Schoenberg's early work. List of Schoenberg's major works. Dodecaphony by Arnold Schoenberg
(.1874 - .1951) Austria
Austrian, then American composer, conductor, musicologist and painter.
Article: short biography
Date of publication: 00.00.0000
Arnold Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874 in the Leopoldstadt quarter of Vienna (the former Jewish ghetto) into a Jewish family. His mother Paulina, a native of Prague, was a piano teacher. Father Samuil, originally from Bratislava, was the owner of a store. Arnold was largely a self-taught musician, taking only counterpoint lessons from Alexander von Zemlinsky, his first brother-in-law. As a twenty-year-old young man, Schoenberg made a living orchestrating operettas, while simultaneously working on his own compositions in the tradition of German music of the late 19th century, the most famous of which was the string sextet “Enlightened Night” op. 4 (1899).
He developed the same traditions in the poem “Pelléas et Mélisande” (1902–1903), the cantata “Songs of Gurre” (1900–1911), and “The First String Quartet” (1905). The name of Schoenberg begins to gain fame. He is recognized by such prominent musicians as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. In 1904 he began private teaching of harmony, counterpoint and composition. The next important stage in Schoenberg's music was his First Chamber Symphony (1906).
In the summer of 1908, Schoenberg's wife Matilda left him, having fallen in love with the artist Richard Gerstl. Several months later, when she had returned to her husband and children, Gerstl committed suicide. This time coincided for Schoenberg with a revision of his musical aesthetics and a radical change in style. He created his first atonal works, the romance “You leaned against the silver willow” (“Du lehnest wider eine Silberweide”) and the most revolutionary of his early works, “Second String Quartet”, op.10 (1907–1908), where in the finale he adds a soprano voice, setting the poems of Stefan Gheorghe to music. In “Five Pieces for Orchestra” op.15 (1909), he first used his new invention - the method of timbre-colored melody (Klangfarbenmelodie).
In the summer of 1910 he wrote his first important theoretical work, “The Doctrine of Harmony” (“Harmonielehre”). Then he creates the vocal-instrumental cycle “Pierrot Lunaire”, op. 21 (1912) to the poems of Albert Giraud, using the Sprechstimme method he invented - vocal recitation, something between reading and singing.
In the early 1920s, he invented a new “method of composition with 12 related tones,” commonly known as “dodecaphony” or “serialism,” first trying it in his “Serenade” op.24 (1920–1923). This method proved to be the most influential for European and American classical music of the 20th century.
Until 1925, Schoenberg lived mainly in Vienna. In 1925 he became professor of composition in Berlin at the Prussian Academy of Arts. In 1933, Schoenberg emigrated to the United States, where he taught first at the Malkin Conservatory in Boston, from 1935 at the University of Southern California, and from 1936 at the University of California in Los Angeles.
One of Schoenberg's most significant achievements was his unfinished opera based on the biblical story "Moses and Aaron", begun in the early 30s. All the music of the opera is based on one 12-note series. The main role of Moses is performed by the reader in the Sprechgesang manner, the role of Aaron is assigned to the tenor.
Throughout his life, Schoenberg was active as a teacher and trained a whole galaxy of composers. The most prominent of them are Anton Webern, Alban Berg, Ernst Kshenek, Hans Eisler, Roberto Gerhard. Schoenberg created and headed an entire school of composers known as the “new Viennese school”. Hauer wrote his early works under the influence of Schoenberg's atonal music. In 1935, already in California, John Cage became his private student. In parallel with teaching, composing music, organizing and performing in concerts as a conductor, Schoenberg was also the author of many books, textbooks, theoretical studies and articles. Among other things, he painted paintings that were distinguished by their originality and ardent imagination.
Schoenberg always had a superstitious fear of the number 13. And, unfortunately, what he was so afraid of happened. He died on July 13, 1951 (19-5-1=13) at the age of 76 (7+6=13), thirteen minutes before midnight: (11:47; 1+1+4+7)
; the main representative and founder of one of the directions of modern “serious” music, characterized by the complexity of language and dissonant sound - it is known under the names of “atonal” or “12-tone” music (the terms “dodecaphony” and “serial technique” are also used). Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874 in Vienna. Until 1925 he lived mainly in Vienna. In 1925 he became a professor of composition at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin and worked there until 1933. After leaving Germany, he moved to the USA, where he taught first at the Malkin Conservatory in Boston, from 1935 at the University of Southern California, from 1936 at the University of California in Los Angeles. -Angeles. Schoenberg died in Brentwood (California) on July 13, 1951.
