“I see the work as a whole first. Then I compose the details.”
As quoted in an interview with José Rodriguez (c. 1936) in Schoenberg (1971) by Merle Armitage, p. 149
after 1930
Context: I see the work as a whole first. Then I compose the details. In working out, I always lose something. This cannot be avoided. There is always some loss when we materialize. But there is compensating gain in vitality.
Arnold Schoenberg, (1946); as quoted in A Schoenberg reader - Documents of a life, edited by Joseph Auner, Yale University Press 2003, page 316-17
1940s
As quoted in an interview with José Rodriguez (c. 1936) in Schoenberg (1971) by Merle Armitage, p. 143
1930s
“My works are 12-tone compositions, not 12-tone compositions”
Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz. 1977, in Schoenberg: His Life, World and Work; translated from the German by Humphrey Searle. p. 349.
after 1930
“I am delighted to add another unplayable work to the repertoire.”
On his Violin Concerto (Op. 36), as quoted in Schoenberg (1971) by Merle Armitage, p. 149
Undated
"An Artistic Impression" (1909) in Style and Idea (1985), p. 189
1900s