Schoenberg came from a strict Jewish family who had moved to Austria from Hungary. They were quite poor and Schoenberg taught himself about music. When he was grown up he had to do a lot of teaching to try and earn enough money to live. In later life he went to live in the United States. It took a long time before he was recognized world-wide as a great composer. His two most famous pupils were Alban Berg (1885-1935) and Anton Webern (1883-1945). He taught them how to write twelve-tone music and they became famous composers.