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| Kandinsky Black Spot oil on canvas 1912 |
Almost alone in severing himself from conventional beauty is the Austrian composer, Arnold Schönberg. He says in his Harmonielehre: "Every combination of notes, every advance is possible, but I am beginning to feel that there are also definite rules and conditions which incline me to the use of this or that dissonance." This means that Schönberg realizes that the greatest freedom of all, the freedom of an unfettered art, can never be absolute. Every age achieves a certain measure of this freedom, but beyond the boundaries of its freedom the mightiest genius can never go. But the measure of freedom of each age must be constantly enlarged. Schönberg is endeavouring to make complete use of his freedom and has already discovered gold mines of new beauty in his search for spiritual harmony. His music leads us into a realm where musical experience is a matter not of the ear but of the soul alone--and from this point begins the music of the future.
~ Wassily Kandinsky
tr. Michael T. H. Sadler (1914)
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| Wassily Kandinsky ca.1913 |
