Britannica
Sources used in this answer
When did Arnold Schoenberg develop the 12-tone method?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Arnold Schoenberg
Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg was one of the most influential teachers of music composition of the 20th century. He also was known for his creation of new methods of musical composition involving atonality, namely serialism and the 12-tone row.
Arnold Schoenberg developed the 12-tone method near the end of July 1921.
Following a period of experimentation after moving away from traditional tonality, Schoenberg sought a new principle of unification to manage his harmonic and melodic resources. He famously announced to a pupil that he had discovered something that would ensure the supremacy of German music for the next 100 years, which was his system of using 12 tones related only to one another. He subsequently began working on his Piano Suite, Op. 25, which was the first composition to utilize this technique.1