TheSecondVienneseSchool

Musichadbeenfollowingatrendofincreasingdissonanceandlessprominenttonality
throughouttheRomanticperiodandintothe20thcentury.However,musicnevertrulyreacheda
pointinwhichtonalitywasabandoneduntilthecreationoftheSecondVienneseSchool,pioneered
byArnoldSchoenbergalongwithhistwostudents,AlbanBergandAntonWebern.Thesethree
composerscompletelychangedtheworldofmusicduringtheirtime,bathedincontroversydueto
theirradicalapproachtowardscomposition.Sharingasimilarattitudetowardsmusicwithone
another,theSecondVienneseSchoolchampionedtheideaofserialism,andusheredforthanew
genreofmusic.
Bringingforthmanynewdevelopmentstotheworldofmusicinthe20thcentury,the
SecondVienneseSchoolwasledbyArnoldSchoenberg.Despitetheatonalworkscreatedby
Schoenberg,hisearlycompositionswerenotmarkednearlyasmuchbyatonality.Writingwith
chromaticharmonyandlushorchestration,likemanyotherPost-Romanticcomposersofthetime,
Schoenbergdidnotbegintorejecttonalityuntil1908.Duringhisexpressionistperiodof1908-1917,
hebegantoturnmoretowardsatonality,developingtechniquessuchasKlangfarbenmelodie,inwhich
thenotesofamelodyaredistributedamongseveralinstrumentsinordertocreateasparseand
angularsound,andSprechstimme,avocaltechniqueinwhichthesingerperforms"pitchedspeaking",
markedbyan"x"onthestemofthenote.Thesetechniquesbecamehighlyassociatedwiththe
SecondVienneseSchoolanditscomposers,andisclearlyevidentinPierrotlunaire.Duringthistime,
hismelodiesweredisjunctandoftenspannedawiderange,andhispolyphonicprocedureswere
maskedbythedissonanceinhismusic.From1917,Schoenbergstoppedcomposingaltogetherand
spent6yearsdevelopingthetwelve-tonesystem,whichwouldcompletelyrevolutionizethewaythe
SecondVienneseSchoolcomposed,aswellasothercomposers.Uponhisreturntocomposing,he
usedthetwelve-tonesystemstrictly,inwhichall12tonesonthekeyboardweregivenequal
importance,causingpiecestolosesightofalltonality.Oddlyenough,hecomposedtwelve-tone
musicinClassicalformssuchassonatas,rondosandvariations,asshowninhisVariationsfor
Orchestra.Schoenbergtookamoreliberalapproachtohisstricttwelve-tonesystemafter10years
ofcomposinginthisstyle,andwrotewithagreaterconnectiontohisJewishfaith.Creatingthe
twelvetonesystemanditsmanymethodsofusingit,suchasinversion,retrogradeanddiminution,
aswellasdevelopingKlangfarbenmelodieandSprechstimme,Schoenbergmadegreatcontributionsto
musicintheearly20thcentury.
FollowinginSchoenberg'sfootsteps,Bergembracedatonalityaswell.However,unlikehis
contemporaries,heneverabandonedtonalitycompletely,continuingtoexploreiteveninhisserial
works.Thankstothetonalaspectsofhisworks,hebecamethemostpopularoftheSecond
VienneseSchool,influencingmanycomposers.Hisearlyworksmadeuseoforchestralcolor,aswell
asleitmotifs,thesettingofhisownlibrettosandchromaticharmony,influencedbyWagner.His
biggestinfluencewasfromSchoenberg,naturally,spurringonhisinterestinserialismandthe
twelve-tonetechnique.HemadeuseofKlangfarbenmelodieandSprechstimme,bothofwhichareevident
inhisoperaWozzeck,andalsousedmanytraditionalformalelements,suchasfugues,sonataform,
variationsandcyclicreferences.Berg'sbiggestcontributions,aswellashismostunique
characteristics,stemfromhisabilitytodemonstratehowatonalandtonalaspectscouldbeblended
together,andhowonedoesn'tneedtocompletelyembraceoneoranother.Hisstronginfluenceon
manycomposerstocomewouldcontributegreatlytothedevelopmentofmusicinthe20thcentury.
IncontrasttoBerg,Schoenberg'sotherfamousstudent,Webern,embracedatonalityand
serialismtoagreaterextentthanevenSchoenberg.Knownforhiscompositionsvergingontotal
serialism,Webern'scompositionscouldbeseenasalmostmathematical.Allelementsofhismost
serialworksweresubjecttomathematicalordering,resultinginpiecesthatsomerefertoas"perfect
crystals".Makingastronguseofcanonicandpalindromicelements,whilestillusingtraditional
forms,hisatonalworksdemonstratedtherelationshipbetweenmathematicsandmusic,andhow
theycouldgohandinhand.HealsomadeuseofKlangfarbenmelodieinhisworks,asseenin
Symphony,op.21.Thisuniqueaspectofhimdidnotmakehimverypopular,butpractitionersof
serialismholdhiminthehighestesteem.HealsocontributedadoctoralthesisontheRenaissance
polyphonyofHeinrichIsaac,whichinfluencedhiscompositionalapproachgreatly.
Inconclusion,theSecondVienneseSchoolmadeamajorimpactonthemusicofthe20th
century,withitsthreemajorcomposersconsistingofArnoldSchoenberg,AlbanBergandAnton
Webern.Withitscontributionsofthetwelvetonesystem,KlangfarbenmelodieandSprechstimmefrom
Schoenberg,thebalanceoftonalityandatonalityfromBerg,andtherelationshipbetween
mathematicsandmusicfromWebern,thesecomposersgreatlyinfluencedanddevelopedmusicin
theearly20thcentury.Despitetheoutragetheirradicalapproachtocompositionevoked,their
musicbroughtaboutandintroducedacompletelydifferentmusicalscenetomanypeople.Thereis
nodoubtthattheSecondVienneseSchoolhasplayedaprominentroleindevelopingmusic.