Schoenberg and Tonality: The Eight Songs Op. 6

Arnold Schoenberg is usually associated with the breakdown of tonality in

the early twentieth century. The present book challenges this familiar

narrative by considering his Eight Songs op. 6 (1903-05) as the

culmination of his tonal mastery. It is the first monograph devoted to

these pieces. The songs are placed in the historical and philosophical

context of turn-of-the-century Vienna, and related to the composer’s

views on music, language, the musical idea, and tonality. Each of the

songs is analysed from a different perspective in order to trace its

generative “Gedanke’ or idea. Schoenberg’s treatment of tonality is

ultimately seen in terms not of destruction and loss, but of creative

construction and of expanding relations within musical space.