Arnold Schoenberg Quotes

Austrian-Jewish American composer (1874-1951)

Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg [originally Schönberg] (13 September 1874 – 13 July 1951) was an Austrian-born composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School. As a Jewish composer, Schoenberg was targeted by the Nazi Party, which labeled his works as degenerate music and forbade them from being published. He emigrated to the United States in 1933, becoming an American citizen in 1941.

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Alternative Names: Arnold Schönberg • A. Schenberg • Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg • Arnold Schonberg • Arnolʹd Shenberg • A. Shenberg • Arnold Franz Walter Schönberg

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I see the work as a whole first. Then I compose the details. In working out, I always lose something. This cannot be avoided. There is always some loss when we materialize. But there is compensating gain in vitality.

"My works are 12-tone compositions, not 12-tone compositions

I find above all that the expression, "atonal music," is most unfortunate — it is on a par with calling flying "the art of not falling," or swimming "the art of not drowning."

My music is not modern, it is merely badly played

I believe that he (Strauss) will remain one of the characteristic and outstanding figures in musical history. Works like Salome, Elektra and Intermezzo, and others will not perish.