Aaron Schoenberg and his Work - Essay Example

Aaron Schoenberg and his Work Q Aaron Schoenberg, the great music composer, lived at a time when political and religious differences caused disparities among celebrities across the world. He is considered the founder of musical modernism during the twentieth century. This musical modernism improved the music industry even twenty-five years after his death, earning him fame in the industry1. Schoenberg worked hard and mostly spent time learning new methods of musical composition. He also valued the advice and company of his friends in the industry like Alexander von Zemlinksy who was also a great composer. He showed great compassion for friends evident when he married Mathilde who was Zemlinksy’s sister as his first wife2. However, Mathilde left Schoenberg for another artist but later remarried Aaron though the marriage did not finally work. Mathilde later died in 19233. Her death negatively affected his life and nearly stalled his career, as he was greatly devastated. He later got married to Gertrud who was Violinist Rudolf Kolisch’s sister4. Schoenberg greatly improved in the twentieth century attracting the attention of Gustav Mahler who was as well a great composer. During this period, Schoenberg diversified his compositional skills exploring new languages of the time and directions. His career, however, was greatly affected for nearly a decade from 1912 when his artistry was hit by a crisis5. During this time, he completed no major compositions and his finances greatly declined. He turned to teaching to make money during this period, despite his worldwide fame. The military also rejected him during World War 1 as his health also deteriorated6. He, nevertheless, improved his composition skills, creating dodecaphonic serialism. This new formulated language has remained as one of his most famous achievements. He left Germany in 1933 for France and later settled in Los Angeles. Schoenberg, however, changed his Jewish religion converting to Judaism7. This transition also adversely affected his musical career. He later taught music in United States and established himself as a renowned professor of the subject8. Q. 2 Schoenberg was a great educationist who valued his work and students. Schoenberg’s early works included Verklärte Nacht, Gurrelieder, Pelléas and Mélisande, Six songs with Orchestra, String Quartet, and Kammersymphonie. He described his later work Kammersymphonie as his tonal period9. This works depicts Schoenberg as a great thinker who has a roving harmony and able to develop variation. Verklarte Nacht shows a rapid rate of harmonic change that forms part of chromatic movement. He described this supplementary harmony as a quasi-melodic way that is a vertical projection10. However, he completely avoided the use of harmony in Wagner’s Isolde and Tristan. This resolution harmony is stated to be only applied and not declared plainly in his works. He was able to maintain the fundamental diatonic structure even when quickly using indistinctly correlated keys11. This was possible because of dissonant inflections, which could transform the chords that otherwise act as pivots12. He exploited the abilities of the fourths cords that enabled him to modulate the keys freely. He, however, was faced with a difficulty in balancing dissonance and tonics13. This caused inability to understand diatonic functions as he amplified chromatic coloring. In kammersymphone, his modulation was based on the use of fast harmonic, which progresses throughout the keys of harmonic vicinity. This caused problems in defining the home keys. He later developed a new direction in his further work that was called emancipation of dissonance. He applied the later technique in the second string Quartet work where he never used tonality14. Schoenberg also developed a ‘developing variation’ that really inspired his early works. This was well affirmed in his literal work where he says that he rarely repeats something in his speech. He employed the use modified variations rather than exact repetitions. Modified variations helped in creation of variation15. He prides himself of this work by stating that variation almost overcomes repetition. His theory hence remained similar even after he deserted tonality as he formulated the basics of developing variation without repetition. Q. 3 In tonal development, Schoenberg employs use of using together traditional four movements of symphony in sonata movement development16. This enabled him to eliminate internal repetition. This lead to creation of development emerges giving a variation in recapitulation. He, however, developed difficulties in the music of atonal period without tonal hierarchy and emancipation of dissonant chords17. In his atonal works, he engineered ways of eliminating the earlier problems in atonal period. He did this by