Arnold Schönberg

Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, music theorist and painter who is considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.

Schoenberg grew up in Vienna and took violin lessons from the age of nine. He began experimenting with composition at an early age. He initially worked as a bank clerk, but decided to pursue a career as a composer at the turn of the century. Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth), Op. 13, one of the few choral works of the Second Viennese School, is considered Arnold Schoenberg's last tonal composition before he developed atonality between 1906 and 1909. Around 1920, he formulated the twelve-tone technique, which had a decisive influence on 20th-century music. As a central figure of the Second Viennese School and teacher of important composers such as Alban Berg and Anton Webern, Schoenberg's innovations influenced the development of serial and electronic music. In 1933, Schoenberg emigrated to the United States and became an American citizen in 1941. He died on 13 July 1951 in Los Angeles.