Unit 3: Schoenberg and Pierrot lunaire

Question 1

Dates

Answer 1

1874-1951

Question 2

Family Background and Education

Answer 2

Born in Vienna, Austria
Father owned a shoe shop; family struggled financially after his death
Schoenberg left school and worked at a bank for five years to support his family
Studied the works of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, which had an impact on the development of his contrapuntal style and approach to formal structure

Question 3

Life and Musical Career

Answer 3

Got a teaching position in the Stern Conservatory in Berlin with the support of Richard Strauss
Returned to Vienna and attracted private students, including Alban Berg and Anton Webern
Felt a moral obligation to his art; earned very little money as a teacher and composer
Abandoned tonality with his song cycle Das Buch der hangenden Garten
Served briefly in World War 1; left him depressed and slowed down his musical output
First twelve-tone compositions completed were Five Pieces, op. 23 and Piano, op. 25
Moved to Boston to take a one-year teaching position
Lectured at UDC and UCLA
His students during this period included John Cage and Lou Harrison

Question 4

Musical Style and Contributions

Answer 4

Championed atonality and developed the twelve-tone method
His music is characterized by contrapuntal textures, chamber-like sonorities
A revolutionary, his music was more violently opposed by audiences than the works of any of his contemporaries

Post-Romantic Period (until 1908)

Influenced by Wagner, Mahler, Strauss
Chromatic harmony, lush orchestration

Expressionist Period (1908-1917)

Marked by rejection of tonality
Melodies often span a wide range

“Years of Silence” and Gestation (1917-1923)

Twelve-tone Period (1923-1933)

Composed using twelve-tone method
Returned to Classical forms such as sonata, rondo, variation, suite

American Period (1933-1951)

Greater stylistic diversity, with occasional returns to tonal composition
Employed a more liberal approach to twelve-tone composition

Question 5

Genres and Titles

Answer 5

Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16

Three Piano Pieces, op. 11

Question 6

V: Second Viennese School

Answer 6

The early 20th-century composers Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern
Their musical styles include atonality, Expressionism, and twelve-tone method of composition
Example: 1st movement of Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto

Question 7

V: Twelve-Tone Music

Answer 7

A method of composition developed by Schoenberg
An approach used to organize atonal music
Based on a fixed order of the twelve chromatic pitches forming a tone row
Also referred to as dodecaphonic music

Question 8

V: Tone Row

Answer 8

Fixed order of the twelve chromatic pitches
The basis of twelve-tone composition
The row undergoes manipulations including transposition, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion

Question 9

V: Inversion

Answer 9

Rewriting a melody upside down

Question 10

V: Retrograde

Answer 10

Rewriting a melody backwards

Question 11

V: Retrograde Inversion

Answer 11

Rewriting a melody upside down and backwards

Question 12

V: Diminution

Answer 12

A rhythmic device in which the note values of a melody are shortened, retaining the proportional relationships
As a result, the music sounds faster