The "Herculean" Collaboration: When the Mendelssohn Glee Club Met Stokowski (1932)

In the spring of 1932, the musical world’s eyes were fixed on a "colossal enterprise" that many believed was impossible: the American premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder. At the center of this storm was the

Glee Club of New York, joining forces with the legendary Leopold Stokowski to bring a spectral, late-Romantic masterpiece to life.

Leopold Stokowski and Arnold Schoenberg shared a relationship defined by a profound, if occasionally strained, mutual respect—a partnership between the "Great Sorcerer" of the podium and the architect of modernism. Stokowski was arguably Schoenberg's most powerful advocate in America, possessing both the technical genius to decipher Schoenberg’s dense scores and the showmanship to sell them to skeptical audiences. While many conductors of the era avoided Schoenberg’s music as "unperformable," Stokowski thrived on the challenge, famously conducting the world premieres of both the Violin Concerto and the Piano Concerto.

Their correspondence reveals a fascinating dynamic: Stokowski was the pragmatic visionary, constantly tweaking orchestral seating and acoustics to ensure the "Stokowski Sound" did justice to the music, while Schoenberg was the uncompromising perfectionist, protective of every rhythmic nuance. Despite their differing temperaments, it was Stokowski’s unwavering commitment that transformed Schoenberg from a distant European radical into a towering figure of the American concert hall, with the 1932 Gurre-Lieder serving as the ultimate monument to their collaboration.

Two Cities, One Massive Sound

While the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia provided the foundation for the initial rehearsals and the famous RCA Victor recording, the Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York was the critical partner that allowed Stokowski to realize his vision on a truly "Herculean" scale.

The collaboration spanned two cities:

• The Philadelphia Run: Our singers traveled to the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia to bolster the ranks for the initial three-day run (April 8, 9, and 11, 1932). It was here that the historic live recording was captured.

• The New York Premiere: On April 20, 1932, the entire production moved to Carnegie Hall. For this landmark New York premiere, the Mendelssohn Glee Club served as the "home team," standing on the risers to prove that New York's choral tradition could handle the most modern and complex music in the world.

The "Wild Hunt": A Ghostly Masterclass

The club was recruited specifically for the "Wild Hunt of the Summer Wind" in Part III. This section features three four-part male choruses—a logistical nightmare for most ensembles, but a point of pride for the Mendelssohn men.

The Music: The "Hunt" is a jagged, rhythmic departure from the lush melodies of the work’s opening. It requires rapid-fire German articulation and a technique known as Sprechstimme (spoken-singing). The music depicts the ghostly vassals of King Waldemar galloping across the night sky, their voices whistling like the wind and clattering like spectral hooves.

Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder stands as one of the most staggering bridge works in music history, marking the final, massive flowering of Late Romanticism before the composer pivoted toward atonality and the twelve-tone technique. Based on the poetry of Jens Peter Jacobsen, the work is a "monster cantata" that follows the tragic legend of King Waldemar and his love for Tove, culminating in a supernatural "Wild Hunt" where the king and his ghostly vassals are condemned to ride through the night forever. Schoenberg began the piece in 1900, but the sheer logistical and financial weight of its orchestration—requiring a staggering 150 instrumentalists and hundreds of choristers—meant it was not completed until 1911.

When the work finally premiered in Vienna in 1913, it was a rare and overwhelming success for Schoenberg. Ironically, while the audience cheered the lush, Wagnerian beauty of the score, Schoenberg had already moved on to the radical, dissonant style that would define his legacy. Gurre-Lieder is essentially a paradox: it is a masterpiece of the 19th-century tradition (featuring wall-to-wall melody and iridescent orchestral colors) written by the man who would eventually dismantle that very tradition. It remains one of the greatest technical challenges for any chorus or orchestra, not just for its volume, but for its pioneering use of Sprechstimme—a haunting vocal technique halfway between speaking and singing—which the Mendelssohn Glee Club helped navigate during those historic 1932 performances.

What to Listen For

Listen for the moment the bass instruments begin a "galloping" rhythm, and the men let out a sudden, unified shout of "Holla!" That is the official signal that the Glee Club has entered the fray.

The recording is famous for its "narrow" 1930s sound, but Stokowski’s placement of the microphones was revolutionary. You can actually hear the "weight" of the several hundred men behind the orchestra, which was a feat of engineering for the time. In the historic 1932 Stokowski recording (which is typically split into several tracks on modern digital versions or CDs), the Hunt Chorus appears in Part III.

Here is a link to the original recording of parts 2 and 3.

Stokowski conducts Schoenberg, Gurre-Lieder (1932)

Part 2 & 3: Timestamp Guide

On most modern transfers of the 1932 recording (such as the Pristine Classical or Guild releases), the sequence is as follows:

• 00:00 – Part 2 Begins: Waldemar’s solo ("Herrgott, weißt du, was du tatest").

  
  

• 04:12 – Part 3 Begins: Waldemar summons his men ("Erwacht, König Waldemars Mannen wert!").

• 06:20 – The Peasant's Song: A bass-baritone solo describing the terrifying sights.

• 10:49 – "Gegrüsst, o König" (The Vassals' Entrance):  This is it. The male chorus (including the MGC) enters with a thunderous shout of "Holla!"  This section lasts for about 6 minutes, as the men describe their ride across the island.

• 27:40 – "Der Hahn erhebt den Kopf zur Kraht" (The Hunt Chorus):

  • This is the second major choral moment for the men. It is faster, more rhythmic, and depicts the ghosts rushing back to their graves before the sun rises.

• 39:28 – "Seht die Sonne!" (The Finale):

  • The massive mixed-chorus finale where the sun finally breaks through.

Why "Gegrüsst, o König" is significant

This isn't just a standard chorus; it was the "Herculean" section that required the Mendelssohn Glee Club to join forces with the Princeton and Philadelphia groups. In the 1932 recording, you can hear a distinct change in the "acoustic weight" at the 10:49 mark—that is the sound of several hundred men suddenly filling the stage of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House.

The New York Premiere

• Venue: Carnegie Hall, NYC.

• Date: April 20, 1932.

• The "532": Total number of performers on stage, including MGC, the Philadelphia Mendelssohn Club, the Princeton Glee Club, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

• The Legacy: While no recording of the New York night exists, the performance was a sold-out sensation that The New York Times described as a "monstrous and beautiful" triumph.

• The Reception: "When the final note of 'Seht die Sonne!' rang out in Carnegie Hall on April 20, 1932, the silence that followed was described by witnesses as profound. Then came the roar of an audience that realized they had just seen the impossible. Olin Downes in the Times the next morning couldn't deny the 'Herculean' effort of the men on the risers. For the Mendelssohn Glee Club, it was a night that redefined what a male chorus could be—moving from the parlor to the vanguard of 20th-century music."