Review of Bryan R. Simms. 2000. The Atonal Music of Arnold Schoenberg, 1908-1923. New York: Oxford University Press

Abstract

Schoenberg's decision, around 1908, to begin writing compositions that had no tonal center and few, if any, traditional harmonies, remains an event of surpassing historical importance, one that has had an incalculable influence on the subsequent history of music. Given the central significance of this repertoire, it is surprising that-before now-no one had undertaken the challenge of writing a book devoted to Schoenberg's atonal compositions.