Abstract
In my contribution I would like to discuss the work of the Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg, more precisely his two monodramas Erwartung and Die Glückliche Hand. These works, although not yet written within the dodecaphonic system, are from the same period and play a large role in his development.
They are works written within free tonality, and in a very progressive way they combine all the parts of Schoenberg's complex artistic work, making them unique cases of pure musical expressionism. Thus, in these two relatively short musical surfaces we can observe the breaking down of all harmonic conventions, the flow of music purely subordinated to inner need, the painterly treatment of both themes and the Freudian overlap within the libretto itself.