Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its

milieu The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated ...

in its

lyrical Lyrical may refer to: *Lyrics, or words in songs * Lyrical dance, a style of dancing *Emotional, expressing strong feelings *Lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically ...

, poetic

concision In common usage and linguistics, concision (also called conciseness, succinctness, terseness, brevity, or laconicism) is a communication principle of eliminating redundancy (linguistics), redundancy,UNT Writing Lab. "Concision, Clarity, and Cohes ...

and use of then novel

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...

and

twelve-tone The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale ...

techniques. His approach was typically rigorous, inspired by his studies of the

Franco-Flemish School The designation Franco-Flemish School, also called Netherlandish School, Burgundian School, Low Countries School, Flemish School, Dutch School, or Northern School, refers to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition originating from Franc ...

under Guido Adler and by

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's emphasis on structure in teaching composition from the music of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, the First Viennese School, and

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

. Webern, Schoenberg, and their colleague

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( ; ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

were at the core of what became known as the

Second Viennese School The Second Viennese School () was the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and close associates in early 20th-century Vienna. Their music was initially characterized by late ...

. Webern was arguably the first and certainly the last of the three to write music in an aphoristic and expressionist style, reflecting his instincts and the idiosyncrasy of his compositional process. He treated themes of love, loss, nature, and spirituality, working from his experiences. Unhappily peripatetic and typically assigned light music or

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

in his early conducting career, he aspired to conduct what was seen as more respectable, serious music at home in Vienna. Following Schoenberg's guidance, Webern attempted to write music of greater length during and after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, relying on the structural support of texts in many . He rose as a choirmaster and conductor in

Red Vienna Red Vienna (German language, German: ''Rotes Wien'') was the colloquial name for the Vienna, capital of Austria between 1918 and 1934, during which the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAP) mainta ...

and championed the music of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

. With Schoenberg based in Berlin, Webern began writing music of increasing confidence, independence, and scale using twelve-tone technique. He maintained his " path to the new music" while

marginalized Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

as a " cultural Bolshevist" in Fascist Austria and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, enjoying mostly international recognition and relying more on teaching for income. Struggling to reconcile his loyalties to his divided friends and family, he opposed fascist cultural policy but maintained ambivalent optimism as to the future under

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

rule. He repeatedly considered emigrating as his hopes proved wrong, wearing on him. A soldier shot Webern dead by accident shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Mittersill. His music was then celebrated by composers who took it as a point of departure in a phenomenon known as post-Webernism, closely linking his legacy to

serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were also ...

. Musicians and scholars like

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

, Robert Craft, and Hans and Rosaleen Moldenhauer studied and organized performances of his music, establishing it as

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

repertoire. Broader understanding of his expressive agenda,

performance practice Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...

, and complex

sociocultural {{Short pages monitor

External links

''Anton Webern Gesamtausgabe''
(Complete Edition) * *
Anton Webern: Biography & list of works (in English and French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webern, Anton Anton Webern, 1883 births 1945 deaths Austrian Roman Catholics 20th-century Austrian classical composers Deaths by firearm in Austria Expressionist music Twelve-tone and serial composers Second Viennese School University of Vienna alumni Composers from Vienna Accidental deaths in Austria Pupils of Arnold Schoenberg Austrian male classical composers Austrian string quartet composers 20th-century Austrian male musicians Firearm accident victims Lieder composers