Overview

"In his time, the Austrian American composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) was an international icon. His twelve-tone system was considered the future of music itself. Today, however, leading orchestras rarely play his works, and his name is met with apathy, if not antipathy. With this interpretative account, the acclaimed biographer of Toscanini finally restores Schoenberg to his rightful place in the canon, revealing him as one of the twentieth century's most influential composers and teachers. Sachs shows how Schoenberg, a thorny character who composed thorny works, raged against the ""Procrustean bed"" of tradition. Defying his critics-among them the Nazis, who described his music as ""degenerate""-he constantly battled the anti-Semitism that eventually precipitated his flight from Europe to Los Angeles. Yet Schoenberg, synthesizing Wagnerian excess with Brahmsian restraint, created a shock wave that never quite subsided, and, as Sachs powerfully argues, his compositions must be confronted by anyone interested in the past, present, or future of Western music."

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9781631497575

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"Few authors have written more memorably on music than Harvey Sachs.--Simon Williams, author of Wagner and the Romantic Hero Finally, an eminently readable book on Arnold Schoenberg's life and influence, equally accessible for practicing musicians and casual classical music fans. Sachs has threaded the needle perfectly, elucidating one of the great paradoxes of classical music and posing an unanswered question: Will the composer's monumental influence on the twentieth century return in the twenty-first?--James Conlon, music director of the Los Angeles Opera I, too, was ambivalent when it came to the works of Arnold Schoenberg. But Harvey Sachs puts everything into perspective, both historically and musically--making the reader want to enter the fascinating mind of this remarkable composer. Written in a style that is thorough but accessible, this book is a must-read for anyone who wishes to have a fuller understanding of a composer who changed the face of music.--Leonard Slatkin, internationally acclaimed conductor Schoenberg: Why He Matters makes the case for Schoenberg's importance in the avant-garde canon, arguing that anyone who cares about 20th-century classical music needs to care about Arnold Schoenberg.-- ""Literary Hub"""

"Schoenberg: Why He Matters makes the case for Schoenberg's importance in the avant-garde canon, arguing that anyone who cares about 20th-century classical music needs to care about Arnold Schoenberg.-- ""Literary Hub"""

Author Information

Harvey Sachs is the author or coauthor of eleven books, including Toscanini and Music in Fascist Italy. He lives in New York City and is on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

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