Dale-Tonality and Structure in Schoenberg-Op10 - Delaere-Funktionelle Atonalität - Frei-Atonale Musik Der Wiener Schule
Dale-Tonality and Structure in Schoenberg-Op10 - Delaere-Funktionelle Atonalität - Frei-Atonale Musik Der Wiener Schule
Dale-Tonality and Structure in Schoenberg-Op10 - Delaere-Funktionelle Atonalität - Frei-Atonale Musik Der Wiener Schule
10 by Catherine Dale;
Funktionelle Atonalität: Analytische Strategien für die frei-atonale Musik der Wiener Schule
by Mark Delaere
Review by: Severine Neff
Notes, Second Series, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Mar., 1995), pp. 914-918
Published by: Music Library Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/899296 .
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dent Erwin Stein prefer the second. Dale (Carpenter was Schoenberg's student at the
uses a Schenkerian approach to demon- University of California at Los Angeles
strate that the fundamental structure ends from 1942-44 and remained a private pu-
in m. 159. Thus she reads m. 146 as the pil until 1948. For further discussion of the
beginning of the recapitulation and m. 159 "harmonic problem" see her "Grundgestalt
as the beginning of a long coda. For her, as Tonal Function," Music TheorySpectrum
m. 201-the beginning of the coda for all 3 [1983]: 15-38; my "Goethe and Schoen-
of the above commentators-has no major berg: Organicism and Analysis" in Music
formal implication. Theoryand The Exploration of the Past, eds.
Dale's formal interpretation is chal- Christopher Hatch and David W. Bernstein
lenged by Schoenberg's own approach to [Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
tonal music as described in the writings of 1993], 409-33; and P. Murray Dineen,
two students virtually ignored by her: Wal- "From the Gerald Strang Bequest in the
ter Goehr and Patricia Carpenter. Walter Arnold Schoenberg Institute: Documents
Goehr recalls Schoenberg's classroom anal- of a Teaching," Theory and Practice 18
ysis of the Eroica in which "individual notes [1993], forthcoming. For discussions of the
are carrying the implications of keys," hav- "harmonic problem" in Schoenberg's prose
ing wide-reaching formal meanings (see works, see Arnold Schoenberg, Theory of
Milstein, p. 10; Walter Goehr studied with Harmony, trans. Roy E. Carter [Berkeley:
Schoenberg in Berlin in the late 1920s). University of California Press, 1978], 130-
Carpenter elucidates aspects of this point 31; Schoenberg, The Musical Idea, 62-3,
by explaining Schoenberg's term "har- 132-33, 180-81, 228-29.)
monic problem." Using Schoenberg's theo- The "tonal problem" manifesting as a dy-
retical documents as evidence, Carpenter namic of "rest" and "unrest" or "balance"
attests that in a tonal or nontonal context and "imbalance" is vividly portrayed in the
the Grundgestalt is a prefiguration of the first movement of the Second Quartet. The
material of the work, while the theme, par- opening phrases of the work constitute a
ticularly in a tonal work, clarifies the in- phrase structure analogous to a sentence
herent dynamic-the "rest"and "unrest" or form (for descriptions of the sentence, see
"balance" and "imbalance" of the material. Arnold Schoenberg, Fundamentalsof Musi-
Schoenberg called the components of "un- cal Composition,ed. Gerald Strang and Leo-
rest," the "tonal problem"-these compo- nard Stein [London: Faber and Faber,
nents are problematic in that they need 1967], 163) in which m. 1 corresponds to
resolution in the tonic for a work to be A, the Grundgestalt,m. 2 to A' and mm. 3-4
complete. The unique tonal dynamic of to the reduction and liquidation.The e#' in
each work is shaped by the precise path by m. 1, the leading tone, has no immediate
which these agents of "unrest" find "rest." resolution to f#', thus creating an "unrest"
As Schoenberg says: or "imbalance" in the voice-leading struc-
ture. As e#' resolves to f#' in m. 2, d' rises
to a d#' that has no immediate linear con-
Each composition raises a question, puts sequent. In terms of Schoenberg's concept
up a problem which in the course of of voice leading, the d'-d#' line in itself
the piece has to be answered, resolved, produces "imbalance," for the d' is not neu-
carried through. It has to be carried tralized. According to Schoenberg's notion
through many contradictory situation of neutralization,the pivot tones, natural-6
[sic]; it has to be developed by drawing and natural-7 must descend in minor, and
conclusions from what it postulates ... the raised-6 and -7 must ascend. These
and all this might lead to a conclusion, scale steps further act as a model for the
a pronunciamento. ("My Subject: Beauty inclusion of chromatic steps on all scale de-
and Logic in Music," unpublished manu- grees in a harmonic progression: for ex-
script at the Arnold Schoenberg Insti- ample, in a progression in C major, the
tute, Los Angeles. See description of the inclusion of a line fi'-g' must be preceded
manuscript in Jean and Jesper Chris- by the progression f'-e' in some voice of
tensen, From Schoenberg'sLiteraryLegacy: the part writing. Otherwise, the tonal bal-
A Catalog of Neglected Items [Warren, ance of a passage is undermined. (See
Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 1988], 99.) Schoenberg, Theoryof Harmony, 161, 185;
Schoenberg PreliminaryExercisesin Counter- tonic triad for the first time in the work,
point, ed. Leonard Stein [New York: St. fA' becoming e#', the leading tone of the
Martin's Press, 1962], 61, 63.) tonic.
