The Book of the Hanging Gardens (German: Das Buch der hängenden Gärten), Op. 15, is a fifteen-part song cycle composed by Arnold Schoenberg between 1908 and 1909, setting poems of Stefan George. George's poems, also under the same title, track the failed love affair of two adolescent youths in a garden, ending with the woman's departure and the disintegration of the garden. The song cycle is set for solo voice and piano. The Book of the Hanging Gardens breaks away from conventional musical order through its usage of atonality. The composition was premiered by Austrian singer Martha Winternitz-Dorda and pianist Etta Werndorf on January 14, 1910, in Vienna.
| Librettist | Stefan Anton George |
| Date of composition | 1909 (1908-1909) |
| Premiered | 1910, January 14th (Ehrbar-Saal) in Vienna, Austria |
| First published | 1914 by Universal Edition |
| Type | Song(s) |
| Tonality | Atonal |
| Catalogue | Op. 15 |
| Approx. duration | 25 minutes |
| Spoken language | German |
| Instruments |
Voice
Piano |
| Autotranslations beta |
Arnold Schönberg: Fünfzehn Gedichte aus "Das Buch der hängenden Gärten" von Stefan George, Op. 15 Arnold Schönberg: Fünfzehn Gedichte aus "Das Buch der hängenden Gärten" von Stefan George, Op. 15 Arnold Schönberg: Fünfzehn Gedichte aus "Das Buch der hängenden Gärten" von Stefan George, Op. 15 |