Schoenberg, Arnold, 1874-1951. Gurrelieder

Gurre-Lieder (Songs of Gurre) is a tripartite oratorio followed by a melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, tenor and piano, was composed by the then-Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg from 1900 to 1903. After a break, he resumed orchestration in 1910 and completed it in November 1911. It sets to music the poem cycle Gurresange by the Danish writer Jens Peter Jacobsen (translated from Danish to German by Robert Franz Arnold). The Gurre Castle and its surrounding areas in Denmark are the settings of the plot, which involves the mediæval love-tragedy (related in Jacobsen's poems) revolving around a legend of the love of king Valdemar Atterdag (Valdemar IV, 1320–1375, German: Waldemar) for his mistress, Tove, and her subsequent murder by Valdemar's jealous wife, Queen Helvig of Schleswig, (a legend which is historically more likely connected with his ancestor Valdemar I). It is the most important tonal work of the composer, alongside Verklärte Nacht.