This collection, from DG circa 1987 and now reinvented through Arkiv Music's re-burn system, is one of few recording that puts together the orchestral pieces of 12 tone master Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and his two most notable pupils, Alban Berg (1885-1935) and Anton Webern (1874-1951). With Hanns Eisler, they formed the Second Viennese School that revolutionized classical music in the early 20th century by reinventing sound through the dodecaphonic or 12 tone system.

The elusive 12 tone system is defined this way by Wikipedia: "Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any through the use of tone rows, an ordering of the 12 pitches. All 12 notes are thus given more or less equal importance, and the music avoids being in a key."

The unique nature of dodecaphony, in my opinion, is the postulate that no note can be repeated in a tone row. Imagine Beethoven not repeating C minor in a tone row and his Symphony No. 5 would no longer be recognizable. The opening "fate knocking at the door" theme might become fate tripping over the doormat. This was both the challenge and curse musicians faced in the early 20th century who tried to write memorable music using this formula.

While Berg is the more romantic of three composers and, therefore, vents with more heart on sleeve affect, you'd never confuse any of his three pieces with a Romantic era score. By comparison, Schoenberg's icy, cerebral stuff cuts diagonally with Webern's piquant selections somewhere between the two. Webern's Six Pieces represent his feelings on his mother's 1906 death. His half-dozen pieces are more intellectually stimulating than the Berg but often lack similar emotional involvement. Schoenberg's Five Pieces are early German Expressionist utilizing a large orchestra to create compact, even small scale, ideas.

The performances are committed but not among the best, in my opinion. The Berlin Philharmonic plays well for Levine but the direction, while virile and direct, lacks the subtlety and nuance others bring to this music. On Philips, Antal Dorati and Harold Lawrence recreate this program and throw in Berg's "Lulu" suite in performances that lack some of the same attributes as here.

I'd recommend anyone coming anew to 12 tone music to start elsewhere. Herbert von Karjan recorded Berg's Three Pieces with selectons from Schoenberg and Webern for DG Schonberg/Berg/Webern on a recording that's so cheap you can throw it away if you don't like it. Another cheapie comes from Simon Rattle, in his pre-Berlin days in Birmingham, who recorded some of this repertory 5 Orchestral Pieces (Rattle, Cbso) with Webern's popular "Lulu" suite. Levine himself did better with Berg's pieces and "Wozzeck" excerpts with the Met Orchestra Alban Berg: Lulu Suite; Wozzeck, Three Excerpts. I think the Second Viennese School is better represented in any of these recordings than this one.

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