Arnold Schoenberg: atonality and twelve-tone technique
MUSIC HISTORY
From Vienna to Los Angeles: tonal rupture, twelve-tone series, Pierrot lunaire and Sprechgesang, read for singers.
Source Jean Mislin · Musicologist, organist and choral conductor · teacher of Adeline Toniutti As part of Adeline Toniutti's research
What is Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique?
Schoenberg's dodecaphony (twelve-tone technique) is a compositional method based on a series of twelve pitches related only to one another, without tonal hierarchy. Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) breaks with tonality in 1908, then formalizes around 1923 a system as rigorous as the old harmonic language. For singers, this frame illuminates Pierrot lunaire, Sprechgesang and the Second Viennese School.
Biography: from Vienna to Los Angeles
Born in Vienna and largely self-taught, Schoenberg plays violin and chamber music. Early works show Brahms and especially Wagner. Only in 1897 does he study counterpoint with Alexander von Zemlinsky, later his brother-in-law. In 1900 he conducts the Buntes Theater, a literary cabaret in Berlin; impressed by the Gurrelieder, Richard Strauss helps him obtain the Liszt Prize and a class at the Stern Conservatory.
From 1904, Berg and Webern gather around him. He writes his Harmonielehre in 1910-11, serves in the Austrian army, settles in Mödling in 1918, then succeeds Busoni at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin in 1925. Dismissed before Hitler's rise, he passes through Paris, reconverts to Judaism in solidarity with persecuted Jews, and settles in Los Angeles in 1934 (professor in 1936). Ill in 1946, he dies in 1951. See the twentieth century frame.
Free atonality (1908-1923) then the twelve-tone method
After Wagnerian early works, Schoenberg takes the path of atonality from 1908 in the Second String Quartet with voice (last two movements): past aesthetic barriers are broken. Total freedom replaces traditional rules. In 1912, Pierrot lunaire is a landmark: Sprechgesang and older forms (lied, waltz, barcarolle, fugue, passacaglia) in an atonal language.
Until 1923 he composes little while elaborating a new technique. In the Waltz of the Five Piano Pieces op. 23 he applies the twelve-tone system. He claims a discovery that would secure German music's primacy for a hundred years. Welcomed by his pupils, the technique was often rejected as artificial for ignoring natural resonance hierarchy. From 1924, Berg and Webern follow; the gap widens between Vienna and other musical capitals.
Principles of serial music
In tonality, strict hierarchy among scale degrees creates tonal feeling. With the 12-note series, Schoenberg establishes strict equality among the twelve chromatic pitches. The series is an ordered set defined by the composer; no pitch is reused before the others have appeared. Accidentals play no separate role (B flat = A sharp); the octave equals the pitch itself.
The prime form (Grundgestalt) yields three further forms: retrograde (Krebs), inversion (Umkehrung), retrograde inversion (Krebsumkehrung). Transposable to the other eleven degrees, they give 48 melodic possibilities. Then come rhythm, counterpoint and chords drawn from the series. Berg softens the technique (Violin Concerto partly on triads); Webern tightens it (Concerto op. 24 in four three-note cells). After 1950 the series extends to durations, dynamics and timbres (Boulez).
Pierrot lunaire, Sprechgesang and vocal hygiene
Pierrot lunaire (1912), the most famous work of free atonality, sets 21 poems by Albert Giraud in German translation for actress Albertine Zehme. Cabaret-scale ensemble (piano, flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin/viola, cello): instruments rarely play all together. Schoenberg codifies Sprechgesang (speech-song) to bind music and text: notated heights are general intonations, not fixed pitches to lock.
For singers in the , the task is neither forced theatrical speech nor rigid bel canto, but exploration of the spoken/sung zone with precision, diction and laryngeal ease. At CALYP, Adeline Toniutti links this repertoire to a durable gesture: expressionism without shouting modernity. See also Berg's Wozzeck.
Key works and timeline
- 1874: born in Vienna.
- 1900-11: Gurrelieder.
- 1908: atonal turn (Second Quartet).
- 1909-13: Erwartung; Die glückliche Hand.
- 1911: Six Little Piano Pieces op. 19; Harmonielehre.
- 1912: Pierrot lunaire.
- 1921-23: Piano Suite op. 25; twelve-tone formalization (op. 23 waltz).
- 1928: Variations for Orchestra op. 31.
- 1930-32: Moses und Aron.
- 1934-36: Los Angeles; Violin Concerto (1936).
- 1942-47: Piano Concerto; Ode to Napoleon; A Survivor from Warsaw.
- 1951: dies in Los Angeles.
Also: string quartets (1905, 1907-08, 1927, 1936), orchestral Pelleas und Melisande (1902-03), Die Jakobsleiter (1917), Suite in G for strings (1934).
FAQ on Schoenberg and twelve-tone technique
What is twelve-tone technique?
A method in which the twelve chromatic pitches are equal, ordered as a series and transformed (retrograde, inversion) without a dominant tonal centre.
When does Schoenberg move to atonality and then to the series?
Atonality from 1908 (Second Quartet); twelve-tone formalization around 1923 (notably op. 23 waltz).
What is Sprechgesang in Pierrot lunaire?
Codified speech-song binding music and text: notated heights as general intonations, not fixed pitches to force.
Who are Schoenberg's major pupils?
Alban Berg and Anton Webern, with him the Second Viennese School; Berg softens the series, Webern tightens it.
Why does this matter for singers today?
Fine intonation, Sprechgesang and modern dramaturgy need a healthy gesture: core training ground at CALYP with Adeline Toniutti.
Sources and quotations
Landmarks and quotations for further reading.
- Jean Mislin: musicologist, organist and choral conductor, teacher of Adeline Toniutti. Notes used within Adeline Toniutti's research.
- Arnold Schoenberg: biography 1874-1951; atonality 1908; dodecaphony 1923; series principles (Grundgestalt, Krebs, Umkehrung).
- Pierrot lunaire (1912): Sprechgesang, cabaret ensemble, 21 poems after Giraud for Albertine Zehme.
- Berg and Webern: pupils from 1904; flexible vs strict serialism; legacy after 1950 (Boulez).
GO FURTHER
In the music history cluster
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Approach Schoenberg with a healthy vocal gesture
Connect twelve-tone thinking, Sprechgesang and vocal hygiene with Adeline Toniutti's CALYP team.