7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7drum, and piano (published 1969). With the encouragement
of German composer Richard Strauss, Schoenberg com-
posed his only symphonic poem for large orchestra, Pelleas
und Melisande (1902–03), after the drama by the Belgian writer
Maurice Maeterlinck. Back in Vienna in 1903, Schoenberg
became acquainted with the Austrian composer Gustav
Mahler , who became one of his strongest supporters.
Schoenberg’s next major work was the String Quartet
No. 1 in D Minor , Opus 7 (1904). The composition’s high
density of musical texture and its unusual form (one vast
structure played without interruption for nearly 50 minutes)
caused diffi culties in comprehension at the work’s premiere
in 1907. A similar form was used in the more concise
Chamber Symphony in E
Major (1906), a work
novel in its choice of
instrumental ensemble:
chamber-like group of 15
instruments.
During these years,
Schoenberg’s activity as a
teacher became increas-
ingly important. The
young Austrian compos-
ers Alban Berg and Anton
Webern began studying
with him in 1904; both
gained from him the
impetus to their notable
careers, and Schoenberg,
in turn, benefi tted greatly
from the intellectual
stimulation of his loyal
disciples. Schoenberg’s
Austrian-American composer Arnold
Schoenberg, who pioneered atonal
music. Fred Stein/Time & Life
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