Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was born on the 13th of September 1874 in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna. His father Samuel worked as a shoe-shopkeeper and moved from Szécsény, Hungary to Pozsony before settling in Austria. The family lived at Obere Donaustraße 5 within what had once been a Jewish ghetto. Schoenberg received little formal training and taught himself most musical concepts. He took only counterpoint lessons with Alexander Zemlinsky who later became his brother-in-law. In his twenties he earned money by orchestrating operettas while composing original works like Verklärte Nacht in 1899. Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler both recognized his significance early on. Strauss dismissed him after 1909 but Mahler remained supportive until his death. Schoenberg converted to Christianity in 1898 partly to strengthen ties to Western European culture and partly for self-defense against rising anti-Semitism.
Schoenberg wrote String Quartet No. 2 between 1907 and 1908 during a period when his wife Mathilde left him for painter Richard Gerstl. The final movement suspended tonality entirely without any key signature. During summer 1910 he composed Pierrot lunaire which used Sprechstimme or melodramatically spoken recitation. This work paired a female vocalist with five musicians including flute clarinet violin cello speaker and piano. The ensemble became known as the Pierrot ensemble and influenced generations of composers. His Harmonielehre theory book published in 1922 remains one of the most influential music-theory texts ever written. He formed connections with artists like Lene Schneider-Kainer Franz Werfel Herwarth Walden and Else Lasker-Schüler around 1911. World War I disrupted his life at age 42 when military service prevented uninterrupted composition. An officer once asked if he was that notorious Schoenberg and he replied nobody wanted to be someone had to be so he let it be me. He founded the Society for Private Musical Performances in Vienna in 1918 to protect modern compositions from commercial pressures.
Schoenberg developed dodecaphony or twelve-tone method after World War I ended. All twelve pitches of the octave became equal with no single note receiving emphasis. He told Josef Rufer this discovery would ensure German music's supremacy for the next hundred years. His Variations for Orchestra Op. 31 from 1928 demonstrated hexachordal inversional combinatoriality where tone rows could be combined without doubling notes. Piano Pieces Opp. 33a and b from 1931 contained three perfect fifths creating contrast between accumulated fifths and complex simultaneities. The technique varied according to musical demands rather than following rigid rules. His unfinished opera Moses und Aron written between 1932 and 1933 used completely dodecaphonic composition. Schoenberg viewed his system as equivalent to Albert Einstein's discoveries in physics. He published books ranging from Harmonielehre to Fundamentals of Musical Composition that remain in print today. Students like Hanns Eisler Alban Berg and Anton Webern followed him faithfully through each intellectual transition despite considerable experimentation.
The Nazis seized power in 1933 forcing Schoenberg to flee Germany while on vacation in France. He formally reclaimed membership in Judaism at a Paris synagogue before emigrating to the United States. His family arrived on the 31st of October 1933 and he adopted the spelling Schoenberg instead of Schönberg out of deference to American practice. He taught at Malkin Conservatory then moved to Los Angeles where he worked at University of Southern California and UCLA. A salary of $5,100 per year allowed him to buy a Spanish Revival house at 116 North Rockingham in Brentwood Park for $18,000. The address sat directly across from Shirley Temple's home where he befriended composer George Gershwin. Sunday gatherings featured Viennese pastries and coffee with guests including Otto Klemperer Edgard Varèse Harpo Marx and Peter Lorre. Composers Leonard Rosenman George Tremblay and orchestrator Edward B. Powell studied with him during this period. He became a US citizen in 1941 after his health began declining in 1944 which ended plans to move to New Zealand.
Schoenberg composed A Survivor from Warsaw Op. 46 in 1947 as a memorial to Holocaust victims following news of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. His Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte Op. 41 from 1942 satirized fascist tyrants using Beethoven's fate motif. The Piano Concerto Op. 42 completed in 1942 represented another major work from his final period. He returned to tonality with pieces like Suite for Strings in G major from 1935 and Chamber Symphony No. 2 in E minor finished in 1939. Schoenberg died on Friday the 13th of July 1951 shortly before midnight at age 76 while suffering illness. His wife Gertrud reported he died at 11:45 pm fifteen minutes before midnight according to her telegram sent the next day. Ashes were interred at Zentralfriedhof in Vienna on the 6th of June 1974. The Israel Conservatory elected him honorary president in 1951 before his death. Hundreds of scores destroyed in January 2025 Southern California wildfires when stored at son Larry's house.
Schoenberg taught at UCLA from 1936 until 1944 where facilities now bear his name as Schoenberg Hall. Students included John Cage Lou Harrison Robert Gerhard Nikos Skalkottas and Josef Rufer during various periods. Leonard Stein taught at USC UCLA and CalArts while Richard Hoffmann worked at Oberlin. Patricia Carpenter taught at Columbia University and Leon Kirchner Earl Kim instructed at Harvard. Louis Krasner Eugene Lehner Rudolf Kolisch served at New England Conservatory of Music. Eduard Steuermann Felix Galimir taught at Juilliard School. Hans Keller René Leibowitz spread influence outside Germany and Austria. Max Deutsch became a professor who recorded three master works with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande released posthumously in late 2013. These recordings included short lectures by Deutsch explaining each piece. The Arnold Schönberg Center collects archival legacy preserving materials for future study. Three generations of composers extended formal principles though stylistic unity across boundaries remains debated among analysts.
Schoenberg painted approximately sixty-five oils between 1908 and 1910 executing two-thirds of total oeuvre. His works exhibited alongside Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky as members of expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter. Jane Kallir's book focuses on paintings forming central chapter of her research into his Vienna years. He created self-portraits emphasizing intense gaze including one from 1910 now held in collections. Schoenberg converted to Christianity in 1898 then returned to Judaism in 1933 after long meditation realizing racial heritage was inescapable. He took unmistakable position opposing Nazism through this religious reclamation. Richard Gerstl painted the Schoenberg family in 1907 showing intimate domestic scenes before his suicide that November. Egon Schiele produced portrait of Schoenberg in 1917 capturing psychological intensity. His superstitious nature may have triggered death when he feared dying during year multiple of thirteen. Triskaidekaphobia began possibly with thirteenth song composition of Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten Op. 15 in 1908. He died Friday the 13th of July 1951 shortly before midnight while sick anxious depressed.
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Common questions
When and where was Arnold Schoenberg born?
Arnold Schoenberg was born on the 13th of September 1874 in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna. His family lived at Obere Donaustraße 5 within what had once been a Jewish ghetto.
What musical technique did Arnold Schoenberg develop after World War I?
Arnold Schoenberg developed dodecaphony or twelve-tone method after World War I ended. All twelve pitches of the octave became equal with no single note receiving emphasis.
Why did Arnold Schoenberg emigrate to the United States in 1933?
The Nazis seized power in 1933 forcing Arnold Schoenberg to flee Germany while on vacation in France. He formally reclaimed membership in Judaism at a Paris synagogue before emigrating to the United States.
How did Arnold Schoenberg die and when did his death occur?
Arnold Schoenberg died on Friday the 13th of July 1951 shortly before midnight at age 76 while suffering illness. His wife Gertrud reported he died at 11:45 pm fifteen minutes before midnight according to her telegram sent the next day.
Which universities did Arnold Schoenberg teach at during his career in America?
Arnold Schoenberg taught at UCLA from 1936 until 1944 where facilities now bear his name as Schoenberg Hall. He also worked at University of Southern California and Los Angeles before becoming a US citizen in 1941.