Constructive Dissonance is an interdisciplinary examination of the historical, aesthetic, and intellectual issues that formed Schoenberg's creative persona and continue to influence our response to the modernist legacy of the first half of this century. The essays of the first section investigate Schoenberg's sense of ethnic, religious, and cultural identity. The second section focuses on specific works and the interplay between creative impulse and aesthetic articulation. The final section, addresses the relationship of Schoenberg's legacy to present-day thought and practice.