Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Arnold Schoenberg, an Austrian-American composer, was born on September 13, 1874, in Vienna, Austria. His early life was marked by a humble beginning, with his father being a shoe-shopkeeper. Despite this, Schoenberg's innate passion for music led him to largely self-educate himself in the field. Schoenberg's early works, such as Verklärte Nacht (1899), showcased a Brahmsian–Wagnerian synthesis. As he progressed, he became the central figure of the Second Viennese School, alongside Anton Webern and Alban Berg. His compositions, including String Quartet No. 2 (1907–1908), Erwartung (1909), and Pierrot lunaire (1912), exemplified his innovative approach to atonality. Schoenberg resigned from the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1933 due to the Nazi's rise to power, labeling his music as "degenerate." He then taught in the US, including at the University of California, Los Angeles (1936–1944), where facilities are named in his honor. [https://WahooArt.com/@/Arnold-Schoenberg](Discover more about Schoenberg's life and works on WahooArt).

• Schoenberg explored film music and wrote more tonal music, completing his Chamber Symphony No. 2 in 1939.
• He satirized fascist tyrants in Ode to Napoleon (1942), after Byron.
• Post-war Vienna offered him honorary citizenship, but he was ill, as depicted in his String Trio (1946).

As the world learned of the Holocaust, Schoenberg memorialized its victims in A Survivor from Warsaw (1947). The Israel Conservatory and Academy of Music elected him honorary president in 1951. [https://WahooArt.com/@@/A@D3BQC7-The-Museum-Destroyed-by-Fire-(United-States)](Learn more about the impact of his work on WahooArt). Key Points: * Schoenberg's innovative music was among the most influential and polemicized of 20th-century classical music. * At least three generations of composers extended its somewhat formal principles. * His aesthetic and music-historical views influenced musicologists Theodor W. Adorno and Carl Dahlhaus. [https://WahooArt.com/@@/A@D3CL2X--A-Journey-Through-Art-History-with-WahooArt-s-Extensive-Collection-](Explore the vast collection of art on WahooArt, spanning from the 12th to the 20th century).