An estimated 100,000 scores and parts of 20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg were destroyed last week when wildfires in Southern California destroyed the music publishing company founded by his heirs. The company rents and sells scores worldwide.
“It’s brutal,” said the musician’s son, Larry Schoenberg, 83, who runs the company Belmont Music Publishers from his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and keeps the firm’s inventory in a 2,000-square-foot building. Behind his house “we lost everything.”
Belmont’s catalog offered a wide range of Schoenberg’s music, from the lush, hyper-romantic pieces of his youth to the challenging works he wrote after breaking away from traditional tonal harmony and developing his 12-tone technique.
None of Schoenberg’s original manuscripts were destroyed in the fire. But the loss of Belmont’s collection could cause problems for orchestras, chamber music groups and soloists planning performances of 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 other composers.
Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and music director of the American Symphony Orchestra, said Belmont was instrumental in bringing Schoenberg’s music to the public. American Symphony Orchestra scores for performance of Schoenberg’s oratorio “Guerreleider” which he presented at Carnegie Hall last year, From Belmont
“It’s a disaster,” Mr Botstein said. “It was an indispensable resource.”
He added that some couples may be forced to make changes to their upcoming programs because the scores they need won’t be available from Belmont.
“They were the lenders, they were the ones who helped you,” he said. “They made it as easy as possible.”
While Belmont, founded in 1965, is not the only publisher of Schoenberg’s works, the firm was respected for the authority of its scores and its association with the Vienna-born composer, who fled the Nazis. She went to America. He eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he lived until his death. Death in 1951.
Belmont said he would work on creating digital versions of his scores based on the composer’s manuscripts, which are housed at the Schoenberg Center in Vienna. Belmont kept digital backups of the scores in his offices, but those too were destroyed in the fire.
“There’s one final thing that’s surprising,” said Larry Schoenberg. “There’s no hope left that you’re going to find or recover anything. And that’s a different kind of grief.”
The musicians said they were devastated by Belmont’s loss.
Cellist Fred Sherry, a famous Schoenberg interpreter, was a regular visitor to the outbuilding that became known as Belmont’s “garage.” He recalled studying hundreds of scores, some with old-school cover art and type. He took home as much music as he could.
“It’s a tragedy to lose these beautiful scores, but in the meantime the music will live on as long as we have concerts,” Sherry said.
Larry Schoenberg, whose home was also destroyed in the fire, said he was still coming to terms with the extent of the damage. He remembered his father’s example.
Whenever a problem arose, he would express his frustration, then work on a solution, he said.
“Despite all of this, we’re trying to stay very positive,” he added. “There are no tears.”