The various forces of "unrest" converge In Dale's Schenkerian analysis of the
in m. 3. The first violin articulates f~', the opening of the Quartet the crucial sonority
linear consequent of the d#' in m. 2 (Dale F#-d-a-f' is inevitably relegated to linear
sees d#' in m. 4 as the consequent: p. 257). detail in the voice leading. As Dale ex-
In representing the e#' from m. 1 as f~', plains: "Schenker's view of chromaticism as
a chromatic tone in F# minor, Schoenberg 'an element which does not destroy the dia-
produces an even stronger sense of "un- tonic system but which rather emphasizes
rest" or "imbalance" than in mm. 1-2. fW'/ and confirms it' serves to strengthen his
f#' is further reiterated in the chord F#- notion of tonality as the prolongation of a
d-a-ft' on the second beat of m. 3, a single chord in time" (p. 22). Dale's con-
structure that is a major-minor triad. This clusions about the tonal conservatism of the
chord is the most condensed presentation first movement are virtually built into the
of the components of "unrest" that to- Schenkerian method she uses in her anal-
gether constitute the "tonal problem." In- ysis in which only triadic relationships can
deed this structure has strong implications delineate form, and certainly not a disso-
for the tonal dynamic of the piece as a nance such as F#-d-a-ft'.
whole. In a Schoenbergian interpretation cer-
Schoenberg understood the form of this tain other details in the movement assume
movement as still influenced by sonata- importance. For example, Schoenberg's
allegro principles, as he explains in his use of the Et moving to F# in the bass at
"Notes on the Four String Quartets" (Ur- m. 159-a surface detail for Dale-
sula Rauchhaupt, ed., Schoenberg, Webern, becomes of paramount importance. Ac-
Berg: The String Quartets: A Documentary cording to Schoenberg's understanding of
Study [Hamburg: Polydor International neutralization,E does not resolve to F# at m.
GmbH, 1971], 42-44). This document al- 159. Instead the descending-fourth motive
lows a clear sense of Schoenberg's ideas on in mm. 158-59 returns in the cello at mm.
the structure. 196-201 to incorporate the pitches d, A,
Exposition: and fi" of the "tonal problem." Along with
First Theme 1-43 Ft minor. A minor. e#", all these elements of the "tonal prob-
D minor lem" finally resolve here into a tonic triad.
Second Theme 43-89 "Roving," F# minor Dale's viewpoint concerning chromatic
Elaboration: 90-146 D minor
Recapitulation: 146-201 F major, A minor details and vertical sonorities seriously un-
Coda: 201-33 F# minor dermines some of her own conclusions.
Specifically, in the fourth movement Dale
In the example above I indicate the keys stresses the crucial importance of a non-
used at each juncture of form. Notice that triadic sonority, claiming there is no such
the keys used-as Schoenberg would say, structure in the first movement (pp. 223-
the regions-are none other than those of 24, 250-51). If, however, we view the use
the pitch classes of the most condensed ver- of the F#-d-a-f' sonority as a generator
sion of the "tonal problem": the chord in of thematic transpositions and regions in
m. 3, F#-d-a-ft'. These key areas deter- the first movement, is it not analogous to
mine not only the formal divisions of the a referential sonority such as the d'-g#"'-a"
movement but the transpositional levels of in the fourth movement? Does this not
the repetitions of the opening theme. The make the first movement more consistent
only formal articulation not repeating the with the language of the last movement and
opening theme is also the only one which thus a tonally more progressive piece?
