At least 100,000 musical scores associated with the influential Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg have been lost in the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. The extensive collection was housed at Schoenberg’s family’s music production company, which was devastated in the Pacific Palisades area last week.
While no original manuscripts were destroyed, the collection held by Belmont Music Publishing represented a vital resource for orchestras and musicians. Leon Botstein, director of the American Symphony Orchestra, emphasized that these scores were an “indispensable resource” for performing artists.
Larry Schoenberg, the composer’s son, revealed that the sheet music was stored in a building adjacent to his home, both of which were completely consumed by the flames. Alongside the music, various memorabilia, including photographs, letters, and posters, were also lost in the fire. Larry referred to the situation as a “profound cultural blow,” underscoring the importance of the meticulously curated editions of his father’s work for musicians.
Arnold Schoenberg, born in Vienna in 1874, became a renowned figure in contemporary music. Fleeing to the United States in 1933 to escape Nazi persecution, he eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he continued to innovate with his atonal compositions and the twelve-tone technique, fundamentally changing the landscape of music. He passed away in 1951 at the age of 76.
In a recent statement, Belmont Music Publishing expressed intentions to create digital copies of the lost scores, hopeful of “rising from the ashes” in a new digital format.
As the wildfires continue to rage across Los Angeles, they have claimed at least 24 lives, destroyed thousands of structures, and forced tens of thousands to evacuate. The Palisades fire remains the largest, having scorched over 24,000 acres to date.
