Moses und Aron

E302923

Moses und Aron is an unfinished twelve-tone opera by Arnold Schoenberg that explores the biblical story of Moses and Aaron and the tension between divine idea and its imperfect expression.

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Label Occurrences
Moses und Aron canonical 1

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Statements (38)

Predicate Object
instanceOf opera
twelve-tone opera
actStatus third act incomplete
two acts fully orchestrated
basedOn biblical story of Moses and Aaron
centralConflict Moses as bearer of pure idea vs Aron as mediator
character Aron
Moses
completionStatus unfinished
composer Arnold Schoenberg
compositionMethod twelve-tone technique
dramaticFocus danger of idolatry in representation
inadequacy of language to express God
dramaticForm music drama
genre sacred opera
instrumentation orchestra
language German
librettist Arnold Schoenberg
librettoForm through-composed
librettoLanguage German
musicalStyle Second Viennese School
notableScene Golden Calf episode
numberOfActs 3
period 20th-century opera
philosophicalAspect problem of representing the ineffable
relationship between word and image
religiousContext Judaism
setting Bible
surface form: Old Testament

מדבר סיני
surface form: wilderness of Sinai
structureFeature extended orchestral writing
large choral scenes
subjectMatter Exodus narrative
textSource Book of Exodus
theme conflict between faith and representation
tension between divine idea and its expression
titleSpelling uses "Aron" instead of "Aaron"
vocalForces chorus
solo voices

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Arnold Schoenberg notableWork Moses und Aron