Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schönberg was born September 13, 1874 in Austria: died on Los Angeles July 13, 1951. Arnold was an American citizen as of 1941. He began violin lessons when he was eight and almost immediately started to compose. Berlin was very important for Schönberg's further artistic development. In 1902, he received on Richard Strauss' recommendation the popular Liszt-scholarship as well as a, apprenticeship at the Stern conservatory. Before returning to Vienna in 1903, he composed the symphonic poem "Pelleas und Melisande" op 5, where the limits of tonality were appreciably extended. Schönberg revolutionized mode