Anton Webern Photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Webern’s 'Six Bagatelles' reject all the opulence of late-Romantic style in favour of the lean austerity of atonal music. The “less is more” philosophy was clearly on his mind when he inscribed it with “non multa sed multum” (not many things but much).
Webern’s teacher Schoenberg – in justification of this new style, once said:
“Consider what moderation is required to express oneself so briefly. Each glance can be extended into a poem, each sigh into a novel. But to express a novel in a single gesture, a joy in a single in-drawn breath - such concentration can only be found where self-pity is absent…”
Recorded 26 August 2018, St. Andrew's on The Terrace, Wellington by RNZ Concert.
Sound engineer: Darryl Stack
