Why was Gurrelieder important in Arnold Schoenberg’s career?

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Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg in a suit, seated at a piano and holding a conductor's baton, appears to be conducting music in a wood-paneled room. — 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.

The Gurrelieder, a massive cantata begun in 1900, was significant in Arnold Schoenberg’s career as a definitive example of the post-Romantic monumental style. When it was finally performed in Vienna on February 23, 1913, it was received with wild enthusiasm by the audience, marking a moment where his earlier music began to find widespread recognition.

The work is notable for its use of unusually large vocal and orchestral forces, placing it alongside Gustav Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand as a peak of its genre. Despite the public's acclaim, the performance was bittersweet for the composer; by that time, Schoenberg had become embittered and could no longer appreciate or acknowledge the audience's positive response to his work.1