I was in the middle of my dissertation research and writing when I noticed that a small conference was happening at the University of Edinburgh, only an hour away from my home in St. Andrews. The conference was called "Continuities and Discontinuities in the Austrian 20th Century." Perhaps not the most exciting title to the layperson's eye, but to a budding Schoenberg scholar, I recognized in the title the influence of a number of the key scholars that I was reading. One of the keynotes, Christopher Hailey, was a prominent Schoenberg scholar, whose work I was referencing almost daily, so I knew this was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. And off I went on the train to Edinburgh for a number of very exciting and helpful days of papers and conversation.
As I contemplated this conference, I had no idea that I would also meet one of the most influential historians to the scope of my work on Arnold Schoenberg: Carl E. Schorske. Prof. Schorske was the guest of honor at this conference. It was such an privilege to hear him speak and to meet him. His book, Fin de siècle Vienna, gave me language to address the complex world of early 20th century Vienna, the world of Freud, Wittgenstein, Kraus, Kokoschka, Mahler (Alma and Gustav!), and, of course, Schoenberg. In person, he was kind, thoughtful, and sharp. And wouldn't you know it, he was a violinist.
I think it was his approach to interdisciplinary discourse that impacted me the most in his writing. He had such skill in writing about music, the arts, philosophy, public discourse, politics, etc. He respected each discipline and moved in and out of different disciplines with wisdom, skill, and ease. As I struggled to write and research in a similar vein, I envied and admired his depth and breadth of knowledge.
In this life, we rarely get to meet our heroes, but it was a privilege to meet Prof. Schorske. He seemed to be a truly kind and full human being. I'm sorry to hear that he died earlier this week, but I am grateful that he lead such a long and fruitful life. I'm grateful for his books. Life was richer with him teaching and writing!