Schoenberg was a wonderful teacher, which contributed to the widespread dissemination of his ideas; he created an entire school of composers (the so-called new Viennese school), which united such outstanding musicians as A. von Webern, A. Berg, E. Kshenek, E. Welles and G. Eisler. Famous textbook on harmony published by Schoenberg in 1911 ( Harmonielehre), made an even stronger impression because he presented the traditional teaching of harmony from the point of view not of a school teacher, but of an active modern composer.
see also HARMONY.
The origins of Schoenberg's music are in the late romantic art of R. Wagner, A. Bruckner, R. Strauss and G. Mahler. Such influences are so obvious that critics often overlook three other important qualities of Schoenberg's style that are antithetical to the Romantic tradition. Firstly, the late Romantics developed their musical thoughts in a dense, rich harmonic fabric, while Schoenberg, with the exception of a few early works (for example, Songs of Gurre, Gurrelieder, for soloists, three choirs and orchestra, 1910–1911), preferred a laconic presentation of the idea, without unnecessary repetition, and a clear, audible texture. Secondly, Schoenberg had a positive way of thinking, and therefore even his most romantic works (such as the early sextet Enlightened night, Verklärte Nacht, op. 4) are distinguished by logical development and structural clarity. Thirdly, Schoenberg’s polyphonic technique is characterized by confidence and virtuosity, which brings him closer not to the romantics mentioned above, but rather to J. Brahms.
Although the composer’s entire path represents a consistent movement in the chosen direction, it is customary to distinguish three periods (or styles) of Schoenberg. The works of the first period (op. 1–10, 12–14) demonstrate a gradual complication of language, an increase in dissonance, but they still contain traditional tonality and, to a certain extent, traditional functional harmony. Starting with piano pieces op. 11, written later op. 14, the composer sought to avoid diatonic sequences and used all twelve tones of the chromatic scale as equals, i.e. makes neither one of them the tonal center. The third period begins with op. 23: the composer’s attraction to a clear organization of musical material brings to life a method that is more universal and rigid than the means he had previously used. The method consists of organizing the twelve tones that make up an octave into a melodic sequence, where each tone is used no more than once. Such a sequence is called a “row” or “series”. For each composition, one “row” is usually chosen; it can be developed using various kinds of movements (transpositions) and variations, but the entire composition is necessarily built on the basis of a given “row”.
It remains to list the fundamentally important works of Schoenberg, in addition to those mentioned above - a symphonic poem for orchestra Pelleas and Melisande (Pelleas und Melisande), op. 5; Chamber Symphony (Kammersymphonie) op. 9; Fifteen poems from Stefan Gheorghe's Book of the Hanging Gardens (Fünfzehn Gedichte aus Stefan George "s "Das Buch der hängenden Gärten"), op. 15; one act opera lucky hand (Die glückliche Hand), op. 18; Six small piano pieces (Sechs kleine Klavierstücke), op. 19; Lunar Pierrot (Pierrot Lunaire) – twenty-one poems for a reader and eight instruments, op. 21; Five piano pieces (Fünf Klavierstücke), op. 23; Piano Suite, op. 25; Quintet for woodwinds and horns, op. 26; variations for orchestra, op. 31; Musical accompaniment for the film scene (Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene), op. 34; op. 34; Ode to Napoleon (Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte) for reader, string quartet and piano, op. 41; concert for piano and orchestra, op. 42; four string quartets, op. 7, 10, 30, 37.
The founder of the New Vienna School, Arnold Schoenberg, most fully and consistently embodied the aesthetic principles of musical expressionism in his work. This is one of those composers whose name is inextricably linked with the idea of the specifics of the musical language of the 20th century, of its fundamental differences from the musical language of all previous eras.
At the same time, the work of Schoenberg, in contrast to the work of other composers who determined the evolution of music of the 20th century, has not yet won universal recognition and still continues to be a controversial phenomenon. Various explanations have been offered for this, but one thing is certain: the very logic of Schoenberg’s creative evolution led to the musical language that it became since the late 900s. This language, among other things, is distinguished by a special concentration of musical “information”, emphasized by the avoidance of inertial moments, which cannot but limit its communicative capabilities - both in terms of listener perception and in terms of performance implementation, which is usually associated with significant difficulties. In general, the evolution of Schoenberg’s musical language allows us to outline three periods in his work: tonal (since 1897), atonal, or the period of free atonality (since 1909), and dodecaphonic (since 1923).
