Anton Von Webern: A Chronicle of His Life and Work

by Hans Moldenhauer, Rosaleen Moldenhauer (Collaborator)

Based on the discovery of previously unknown Webern manuscripts, notebooks, and diaries, this biography of the twentieth-century composer examines all the crucial elements of his life and work, including his years as a pupil of Schoenberg.

Genres: Music, Biography

803 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Paul Dormer]

Way back in 1978, the London Sinfonietta gave a series of performances of works by Schubert and Webern at London's South Bank. As a souvenir they offered the programmes for the series bound into the new biography of Webern. I was a poor 25-year old at the time and didn't think I could afford this. Twenty or so years later, they still hadn't sold out and the Sinfonietta were offering them at their concerts at £5 each. I finally bought one and eventually read it.

This is one of the best composer's biography I've ever read. Many biographies of composers centre on the works with in-depth analysis, and almost nothing about the composer's life outside music. This book has a much more comprehensive description of his life with the analyses forming interpolated chapters. And it was a fascinating life, starting in late nineteenth century Austria, his association with Schoenberg, life under the Nazis, and his farcical end shot accidentally by a US army cook. The description of his death is one of the most detailed I've come across, and pieces together exactly how it happened.

If, like me, Webern's Cantata No. 2 is one of the most played works on your iPod, this is a book you need.