Arnold Schoenberg often used piano solo compositions to test new stylistic changes, viewing the genre as the most absolute music due to its lack of words or visual enhancements.
Compositional Technique
The Six Short Piano Pieces, Op. 19, introduce extreme brevity and concentration of thought, a characteristic later famous in the works of Anton Webern, a composer and student of Schoenberg.
Performer Biography
Edward Steuermann, the pianist on this recording, was not only a composition student and disciple of Arnold Schoenberg but also his friend and musical confidant.
Performer Biography
Edward Steuermann gave the first performances of all of Schoenberg's piano works and chamber music with piano, highlighting his close artistic relationship with the composer.
Compositional Technique
Schoenberg's Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23, represent the full development of the free dissonant style into the twelve-tone composition, establishing a new principle of variation.
Compositional Technique
Schoenberg's Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11, written in 1908, mark the historic moment when tonality was completely abandoned, creating a new musical language.
Compositional Technique
The 'Walzer' from Schoenberg's Five Piano Pieces, Op. 23, takes the final step into twelve-tone technique, using a row of all twelve chromatic tones as its underlying motive.
