''Die Jakobsleiter'' (''

Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder () is a ladder or staircase leading to Heaven that was featured in a dream the Biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of the dream has been de ...

'') is an

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

that marks his transition from a contextual or free

atonality Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...

to the

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale ...

anticipated in the oratorio's use of

hexachord In music, a hexachord (also hexachordon) is a six- note series, as exhibited in a scale ( hexatonic or hexad) or tone row. The term was adopted in this sense during the Middle Ages and adapted in the 20th century in Milton Babbitt's serial t ...

s. Though unfinished by Schoenberg, the piece was ultimately completed and prepared for performance by Schoenberg student Winfried Zillig at the request of Gertrude Schoenberg. Schoenberg began the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

in 1914-15, which he published as a stand-alone text in 1917. He began the music in 1915, finishing most of his work on it in 1926, and finished a small amount of orchestration in 1944, leaving 700 measures at his death. The piece is also notable for its use of developing variation. The fragment received a partial premiere (1958) of only 160 bars or measures, and was premiered as far as possible in Vienna on June 16, 1961, conducted by Rafael Kubelik. All performances before 1968 were concert performances; the American premiere took place in 1968 at the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

using a staging by director Bodo Igesz. It was repeated in 1980. In 1968 a "scenic performance", the oratorio version of what for opera would be a staged performance, was given. The score was first published in 1974 by the composer's publisher Belmont. Notable recordings include conductors Robert Craft's (on Columbia Records) and

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

's (on CBS, 1982), the latter featuring Siegmund Nimsgern as Gabriel (with Ian Partridge, Anthony Rolfe Johnson and

Mady Mesplé Mady Mesplé (7 March 1931 – 30 May 2020) was a French opera singer who was considered the leading coloratura soprano of her generation in France, and sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin, with ''Lakmé'' by Delibes becoming her si ...

in other singing roles).

References

External links

Time.com: Schoenberg Revisited

Viewing

YouTube.com: World premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's (1874-1951) oratorio "Die Jakobsleiter" in Vienna, 1961 part I
an
part II: discussion
Atonal compositions by Arnold Schoenberg Musical compositions completed by others Oratorios Unfinished musical compositions 1958 oratorios Choral compositions by Arnold Schoenberg {{classical-composition-stub