On July 13, 2021 it will be the 70th anniversary of Arnold Schönberg’s death. We are taking this day of remembrance as an opportunity to present previously unpublished film material that grants an insight into the day of the composer’s funeral on July 17, 1951 in Los Angeles.
“I was profoundly shocked to read of the death of Arnold Schoenberg. 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 method of expression which influenced half of the younger generation of composers. […] Arnold Schoenberg believed in his own destiny. With his death that belief will be fulfilled.” (Dimitri Mitropoulos, July 1951)
The composer’s final days are documented in handwritten notes by his wife Gertrud, who meticulously recorded the progression of his illness and the daily routines, along with house visits by his physician Dr Orren Lloyd-Jones. On July 13, 1951 Schönberg did not eat at all and he received a sedative a few hours before his death. At 6 p.m. his pulse was 90, at 7:30 p.m. it was 72. At 11:45 p.m. Arnold Schönberg died with his wife beside him. His final word was “harmony.” On July 14 Anna Mahler took an impression of his face for the death mask. The funeral took place on July 17 at the Wayside Chapel in West Los Angeles. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin conducted the ceremony, which was attended by 80 mourners. On August 15 Schönberg’s widow received the urn, which remained in the family home until it was taken to Vienna in 1974.
