Arnold Schoenberg Biography

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG

Biography:

Arnold Schoenberg remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of music. From the final years of the nineteenth century to the period following the World War II, Schoenberg produced music of great stylistic diversity, inspiring fanatical devotion from students, admiration from peers like Mahler, Strauss, and Busoni, riotous anger from conservative Viennese audiences, and unmitigated hatred from his many detractors.

Born in Vienna on 13 September 1874, into a family that was not particularly musical, Schoenberg was largely self-taught as a musician. An amateur cellist, he demonstrated from early age a particular aptitude for composition. He received rudimentary instruction in harmony and counterpoint from Oskar Adler and studied composition briefly with Alexander Zemlinsky, his eventual brother-in-law. Early in his career, Schoenberg took jobs orchestrating operettas, but most of his life was spent teaching, both privately and at various institutions, and composing. His moves between teaching jobs were as much a result of seeking respite from the bouts of ill health which hampered him as they were due to his being offered a position.

Influence:

His greatest contribution to music was the development of the twelve-tone series. Along with Stravinsky, they are the two greatest influences in the twentieth century, and their marks shall last a lifetime.

His later works tried to blend the traditional classical music with his twelve-tone series, but the product was still the same: an undecipherable piece of pure genius. During the last year of his life he composed more religious pieces such as A Survivor from Warsaw.

Listening:

Verklärte Nacht (or Transfigured Night), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899 and his earliest important work. Composed in just three weeks, the work was inspired by Richard Dehmel's poem of the same name, along with Schoenberg's strong feelings upon...