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...I abandoned program music and turned in the direction that was much more my own than all the preceding. It was the First String Quartet, Opus 7, in which I combined all the achievements of my time (including my own) such as: the construction of extremely large forms; greatly emancipated melodies based on a richly moving harmony and new chord progressions; and a contrapuntal technique that solved problems offered by superimposed, individual parts which moved freely in more remote regions of tonality and met frequently in vagrant harmonies.

In accommodation to the faith of the time, this large form was to include all the four characters of the sonata type in one single, uninterrupted movement. Durchführungen (development) should not be missing and there should be a certain degree of thematic unity within the contrasting sections.

The great expansion of this work required careful organization. It might perhaps interest an analyst to learn that I received and took advantage of the tremendous amount of advice suggested to me by a model I had chosen for this task: the first movement of the Eroica Symphony. Alexander von Zemlinsky told me that Brahms had said that every time he faced difficult problems he would consult a significant work of Bach and one of Beethoven, both of which he always used to keep near his standing-desk (Stehpult]. How did they handle a similar problem? Of course the model was not copied mechanically, but its mental essence was applied accordingly. In the same manner I learned, from the Eroica, solutions to my problems: how to avoid monotony and emptiness; how to create variety out of unity; how to create new forms out of basic material; how much can be achieved by slight modifications if not by developing variation out of often rather insignificant little formulations. From this masterpiece I learned also much of the creation of harmonic contrasts and their application.

Brahms' advice was excellent and I wish this story would persuade young composers that they must not forget what our musical forefathers have done for us.

Arnold Schoenberg