Marion Bauer, Twentieth Century Music, and Schönberg Reception in America

Abstract

This article examines the pivotal role Marion Bauer played in popularising Arnold Schoenberg’s music in America through her 1933 book “Twentieth Century Music”, the first US textbook on modern music. The composer and educator made Schönberg’s complex works accessible to a wide audience through musical examples, lectures and radio broadcasts, thereby bridging the gap between contemporary music and public understanding. Despite gender-based prejudices that limited her own recognition as a composer, Bauer’s commitment – she was a co-founder of the League of Composers – had a decisive influence on the reception of Schönberg’s work.