20th century Quote by David Longstreth
![“You think about, like, [20th-century classical composers] Alban Berg, Schoenberg, and Webern sitting around in some living room in Vienna and being like, "We are the end of music. We are the end of this tradition. Music is done."” quote by David Longstreth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0aa/david-longstreth-8561_20th-century_you-think-about-like-20th-century-classi_2113030.jpg)
“You think about, like, [20th-century classical composers] Alban Berg, Schoenberg, and Webern sitting around in some living room in Vienna and being like, "We are the end of music. We are the end of this tradition. Music is done."”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Pitchfork, 2015
The speaker juxtaposes modernist composers with a claim that music has reached its final form, suggesting a sense of artistic finality.
In simple terms: Modernist composers are seen as the end of music.
Key Takeaway
Question the notion that music can be finished.
Themes
art
modernism
finality
Mood
reflective
critical
Type
philosophical
analytical
When to use this quote
- academic discussion
- music criticism
- artistic self‑reflection
Key Concepts
music history
cultural critique
Questions to Reflect On
- Is music ever truly finished?
- How does this view affect contemporary composition?
A Different Perspective
Music evolves beyond any single era; claiming an end limits future creativity.
![“[the impression of the first time I heard Webern's music in a concert performance] was the same as I was to experience a few years later when I first laid eyes on a Mondriaan canvas...: those things, of which I had acquired an extremely intimate knowledge, came across as crude and unfinished when…” quote by Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e96/anton-webern-30529_artist_the-impression-of-the-first-time-i-heard_3024013.jpg)
![“If... [Alban] Berg departs so radically from tradition, through his substitution of a symmetrical partitioning of the octave for the asymmetrical partionings of the major/minor system, he departs just as radically from the twelve-tone tradition that is represented in the music of Schoenberg and…” quote by George Perle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cbc/george-perle-87539_circulation_if-alban-berg-departs-so-radically-from_1851359.jpg)
![“[Charlie "Bird" Parker] would sit down and ask [Phil Wood], "What do you think about this whole secondary Viennese school with Schoenberg, Berg and Webern? Are you listening to that music and what do you feel about it?" These were the conversations that he was having. And he also said, what he…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d1a/jon-gordon-1655_asks_charlie-bird-parker-would-sit-down-and-a_1110923.jpg)
![“[Phil wood] put on some [Igor] Stravinsky and say to follow the score, tell me to play me the opening to the Rite of Spring. Or, "I'm going to play you some 20th century obscure classical composer you don't know". Or, "Let's listen to some Charles Ives, let's sight read some Bartok violin duets"…” quote by Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ee1/jon-gordon-1655_20th-century_phil-wood-put-on-some-igor-stravinsky-an_1463042.jpg)