Early years. Tonal period of creativity
Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874 in Vienna into a poor merchant family and lost his father at the age of eight. The family's financial situation turned out to be difficult, so Arnold was unable to receive either a systematic general or musical education. He was self-taught, except for short-term counterpoint lessons with the famous conductor and composer Alexander Tsemlinsky, who immediately appreciated the outstanding talent of the young musician. Basically, Schoenberg himself had to master the basics of musical art and at the same time earn a living from work that was of no interest to a creatively gifted person (service in a bank, etc.).
The first work that attracted widespread attention to the name of Schoenberg as a composer was the string sextet “ Enlightened night", op. 4 (1899) *,
The program for which was the poem of the same name by the German poet Richard Demel *.
The sextet easily reveals the influences of Wagner and Liszt, Mahler and Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky; those elements of style that would later determine the creative face of Schoenberg himself are still completely invisible. However, one should not rush into accusations of eclecticism and lack of independence. In fact, we have before us a unique phenomenon: in the musical language of the sextet, an organic synthesis of the great romantic styles of the second half of the 19th century has been surprisingly achieved - the work does not at all turn into a divertissement of different composer styles. Moreover, in “Enlightened Night” Schoenberg already appears fully armed with mastery. The work is distinguished by its perfection of form, romantic spirituality, combined with psychological depth, it demonstrates an extraordinary generosity of imagination: in an endless melodic development, a succession of lyrical and declamatory themes pass through, one better than the other. It is significant that the great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who questioned the significance of Schoenberg’s talent and in the 20s did not show much zeal in promoting his symphonic works (to the displeasure of their author), only “Enlightened Night” did not deny genius. To this day it remains one of Schoenberg's most frequently performed works.
“The Enlightened Night” sounded a wonderful “final chord” of German music of the 19th century (in 1899!). In Schoenberg's works immediately following Op. 4, expressionist features are clearly visible, the tension of the musical language sharply increases, which reflects the pre-storm atmosphere of the years preceding the First World War.
Already in the musical fabric of the symphonic poem “Pelléas et Mélisande” after Maeterlinck (op. 5, 1903), the First String Quartet, d-moll (op. 7, 1905), the First Chamber Symphony for fifteen instruments (op. 9, 1906) *
and especially the Second String Quartet, fis-moll (op. 10, 1908) *,
* In the last two movements of the quartet, a female voice is heard as a soloist (texts by Stefan Gheorghe).
One can see, and the further, the more, a steady desire to avoid manifestations of inertia and commonplaces, which leads to a significant compaction of musical time and extreme intensity of expression. The traditional stabilizing factors of musical structure are increasingly being replaced: the regularity of metrical pulsation and the known stability of rhythm elements, a clear distribution of musical fabric into textured plans and measured periodicity in changes in types of texture and timbres, the prevailing squareness of syntactic structures, sequentiality, distribution of musical material according to one or another classical compositional pattern. scheme, exact reprises. The non-individualized figurative movement (the so-called general forms of sound), which among the classics of the past set off the thematic relief both vertically and horizontally, is also gone. But what is even more important is that in all of these works the process of decentralization of the classical mode-tonal system, which began in the romantic music of the 19th century, sharply accelerates. A noticeable weakening of modal-functional inclinations that regulate the deployment of the melodic horizontal and the change of the harmonic vertical increasingly disrupts the inertia in the pitch fabric.
Indicative in this regard is the secondary theme and its treatment in the first movement of the Second String Quartet. The theme melody, sounding on the chord of the dominant function in the key of B-dur, contains a thrown dissonant sound that is completely inconsistent with the logic of classical modal thinking h- melodic intonation here is freed from the control of harmony and modal gravity acting through it. As a result, the melody is transformed from a sequence of conjugate degrees of the mode into a sequence of conjugate intervals. Its pattern is perceived not only in total, but to a large extent and differentiated: auditory attention is fixed at each interval:
The same features appear during the development of a secondary theme: when returning, its intonation changes much more intensely than is usually observed in classics or romantics. This emphasizes the expressive significance of every smallest melodic cell, every interval:
The composer’s desire to avoid a number of qualities of musical structure, which previously seemed to go without saying (from the clarity of metrical pulsation to modal functionality), was conscious; among his like-minded people it was associated with a new musical aesthetics - “aesthetics of avoidance” (“Aesthetik des Vermeidens” ). Based on it, Schoenberg individualized many of the functional connections of the musical structure, thereby depriving its development of moments of predictability, for individualized connections turn out to be veiled, covertly control development, and do not create obvious gravity.
