Composer Arnold Schoenberg's archive destroyed in LA fires

Last edited Thu Jan 16, 2025, 04:45 AM - Edit history (1)

2 days ago

Alex Loftus
BBC News

At least 100,000 scores by the pioneering 20th century Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg have been destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires.
The sheet music was kept at his family's music production company - which burnt down in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood last week.

While no original manuscripts were lost, the music owned by Belmont Music Publishing had been the main collection of scores rented out to orchestras and musicians.
The director of the American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, said these had been an "indispensable resource" for performing musicians.

Schoenberg's son, Larry, 83, said the sheet music had been kept in a building behind his house. Both buildings were razed in the fires last week.
Other Schoenberg memorabilia was also destroyed, including photographs, letters and posters.

"For a company that focused exclusively on the works of Schoenberg, this loss represents not just a physical destruction of property but a profound cultural blow," said Larry in a statement.

More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23n891j0mvo