Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg: the invention of dodecaphony

Accustomed to scandal, he used atonal writing in 1908 with his Piano Pieces Op.11 then invented dodecaphony, (twelve-tone composition) in 1922 with the opus 23 and became yet more radical in expression with the serial writing of his Variations Op.31 some years later. In 1933, in order to escape from Nazism, he left for the United States where he spent the remainder of his life.

An expressionist at first with his Pierrot Lunaire (1912) and his paintings belonging to the Blue Rider movement founded by Kandinsky, Arnold Schoenberg would pursue new ways of expression, ambitious aesthetics and modernity throughout his life. He could go from the densest lyricism to the coldest abstraction. Schoenberg turned the page of the Romantic century and reduced the immenseness of Wagner to a unique and simple minute of music. Thomas Mann, Pierre Boulez and Luigi Nono expressly borrowed from this modern master’s art to structure their works.