Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951),

and Late Romanticism

Self-conscious inheritor of a
dual tradition:

•Classicism – formal and

technical rigor associated with
Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms

•Romanticism – personal,
expressive style associated with
Beethoven, and the harmonic
expansions/programmatic
aspects of Liszt and Wagner
Early style:
characterized by astringent,
expressive style –
contrapuntal complexity, and
harmonic adventurousness
 Schoenberg:
The Breakdown of Tonality
Techniques of harmonic expansion,
delayed cadence, and intense
motivic development led to a
breakdown of tonaltiy

Tonality: A system in which

harmonic materials (pitches/notes)
are organized around a single
generative tone – functional
harmony
Paul Cezanne
Atonality: Music written without an Mill at the River
overarching system of tonal
organization/hierarchy – no tone is
more important than another
 Expressionism
Anticipated in the bleak
outlook of Schopenhauer,
the dark themes in Georg
Büchner (Woyzeck – 1837),
plays of Frank Wedekind

Movement in art which

rejected the developments
of Impressionism and
Naturalism, in favor of a
highly-personal,
emotionally-charged style
which prized, extremity,
psychological depth,
dislocation, and even Edvard Munch – Symbolist, Proto-Expressionist
violence
 Schoenberg’s Serenade –
Petrarch’s Sonnet
Oh, will I never cure myself of the pain I bear
of her who destroys me by her looks and words,
and then, to cause a greater pain, turns away from me
and denies the smallest glance from those sweet, cruel eyes.

So that my spirit is grieved and wearied,

drained dry and withered,
and like a roaring lion tears at my heart
the whole night long, with no hope of rest.

My soul, which heretofore feared only death,

leaves my body and, freed from its cruel prison,
Flies to her side, there to await more pain.

It is no wonder that I find myself confused,

for though my sould pleads with her, cries and caresses,
the ungrateful one sleeps on, unmindful and uncaring.
 Schoenberg:
12-Tone Composition
Style Periods in Schoenberg’s
output:

•Early – late-Romantic

•Free Atonal – Expressionist

•Serial – Highly personal, but highly

controlled
•Sub-periods: A Survivor
•Early-Serial from Warsaw
•Late-Serial (1947)