96 Part II: A Change of Scene
there and had become immersed in a ‘philosophical battle’ in which
they had been joined by Alfred Sohn-Rethel. The latter lived in south-
ern Italy at the time and had many of the same social and philosophical
interests as Benjamin and Kracauer.^4 He was also introduced to Adorno,
and this gave rise to a lasting relationship between two lively thinkers,
although Adorno expressed himself quite critically about Sohn-Rethel’s
doctoral dissertation, From the Analysis of Economic Activity to a Theory
of Economics.
The philosophical discussions that formed the focus of the encoun-
ters between Adorno, Benjamin and Kracauer were just one of Adorno’s
activities. He threw himself increasingly into composing during his
stay in Italy. Now that he had become familiar with the techniques of
twelve-tone composition, he thought of himself as an outsider who had
penetrated to the inner circle of the Second Viennese School, and this
stimulated him to produce his own compositions. These included the
George Songs, op. 1, the Two Pieces for String Quartet, op. 2, the Songs
from texts by Däubler, Trakl and Heym, op. 3, the Orchestral Pieces,
op. 4, and also the Bagatelles, op. 6, as well as two of the Frauenchöre,
op. 8. We shall say more in due course about his fragmentary opera
based on Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, a Singspiel that he began in 1933.
No sooner had he returned to Frankfurt after his lengthy trip to Italy
than Adorno and the entire family set off for Amorbach to celebrate his
mother’s sixtieth birthday, on 1 October 1925. For this occasion he
dedicated to her two pieces for voice and piano based on poems by
Stefan George and later his Four Poems by Stefan George for Voice and
Piano, which he specified as his op. 1.^5 By the time of the birthday party
the entire collection of George Songs was far from ready, and he con-
tinued to work on it between 1925 and 1928. The poems were chosen
from a number of George’s volumes and it was natural for Adorno to
apply the techniques he had learnt in Vienna to the settings; in other
words, he made use of twelve-tone rows for the most part. These were
particularly prominent in the setting for no. 2, Wir schreiten auf und
ab im reichen Flitter.^6 In addition to free atonality, this, the second
George song from op. 1, exhibits certain features specific to Adorno’s
own approach, such as his very idiosyncratic use of the serial twelve-
tone principle.^7
Following the months spent in Vienna and travelling in Italy, Adorno
settled down once more in his parents’ house in the sober commercial
city on the Main. He attempted to maintain his position as bothcomposer
and writer on music. He also tried to establish himself as a philosopher.
But where was he to begin? Thanks to the tuition he had received from
Alban Berg and the piano lessons from Eduard Steuermann, he had
seen the advanced methods of composition of contemporary music at
first hand. This entitled him to regard himself as belonging to the avant-
garde art scene. His published music critiques and his own compositions
from both before and after his meeting with Berg strengthened his