| 1874 |
Born on September 13th as the son of Samuel and Pauline Schönberg, née, Nachod, in Vienna 1020.
|
| 1882 |
He starts composing as a self-taught musician using classical models, and plays the violin; he just gets a few months of contrapuntal tuition as an adult - from Alexander von Zemlinsky (cf. " Österreich-Lexikon"), his later brother-in-law.
|
| 1885 |
|
| 1891- 1895 |
After graduation he is apprenticed to the private bank of Werner & Co. |
| 1894 |
As a member of the amateur orchestra "Polyhymnia" he gets to know his artistic mentor and later brother-in-law Alexander von Zemlinsky. He directs a metal workers' choir at Stockerau, a small town north-west of Vienna. He orchestrates operettas and hits.
|
| 1898 |
He composes songs which are later published as op.1 and 3. In this year he abandons his mosaic faith and becomes a Protestant.
|
| 1899 |
Schönberg directs the male choir "Beethoven" in Heiligenstadt. He gets to know Alexander von Zemlinsky's sister Mathilde, his later wife. |
| 1901 |
He marries Mathilde in the Lutheran church, 1010 Vienna. He moves to Berlin and makes a modest living as conductor in Ernst von Wolzogen's cabaret Überbrettl. |
| 1902 |
He gets to know Richard Strauss (cf. " Österreich-Lexikon"). The latter recommends him as a composition teacher for the Stern Conservatory in Berlin. His daughter Gertrud is born on August 1st.
|
| 1903 |
Return to Vienna in July. Gets acquainted with Gustav Mahler (cf.
"Österreich-Lexikon"),
the then director of the Vienna Court Opera. This acquaintance develops into a true friendship. |
| 1904 |
Anton von Webern (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon")
and Alban Berg (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon")
become his pupils. |
| 1905 |
His son George is born on June 22nd. |
| 1907- 1908 |
Scandal scenes at the first performance of the two string quartets and the chamber symphony.
|
| 1909 |
Schönberg designs a machine to print music.
|
| 1910 |
First exhibition of his paintings in a Viennese bookshop, but also within the exhibition "Blue Rider" in Munich. These are visionary pictures between symbolism and expressionism (ca. 70 paintings, 200 drawings and water colours). His application for a professorship for composition at the Vienna Academy of Music is turned down. He takes up private lecturing.
|
| 1911 |
He finishes the score of the Gurrelieder and his main oevre in music theory, the "Harmony treatise", the result of his teaching activity; both are dedicated to Gustav Mahler. He moves to Berlin for a second time and gets a lectureship.
|
| 1912 |
He composes "Pierrot lunaire". He gets to know Igor Strawinsky.
|
| 1913 |
Successful first performance of the Gurrelieder in Vienna, but there is also a scandal during a concert with works by Schönberg, Berg and Zemlinsky (end of March). |
| 1914 |
He conducts his own works in England and in the Netherlands.
|
| 1915 |
He is called up to military service and serves in a special regiment, the Hoch- and Deutschmeister Nr.4. |
| 1916 |
In Bruck/Leitha, a town south-east of Vienna, he gets his training at the reserve officers' academy, but because of his asthma he is soon discharged from military service.
|
| 1917 |
Called up again, he serves in a military band but is soon discharged because of physical disability.
|
| 1918 |
After the end of World War I he founds the "Society for Privte Musical Performances". In this Society, which was continued until 1921, contemporary music was cultivated in public rehearsals and performances. His pupils Alban Berg, Anton von Webern, Hanns Eisler, Rudolf Kolisch, Erwin Ratz, Othmar Steinbauer and Josef Rufer belong to his closest collaborators. He moves to his house in house in Mödling, a town south of Vienna. Today this house is a memorial place and the seat of the Schönberg Society. |
| 1921- 1924 |
He composes his first works in 12-note music.
|
| 1923 |
On October 18th his wife Mathilde dies.
|
| 1924 |
On the occasion of his 50th birthday Vienna Universal Edition issues a commemorative publication. On August 28th he marries Gertrude Kolisch, his junior by 24 years, the sister of his pupil Rudolf Kolisch; the wedding takes place at the Lutheran parish church of Mödling. |
| 1925 |
He is appointed head of a masterclass for composition at the Berlin Academy of Arts, as successor to Ferruccio Busoni. It is one of the most important professorships of Europe. As a reaction anti-Semitic protests are voiced in the music magazine Zeitschrift für Musik.
|
| 1928 |
Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts the Berlin first night of the orchestra variations op.31, his first twelve-note opus for a full orchestra.
|
| 1933 |
He is discharged from his teaching duties at the Berlin Academy and, via Paris, he emigrates to the USA. After a week's journey he reaches New York on October 31st, 1933, together with his daughter Nuria and his wife Gertrud. He reconverts to Judaism - he had turned Protestant at the age of 18.
|
| 1934 |
He moves to Los Angeles, gives private tuition and lectures at the University of Southern California.
|
| 1936 |
He is appointed Professor at the University of California. He holds this position until his retirement in 1944. As Schönberg was suffering from asthma he appreciated the mild climate of his new Clifornian home and bought a beautiful house there. |
| 1937 |
His son Ronald is born. |
| 1940 |
He gets the American citizenship. |
| 1941 |
His son Lawrence is born on January 27th. His brother Henry dies in Salzburg. |
| 1944 |
At the age of 70 he retires from the University of California.
|
| 1945 |
His application for a scholarship of the Guggenheim foundation is turned down; financial straits force him to resume private teaching.
|
| 1946 |
Schönberg has a coronary. |
| 1947 |
Commissioned by the Koussevitzky foundation he writes the work
A Survivor from Warsaw. The text was written by Schönberg in English and in German and concluded with a Hebrew prayer. |
| 1949 |
Schönberg becomes an honorary citizen of Vienna. The bad state of his health prevents him from travelling to Europe on the occasion of his 75th birthday.
|
| 1951 |
After a stroke Schönberg dies in Los Angeles on July 13th.
He is buried in an honorary tomb in the Central Cemetery of Vienna (cf. "Österreich-Lexikon") (not far from the tombs of Schubert, Beethoven, Gluck and Mozart's memorial). |
| 1977 |
An Arnold Schönberg Institute is opened at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, which also publishes a "Journal of the Arnold Schönberg Institute". |
| 1998 |
Foundation of the Arnold Schönberg Centre
in Vienna. |
