with many years of experience on concert stages around the world are responsible for the high professional level of the ensemble. President dr. Ivo Josipović took over the sponsorship of the first concert season of the Split virtuosos.

In November 2018, the Split virtuosos, as the first and only chamber orchestra from Croatia, gave three concerts at the Celloherbst am Hellweg International Festival in North Rhine-Westphalia, where they experienced great success, followed by standing ovations and enthusiastic reviews from German newspapers.

The International Bach Days festival in Split was launched in 2012 and was awarded the prestigious EFFE Remarkable Arts Festival of Europe 2019-2021 label by the European Association of Festivals - EAF.

Maria Lucia Kossyanenko she was born in 2000 in Vienna. At the age of seven, he went to Split, where he began his basic music education at the Music School of Boris Papandopulo. In 2015, he entered IV. Marko Marulić high school and began singing as a permanent member of an amateur choir under the direction of maestro Tomislav Veršić, with whom he won first prizes at national competitions. After two years, he enrolled in solo singing in the class of prof. Sanje Erceg – Vrekalo and completes two preparatory classes at the Josip Hatze Music School. In 2021, he becomes an external member of the HNK Split choir and participates in projects in the 2021/2022 season. as well as in the projects of the 67th, 68th, 69th and 70th Split Summer. In the meantime, she is studying singing privately with Branka Pleština - Stanić and in 2022 she will enroll in singing at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in the class of prof. Martine Gojčeta – Silić. In the following years, he participated in the academic projects "Amfitrion" at the Croatian National Theater Zagreb (2023) and "The Postman and the Devil" in the solo role of storyteller in the concert hall of Blagoje Bersa (2024). She completes her singing development by participating in the seminars of Renata Pokupić, Georgina von Benza, Martina Gojčeta - Silić, Giorgio Suriano, Hasmik Papian and Holger Speck.

CONTRACTORS:

Marie Lucia Kossjanenko – Sprechstimme

Martin Draušnik, Antoinette Gojak – violins

Wladimir Kossjanenko, Stipe Marinić – violas

Zita Draušnik, Hana Rabadan – cello

Marko Zupan – flute and piccolo

Bruno Philipp – clarinet and bass clarinet

Vesna Podrug Kossyanenko – piano

Wladimir Kossjanenko – conductor and artistic director

Actors:

Anita Gotovac

Davor Pavić

--- The concert is part of the audience development program Behind the scenes, in cooperation with the Croatian Society of Composers ---

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PROGRAM:

Arnold Schonberg: The Transfigured Night

Arnold Schonberg: Pierrot lunaire

1. Intoxicated by the moon / 2. Colombine / 3. Kikoš / 4. Pale laundress / 5. Valse de Chopin / 6. Madonna / 7. Sick month

8. Night / 9. Prayer to Pierrot / 10. Robbery / 11. Red Mass / 12. Song from the Gallows / 13. Execution / 14. Crosses

15. Homesickness / 16. Meanness / 17. Parody / 18. Spot of the Moon / 19. Serenade / 20. Homecoming / 21. Oh, it smells old