Arnold Schoenberg, The Composer as Numerologist

"The rigour of these investigations inevitably makes for hard reading, which is worth the effort, since Sterne writes with modesty and as much lucidity as the subject permits. He demonstrates that, if the topic is approached in historical context (in relation, particularly, to Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven), the logic of Schoenberg's course, and the necessity for his hermeticism, are intelligible, and therefore acceptable. . . . .We owe a debt to Colin Sterne for revealing how Schoenberg had the courage to carry to its ultimate the course hinted at by his classical predecessors. . . " - Wilfrid Mellers in the Times Literary Supplement