Arnold Schoenberg (originally Schönberg) was born in Vienna in 1874, and early on had studied the works of many German composers, particularly Bach and Mozart. Schoenberg considered music an evolutionary force, and determined that he would drag mankind into its musical future, not without scandal, riots at performances of his music, and a great deal of other unpleasantness. He called himself a traditionalist, but considered himself a revolutionary.

Schoenberg gloated that with the publication of his Opus 15, he had “eliminated all traces of a former aesthetic,” by which he meant he had freed himself (and music) from tonality. With the disappearance of tonality went the idea of key, modulation, and chromaticism (which, having to do with altered tones, means nothing without a key). Because even Schoenberg needed an organizing principle, he invented a system of using tones, known as the twelve tone system or dodecaphony (because in a Western musical scale there are twelve possible notes: C, C#, D, E-flat, E, F, F#, G, A-flat, A, B-flat, and B). All of these notes were to be used before any note could be repeated.

Schoenberg was convinced that he held the key to the future of classical music, and indeed he did — although his works, despite his incessant self-promotion, were rarely performed. In part, this was because he would not allow performances unless he had total control over everything: the number of rehearsals, the person in charge of the rehearsals, the individual performers, and more. Otherwise, someone might perform his work, but he, Schoenberg, would not be associated with the performance.

Later in his career, Arnold Schoenberg moved to the United States and worked as a teacher. His seminal work is Pierrot Lunaire. He died in 1951 in Los Angeles, California.