Last week, wildfires in Southern California gutted the music publishing company founded by his successors, destroying an estimated 100,000 scores and parts by the groundbreaking 20th century composer Arnold Schoenberg. The company rents and sells sheet music to ensembles around the world.
Larry Schoenberg, 83, the composer's son, ran Belmont Music Publishers from his home in Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades neighborhood, storing the company's inventory in a 2,000-square-foot building. He said this. It's behind his house. “We lost everything.”
Belmont's catalog includes a wide range of Schoenberg's music, from the lush hyperromantic works of his youth to the more challenging works he wrote after breaking away from traditional tonal harmonies and developing his 12-note technique. It was published.
Schoenberg's original manuscript was not destroyed in the fire. But the disappearance of the Belmont collection could pose problems for orchestras, chamber music groups and soloists planning to perform Schoenberg's works in the coming months. Other Schoenberg memorabilia was also destroyed in the fire, including photographs, letters, posters, books, and arrangements of Schoenberg's works by other composers.
Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and music director of the American Symphony Orchestra, said the Belmont played an important role in bringing Schoenberg's music to the public. The American Symphony Orchestra obtained from Belmont the performance score for Schoenberg's oratorio “Greriedel,” which was performed at Carnegie Hall last year.
“This is a disaster,” Botstein said. “It was an indispensable resource.”
He added that some ensembles may be forced to make changes to their upcoming programs because the necessary sheet music is not available from Belmont.
“They are the lenders and they helped you,” he said. “They made it as easy as possible.”
Belmont, founded in 1965, was not the only publisher of Schoenberg's works, but it was respected for its authority on sheet music and its ties to the Viennese-born composer who fled the Nazis and immigrated to the United States. He eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he lived until his death in 1951.
Belmont said it would work on creating a digital version of the score, based on the composer's manuscripts kept at the Schoenberg Center in Vienna. Belmont had kept digital backups of the scores in his office, but those were also destroyed in the fire.
“There's an amazing finality here,” Larry Schoenberg said. “There's no hope left that you'll ever find anything or get anything back. And that's a different kind of grief.”
Musicians said they were devastated by Belmont's death.
Cellist Fred Shelley, a noted interpreter of Schoenberg, was a regular visitor to the annex, later known as the Belmont's “Garage.” He recalls poring over hundreds of scores, some with old-style jacket art and typography. He brought home as much music as he could carry.
“It would be a tragedy to lose that beautiful score,” Shelley said. “But in the meantime, as long as there are concerts, the music will remain.”
Larry Schoenberg, whose home was also destroyed in the fire, said he was still coming to terms with the magnitude of the loss. He remembered his father's example.
“Every time there was a problem, he expressed his frustration and started working on a solution,” he said.
“Despite everything that has happened, we are trying to be very positive,” he added. “There are no tears here.”
