Following the conversion of all compact discs, a similarly large number of records from the sound recording collection of the Arnold Schönberg Center are due to be digitized.

From the outset, the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles not only collected current book publications on the life and works of Arnold Schönberg, but also documented the increasingly available commercial sound recordings. In 1984 Wayne Shoaf published the first edition of his Schönberg discography, which already listed several hundred records. Although numerous republications are accessible on Qobuz, Spotify & co., many of these recordings have never been digitized. They include some exceptional gems:

• In 1960 the record label of music publisher Bärenreiter published a complete recording of Schönberg’s piano works by the pianist Else Kraus, who had premiered the Piano Piece op. 33a on January 30, 1931 in Hamburg. Her playing is rhythmically flexible and gives the music room to breathe. The liner notes were written by Theodor W. Adorno. (Link)
• In 1964 Hermann Scherchen conducted an ensemble consisting of members of the Vienna State Opera, including Thomas Kakuska, who would later become violist of the Alban Berg Quartett. Their performance of Schönberg’s Chamber Symphony op. 9 was obtainable as stereo and mono recordings on the US label Westminster and also on EMI for the European market. (Link)
• In 1974 Cleo Laine, actress and singer of both jazz music and the classical repertoire, performed the Sprechstimme for Schönberg’s Pierrot lunaire op. 21 – in English! Her recording with the Nash Ensemble and conductor Elgar Howarth received a Grammy nomination. (Link)

All three of these recordings can already be heard in 30-second extracts in the audio database of the Arnold Schönberg Center. This collection of digital recordings is constantly growing – over 300 analog recordings are currently waiting to be rediscovered.