“Aesthetics of avoidance” directly followed from the general ideological and aesthetic guidelines of expressionist art, which asserted the artist’s right to a subjective vision of the world, even to the point of deforming reality. All this later led to a break with a wide audience, to the elitist isolation of expressionist music. And Schoenberg was fully aware of this. In the collection of articles he compiled toward the end of his life, “Style and Idea,” where his aesthetic views are expressed with literary brilliance, he, in the article “New Music, Outdated Music, Style and Idea,” definitely defends “art for art’s sake”: “Not one the artist... will not humiliate himself in order to adapt to the slogan “art for everyone,” because if it is art, then it is not for everyone, and if it is for everyone, then it is not art.” True, the elitism of Schoenberg’s aesthetics does not at all mean a denial of the social role of musical creativity. The article “Heart and Brain in Music” from the same collection speaks of the desire for creativity, designed to “say something important to humanity,” about music as a “prophetic message” showing people the path to higher forms of life.
One way or another, the predominance of centrifugal tendencies in musical form created the danger of its collapse. To avoid looseness, Schoenberg sought the same thematic unity of texture and development that was observed in the best works of Brahms and Beethoven. This was a well-known departure from the principles of the “aesthetics of avoidance,” since the unity of thematic content is one of the factors in the inertia of the musical structure. But with such means it was still impossible to fully compensate for the losses incurred by the musical form.
In general, even the First Chamber Symphony and the Second String Quartet, the last works of the tonal period, still remain in line with the late Romantic style. However, their musical language, while maintaining a connection with the language of “Enlightened Night,” is distinguished by even greater psychological depth, sharpness and tension, and the composer’s individuality appears much more clearly in it.
Among the works of the tonal period, the cantata “ Songs of Gurre"(without opus) to the text of the Danish poet Jens Peter Jacobsen in the German translation by R. F. Arnold. It was mainly written in 1900, but Schoenberg completed the orchestration only in 1911, after creating the first works based on completely different aesthetic and technical principles. The premiere of "Songs of Gurre", held in Vienna on February 23, 1913, conducted by Franz Schrecker, a friend of Schoenberg, turned out to be triumphant. But the author of the cantata paid almost no attention to what later turned out to be the greatest success of his life as a composer and did not even want to go out to the loudly applauding audience. With great difficulty they forced him to appear on the stage, where he, still not noticing the audience, only thanked the performers. The reason for this, he admitted, was the confidence that the people who gave him an ovation would not follow him on the path of daring innovation that had already begun. What was approved by enthusiastic listeners was already a turned page for Schoenberg himself.
Jacobsen's poem, which serves as the basis for the Songs of Gurre, tells the story of the tragic love of the Danish king Valdemar for the beautiful girl Tova, who was killed on the orders of his wife, the jealous queen Hedwig. Thus, Schoenberg's work once again develops the traditional romantic motif of love and death.
The cantata is distinguished by the grandeur of its overall design and at the same time the filigree finishing of every smallest detail. Monumentality in it is organically combined with extreme sophistication, which is characteristic of many masterpieces of late romantic music. The work impresses with its unusual generosity of composer's imagination, richness of texture, and psychological depth of harmony. It uses all imaginable performing forces: a huge orchestra, three male and one mixed choir, five solo singers and a reciter - the Storyteller.
Only the enormous difficulties associated with the complex performing apparatus, which turn each performance of the cantata into an event in musical life, do not allow it to equal the popularity of “Enlightened Night”. Her musical language is devoid of innovation, beginning with Pelléas et Mélisande. As in op. 4, here one can sense a spectrum of influences, synthesized into an individual style, which, however, is far from the style that will later represent the most fundamental creative achievements of the composer. Nevertheless, if the Songs of Gurre had been able to close the creative evolution of Schoenberg, he would still have gone down in music history. For this purpose, the works he has already created, accessible to a fairly wide audience and at the highest level of skill and inspiration, would be enough. It is even possible that in this case his reputation as a composer would be much higher today - at least in the eyes of many music lovers who do not understand the language of his later works. And yet, Schoenberg was not afraid to turn off the road leading to success, which was well-deserved and lasting. This alone should strengthen confidence in his further searches.
By the 1900s, the composer had gained quite a high reputation in the musical circles of Vienna and Berlin. The premieres of his works, although usually accompanied by scandals, were a resounding success among a certain part of the public. Schoenberg highly valued Mahler's friendly participation, although he did not approve of everything in his works.
