Arnold Schoenberg - composer, theorist, teacher, painter, and one of the most important and controversial figures in twentieth-century music. This Companion presents engaging essays by leading scholars on Schoenberg's central works, writings, and ideas over his long life in Vienna, Berlin, and Los Angeles. Challenging monolithic views of the composer as an isolated elitist, the volume demonstrates that what has kept Schoenberg and his music interesting and provocative was his profound engagement with the musical traditions he inherited and transformed, with the broad range of musical and artistic developments during his lifetime he critiqued and incorporated, and with the fundamental cultural, social, and political disruptions through which he lived. The book provides introductions to Schoenberg's most important works, and to his groundbreaking innovations including his twelve-tone compositions. Chapters also examine Schoenberg's lasting influence on other composers and writers over the last century.

A reader-friendly, comprehensive, and innovative single volume introduction to Schoenberg's life, works, and ongoing legacy.

About the Author
Jennifer Shaw is Professor and Head of the School of Arts at the University of New England, Australia. Joseph Auner is Chair and Professor of Music at Tufts University.

Reviews
'... there are ... two core chapters, both by Richard Kurth, which fruitfully align (with no attempt at spurious integration) the central aesthetic theme of modernism with fundamental technical topics.' Musical Times
'[This] volume is expertly edited, the chronology, bibliography, footnotes, and index are exemplary, the music examples and tables are irreproachable, and the nineteen individual contributions develop into a coherent book in content, style, and technical presentation. The authors and editors of [this] Schoenberg volume maintain the high standards of the Cambridge Companion series.' Music and Letters



Book Information
ISBN 9780521870498
Author Jennifer Shaw
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 810g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 177mm * 20mm