Product Description

A reissue of a classic that represents the culmination of over 40 years in Schoenberg's life devoted to the teaching of musical principles to students and composers in Europe and America. For his classes, he developed a manner of presentation in which "every technical matter is discussed in a very fundamental way, so that at the same time it is both simple and thorough". This book can be used for analysis as well as for composition. On the one hand, it has the practical objective of introducing students to the process of composing in a systematic way, from the smallest to the largest forms; on the other hand, the author analyzes in detail, with numerous illustrations, those particular sections in the works of the masters which relate to the compositional problem under discussion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21794 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Thorough and extremely helpful
This book is an extremely useful introduction to the techniques of musical composition. It does presuppose a degree of technical knowledge and its usefulness would be improved if it made clear at the outset what level of ability at music theory the student is assumed to have. Nevertheless, Schoenberg's treatment is detailed and thorough, and it contains many helpful examples from musical literature to illustrate points under discussion. I feel that this book is best read alongside other works on musical technique so as to ensure that each section is thoroughly understood. When studied in this way the knowledge and practice gained are invaluable, and I would recommend this book to anyone with a creative instinct.

Excellent introductory material about musical form.
This is an excellent book for musicians interested in dabbling in composition. It defines the basic terminology frequently used in composition and discusses the common forms: scherzo, theme and variations, rondo, and sonata-allegro. One of the most important things about this book is probably that it does not focus upon the theoretical aspect of music at all. Experience in harmonic structure is not necessary to read this book, although ability to read music is. Most examples are excerpts from common pre-20th century composers such as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc. This book is an essential to any musician's library. Even performers can benefit by understanding the forms common in standard repertoire. However, for someone specifically looking for information about harmonic theory, this book provides very little useful information.

A Classic Master!
This book is brilliant for looking at how to compose, written by a great composer of the 20th Century. He taught in the USA and wrote a variety of books the seminal one being his 1911 book on Theory of Harmony where he set out his 12 tone theory. Recommended reading for all serious music scholars at university. One I refer to often.