Where Schoenberg Went Wrong ( Or Right ! )

Throughout the early twentieth century, music began to take on a new role as society started to progress and change. In society, music is an important part of culture and the forming of culture, where people can assert and preserve their histories and experiences when facing a change in social conditions. Modernism is defying convention to an extreme degree, disregarding boundaries completely in rhythm and tonality, opening up doors that would eventually redefine the notion of what constitutes music. America and Europe, pre and post WWI, both experienced drastic social changes and technological advances which all contributed to the progression of modernism in music. From segregation and the Great Immigration in America to the deconstruction of traditional culture in Europe, and even the shared rise popularity in folk music in both countries, modernism announces itself as a prevalent and powerful voice in music which is seen through composers such as Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Copland, and Bartok.

Richard Wagner’s many musical innovations changed the course of music and compositional theory and make him one of the most—if not the most—influential composers of all time. Among Wagner’s changes were new ideas on harmony (i.e. the “Tristan” chord) and symphonies of scale. These changes would set the tone for the atonality and dissonance that would mark Modern classical music. Indeed, works such as Debussy’s Syrinx and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun extended these harmonic ambiguities, which allowed the music to revolve in a circular fashion seemingly without a destination. This was in sharp contrast to the Classical style, in which dissonance and musical instability were used to optimize the resolution. Concurrently, composers such as Bruckner and Mahler heeded Wagner’s symphonies of scale, extending melodies to create endlessly building sequences. Indeed, whereas Classical composer’s pieces were contained in volume and length, Bruckner’s and Mahler’s modern symphonies reached incredibly loud moments and lasted far longer than their pre-Wagnerian counterparts.

In this essay, I will be discussing the music of Jewish composers who were unable to showcase their pieces, due to the massive animosity towards their race, despite having composed several outstanding pieces of music. Although they were persecuted severely during the Nazi era, they too contributed to the international music community. For many of the Jewish composers, the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and Austria was an increasing danger to their safety in the country. They had to make difficult choices to survive –To stay in Germany and remain oppressed in their very own country, or to leave, and be detached from their own cultural roots forever.

Kenneth B. Klaus wrote a book which studies the Romantic Period in Music. In this book, Klaus states in the preface that the romantic period in music (as well as any other art from) is not a time where everything is the same, but is uniformed in the sense that they are moving away from the standard form of

Difficult as it may be to define the true relationship of an artist to his successors, this difficulty is enormously increased when the subject is as complex a man and musician as Beethoven. His role as both a “preserver of the eighteenth-century tradition1 and a pioneer of romantic self-expression, has secured his status as one of the most revered composers in the history of Western music. Throughout his symphonic cycle, Beethoven’s own journey of self-discovery can be very clearly heard. The Third, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth symphonies were particularly pioneering; they used new ideas such as programme music, orchestral and symphonic expansion and the prolongation of dissonance, inspiring a new generation of romantic symphonists. However, there is an equally strong argument, suggesting that musical fashion and history had turned away from Beethoven towards the end of his life. In the music of his immediate contemporaries, with the exception of Schubert perhaps, his work hardly played a vital force and it was not until the latter half of the 19th century that his influence began to dominate the musical scene. Composers such as Brahms and Bruckner developed the motivic and intrinsically musical ideas in Beethoven’s music whilst others such as Berlioz, Liszt, Mahler and Wagner embraced the extra-musical programmatic ideas. Through an extension of Beethoven’s work in both of these strands, his legacy

As the only “canonic Viennese composer native to Vienna,” Schubert, 1792-1828, “made seminal contributions” in multiple areas of musical composition, but he “most especially” made contributions to the area of “German lied” (Winter). His distinctive style could be part in due to the fact that he was native to Vienna, unlike other “celebrated musicians of Vienna like Haydn, Mozart, [...] and Beethoven” (Winter). Throughout Schubert’s life, he showed prolific musical ability. At the mere age of seven, he auditioned and impressed Antonia Salieri, a notable composer, and even became a mezzo-soprano in a group of nine in church services. At age nine, Schubert took violin

Mahler’s work helped influence the work of the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg) to move beyond progressive tonality to

