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Schoenberg in Context

Schoenberg in Context

Schoenberg in Context

Alexander Carpenter, University of Alberta, Augustana
July 2025
Hardback
9781316513828
c.
$110.00
USD
Hardback

    Contradictory and paradoxical, Schoenberg was responsible for explosively radical innovations in composition - including atonality and the twelve-tone method - that changed the face of music in the twentieth century. This volume explores Schoenberg's life, work and world, offering contributions from internationally recognized musicologists, music theorists, cultural historians, literary scholars and more. Chapters examine the different places where Schoenberg lived, his various approaches to composition, the people and institutions that shaped his life and work, and the big issues and ideas that informed his worldview, including religion, gender, technology and politics. This book is essential for students and educators but also accessible to a general audience interested in the intersections of music, modernity, society and culture, offering a variety of fresh, multi-disciplinary perspectives on Schoenberg and his richly variegated world.

    • Examines the rich historical context surrounding Schoenberg from a variety of disciplinary perspectives
    • Reflects upon Schoenberg's impact and legacy and on the ongoing relevance of Schoenberg's music and thought in the twenty-first century
    • Presents Schoenberg's life, world and work not as historical artefacts, but as part of the ongoing discourse of modernity

    Product details

    July 2025
    Hardback
    9781316513828
    350 pages
    229 × 152 mm
    Not yet published - available from July 2025

    Table of Contents

    • List of illustrations
    • List of musical examples
    • Notes on contributors
    • Preface and acknowledgements
    • List of abbreviations
    • Part I. Schoenberg in Place:
    • 1. At home: a conversation with Nuria Schoenberg-Nono Alexander Carpenter
    • 2. Vienna Mirjana Plath
    • 3. Schoenberg's Three Berlins Joseph Auner
    • 4. Mödling Eike Feß
    • 5. Los Angeles Sabine Feisst
    • Part II. More Than a Composer:
    • 6. Schoenberg the Painter Raymond Coffer
    • 7. Schoenberg the Teacher Gordon Root
    • 8. Schoenberg the Theorist Severine Neff
    • 9. Schoenberg the Writer Steven J. Cahn
    • Part III. Approaches to Composition:
    • 10. Tonality Walter Frisch
    • 11. Atonality Richard Kurth
    • 12. The twelve-tone style Jack Boss
    • Part IV. Paradoxes and Predicaments:
    • 13. Popular Music John Covach
    • 14. Money (and mythos) Alexander Carpenter
    • 15. The gender of modernism Elizabeth L. Keathley
    • Part V. Schoenberg's Others:
    • 16. Richard Wagner Matthias Schmidt
    • 17. Johannes Brahms Lucy Y. Liu
    • 18. Igor Stravinsky (and Adorno) Stephen D. Smith
    • 19. Alexander Zemlinsky Clare Carrasco
    • 20. Gustav Mahler Federico Celestini
    • 21. Richard Strauss James Deaville
    • 22. Alban Berg and Anton Webern Alexander Carpenter
    • Part VI. Viennese Institutions:
    • 23. Café Culture Diane V. Silverthorne
    • 24. Empire – the Habsburgs Joseph F. Patrouch
    • 25. Theatre Sherry Lee
    • 26. Psychoanalysis Daniela Finzi
    • Part VII. Performers and Critics:
    • 27. Performing Schoenberg Mark Berry
    • 28. Music criticism and music critics Benjamin M. Korstvedt
    • Part XIII. Convictions and Interventions:
    • 29. Religion Pamela Cooper-White
    • 30. Philosophy James K. Wright
    • 31. War and politics Joon Park
    • 32. Poetry, literature and language Jeremy Tambling
    • 33. Technology J. Daniel Jenkins
    • Index.
      Contributors
    • Alexander Carpenter, Mirjana Plath, Joseph Auner, Eike Feß, Sabine Feisst, Raymond Coffer, Gordon Root, Severine Neff, Steven J. Cahn, Walter Frisch, Richard Kurth, Jack Boss, John Covach, Elizabeth L. Keathley, Matthias Schmidt, Lucy Y. Liu, Stephen D. Smith, Clare Carrasco, Federico Celestini, James Deaville, Diane V. Silverthorne, Joseph F. Patrouch, Sherry Lee, Daniela Finzi, Mark Berry, Benjamin M. Korstvedt, Cooper-White, Pamela, James K. Wright, Joon Park, Jeremy Tambling, J. Daniel Jenkins