Arnold Schönberg
String Quartet No. 3, op. 30
Proof of a photocopy of the manuscript
Universal Edition A.G., Wien, with kind permission
1927        

Nearly twenty years after completing his Opus 10, Schönberg began to compose a new string quartet. The genre had an aura and reputation that demanded a contribution from the now well-proven twelve-tone method. Self-made row charts with vertically movable sliders helped him to keep orientation within the compositional progression. The photocopy of the neatly executed manuscript exhibits numerous comments and additions; those in ­magenta-colored pencil may be traced back to Schönberg’s son-in-law Felix Greissle, who clarified hard-to-read details of the score for the final engraving. Greissle also checked the score for inconsistencies. A forgotten accidental at the beginning of bar 164, indicated with a red question mark, was verified by Schönberg with blue pencil on the right page border. In bar 176 Greissle noted at the very bottom “♭ oder ♮??“ [b♭ or b♮?] Schönberg confirmed this pitch with the pencil note “♭ ist richtig“ [b♭ is correct] which indeed corresponds with the row partitioned between the two simultaneously playing violins.