For this assignment I had some difficulty picking a composer because I mostly listen to rock music, although in my daily life I hear some classical music in movies, on the radio, and sometimes even in places I wouldn’t expect like the doctor’s office or in a department store. Classical music of the Romantic Era (1800 to 1850) can sound both beautiful and saddening at the same time to reflect a certain emotion or feeling the composer had at that moment. The Romantic Era is known as a time of liberation and radicalism, along with emotions such as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe or wonder. I believe the Romantic Era had a great impact on

Arnold Schoenberg believed that the developing harmonic language of the late nineteenth century had led to a musical crisis. He felt that tonality had been stretched to its absolute limits, and that what was to be said within its confines, was already best done by the great composers before him. Schoenberg believed that he existed within a lineage of composers, and therefore, was the successor to deliver the next big innovation in music. This idea of pushing music forward is not a novel one though; we have long observed similar acts of musical righteousness. Simply consider the first chorus in a symphony as in Beethoven’s Ninth, or a requiem text that is not in Latin as in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem.

In the words of Jewish Austrian composer and painter Arnold Schoenberg; or Schönberg, harmony was freed from “the tyranny of tonality”. Schoenberg's term is interesting in its suggestion that the tonal system exerts an overpowering pressure to conform. The carefully ordered hierarchal keys; with its singularity, central focus on each movement or work, and tonal centres that made up the tonality of “centuries–old harmonic basis of music” became of less importance and “had outlived its usefulness” as atonality; which is “a system without key” that is “deliberately avoided” gained popularity. This music utilizes several chromatic notes with the intention of hearing no tonal centers.

Arnold Schoenberg was born on 13th September 1874 in Vienna. He started taking violin lessons at the age of 8. One year later he started composing music. He also took some counterpoint lessons but for the most part he was self-thought. He lost his father at the age of 15 so he had to provide for his family. He left school and got a job at a bank. At that time Vienna’s infrastructure was modernizing. Vienna became an industrial city and cultural life improved. Schoenberg could not afford the cultural venues because he was poor. He went to concerts and stood behind the fence so he could hear the music for free. Later he left the bank and started conducting and orchestrating

Music is the most universal of all languages. Without words it can break a strong man into tears, reduce a brave woman to terror, and turn the most high-strung to a state of peace. Unfortunately, the worth of music in today’s society tends to be decided by its perceived popularity, rather than its use of technique and emotion. This is one of the many reasons Richard Wagner tends to be underappreciated. Despite his masterful compositions and development of many imperative techniques, much of his music is listened to by few and appreciated by fewer. However, that does not diminish any of what he has done for the world of music, and the Romantic Era. Richard Wagner is the most influential composer of the Romantic Era for his use of leitmotiv, command of the orchestra, emotional expression in music, and contribution to the romantic notion of nationalism.

At this time last year, I would have considered all music before the 20th century to be classical. However, after taking a Dual Credit Music Appreciation course, I realized that “old” music cannot simply be grouped into a single category. There are so many differences that I had no idea existed. Throughout the years, music has changed and evolved, meeting the needs of listeners and performers. Different composers have been catalysts in this change as they have developed new styles and genres. Even though the classical period is directly subsequent of the baroque period, baroque and classical music have countless different qualities and characteristics.

Even though the Baroque era pushed boundaries and initiated the rise of classical music, it was the Classical Era (1750-1830) that announced sonata form. This was a critical advancement, as it led to the creation of the modern concerto, symphony, sonata, trio and quartet (History of Classical Music). It was during this time that numerous composers began to question the ‘rules’ of music and started to expand upon the path that had already been laid. Each instrument had a pivotal role in shaping the arrangements leading to greater tonal quality. Clarity was the question, it was the composer’s goal to generate the structure.

Western music has changed immensely and almost immeasurably over time. From the evolution of homophonic church songs, to the beautiful polyphonic music that wowed the church elite at the council of Trent. From the purging of music in public places by the congress of Vienna, to the private music culture that would blossom amongst the nobles there. Italian opera flourished and so did Germanic troupes. By the 1700s people had been using music to express their culture for a long time and certain music had long-since been associated with foreign cultures. The opera was thriving, a new system of patronage had made it possible for large orchestra to assemble and for some composers to have more freedom. This new freedom and need for some