chadwick, berg's altenberg songs (music review 29-4, 1968)

7/15/2019 Chadwick, Berg's Altenberg Songs (Music Review 29-4, 1968)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/chadwick-bergs-altenberg-songs-music-review-29-4-1968 1/3

Thematic Integration in Berg's

Altenberg SongsBY

XICHOLAS CHADWICK

Music examples by permission of rniversal Edition (Alfred .-\. Kalmus Ltd.)

THE symphonic structure of Alban Berg's Fiinf Orclzesterlieder nach AnsiciJts_

karten-Texten von Peter Altenberg, op. 4, makes a fascinating study, the results

of which could fill a whole book. I intend here merely to draw attention to

the chief points of interest in the thematic relationships.

The publication of the orchestral score has made it possible for the student

of Berg to unravel the daunting complexity of the orchestral introduction to

the first song, "Seele, wie bist du schi:iner". At the very beginning, which 1

have quoted in a simplified form (Ex. I), there are already four important

M8.ssige Achtel (."): u.96j

Ex.1 Alles ppp, ohne Steigerung

CL, Vln.,Xyl.(Pice_, Glocken

-spiel 8va)

Cl.,VIa.

Trpt.muted

Pianouna corda

.

,.®,

l t . J ~ .J

@,

ppP ~ -!l®

s~:zr·· d l J1

tJpp

--

'_./.

s

. . . ..

3 '":r) l J\

-- h.,.-----:-----....

- .,.

I I 'L

,.r-'f"''

I'-. ' . ---7' - "'3"" ' '7

)\ ..A_J\

, .

Celesta

(sounds as

W!"itten

ll / .. q ~ I L /!- h .. L..) lt.J

® -flpp

Harp

·o ;bOil ~ · ~ - - l ; ; ; t

motives present. Of these, R, T and V are used in this song only, bu t S reappears later in the cycle. V in due course changes into a new motive, X(bar g, Ex. 2), consisting of two rising series of interlocking perfect fourthsa tritone apart, followed by a descending sernitone.

Ex . 2 : motive @Celesta. r 1( s o u n d s ~j ~

THEMATIC IXTEGRATION IX BERG'S ALTEXBERG SO!o!GS 30 I

To the ear this thematiccomplexity is merely a wash of jangling dissonance,in the midst of which, at ba r g, an impassioned theme enters on the violas,later to be joined by the cellos (Ex. 3). This theme appears to be completely

new until its first three notes are recognized as identical with the trumpet

motive S from the opening. After two tentative starts the complete theme S

is stated, beginning at bar I I . :\Ieanwhile the accompanying web of sound

moves higher and higher to congeal at bar I4. A powerful statement of R

leads to the climax at bar IS, which releases the tension in preparation for

the entry of the voice.However, the most interesting feature of this orchestral prelude is that

even the use of sequence to raise the pitch of the accompanying web of sound

is far from arbitrary. I f the first notes of all the different pitch-forms of the

quaver version of R are taken in order (Ex. 4), the result is a five-note row,

Ex.4: •ars trr.

G-A flat-B flat-C sharp-E, which acts as a sort of motto theme in the courseof the cycle and which I shall call Y.

Ex.5 y

(!) ' •r &.. B·· q"f

.J. "!/' i :__ r-3---, : r--3-- , : r-3-, :.

j l nJ J Ji,P)I•J J J ~ R J qJIDiiCrqJ JN;; >t Ii.i-ber bei- den liegt noch ein trii-ber Haucb,eb' da.sGe- wOik- sich ver- :tog!

The song itself has its own independent motives, one of which appears on

the piccolo in the passage quoted in Ex. 6. One seemingly new motive, whichis shown on two solo second violins at the very beginning of the same example,

turns ou t to be a combination of the inversion of the first three notes of Y



30 2 THE MUSIC REVIEW

with the chord T. Notable features of the song are the statement of Y by

voice (Ex. 5), and the closing bars (Ex. 6), which, altho ugh hig hly atm,Jsp·heJic

Ex.6 (All instruments written atd t h)

~J soun mg PI_;;. b .. I=!=;::

Piccolo P P ~fl ...;::Celesta.

