Charles Rosen: Arnold Schoenberg (1975)

In this lucid, revealing book, pianist and scholar Charles Rosen sheds light on the elusive music of Arnold Schoenberg and his challenge to conventional musical forms. Rosen argues that Schoenberg’s music, with its atonality and dissonance, possesses a rare balance of form and emotion, making it, according to Rosen, “the most expressive music ever written.” Concise and accessible, this book will appeal to fans, non-fans, and scholars of Schoenberg, and to those who have yet to be introduced to the works of one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century.

Publisher Viking Press, New York, 1975
ISBN 06701331617
113 pages

Review (Joel Sachs, The Musical Quarterly, 1977)
Review (Joseph Horowitz, Music Journal, 1976)
Review (Robert Craft, The New York Times, 1975)

PDF (17 MB, no OCR)
More works by and on Schoenberg (Monoskop wiki)