Thrice Homeless: The Exile Experience of Arnold Schoenberg

Abstract

The composer Arnold Schoenberg can be seen as representative of the secular element of Jewish society in Germany during the pre-Second World War era. Like many of his contemporaries Schoenberg converted to Catholicism in order to advance his career and social prospects. The institution of Nazi policy, specifically the implementation of the 1933 Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums (Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service) deprived Schoenberg of his teaching position and forced him to confront the reality of his social situation. The importance of an analysis of Schoenberg’s individual experience lies in its relationship to his later composition and output. Would Schoenberg have been the same composer or person in his later years had the events of the Holocaust not impacted his life? Would Schoenberg have been a Jewish composer or person had the events of the Holocaust not impacted his life? My research focuses on Schoenberg’s resumption of the Jewish faith and the extent to which it impacted his later artistic output. Through the analysis of his later works as well as examination of Schoenberg’s correspondence, my paper will examine the impact of the exile experience on Arnold Schoenberg.