Arnold Schoenberg: Composer’s vast archive destroyed in LA fires

Schoenberg’s son Larry, 83, said the sheet music was kept in a building behind his house. Both buildings were destroyed in fires last week.

Other Schoenberg mementos were also destroyed, including photographs, letters and posters.

“For a company that has focused exclusively on the works of Schoenberg, this loss is not only a physical destruction of property, but also a profound cultural blow,” Larry said in a statement.

He described the collection as “essential” for musicians who rely on “carefully selected editions” of his father’s back catalog.

Arnold Schoenberg was born into a Jewish family in Vienna in 1874. He achieved great success as a composer in Berlin before fleeing to the USA in 1933 to escape persecution by the Nazis.

Eventually he settled in Los Angeles where he continued with his revolutionary compositions. He was known for atonality and his 12-tone technique that deviated from conventional harmonies. He died in 1951 at the age of 76 in Los Angeles.

Belmont said in a statement that he hopes to make digital copies of the scores.

“We hope that in the near future we will be able to ‘rise from the ashes’ in a completely digital form,” the statement reads.

Most of Schoenberg’s original manuscripts are kept in a museum in Vienna, Austria.

Firefighters are still struggling to control the massive wildfires in Los Angeles that broke out in early January. So far, they have killed at least 24 people, destroyed thousands of buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Two large fires are still raging in Los Angeles, including the largest fire in the Palisades that has burned more than 24,000 acres.