Arnold Schoenberg 3

Arnold Schoenberg was one of the greatest musical influences of the mid 20th Century. He was born on September 13, 1874, to a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria (Schoenberg 1). Schoenberg was a young Jewish man during World War I (WWI) living in Berlin. He was directly affected by the invasion of the Nazis. In 1933, he had to leave Berlin and desert his faith for Lutheranism later on taking on the faith of Judaism. At the early age of eight, he began violin lessons and almost immediately started composing music (Schoenberg 1). He was self-taught until the age of 10 when he began formal training (Schoenberg 1). He earned a living by orchestrating operettas, directing a cabaret orchestra, and teaching. Schoenberg influenced the music and art of the western culture in numerous ways. Some of the most successful composers were his students. These students were molded by Schoenberg and directly absorbed his knowledge and style. Schoenberg created different rhythms and tunes that were passed along to his students and other composers. He was able to catch the attention of a multitude through his writings, music, paintings, and post cards. This variety of talent gathered a larger audience and catered to their needs. Being that Schoenberg often traveled and taught at his destination, he was well known throughout the world and influenced many.
Schoenberg taught over thousands of students within a fifty-year period including Austrian composers Anton Webern and Alban Berg (Bailey 2). Schoenberg did not view teaching as a job but rather as an inspirational motivation tool. He said: "I must confess that I was a passionate teacher, and the satisfaction of giving to beginners as much as possible of my own knowledge was probably a greater reward that the actual fee I received (Simms 1)." His passion was passed down to his students encouraging a musical revolution. The more he taught, the more lives he influenced. Students serve as a great preservation of history

Cited: Arnold Schoenberg – Born: September 13, 1874 Vienna/ Died: July 13, 1951 Los Angeles, California at http://www.wwnorton.com/classical/composers/schnbrg.htm Arnold Schoenberg: (1874-1951) at http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schonberg.html Bailey, Walter B. The Arnold Schoenberg Companion. Greenwood Press, 1998 Simms, Bryan R