The atonal music produced in the 20th century consists largely of random outbursts that could be described as groans wrapped in mathematics.
- Sir Roger Scruton
In Gurrelieder, Verklärte Nacht, and Pelléas et Mélisandes, Arnold Schoenberg showed total mastery of tonality and of late romantic harmony, and these great works entered the repertoire. But by the time of the Piano Pieces, op. 11, Schoenberg was writing music which to many people no longer made sense, with melodic lines that began and ended nowhere, and harmonies that seemed to bear no relation to the principal voice. At the same time, it was clear that Schoenberg’s atonal pieces were meticulously composed, according to schemes that involved the intricate relation of phrases and thematic ideas, and this was another reason for taking them seriously.
**Arnold Schönberg with his students Natalie Limonick, Endicott H. Hansen, Alfred Carlson, Richard Hoffman, a. o., Los Angeles 1948.
