The great composer Dimitri Mitropoulos said in 1951: "I was deeply shocked when I read about Arnold Schoenberg's death. He was one of the greatest geniuses of our time. He did for music in the twentieth century what Einstein did for science. He created a new musical system and a new mode of expression that influenced half of the younger generation of composers. Arnold Schoenberg believed in his own fate. With his death, that belief will be fulfilled."
Arnold Schoenberg in Brentwood, LA
Arnold Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874 and died on Friday, July 13, 1951. The number 13" became for him a powerful, all-consuming obsession that influenced not only his personal life but also his professional conduct. For his birthday in 1939 – coincidentally a multiple of 13 – Schoenberg had the astrologer Dane Rudhyar draw up a horoscope. Schoenberg was told that "the year was dangerous, but not fatal." In a letter from March 4, 1939 he wrote: "Indeed, I'm not feeling very well at the moment. I'm in my 65th year of life, and you know that 5 times 13 is 65, and 13 is my unlucky number."
In August 1946 Schoenberg fell seriously ill and received injections for severe chest pain. He lost consciousness and stopped breathing; only an injection straight into the heart brought him back to consciousness. "I have risen from true death and now feel well again," he wrote to his wife Gertrud. Later he told Thomas Mann: "My string trio Op. 45 describes my illness and medical treatment." He played some chords to Hannes Eisler that were meant to represent the injections.
Arnold Schoenberg: String Trio, Op. 45
On August 2, 1950 Schoenberg wrote an account of the history of his illness. At the end he wrote: "My asthma has changed somewhat. I don't often have severe attacks, but the breathlessness is more or less chronic. I feel free of it for only four or five hours a day, and every night I wake up gasping for breath… For months now I haven't dared sleep in my bed, but sleep in a chair instead."
From this account we gain detailed insight into the various treatments the composer underwent: "I was treated for diabetes, pneumonia, kidney disease, hernia and dropsy." Due to his poor health, his 76th birthday on September 13, 1950 was celebrated without the usual festivities. Schoenberg felt that his time on earth was coming to an end, and in October 1950 he wrote two wills.
Schoenberg approached July 13, 1951 with great anxiety. His wife told: "He suffered from his foot and subsequently experienced indescribable nervousness throughout his entire body and mind. His mortal fear had ultimately turned into resignation. He was tired and wanted to die." When Friday, July 13th actually arrived, Schoenberg was severely depressed and anxious. He stayed in bed all day. "Arnold slept restlessly, but he did sleep. At a quarter to twelve I looked at the clock and thought: another fifteen minutes and then the worst will be over. Arnold's throat rattled twice, his heart beat one powerful stroke, and that was the end."
Alma Mahler-Werfel arrived with her daughter, the sculptor Anna Mahler, who made a death mask of Schoenberg. Gertrud remembered: "In the house that had lost its soul, all was silent. The study with its many books and musical scores, the writing desk – made by Schoenberg himself – covered with paper, pencils, notes and magnifying glasses, was no longer needed."
According to his wife, "his last word had been harmony." The funeral took place on July 17, 1951 at the Wayside Chapel in West Los Angeles. "Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin led the ceremony, which was attended by 80 mourners." Schoenberg's urn remained in the family home until it was brought together with his wife's ashes to 1974 Vienna. They were buried in an honorary grave at the Vienna Central Cemetery, where the Arnold Schoenberg Choir De Profundis Op. 50b performed. Schoenberg's son Ronald spoke about "a symbol of posthumous recognition," and his brother-in-law Rudolf Kolisch said: "Much of the injustice that Schoenberg suffered in his homeland has now been laid to rest."
