Anton Webern
20th Century · 1883–1945
Anton Webern spent almost his whole life in and around Vienna, earning a modest living conducting choirs and light orchestral concerts while writing music of extreme concentration. He studied with Arnold Schoenberg and followed him into a new way of composing, but where Schoenberg wrote big, Webern compressed: many of his pieces last under a minute, every note carefully placed with silence around it.
His life ended in a freak accident. In September 1945, months after the war in Europe ended, he stepped outside his son-in-law's house near Salzburg to smoke a cigar and was shot by an American soldier enforcing a curfew.
Start with the Passacaglia, op. 1, his most traditional and openly emotional piece, then try the 5 Pieces, op. 10 to hear the miniaturist he became.
53 works in the catalog, across 4 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- String Quartet, op. 28
- 2 Pieces, for cello and piano
- 3 Pieces
- 4 Pieces, for violin and piano, op. 7
- 5 Movements, op. 5
- 6 Bagatelles, op. 9
- Cello Sonata
- Langsamer Satz, for string quartet
- Little Pieces, for cello and piano, op. 11
- Movement for string trio, op. posth
- Piano Quintet
- Quartet, for clarinet, saxophone, piano and violin, op. 22
- Rondo for String Quartet
- Slow Movement, for string quartet
- String Quartet
- String Trio, op. 20
- String Trio movement
Keyboard
- Variations, op. 27
- Children's Piece
- Kinderstück, op. posth.
- Movement
- Sonatasatz
Orchestral
- 5 Pieces, op. 10
- Passacaglia, op. 1
- Symphony, op. 21
- 5 Movements, op. 5
- 5 Pieces, op. posth.
- 6 Pieces, op. 6
- Concerto for 9 instruments, op. 24
- Im Sommerwind
- Variations, op. 30
Vocal
- 2 Songs, for chorus, clarinet, bass clarinet, celesta, guitar and violin, op. 19
- 2 Songs, for soprano and ensemble, op. 8
- 3 Gedichte
- 3 Poems
- 3 Songs, for soprano, Eb clarinet and guitar, op. 18
- 3 Songs, for soprano and orchestra
- 3 Songs, op. 25
- 3 Songs from 'Viae inviae', op. 23
- 3 Traditional Rhymes, for soprano and ensemble, op. 17
- 4 Songs, for soprano and orchestra, op. 13
- 4 Songs, op. 12
- 5 Canons on Latin Texts, for voice, clarinet and bass clarinet, op. 16
- 5 Lieder nach Gedichten von Stefan George, op. 4
- 5 Sacred Songs, for soprano and ensemble, op. 15
- 5 Songs from Der siebente Ring, op. 3
- 6 Songs, for soprano and ensemble, op. 14
- 8 Early Songs
- Cantata no. 1, op. 29
- Cantata no. 2, op. 31
- Das Augenlicht, op. 26
- Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen, op. 2
- Schmerz immer, Blick nach oben, for voice and string quartet
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