At this time, Schoenberg's teaching career began: he rallied a large group of inquisitive young composers looking for new paths in music. Among them are Alban Berg and Anton Webern, who were greatly influenced by their teacher. Later, both were destined to enter the history of music next to him - as members of the Novo-Viennese triad of composers (it is understood that the first triad was Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven). In teaching, Schoenberg did not limit himself to studying new music (rather, he even avoided it, believing that he “could not teach freedom”), but demanded from young people a thorough knowledge of the classics, the ability to competently understand the styles and compositional techniques of the great music of the past. Many students in their memoirs noted a strong impression from his magnificent analyzes of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, based on the deepest comprehension of the author's intention and the means of its implementation. By the way, Schoenberg’s “Doctrine of Harmony” (1911) is mainly devoted to chords and methods of pairing them within the framework of the classical system of harmony, with which his own creative practice was already little connected. Thus, in Schoenberg we see a not so common example of a composer obsessed with creativity, capable at the same time of being deeply interested in “alien” music, and not only that belonging to one or several idols, but music in an encyclopedic volume. Later, his excellent knowledge of the classics was reflected even in his works, which sharply broke with the letter of tradition.
Arnold Schoenberg, whose work can be briefly described as innovative, lived an interesting life and He entered the history of world music as a revolutionary who made a revolution in composition, created his own school in music, left an interesting legacy and a galaxy of students. Arnold Schoenberg is one of the outstanding composers of the 20th century.
Childhood and family
On September 13, 1874, Arnold Schoenberg was born in Vienna, whose biography will be difficult, but always connected with music. The Schoenberg family lived in a Jewish ghetto. Father - Samuel Schoenberg - was from Presburg and had his own small shoe store. Mother - Paulina Nachod - a native of Prague, was a piano teacher. Arnold had an ordinary childhood, nothing foreshadowed his great future.
Finding a calling
From an early age, Arnold's mother began to teach him music; he showed promise. But the family did not have the means to continue their education. He independently comprehended the science of composition. He was given several lessons in counterpoint by his brother-in-law, the famous Austrian composer and conductor whom Schoenberg's sister Matilda married, Alexander von Zemlinsky. The musicians became very friendly, remained like-minded people all their lives and often helped each other with advice and argued about art. It was Tsemlinsky who strongly recommended that his colleague become a professional music composer. The future composer Arnold Schoenberg, already in his teens, keenly felt his calling, and although circumstances were not in his favor, he devoted all his free time to music.
The beginning of a professional journey
The family did not live well, and when his father died, Arnold was 15 at the time, things became very difficult. The young man had to take on any job. Arnold Schoenberg worked as a bank clerk, a delivery man, led workers' choirs, and wrote orchestrations for operettas. But he did not give up his music studies; in his free time he wrote his own works. Already in 1898, Schoenberg's works were performed on stage for the first time in Vienna. In 1901, he left for Berlin, where he earned money by giving music lessons; he even taught a composition course at the Stern Conservatory.
At this time he met Gustav Mahler, who had a significant influence on Schoenberg's worldview. In 1903 he returned to Vienna and began working at a music school. At the same time, he managed to write music, during this period it was kept in the traditions of the German school of composition of the late 19th century. The most significant works of this stage were: the string sextet “Enlightened Night”, the poem “Pelléas and Mélisande” (1902-1903), the cantata “Songs of Gurre” (1900-1911). Arnold Schoenberg was distinguished by his great capacity for work; already at the beginning of his career he simultaneously taught, wrote music, and gave concerts.
Biography and music
Three periods are distinguished in the work of the composer Schoenberg: tonal (from 1898 to 1908), atonal (1909-1922) and dodecaphonic (from 1923). The evolution of a musician is connected with his search for a new path and new expressiveness. His fate was first connected with expressionism, on the basis of which he later made his revolutionary discoveries. Until 1907, Schoenberg moved in the traditional direction of classical music. But this year there is a radical change in his artistic worldview; he thinks a lot about music and writes theoretical work. His musical language is becoming more complex, the desire for dissonance is increasing, but for now traditional harmony is preserved.
And in 1909 a new round of his life began. In 1911, Arnold Schoenberg, whose biography was gaining momentum in the musical world, again traveled to Berlin, where he toured as a conductor for 4 years. By this time he was already a fairly well-known musician in Europe. In 1915, the composer was drafted into the army for two years. This atonal period is characterized by a rejection of the tonal center of the work; Schoenberg tries to equally apply the 12 tones of the chromatic scale. In 1923, he received the title of professor of music and an invitation to work at the Berlin School of Music. With the Nazis coming to power in 1933, Schoenberg was fired from the conservatory, and he, fearing further persecution as a representative of the Jewish nation, emigrated. First he goes to France, and later to the USA.
