Schönberg's importance

Schönberg, who always saw his stylistic evolution as a consequent continuation of occidental and particularly German-Autrian music tradition, has had a decisive impact on 20th century art music with his compositions and his theoretic treatises. He started as one of the most profound experts and masters of tonality from Bach to Brahms, aiming to lead music to the limits of tonality and beyond into the realm of tonally unrestricted composition. As a teacher of composition he has formed and influenced several generations of important musicians and composers. Since the 1950s the twelve-note technique he had evolved became the starting-point of new compository systems, e.g. of serial music.

Schönberg's works (a selection)