The Enigma of Modern Music Arrives

Probably the most significant citation of an occasion in Arnold Schönberg’s photo biography is the moment when he landed in America. His arrival in New York on 31 October 1933 accomplished a distinct image transformation for the “self-imposed exile from Hitlerized Germany” (Daily Boston Globe, 5 November 1933). We see a husband and father who looks less burdened with worries, with his wife and daughter immediately after their arrival from Le Havre. The press photos that were taken while still on deck, on the Île de France in front of Ellis Island refute the impression of the terrifying “Enigma of Modern Music” (Musical America, 10 November 1933).