does not present a more or less clear key Moreover, the F#-d-a-f' sonority is but
area-the second theme group. However, one significant verticality overlooked by a
here all the pitches of the "tonal problem" Schenkerian approach. The opening of the
are themselves present (an added D-minor development section of the first movement
repetition appears at m. 33). Most crucially, (m. 98) is a most striking moment: Schoen-
however, only at the coda do all pitches of berg stops the motion of the entire work
the tonal problem finally resolve into a at a chord, c#'-f#'-e"-b", which is never
4-7, middle to upper line)-c#-d-f# (only relationships: fourths are difficult to hear
line). Because vertical fourths are no longer as fourths; the small registral span of
present, by m. 7 the content of the imi- the cluster totally contradicts the expansion
tation is indeed a reduction of the opening of the opening. Out of this liquidated ma-
material. The chord cluster that follows in terial comes the cadence, picking up on the
m. 8 certainly sounds like a liquidation. For embedded material (d'-e'-g#'-c")-so el-
Schoenberg, egantly analyzed by Delaere-and resolv-
ing it.
Liquidationconsists in gradually eliminat- The text of Delaere's book is well pro-
ing characteristic features, until only duced. The paper is of fine quality, and the
uncharacteristic ones remain, which no print is a good size. The music examples,
longer demand a continuation. Often however, should have been computer gen-
only residues remain, which have little in erated. Also, why is there no index to the
common with the basic motive. In con- text? In contrast, Dale's book is strictly a
junction with a cadence or half cadence, photographic copy of her typed disserta-
this process can be used to provide tion with hand-copied examples. The text
adequate delimitation for a sentence. itself, however, is beautifully proofed.
(Schoenberg, Fundamentals of Musical
Composition,58)
SEVERINE NEFF
Specifically, the closeness of register in m. of Music,
College-Conservatory
8 produces an ambiguity in intervallic Universityof Cincinnati
SIXTEENTHCENTURY
Musica getutscht: A Treatise on Mu- Musica getutscht should have been laid to
sical Instruments (1511). By Sebastian rest as very unreliable. Nonetheless, it re-
ceived considerable critical attention from
Virdung. Translated and edited by
Musical Gerhard Stradner in his Spielpraxisund In-
Beth Bullard. (Cambridge strumentariumum 1500: dargestelltan Sebas-
Texts and Monographs.) Cambridge: tian Virdungs "Musicagetutscht"(Basel 1511)
Cambridge University Press, 1993. (Forschungen zur alteren Musikgeschichte,
[xii, 275 p. ISBN 0-521-30830-5. 4/1 [Vienna: Verband der wissenschaft-
$69.95.] lichen Gesellschaften Osterreichs, 1983]) as
well as a 157-page French discussion and
One year after Musica getutschtwas pub- translation by Christian Meyer, Sebastian
lished it got a devastating review in the Virdung, 'Musica getutscht':les instrumentset
preface to Arnolt Schlick's Tabulaturenetli- la pratiquemusicaleen Allemagne au debut du
cher Lobgesang (Mainz, 1512). Not only, XVIe siecle (Paris: Editions du Centre Na-
wrote Schlick, are Sebastian Virdung's il- tionale Scientifique, 1980). Stradner's book
lustrations not represented by the true art uses Virdung as a point of departure for
of printing (they are woodcuts instead of instruments and performance practice of
engravings), but the tablatures are "entirely its time while maintaining a soberly critical
corrupted" by errors and impossible fin- attitude to Virdung himself. Meyer accepts
gerings. Now, 483 years and many treatises Virdung at face value and is laudable
and discussions later, Virdung is still being chiefly because the translator includes doc-
palmed off on us as a valuable source for uments pertaining to Virdung's scant bi-
the history of musical instruments. ography as well as the treatise itself. Since
Beginning with my article "The Critic the treatise now exists in German and
Criticized: Sebastian Virdung and His French, two of the four main languages of
Controversy with Arnolt Schlick," (Journal Western musicology, do we really need an
of the American Musicological Society 10 English translation, particularly when the
[1957]: 1-6), which was followed by Edwin source is suspect?
Ripin's "A Reevaluation of Virdung's Mu- Bullard's translation is quite good, but in
sica getutscht," (Journal of the American order to justify her book (originally a dis-
Musicological Society 29 [1976]: 189-223), sertation) she feels that she has to restore