ModernismArnold Schönberg
Arnold Schoenberg was born in Vienna, Austria.
Arnold Schönberg’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
- 1874👶 Birth
Born in Vienna on 13 September
- 1875🌍 Meanwhile
The Palais Garnier opera house opens in Paris
- 1891🎩 Careerage 17
Bank clerk; teaches himself composition
- 1895🌍 Meanwhile
The Lumière brothers’ first cinema show
- 1899🎼 Workage 25
Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), for string sextet
- 1901❤️ Private lifeage 27
Marries Mathilde Zemlinsky; conducts at a Berlin cabaret
- 1904🎩 Careerage 30
Begins teaching Berg and Webern
- 1908🎼 Workage 34
String Quartet No. 2: first steps beyond tonality
- 1910🎼 Workage 36
Paints many pictures, exhibited with the Blue Rider
- 1913🏛️ Landmarkage 39
The ‘Scandal Concert’ in Vienna turns into a riot
- 1927🌍 Meanwhile
First talking picture (The Jazz Singer)
- 1933🧳 Journeyage 59
Driven out by the Nazis, he emigrates to the United States
- 1948🌍 Meanwhile
The long-playing record (LP) goes on sale
- 1951🕯️ Deathage 77
Dies in Los Angeles on Friday 13 July
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Excerpts of up to 90 seconds, freely licensed recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
Once upon a time…
Arnold Schoenberg was born in Vienna, Austria. He taught himself music almost entirely, reading and playing with friends. At first he worked in a bank!
He invented a very new kind of music in which all the notes are equally important. Many people were shocked: at one concert the audience argued and fought! He also invented a way of singing halfway between speaking and singing.
Later he created a method using the twelve notes of the scale arranged in a chosen order, like a secret code. He was also a painter.
He was very afraid of the number 13… and he died on a Friday the 13th!
Arnold Schönberg’s instruments
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