Schönberg’s publisher Emil Hertzka provided the impetus for composition of the Piano Piece op. 33a in 1928. In fact, he had merely asked for permission to print an older work in the collection Musik der Zeit (“Music of the Time”); but Schönberg preferred to compose a new work for the volume, which was issued in 1929 by Universal Edition. In this work, as well as in the Piano Piece op. 33b composed two years later, the composer refined the use of his twelve-tone technique and, regarding its forma...