Erhebt euch, Freunde, op. 2/4

“Three little songs (after Klabund and Bethge) | Arnold Schönberg in highest admiration | Hanns Eisler, Christmas 1922” “Even in his most ‘radical’ works, Schönberg was never a man of letters, but only a musician. A sentence from his Theory of Harmony is characteristic of his artistic disposition and shows the contrast he had with the gayness and artistry of his time: ‘If I should succeed in teaching a student the craftsmanship of our art as completely as a carpenter always can, then I will be satisfied.’ No subversive speaks like that. Perhaps this is how a master would have spoken of his art 200 years ago, and how different this artist is from the modern tone poets who were more concerned with psychology and who wanted to redeem the world by a six-four chord. The musical world must relearn and no longer regard Schönberg as a destroyer and subversive, but as a master. Today it is clear to us: he created a new material for himself, in order to make music in the fullness and unity of the classics. He is the true conservative: he even created himself a revolution in order to be able to be a reactionary.” (Hanns Eisler, Arnold Schönberg, der musikalische Reaktionär, in: Arnold Schönberg zum 50. Geburtstage, 13. September 1924. Sonderheft der Musikblätter des Anbruch, 6. Jg., August-September-Heft 1924)