The third period of the composer's work is marked by his main discoveries. He begins to gravitate toward a rational organization of the musical series; compositions are built from twelve tones that are not repeated in the same series. This is how dodecaphonic music appears. Schoengberg's work fully reflected an era full of changes, as well as his subjective and emotional experiences.
Music theory
The composer always tried to control the forms and expressive means of his music, which most often came unconsciously. Therefore, all his milestone experiences and reflections were outlined in serious scientific works. In 1911, Arnold Schoenberg wrote his first major theoretical work, “The Doctrine of Harmony.” Already in it he outlined his ideas about tonal harmony, which were central to him all his life. This book became the composer's only fully completed work. Later, he began writing several works at the same time, constantly correcting and adding to them; they were not published during his lifetime.
Only in 1994 were the works published, combined into one volume - “Interrelation, counterpoint, instrumentation, the doctrine of form.” These reflections on musical logic and thought, on orchestration, on preparatory exercises in counterpoint and on composition were not completed by the author, but show the direction in which his research took place. “Fundamentals of Musical Composition” was published already at the end of the 20th century by the master’s students. Arnold Schoenberg made a significant contribution to music theory; he was able to see the evolution of musical thought and anticipate its development for years to come. In his writings, Schoenberg reflects on the integrity of the work, the development of musical thought, and comes to the idea of monotony.
Pedagogical activity
The composer taught throughout his life - first at school, then at the conservatory in Berlin. In exile, he worked at universities in Boston, Southern California, and Los Angeles, teaching music theory and composition. Arnold Schoenberg created an entire school of composition, which was called the “New Viennese School”. He raised students in the spirit of serving music; he categorically did not advise them to follow his example, but to seek only their own path in art. A. Berg and A. Webern are considered his best students, who remained faithful to his ideas until the end of their days and grew up to be independent composers worthy of their teacher. Schoenberg taught all musical subjects, paying special attention to polyphony, which he considered the basis of mastery. The composer continued to communicate closely with his students even after their graduation, and he was an indisputable authority for them. This is what allowed him to form a whole galaxy of like-minded people.
Dodecaphony by Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg, whose brief biography can be described in one word “dodecaphony,” became an ideologist and promoter of a new direction in music. In his search for the most economical musical writing, the composer came up with the idea of a 12-tone composition system. This discovery forces the composer to learn how to compose music again; he experiments a lot with form, looking for new possibilities for his sound-frequency method.
He tests the basics of the new technique on piano pieces, of which he writes a lot. Later he moved on to creating large works (suites, quartets, orchestras) in a new style. His discoveries radically influenced the development of music in the 20th century. His ideas, which he did not fully develop, were picked up by his followers, developed, brought to perfection, and sometimes to the point of exhaustion. His contribution to music was manifested in his desire to streamline musical form.
Major works
Arnold Schoenberg left a huge musical legacy. But his most important work is the unfinished opera “Moses and Aaron,” the idea of which appeared back in the 20s of the 20th century and embodied the entire evolution and search of the composer. In the opera, Schoenberg embodied his entire philosophical worldview, his entire soul. Also significant works of the composer include: “Chamber Symphony”, op. 9, opera “The Happy Hand”, 5 piano pieces, op. 23, "Ode to Napoleon".
Personal life
Arnold Schoenberg, whose photo can be seen today in all textbooks on the history of music, lived a rich life. In addition to music, he painted a lot, his works were exhibited in major galleries in Europe. He was friends with Kokoschka, Kandinsky, and was a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts. During his life he wrote about 300 works.
Arnold Schoenberg married for the first time quite early, for this he converted to Protestantism in 1898. His wife cheated on him, went to see her lover, but then returned to the family, and her lover committed suicide. His wife Matilda died in 1923, ending a turbulent period in the composer's personal life. A year later, he married the violinist’s sister and lived happily with her for the rest of his life. In 1933, he decides to return to Judaism and undergoes the corresponding ceremony in a Paris synagogue.