(+ SoloVln.I)

inverted (PP-P)

2 Solo Vlns. II

Harmonium

Double-Basso

All Vlns.

except

SoloVln.I

on

Harmonium

Violas

'Cellos

Double- Basses

(J;?pl iZ. (!)

""..<: T

PP · 3"'-1/ ~D/

[PP1']

n arco Fl 1· a...d E Saiteg. g iSS..

PPPPI~ 0.

*)

..

.<>.

®

: ~ # < i q r ~ : : : : ~ ~ ~ ~ - . '

' (p )*Jnurch Streichen auf den LOehern des Saitenhlters htrvorzubrir:gen!

~ ~'c

CD

in terms of sound, are nevertheless totally thematic, even down to the celest•al

glissando, which is an extension of Y.The middle three songs, which are in many respects the most i n t e n ~ s t i m g l

of the set, are considerably less important in the general thematic

However, X appears on a solo cello at an important cadence-pointsecond song, "Sahst du nach dem Gewitterregen den W ald? l? !"and a ~ n r n " ' " ' h : t t acamouflaged version of Y occurs in the voice part of the fourth song, ' ·ist gekommen" (Ex. 8). The third song, "Uber die Grenzen des All", uses

themes from the preceding songs, bu t introduces in the central section

important oboe melody, theme Z (Ex. 7).

Ex . 7: moiive ® ( . n · z) l "Sehr zart a Jempo Massige , ,e,-Jez acce . • • - - z Yasc".

lf,"\f) r ft •r1!JB1 &otct5i I t

THE}!ATIC IXTEGRAT!OX IX BERG' s ALTEXBERG SONGS

Ex.SEi n wenig bewegter

-J PP r- a -<q J l ~ Q t J lq@ }!

Ich ha-be g e- w ar - tet,

In the light of what has been said so far, the final and longest song, "Hier

ist Friede", is seen as a recapitulation of the whole cycle (Ex. g). The first

Ex. 9: simplification of opening of 5th song.

'l ' lich I s (Passaca I' )(T I ) @ ~\

1em ang am g IR empo -

iiV pp (niclat • • t 'z)--._.....

G)

),p---(ohne Cf'tsc.) ®

:

~ :fl Ei n ·wenig breiter Tempo II

[t T - . . . :__ . . . ~ ~ ~ c ; : - = = -<1)PP"""'"'P

-<:: -< -= .="""' =="'· - -

L. .3. . . J~ Ll ::.J hJ hJ1. q..J.O)' L . J I . b J ) l ~= t q ~ ~ F

7 ~ ~

five bars consist of the five-note row Y on cellos and bass clarinet. At bar 5

the celebrated "twelve-note" theme enters on flute and harp. Bu t its im

portance lies not in its serialism (there are in all thirteen notes, since the final

F natural must not be discounted) bu t in the fact that it has been heard before:for it is simply theme S, unheard since the introduction to the first song and

now transformed by means of rhythmic alterations and melodic transpositions.

Beneath this, from bar 7 onwards, a grossly augmented version of X appears

on bassoon, double-bassoon, trombone and double-bass, while at bar 10 the

oboe theme Z from the third song is heard. The only new theme, which I

call the "Friede" motive, is in reality a combination of the falling sixth of Z

and the first three notes of S (Ex. 10).

Ex.101

',g · ) 1 !p-=== ===-

Hier_ ist- = = ~

Frie - de.



TH E MUSIC REVIEW

In _addition to these unambiguous connexions with the preceding songs,there IS the remarkable correspondence between the setting of the Words"Siehe, hier sind keine Menschen, keine Ansiedlungen", in this song, and that

of the words, "Siehe, Fraue, auch du brauchst Gewitterregen!", in the secondsong (Ex. n).

Ex.11: (i) from 5th song, ( j j ) from 2nd song.

