The collection of Schönberg’s autograph music manuscripts from his legacy constitutes the most important part of the Arnold Schönberg Center’s archive in terms of content. Handwritten and printed sources important for the compositional process have come down to us for almost all of Schönberg’s works, from the initial musical sketches and drafts to fair copies and engraver’s copies, as well as corrected early editions.
The Catalogue of Works and Sources is based on the structure of the Schönberg Complete Edition (Kritische Gesamtausgabe der musikalischen Werke Arnold Schönbergs). The uppermost level of the database contains the compositions, including a number of fragments, sketches and drafts. All related sources are linked to this entry – that is all the information available from the critical reports in the Schönberg Complete Edition. The lowest level provides access to scans of the manuscripts as they are available at the Arnold Schönberg Center – about 8,000 digital facsimiles.
The database is structured according to these main headings:
Title (can be sorted according to alphabet, opus number and date)
Work categories (displays the quantity of the works available in each of the sub-categories)
Kinds of paper stock (displays a small preview image and a list of the works Schönberg wrote on that particular kind of stock)
Full text search
Category search (category – sub-category – instrumental/vocal setting – persons – opus number – dating – first performance – first printing – location – call number)
The works are named according to those in the Schönberg Complete Edition as well as the German and English titles of the first editions. A short text provides information on the circumstances surrounding the work’s creation, on its dedication and reproduces remarks by Schönberg himself on the works, including pointers toward other versions and arrangements. Key figures are also provided for the compositions, from the initial sketches to the completed full score.
Undated works, many of which are fragments, are delimited with regard to speculative time-frames. Individual dating of works which mark specific compositional stages are indicated in the source-descriptions of the sketches and drafts. The process of dating the works makes use of both the Complete Edition and the results of current research today.
Texts in their original languages are given for Schönberg’s vocal compositions – from the song fragments to the opera libretti.
When selecting the sources listed under a title entry, a description of the source appears which is orientated to the critical report in the Schönberg Complete Edition, including an indication of the kind of paper stock used. Scans which are already linked also display the selection option zum Manuskript where you can find and enlarge the facsimiles.
Not catalogued yet:
Fragments (unidentified sketches, rows): (MS 94) | (MS 95) | (MS 96)