SCHOENBERG, Arnold
b Vienna, 13 September 1874
d Los Angeles, 13 July 1951, aged seventy-six

His father ran a shoe shop, and both parents were interested in music. As a child he learned violin, viola and cello. When his father died in 1890 he took a job in a bank in order to support his mother and sister, but he did not enjoy his work and left in 1895, obtaining work as a chorus-master. His friend Zemlinsky gave him the only formal music training he ever had and introduced him to the music of Wagner, which greatly influenced him from then onward. In 1898 he left his father's Jewish faith and became a Protestant. To make a living he conducted theatre orchestras. In 1901 he married Zemlinsky's sister, and in that year obtained the Liszt Scholarship with the help of Richard Strauss. In 1903 he began his long career as a teacher, his many pupils including Webern and Berg. Marital problems brought Schoenberg a period of depression and, furthermore, opposition to his work made for a difficult financial period. In 1911 he left Vienna to teach at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. After World War I came his most successful period as a composer; but his health deteriorated and he became victim of Nazi anti-Semitism. After going to France and retaking the Jewish faith, he went to America, becoming an American citizen in 1941. He held various teaching posts, and wrote numerous books and articles.

1899 (25)

Verklarte Nacht, for string sextet (arranged for string orchestra 1917; revised 1943)

1900 13 (26-39)

Gurre-Lieder, for four solo singers, three male choruses, one mixed chorus, large orchestra including eight flutes and a set of iron chains

1903 (29)

Pelleas und Melisande, suite for orchestra

1905 (31)

String Quartet No 1 in D minor

1906 (32)

Chamber Symphonies No 1 and 2

1907 (33)

String Quartet No 2 (transcribed for string orchestra 1917)

Friede auf Erden, for choir

1908 (34)

Buch der hangenden Garten, setting of fifteen poems by Stefan George for solo voice and piano

1909 (35)

Erwartung, monodrama for soprano and orchestra

Five Pieces for orchestra (revised 1949)

1910-13 (36-9)

Die Gluckliche Hand, music drama

1911 (37)

Herzgewachse, for coloratura soprano, celesta, harmonium and harp

1912 (38)

Pierrot Lunaire, song cycle of twenty-one poems

1923 (49)

Serenade, for septet and baritone

1924 (50)

Quintet for wind instruments

1927 (53)

String Quartet No 3

1928 (54)

Variations for orchestra

1929 (55)

Von Heute auf Morgen, opera

1932 (58)

Moses und Aron, two-act opera

1934 (60)

Suite in G major for strings

1936 (62)

Violin Concerto

1937 (63)

String Quartet No 4

1939 (65)

Kol Nidrei, for speaker, chorus and orchestra

1941 (67)

Variations and Recitative for organ

1942 (68)

Piano Concerto

1943 (69)

Ode to Napoleon, for speaker, strings and piano

1945 (71)

Prelude to a Genesis Suite

1947 (73)

A Survivor from Warsaw, cantata, for speaker, men's chorus and orchestra

1949 (75)

Fantasia, for violin and piano

1951 (77)

De profundis, for a cappella choir