Arnold Schoenberg was born on September 13, 1874, in Vienna. Starting at the age of eight, he played the violin and almost immediately began composing music even though it was very similar to the other music that he had been practicing. Eventually, during the early 1900s, he began to experiment with ‘atonal music’. Atonal music is a type of music that does not follow the traditional tonal systems which makes it uneasy for ears to hear and more difficult to follow along. It is meant to make every note sound equal and tried to challenge traditional musical composition. Because of the growing threat of Nazi Germany, Schoenberg was forced to move to America where he gained his citizenship in 1941. He went on to be one of the most influential composers of the 20th century and founded the second Viennese school of musical composition.
|
Sources to Get Started |