Arnold Schoenberg
Who was Arnold Schoenberg?
Austrian composer who pioneered twelve-tone technique and atonality, fundamentally transforming 20th-century classical music composition with works like 'Pierrot Lunaire.'
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Arnold Schoenberg (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, and teacher who changed Western classical music by developing atonality and the twelve-tone technique. Born in Vienna on September 13, 1874, he became a major influence in 20th-century music, drastically changing composition methods that had been used in European music for hundreds of years. He was a leading figure in modernist music, making him both popular and controversial during his career.
Schoenberg's music evolved in stages, starting with late-Romantic pieces inspired by Wagner and Brahms. His early work, Verklärte Nacht (1899), showed this blend of influences. By 1907-1908, with his String Quartet No. 2, he began to leave traditional tonality behind. During this atonal phase, he created some of his most expressive works, like the monodrama Erwartung (1909) and the pioneering Pierrot lunaire (1912), which used Sprechgesang, a style between singing and speaking that became a key part of his vocal compositions.
As the leader of the Second Viennese School, Schoenberg taught two key composers of the time: Anton Webern and Alban Berg. Together, they developed atonal composition techniques while working with visual artists and contributing to expressionist movements. In the 1920s, Schoenberg created the twelve-tone method, also called dodecaphony, which organized all twelve chromatic scale pitches into ordered series, bringing structure to atonal music and influencing many later composers.
When the Nazis gained power in Germany, Schoenberg moved to the United States in 1933, eventually settling in Los Angeles. During his time in America, he incorporated some tonal elements back into his music but continued using twelve-tone techniques. He taught at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1936 to 1944, greatly influencing American composers. During this time, he wrote pieces like A Survivor from Warsaw, which focused on the Holocaust, and finished his Chamber Symphony No. 2. He became an American citizen in 1941 and stayed in Los Angeles until he passed away on July 13, 1951.
Before Fame
Arnold Schoenberg was born to a middle-class Jewish family in Vienna's Leopoldstadt district. His father, Samuel, ran a shoe shop, and his mother, Pauline, came from a family of cantors. After his father died in 1890, the family struggled financially, and Arnold, at sixteen, had to work in a bank while mostly teaching himself music. He learned violin as a child and later taught himself cello and started composing by age eight, with only basic musical instruction.
Schoenberg entered Vienna's music scene through his friendship with Alexander Zemlinsky, a composer and conductor who was his only formal teacher and became his brother-in-law when Schoenberg married Zemlinsky's sister Mathilde in 1901. Through Zemlinsky, Schoenberg was introduced to the progressive music trends in Vienna at the time, including the works of Wagner, Brahms, and Gustav Mahler. His early compositions caught the attention of Vienna's avant-garde scene but also sparked a lot of controversy due to their innovative harmonies.
Key Achievements
- Developed the twelve-tone technique that systematically organized atonal composition and influenced generations of composers
- Founded the Second Viennese School and mentored Anton Webern and Alban Berg, two of the most important 20th-century composers
- Composed groundbreaking works including Pierrot lunaire, Erwartung, and Verklärte Nacht that redefined possibilities in classical music
- Established new theories of harmony including concepts of developing variation and the emancipation of dissonance
- Received appointment as Honorary Member of the International Society for Contemporary Music in recognition of his contributions to modern composition
Did You Know?
- 01.Schoenberg was also an accomplished painter who created over 300 artworks, often painting compulsively during periods of emotional crisis, and his self-portraits were featured alongside works by Kandinsky and other expressionist artists.
- 02.He suffered from triskaidekaphobia, an intense fear of the number 13, and died on Friday the 13th in 1951 at 11:47 PM, just 13 minutes before midnight.
- 03.His student John Cage once described Schoenberg's harmony classes as so rigorous that students were not allowed to use any chord progressions that had not been explicitly taught and approved.
- 04.Schoenberg invented a variant of chess called 'Coalition Chess' for four players, reflecting his systematic approach to structure and rules that characterized his musical compositions.
- 05.He maintained extensive correspondence with fellow composer Igor Stravinsky for decades, despite their opposing compositional philosophies, and their letters reveal mutual respect amid professional rivalry.
Family & Personal Life
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Honorary Member of the International Society for Contemporary Music | — | — |