| 1874 |
born September 13 in Vienna |
| 1883 |
began to compose small and later
larger pieces for two violins in imitation of such music which he tended
to play with his teacher or a cousin |
| 1885 |
composed marches and polkas |
| 1889 |
father died |
| 1890 |
left school and began as an
apprentice in the private bank Werner
Co. |
| 1899 |
produced his first major work, the
tone poem Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured
Night) for string sextet |
| 1901 |
married Mathilde, Alexander von
Zemlinsky's sister |
| 1903 |
returned to Vienna to teach and met
Anton Webern and Alban Berg, two composers who were to become his close
friends and his most successful students |
| 1905 |
riot at the premiere of his first
string quartet |
| 1908 |
riot at the premiere of his second
string quartet |
| 1909 |
composed his first completely
atonal composition for the piano, Op. 11 No. 1 |
| 1911 |
published his book Theory
of Harmony and accepted teaching position in
Berlin |
| 1912 |
composed Pierrot
Lunaire, one of his most influential works |
| 1913 |
his large cantata, Gurrlieder,
was performed successfully in Vienna |
| 1915 |
returned to Vienna |
| 1920 |
began to formulate his 12-tone
technique, often called "serialism" because it is based on a
series of pitches |
| 1921 |
invented his 12-tone method of
composition |
| 1923 |
completed the formulation of his
12-tone method of composition, Mathilde, wife, died |
| 1924 |
married Gertrud, sister of the
violinist, Rudolf Kolissch |
| 1925 |
settled
in Berlin to teach at the Prussian Academy of Arts |
| 1930 |
began to compose opera, Moses
und Aron (unfinished), that used his 12-tone
composition method |
| 1932 |
completed the second act of his
opera Moses and Aron |
| 1933 |
dismissed for being a Jew from the
Prussian Academy of Arts |
| 1934 |
moved to Boston where he accepted a
teaching position |
| 1935 |
moved to Los Angeles. California
for health reasons and was a lecturer at the University of Southern
California |
| 1936 |
taught at University of California
at Los Angeles until 1944 |
| 1941 |
became a U.S. citizen |
| 1942 |
composed his one-movement Piano
Concerto in which the synthesis of the 12-tone technique can be heard |
| 1946 |
fell seriously ill--at one point
his heart stopped beating, an experience which is reflected in his String
Trio that he wrote after his recovery |
| 1951 |
died July 13 in Los Angeles |
