Arnold Schoenberg and Wassily Kandinsky

Expressionism was a radical form of art at the start of twentieth century, totally different from previous norms of artistic expression. Schoenberg's attention to expressionism in music is related to personal tragedies such as his marital crisis. Schonberg solved the issues of extremely emotional content with atonality, and devoted himself to painting works such as 'Visions' that show his anger and uneasiness. Both Schoenberg and Kandinsky gained their most significant artistic development almost at the same time while struggling to find their own voices, that is, their inner necessity, within an indifferent social environment. Both Schoenberg and Kandinsky also embodied Gesamtkunstwerk idea throughout their artistic works, Die glückliche Hand and Der gelbe Klang. An analysis of Schoenberg's two compositions, Erwartung and Die glückliche Hand, shows their similar use of extreme contrasts, and the changing emotional states of the characters. He consistently employs particular tone colors for the opera's main characters, and specifies colors and lighting to highlight psychological impact.