Arnold Schoenberg
(1847-1951)
Arnold Schoenberg is an Austrian composer who led the charge towards the Emancipation of Dissonance.
Schoenberg is a musical personality which divides opinion, but none can challenge his influence across 20th Century music. The term modernism, for better or for worse, is greatly associated with the composer, but it is a blanket concept which fairly or unfairly pigeon-holes composers.
His early works bear the hallmarks and excesses of post-Romanticism. He later turned to atonality, which seemed to proliferate in reaction to world political tensions.
Of course, no music appears in a vacuum, nor can it all be attributed to one musician, but Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School changes the surface of music in the 20th Century.
Personally, it is easy to get into the early works, and that is what I have reviewed thus far. I actually find many of the concepts surrounding Schoenberg rather interesting. I have a friend of The Keep who was a so-called 'listening expert' on sprechstimme, and would often regale us on who was the best at it and why. This was my introduction to Pierrot Lunaire, of which I've heard many recordings, and of course shaped my own tolerance of the singing effect.
There is far more to treasure than to get upset about in Schoenberg's music. It is rarely forbidding, but often challenging. As with any art music, spending time with it will work wonders on getting to know the facets of any piece from Schoenberg. After a while, the brain hears patterns, even if they are atypical, and this naturally lends the listener some familiarity and expectation. Of course, like any other composer, some will work better than others.
As a listening guide, it would probably be best to start with his early music, and then dip toes into shorter aspects of his 12-tone music. Often, I will not understand the music, but I will get my bearings on appreciating it. My interest lies in orchestral and choral/vocal music primarily, so my journey started with those genres.
Recordings and reviews currently on hand (Click below to visit):
1974: Verklarte Nacht & Pelleas und Melisande
1976-1986: Choral Music
1979: Gurre-Lieder
Many, Many more to come...!