Who is credited with the development of 12-tone music?

The development of 12-tone music is primarily credited to Arnold Schoenberg. He developed this compositional technique as a method to organize music in the absence of a tonal center, allowing for a systematic approach to atonality. Schoenberg's 12-tone method uses a specific sequence of the twelve pitches of the chromatic scale, known as a tone row, which can be manipulated through various transformations like retrograde, inversion, and transposition.

This method marked a significant departure from the tonal traditions that dominated Western music prior to the 20th century, influencing numerous composers and movements. Schoenberg's pioneering work laid the groundwork for the Second Viennese School, which included other prominent figures in modern music. The importance of this technique in the evolution of contemporary music makes Schoenberg the key figure associated with the development of 12-tone music.