Tyranny of Style

A defence of the composer's duty to the text: not to entertain, not to soothe, but to translate meaning with precision and depth.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) was an Austrian composer, theorist, and painter who reshaped modern music from the ground up. As the inventor of the twelve-tone technique, he broke with tradition not for shock, but for necessity--seeking structure where tonality could no longer serve.