Vienna – September 04, 2026 -- The Auner Quartet will open a four-concert cycle at Vienna's Musikverein on November 25, 2026, dedicated to composers pushed out of the city's musical life first by the popularity of Strauss-era dance music, then by Nazi persecution.

The series centers on Alexander Zemlinsky, a composer forced into exile

Titled 'Jenseits vom tanzenden Wien' (Beyond the Waltzing Vienna), the cycle spotlights Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), a teacher and brother-in-law of Schönberg who conducted in Vienna, Prague and Berlin before fleeing to the United States in 1938, where he died largely forgotten. A Zemlinsky work will be performed at every concert.

Other exiled and persecuted composers share the program

The lineup also includes Egon Wellesz, who found refuge in Oxford; Anton Webern, killed in 1945; and Fritz Kreisler, whose quartet 'Bekenntnis zu Wien' was composed in exile in New York. Mary Dickenson-Auner (1880-1965), barred from performing in Vienna in 1938, is also featured; most of her quartets survive only as manuscripts. Daniel Auner, a relative of hers, will perform on her own violin.

Baritone Thomas Hampson joins the cycle in March

Baritone Thomas Hampson will sing lieder by these exiled composers on March 17, 2027. The Auner Quartet, formed in 2013, won the Eugène Ysaÿe Competition in Liège in 2018 and served as an Austrian cultural ambassador (NASOM) in 2020/21. Its recording 'Versinkende Sonne' was named Ö1 CD of the Year in 2022.

Four concerts run through May 2027

The cycle continues on February 17, 2027, with works by Webern, Johann Strauss the younger, Zemlinsky and Berg, followed by a reading from Wolfgang Böck on Arthur Schnitzler. The final concert on May 22, 2027, pairs Kreisler's 'Bekenntnis zu Wien' with pieces by Wellesz, Zemlinsky and Johann Strauss the younger. Peter Marboe, former Vienna city councilor for culture and president of the Alexander Zemlinsky Fund, called the project an ambitious departure from typical Viennese cliches.