An Austrian composer of atonal and 12-tone music in many forms, including songs, orchestral, chamber, and choral music; known for Six Pieces for Orchestra (1913). If Berg is the romantic of the so-called "Viennese School," and Schoenberg is the dramatic lyricist, then Webern is the pointillistic impressionist. Webern created a completely new sound and way of composing music, and in a sense he is the most "modern" of any composer listed here. From the delicate beauties of Das Augenlicht ("The Light of the Eyes") for orchestra and chorus (1936), to the mobile-like stars-in-the-sky symmetries of the famous Piano Variations (1936), and the diverse and coloristic mysteries of the Six Pieces for Orchestra (1913), Webern sought a simplicity and beauty he viewed as inherent in earlier music (he once refused to show a pianist the structure of a piece, asking him to just "play it like Bach"). Webern is the quintessential pathfinder. ~ Blue Gene Tyranny, Rovi