Arnold Schoenberg's Fears
The composer was distinguished by high intelligence and mathematical abilities, but the irrational principle was also not alien to him. All his life he was haunted by strange fears and premonitions. What was the composer Arnold Schoenberg afraid of? He had a rare phobia - he was terrified of the number 13. He was born on this number, and all his life he avoided houses and hotel rooms with this number. So what was Arnold Schoenberg ultimately afraid of? Numbers? No, of course, he was afraid of death. He was sure that he would die on the 13th, that the number 76 - in total 13 - would bring him death. For the entire year of his upcoming 76th birthday, he lived in tension, until one day he went to bed with the confidence that today death would come for him. He lay in bed all day, waiting for the last hour. By nightfall, his wife could not stand it and forced him to stop doing nonsense and get out of bed. But 13 minutes before midnight he said the word “harmony” and left this world. Thus, on July 13, 1951, the world lost
SCHONBERG Arnold (Schönberg, Arnold; 1874, Vienna, - 1951, Los Angeles), composer, music theorist, teacher and painter, one of the founders of expressionism and the author of the dodecaphone system in music, head of the so-called New Viennese School. Born into the family of a poor businessman. As a child, he learned to play the violin and cello, played in amateur orchestras and composed musical plays, without initially knowing the basics of composition; Only at the age of 16 did Schoenberg begin to systematically study music. In 1891 he graduated from a real gymnasium and went to work at a private bank, but after a few years he left the bank and devoted himself entirely to music. His teacher was the composer and conductor A. von Zemlinsky, who gave Schoenberg polyphony lessons. In 1895–99 conducted a workers' choir in the suburbs of Vienna.
In 1898, Schoenberg converted to Christianity (to one of the Protestant denominations), and in 1901 he married his teacher’s sister, Mathilde von Zemlinskaya. In 1901–1903 lived in Berlin, conducted an orchestra in a cabaret of writers and gave private lessons. Since 1903 he taught at one of the Viennese music schools. In 1911, Schoenberg met V. Kandinsky, which had a great influence on the artistic worldview of both. Schoenberg was also known as an artist: in 1911, he first showed his works at the exhibition of the group of artists “The Blue Rider” in Berlin, and exhibited in Vienna and other cities, sometimes together with Kandinsky. As a conductor, Schoenberg gave concerts in Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, London, St. Petersburg) and many other cities, but he never had a permanent income (even a letter from Schoenberg to G. Mahler, dating back to 1910, with a request to about financial assistance). During the First World War he served in the Austrian army. In 1925, on the initiative of L. Kestenberg, he was invited to the position of professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin, from where he was fired in 1933 with the Nazis coming to power. Emigrated to France.
In 1933, Schoenberg underwent a rite of return to Judaism in a synagogue in Paris. Soon Schoenberg moved to the USA, where he initially lived in Boston (taught at a private conservatory) and in New York. He lectured in Chicago and other cities. Since 1934 he was a professor at the University of California. In 1940, Schoenberg took American citizenship.
Schoenberg's early works were written under the influence of V. R. Wagner, partly by J. Brahms: the sextet “Enlightened Night” after R. Demel (1899), the symphonic poem “Pelleas and Mélisande” after M. Maeterlinck (1902–1903), the cantata “Songs” Gurre" to words by J. Jacobsen (1900–11), First String Quartet (1905). Traits of expressionism appear in the Chamber Symphony (1906), the Second String Quartet (1907–1908), 15 songs based on poems by S. George (1908–1909), in the monodrama “Waiting” after M. Pappenheim (1909), and the opera “Happy” hand" to his own libretto (1913).
A turning point in Schoenberg’s work was the cycle of melodic recitations “Pierrot Lunaire” based on poems by the Belgian poet A. Giraud (1912) for a female voice and instrumental ensemble, in which the so-called speech melody (speech singing) was first used and which was a complete example of expressionist musical art. In this work, the composer was looking for new principles of musical construction.
Schoenberg was the creator of a new 12-step composition system, called by Schoenberg “dodecaphonic”, the essence of which is that the 12 sounds of the chromatic series used by the composer - “series” (or parts of a “series”) - are equal units, in contrast to the classical system with its main (stable) and subordinate degrees of the scale. As a result, modal tonalities (in particular, major and minor) and modal connections between sounds disappear, the concepts of consonant and dissonant chords and other sound combinations are erased. Music composed using the dodecaphone technique is atonal. Schoenberg's first work built entirely on the principles of dodecaphony was the piano suite (1921–23).
Schoenberg served as one of the prototypes of the composer Adrian Leverkühn in T. Mann’s novel “Doctor Faustus”, on whose behalf the author outlined in detail the theory of dodecaphony. A controversy arose between Mann and Schoenberg over the use of his theory (Schoenberg owns the words: “The future will show who was a contemporary of whom!”). At Schoenberg’s request, all editions of the novel were accompanied by an explanation from T. Mann: “... in general, the musical theoretical sections of this book owe many of their details to Schoenberg’s teaching on harmony.”
Schoenberg was convinced that the creation of the dodecaphonic composition system was not the result of an arbitrary act, but a historically conditioned and necessary stage in the development of musical art, but he did not consider his system universal.
