In the Wilderness (1933–51)

Abstract This chapter describes Schoenberg’s life from 1933 to 1951, after he migrated to the United States. In fact his name was known and held in some honor in American musical circles, but almost entirely by reputation rather than much direct knowledge of his music. The first year in the United States was a trying one. His first teaching position in the United States was at Joseph Malkin’s “Conservatoire” in Boston. On March 6 1934, at Princeton University, he gave his first English lecture on the subject of “twelve-tone music.” In the audience was Albert Einstein, whom he had attempted to meet during the 1920s to exchange ideas on music, science, and the destiny of the Jewish people. Later, he taught at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. He died on July 13 1951.