Editing Arnold Schoenberg (section)

===World War I===
[[World War I]] brought a crisis in his development. Military service disrupted his life when at the age of 42 he was in the army. He was never able to work uninterrupted or over a period of time, and as a result he left many unfinished works and undeveloped "beginnings".

[[File:Schiele - Bildnis des Komponisten Arnold Schönberg. 1917.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Arnold Schoenberg by [[Egon Schiele]], 1917]]
On one occasion, a superior officer demanded to know if he was "this notorious Schoenberg, then"; Schoenberg replied: "Beg to report, sir, yes. Nobody wanted to be, someone had to be, so I let it be me".{{sfn|Schoenberg|1975|p=104}} According to [[Norman Lebrecht]], this is a reference to Schoenberg's apparent "destiny" as the [[Emancipation of the dissonance|"Emancipator of Dissonance"]].{{sfn|Lebrecht|2001}}

Schoenberg drew comparisons between Germany's assault on France and his assault on decadent bourgeois artistic values. In August 1914, while denouncing the music of [[Bizet]], [[Stravinsky]], and [[Ravel]], he wrote: "Now comes the reckoning! Now we will throw these mediocre kitschmongers into slavery, and teach them to venerate the German spirit and to worship the German God". [[Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross]] described this as an "act of war psychosis".{{sfn|Ross|2007|p=60}}

The deteriorating relation between contemporary composers and the public led him to found the [[Society for Private Musical Performances]] ({{lang|de|Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen}} in German) in Vienna in 1918. He sought to provide a forum in which modern musical compositions could be carefully prepared and rehearsed, and properly performed under conditions protected from the dictates of fashion and pressures of commerce. 

From its inception until its dissolution amid [[Hyperinflation#Austria|Austrian hyperinflation]], the Society presented 353 performances to paying members, sometimes weekly. During the first year and a half, Schoenberg did not let any of his own works be performed.{{sfn|Rosen|1975|p=65}} Instead, audiences at the Society's concerts heard difficult contemporary compositions by [[Alexander Scriabin|Scriabin]], [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]], Mahler, Webern, Berg, [[Max Reger|Reger]], and other leading figures of early 20th-century music.{{sfn|Rosen|1996|p=66}}