Schoenberg and his teaching were subjected to fierce attacks, including from political positions. The Nazis declared the art of Schoenberg and his followers "degenerate" and banned it. (A Nazi critic wrote: "Schoenberg uses the old, well-known Jewish tactics, aimed at destroying the cultural foundations of the nation into which they [the Jews] have infiltrated, and establishing their own - Jewish - cultural values.")
The texts, stories, images of the Bible, and other traditional and contemporary Jewish themes were an essential component of Schoenberg's work. The theme of relationships with God and with one’s people was already heard in an early work - “Symphony of Psalms” (1912–14, unfinished). Regarding the oratorio “Jacob’s Ladder” (1917–22, unfinished), Schoenberg wrote: “Modern man, having gone through materialism, socialism and anarchy, ... despite his atheism, still retains in himself some crumbs of the old faith. He fights with God... and finally he finds God and becomes religious. Learn to pray!..” Schoenberg composed not only the music, but also the text of the oratorio. In May 1930, Schoenberg began work on the opera Moses and Aaron, which was never completed. The libretto for the opera was written by the composer himself; he even came up with the choreography in the “Dance around the Golden Calf” scene himself. The role of Moses is performed by the reader in the manner of speech singing, the part of Aaron is assigned to the singer (tenor). Moses, thus, is contrasted with his brother as a rational principle (thought) to an irrational one. The choir and orchestra play an important role in creating intense drama (its triple composition is supplemented by an ensemble on stage). The opera "Moses and Aaron" is one of Schoenberg's most significant creative achievements.
Your call to “Learn to pray!” Schoenberg embodied it in “Kol Nidre” for reader, choir and orchestra (1938; the work is based on the melody of Kol Nidre, accepted in Ashkenazi / see Ashkenazi / communities); the work was first performed in Los Angeles.
In 1941, Schoenberg received news of the death of his brother, who remained in Austria, and in 1942, “Ode to Napoleon” was written to the words of J. G. Byron, in which the exposure of evil, violence, and the murder of innocent people evokes obvious associations with the Holocaust and the events of the Second World War; Byron's pamphlet, written in 1814, sounds in this interpretation as a relevant anti-Nazi work.
The text of the cantata “A Survivor from Warsaw” (1947; for reader, choir and orchestra), written by the composer himself, reproduces the story of one of the few surviving participants in the Warsaw (see Warsaw) ghetto. The words of the Shema are woven into the fabric of the work. The work is extremely concise - only six and a half minutes; expressionistic techniques of musical speech are sharpened in him to the limit. Other works by Schoenberg on Jewish themes are “Modern Psalm” (unfinished), “From the Depths” (1950; on Psalm 130 for choir), chorus “Three Thousand Years” (1950; lyrics by D. Runes), etc. .
Over the course of many years (1926–51), Schoenberg wrote the drama "The Biblical Way" about the return of the Jews to their historical homeland and the future of the revived Jewish state. Schoenberg was not alien to Zionist (see Zionism) goals. In 1923, he wrote: “I was forced to understand and remember forever that I am not a German, not a European, but I am a Jew.” He showed interest, in particular, in the concept of V. Zhabotinsky and his works. Published articles of a Zionist orientation: “Israelites and Jews” (1923), “About Zionism” (1924), “The Jewish Question” (1933), “Notes on Policy towards the Jews” (1933), “Program for Jewry from four paragraphs" (early 1940s) and others. Schoenberg welcomed the birth of the State of Israel and promoted the creation of a training center in Jerusalem, with which, according to his plan, major Jewish musical figures were to collaborate.
Schoenberg is the founder and head of the so-called New Viennese School, which arose as a creative collaboration of the composer and his students - A. Berg and A. Webern; The school determined the path of development of modern musical art. Schoenberg was one of the largest music teachers of the 20th century, among his students, in addition to Berg and Webern, were E. Welles (1885–1974), H. Eisler (1898–1962), R. Comyn (1896–1978), R. Serkin and others. Many of the greatest composers of the 20th century. - B. Bartok, I. Stravinsky, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich, P. Hindemith - were influenced by the music and teachings of Schoenberg and used the dodecaphonic composition technique.
Among Schoenberg's theoretical works are “The Doctrine of Harmony” (1911), “A Manual for Beginning Composers” (1943), “Style and Idea” (1950), “Structural Functions of Harmony” (1954), “Fundamentals of Composition” (1967) and other. Schoenberg bequeathed his library and manuscripts to the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. Shortly before Schoenberg's death, the Israel Academy of Music elected him as its honorary president.
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