Sie . he, bier sind keine Men • schen, kei - ne An· sied-lun-gen ..

(i) , * ,1(f bw •(ita , r F J ~ I ~ J ,Pij J·,

,; . ': b; i ! i = r - ~ b ~ r-Q<''' ifo I ' : ''0' r 'f I •u #&CCI cyeJ$j'·'' I

Sie- he, Frau - e, a.ucb du brauchst Ge- wi t - ter-re-r-ent

Finally it is to be observed that the principles of first-movement sonata form

are here applied to the cycle as a whole. Broadly speaking one can sa y that the

first four songs form the exposition and the fifth a telescoped development

and recapitulation. The weight of the symphonic argument, however, rests

firmly on the last song and on the introduction to the first, for these are the

only parts where all three main themes S, X and Y are used together.

For a conclusion, there are two points which I should like to make. Thefirst is that I have not attempted in this article to do more than draw attention

to the more obvious technical points. The second is that for all their intellectual

d i s c i ~ l i n e _the A:ltenberg Songs are second to none in imaginative power,emotwnal mtens1ty and sheer virtuosity of scoring; and it is the perfect balance

between intellect and inspiration that, for me, makes this song cycle amasterpiece.

'

'

..

The Significance of Aleatoricismm twentieth-century Music

BY

AKTHO):!Y CROSS

TH E present century has seen many revolutionary innovations in the techniqueof composition, and criticism has generally been directed at the fact that these

have resulted either in a high degree of disorder (atonality), or in the imposition

of an order which is imperceptible to the ear (twelve-note technique).1 ~ I u s i c,,·hich abandons tonality, it is often said, has lost all syntax, can no longer be

considered a language and therefore cannot communicate the rich variety ofexpression found in tonal music. At best one can hope for sensual and beautiful

sounds which are however condemned to remaining essentially decorative.

Such criticism, applied to the music of an earlier generation of composers suchas Schonberg, Berg and Webem, would hardly be taken seriously to day. The

music of Schonberg and Berg retains strong enough links with the nineteenth

century to guarantee communication, and with familiarity, the musical per

sonalities of these composers are much more varied than was once thought..\s recent analysis has shown,2 the music of \Vebern too (particularly the later

works) possesses clearly perceptible shape and form, ensured by the adaptation

of traditional contrapuntal techniques, and a serially derived motivic technique.

In recent years, however, the old criticism of incomprehensibility has beenraised again, particularly with the introduction of so-called aleatory techniques,

or chance, into the process of composition. I t is assumed, with apparently

invincible logic, that to leave the formal evolution of the music to chance

amounts to a renunciation of responsibility on the part of the composer and

is an admission that the music can have no significant form. I t is certainly

true that many composers have used the element of chance quite deliberately,just to avoid the creation of significant form and an ordered syntax in the

traditional sense. In his Lecture on Indeterminacy,3 John Cage, writing ofindeterminate pieces by Wolff, Feldman and others, states that this music

is not meant to be understood and evaluated; the pieces are no t objects in

this sense bu t "processes essentially purposeless", where "sounds are just

sounds". The element of chance in this music is often entirely fortuitous and

completely outside the composer's control as is shown by the following anecdote

recounted by Cage:

"One dav when th e windows were open Christian \Volff played one of his pieces at th e

piano. Sounds of traffic, ~ o a t - h o r n s , were heard not only during th e silences of th e

music, but, being louder, were more easily heard than the piano sounds themselves.

'Much analytical terminology (e.g., atonality, arhythmic, athematic) faithfully reflects thisYicw which regards new music merely as the negation of tonal mus1c.

2 See, for example, &mlez' analyses in Penser Ia J.1fusique Au}ourd'hui, Mainz, 1963.3

John Cage, Lecture on Indeterminacy, Die Reihe, no . 5·

I

,I

I :i

i

'

II

I I

I III

I ,

I

l::lrI

I

. I

' I

chadwick, berg's altenberg songs (music review 29-4, 1968)

Documents