Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)
In February 2021 we performed Arnold Schoenberg‘s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) with conductor Leon Botstein in a livestreamed, physically distanced concert from the Fisher Center at Bard. In her notes on the piece, TŌN cellist Jordan Gunn tells the story of the Richard Dehmel poem on with the work is based. “The poem depicts an evening stroll in the moonlit forest, where a woman admits to her partner that she is carrying a child belonging to another. Desperate to find happiness through motherhood, she had been with a man she did not love. Now, being with a man she does truly love, she feels incredible guilt and anxiety. As they walk on, the man reveals to her that he cares for her deeply and will treat her child as his own, that their love will transfigure this child into one that is theirs. They embrace and continue their walk with a new transfigured perspective on life.” You can read Jordan’s full concert notes on Verklärte Nacht by clicking here.