On 6 May 1936, the Brussels Symphony Orchestra (OSB) gave the French-language premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s Erwartung (Expectation) in the Great Hall of the Palais des Beaux-Arts. It was one of the orchestra’s final appearances under that name: just a few months later, the OSB would become the Belgian National Orchestra, giving its very first concert on 25 October 1936. Erwartung therefore belongs to the very beginning of our story. This season, we revisit this legacy through a meeting of music and image.
Erwartung is no ordinary work. Composed in 1909 to a text by Marie Pappenheim, this monodrama follows a woman wandering alone through a nocturnal forest in search of her lover, only to find him lifeless. Atonal and free from recurring themes, the music follows every shift in her emotions — fear, confusion and anguish — in an uninterrupted flow lasting around thirty minutes. In the 1936 performance, the role was sung by Marcelle Bunlet of the Paris Opera, conducted by Hermann Scherchen.
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![Soireesde Bruxelles Programme06 05 1936002 1]()
© Bozar ArchivesProgramme for the concert on 6 May 1936 -
![Soireesde Bruxelles Programme06 05 1936003 1]()
© Bozar ArchivesProgramme for the concert on 6 May 1936
For the occasion, Flemish painter Jean Brusselmans (1884–1953) created four large-scale sets depicting a moonlit forest — dark, mysterious and striking. While the press was divided over Schoenberg’s music, Brusselmans’ work was unanimously praised. His sets were far more than a backdrop: they formed a visual response to the score, as expressive and dramatic as the music itself.
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![Soireesde Bruxelles Programmegeneral 1936002]()
© Bozar ArchivesSet design by Jean Brusselmans for the Belgian premiere of “Erwartung” (1936) -
![Soireesde Bruxelles Programmegeneral 1936003 1]()
© Bozar ArchivesJean Brusselmans
Ninety years later, we return to Erwartung and to Brusselmans’ visual world. As Bozar presents the major exhibition Jean Brusselmans. Painter by Nature, from 2 October 2026 to 31 January 2027, we bring Schoenberg’s work back to life by incorporating images of the original surviving sets on stage. A long-awaited reunion of music and image, in the very hall where it all began ninety years ago.
