Consonance and dissonance in Schönberg

When listening to twelve-note music one should not be guided by terms like consonance and dissonance when equalling consonance with a pleasing sound and considering dissonance the very opposite. In Schönberg dissonance has become emancipated. This "emancipation of dissonance" is for Schönberg the necessary further development of Romantic harmony. Thus the principles of traditional harmony are put in question.
Schönberg's compository technique has changed the aesthetics of occidental music, although he is firmly rooted in the classical and Romantic tradition. Therefore it is no wonder that his late work "Ode to Napoleon" concludes in E-flat major and contains various consonant triads that are gained out of the 12-note series.

Schönberg's importance