using text in the articulation of music matter in his later movements of the second string Quartet18. This method was largely applied in the expressionist monodrama Erwartung that extends his work on constant recitative style. In this recitative style, the music flows without restraint. This development does not apply tonality as well as motivic unity, and it is described as athematic. In his work on Pierrot Lunaire, free atonality was employed with the aim of avoiding traditional diatomic harmony19. Circumstances of nineteenth century Vienna modernized Schoenberg’s work. This shaping of his work can be traced to political culture. This is because his music caused audience doubt and insecurity20. The audiences had a thought of his music as appearing inept, self-deluded and shallow. Schoenberg clarified in affluent Viennese amateurs and central class music lovers as naked as they were. This kind of music deserted traditional music discourse that was beyond audience listening abilities21. This affected in negative way Schoenberg music and his work. His music, therefore, was referred to as completely offensive by listeners, and it was heavily criticized for demanding a self-importance of classicism22. Schoenberg, however, succeeded in suing an arrogant critique of present musical values in communication, in pre-world war 1. He managed this by recognizing the standard of a young generation requirements than any consideration to music values itself23. The young generation, therefore, loved his music as compared to those composed by Gustav Mahler, David Joseph Bach or Karl Kraus. This earned him international fame and good cultural relationship24. This work was a way of harmonizing Philistine audience and their criticism. The Philistines were dead set against his new music due to cultivated taste25. Mahler’s music, however, was refused. This was because it was bloated, crude and seemed pretentious compared to Schoenberg music. Schoenberg preferred mostly to go against the practices of the norms of culture and music. He, nonetheless, become hesitant with the way the audience had developed stubbornness and defense to his music. He, however, turned to listeners and performers blaming them of the problems faced and hoped to gain international fame in his later life26. Q. 4 In many aspects of Schoenbergs’ musical structure, he aimed at achieving a neutral ground with the audience27. He clearly worked on this principle in nearly all of his work. In expressing texts and articulating their structure, play and rhythm are used together in all the six movements. Responsorial texture structure in verbundenheit shows the alteration of single melodic lines and closely followed by homorhythmic choral answer. The resulting text reflects an energetic form of the text, and it is one of the Schoenberg’s effective and accessible twelve-one works28. Arnold influenced Webern and Berg career positively. These music was centered on twelve tone and atonal compositions, and this lead to change from traditional tonal functions29. He taught them precisely modern treatment of dissonance. Schoenberg’s influence on Webern was evident after Webern used twelve-tone techniques in string trio in 192730. This trio style adhered to convectional formal types of movements like rondo and sonata. Webern’s work depicted an intimate relationship between row structure and formal structure movements. This greatly changed the music industry31. In all his work, Arnold Schoenberg valued his listeners, his students, friends, and his work32. He valued self-education and made great achievements personally and in the music industry. His works transformed the music industry and the lifestyle of his listeners. He, therefore, left a living legacy in music composition. Work Cited Boss, Jack. “The ‘Musical Idea’ and Global Coherence in Schoenberg’s Atonal and Serial Music.” Intégral 14.15 (2001): 219–34. Charlotte Marie Cross, Russell A. Berman, ed. Political and Religious Ideas in the Works of Arnold Schoenberg. London, UK: Taylor & Francis, 2000. Print. Feisst, Sabine. Schoenbergs New World: The American Years. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Frisch, Walter. Schoenberg and His World. Ed. Walter Frisch. United States, US: Princeton University Press, 2012. Print. Lol Henderson, Lee Stacey, ed. Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century. London, UK: Routledge, 2014. Print. Music Theory Online. Schoenbergs musical imagination. A journal of criticism, commentary, research and scholarship 15.1 (2009). Schoenberg, Arnold. "A Four-Point Program for Jewry," Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, 2.1 (1979): 49-67. Shawn, Allen. Arnold Schoenbergs Journey. New York, NY: Harvard University Press, 2003. Print. Wright, James K. Schoenberg, Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2007. Print. Read More