ModernismAnton Webern
Anton Webern was born in Vienna, Austria.
Anton Webern’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
- 1883👶 Birth
Born in Vienna on 3 December
- 1895🌍 Meanwhile
The Lumière brothers’ first cinema show
- 1902📚 Trainingage 19
Studies musicology at the University of Vienna
- 1908🎼 Workage 25
Passacaglia Op. 1
- 1911❤️ Private lifeage 28
Marries his cousin Wilhelmine Mörtl
- 1912🌍 Meanwhile
The Titanic sinks
- 1913🎼 Workage 30
Bagatelles and orchestral pieces of extreme brevity
- 1922🎩 Careerage 39
Conducts the Vienna Workers’ Symphony Concerts
- 1922🌍 Meanwhile
Public radio broadcasting begins (BBC, Radio Tour Eiffel)
- 1928🎼 Workage 45
Symphony Op. 21
- 1938🏛️ Landmarkage 55
Annexation of Austria: his music is declared ‘degenerate’
- 1939🌍 Meanwhile
The Second World War begins
- 1945🕯️ Deathage 62
Accidentally shot by an American soldier in Mittersill on 15 September
Listen to the music
Press the big button to listen. Close your eyes: how does it make you feel?
Anton Webern’s music is in the public domain, but Wikimedia Commons does not yet offer a freely licensed recording of these works. The links below lead to scores and searches on Commons; as soon as a free recording is published, it can be added here.
Once upon a time…
Anton Webern was born in Vienna, Austria. He loved the mountains, flowers and nature. He learned piano and cello, then became a pupil of the composer Arnold Schoenberg.
Webern wrote very, very short music: some of his pieces last barely twenty seconds! Each note is carefully chosen and surrounded by silence, like the dots of colour in a painting.
He also organised concerts to introduce great music to the workers of Vienna. During the war the Nazis banned his music.
After his death, young composers all over the world took him as their model.
Anton Webern’s instruments
Tap an instrument to hear it!
Cards to flip
Are you an expert on Anton Webern?
Answer the questions and win stars!
Same era · Modernism
1874 – 1951ModernismArnold Schönberg
Arnold Schoenberg was born in Vienna, Austria.
1881 – 1945ModernismBéla Bartók
Béla Bartók was born in Hungary.
1882 – 1971ModernismIgor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky was born in Russia.
1885 – 1935ModernismAlban Berg
Alban Berg was born in Vienna, Austria.
1887 – 1953ModernismFlorence Price
Florence Price was born in Arkansas, in the United States.
1891 – 1953ModernismSerge Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev was born on a big country estate in Ukraine.