Schoenberg: Five Statements

Leonard Stein

Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 14, No. 1. (Autumn - Winter, 1975), pp. 161-173.

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SCHOENBERG : FIVE STATEMENTS

LEONARD STEIN

In examining the numerous manuscripts of Schoenberg preparatory to the editing and organization of Style and Idea: Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg, many short statements had to be left out of con-sideration for several reasons : incomplete and fragmentative thoughts, duplication of material, early drafts of articles expanded or revised later on, and, unfortunately, limitation of space. There is, of course, enough additional material to fill two more volumes of similar size in- cluding, in particular, those important analyses of Schoenberg's own works which were originally designated for another volume (some of the latter have appeared in other sources, for example, the Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31,l the Four Orchestral Songs, Op. 22,' and the String Quartets3). A perusal of Rufer's listing of these statements (in T h e Works of Arnold Schoenberg)-in general, comprehensive, though repetitive and lacking a few entries-shows the extent of the material at hand.

The following "statements" have been selected from the left-over manuscripts (to my knowledge they have not been published before) .4

Although they bear a relationship to each other they are independent statements. The first three date from the period of Schoenberg's most prolific literary activity, centering around 1923, a period in which he was preoccupied with the new principles of twelve-tone composition, a preoccupation which demanded a reevaluation of basic musical prob-

1 T h e Score, No. 27, July 1960, pp. 27-40. 2 PNM, Vo1. 3, NO. 2 (1965), pp. 1-21. 3 Die Streichquartette : Schoenberg, Berg, Webern. Deutsche Grammophon 2720

029. 4 The statements were originally translated by Leo Black for inclusion in the new

Style and Idea. The translations appearing on the following pages have been pro- vided by Claudio Spies.

162 PERSPECTIVES OF N E W MUSIC

lems and brought him into conflict with the proponents of "modern" music, whom he did not hesitate to criticize severely. There are many such critical articles in Style and Idea, culminating with the essay "New Music, Outmoded Music, Style and Idea." Undoubtedly various inter- pretations may be given to the following statements, whose meanings may be obscured as much by their sketchiness as by the profundity of the ideas themselves. And, of course, they were most likely jotted down very q ~ i c k l y . ~

The Art-Golem may reflect Schoenberg's conjecture about the im- plications of composition based on a method or a system-viz. twelve-tone. He seems to be saying that even if a prototype could be produced through sheer intellectuality any critical examination of its origins would be irrelevant for the resulting composition. (Reference can here be made to such articles as "Constructed Music" and "Heart and Brain in Music." )

Statements on symmetry, regularity and the like appear frequently in Schoenberg's writings (see, for example, Chapter XIV in Fundamen-tals of Musical Composition) ; they constitute a corollary to his treat- ment of themes and form. ( I n another context, Schoenberg, explaining the imbalance which occurs throughout a piece, states that "the method by which balance is restored seems to me the real idea of the composition." )

The statement on the Polytonalists represents a basic postulate of Schoenberg and is reflected in many of his critical writings (e.g., "Style and Idea", "Folkloristic Symphonies", and "Brahms the Progressive"). The construction of themes is fundamental to any deep understanding of Schoenberg and the difference between him and his contemporaries.

The other two articles date from 1928 and 1929, respectively. The book on symmetry in Bach's fugues6 sets off another kind of observation on symmetry in Schoenberg's own music, in particular in the Variations from the Serenade, Op. 24, and its general implications for twelve-tone composition. ( I t strikes me as ironic that the principle of symmetry is

5 All of the "statements" are from the Archives of the Arnold Schoenberg Insti- tute, Los Angeles. Acknowledgment is gratefully made to Lawrence and Ronald Schoenberg for permission to reproduce the statements.

6 Wilhelm Werker, Studien iiber die Symmetrie i m Bau der Fugen und die mo- tivische Zusammengehorigkeit der Prciludien und Fugen des "Wohltemperierten Klaviers" uon Johann Sebastian Bach, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Hartel, 1922.

163 SCHOENBERG : FIVE STATEMENTS

of the very nature of twelve-tone technique, suggesting either a seman- tic difference in the use of the term or admitting a basic conflict be- tween the "symmetries" of theme and set.)

Finally there appears a remarkable statement on what should be self-evident-music is what is written down, not what sounds. The "composer as interpreter of his own idea" recalls Busoni's statement that composition itself is a transcription of the original musical idea: "for the musical work of art exists whole and intact before it has sounded and after the sound is finished."

164 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

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SCHOENBERG: FIVE S T A T E M E N T S

Art-Golem

Since everything that happens around us may be called a result of the interaction of specific forces that are related specifically to one another, and since the interaction of everything that happens around us is, in turn, related specifically to us, under the specific influence of our inner forces (laws, precepts) ; since, therefore, all external events, insofar as they act upon us, should, so to speak, be referred to a common de- nominator (ourselves), it is certain that external interactions brought about by us will be predisposed to adapt themselves to this common de- nominator in direct proportion to the internal forces brought to bear by us in creating those interactions.

I therefore conclude that if a thinker were to compose (without re- course to his imagination) an intellectually really good, invented piece of music which would take into account all the rules arising from a cor- rect realization of its artistic stipulations, we should react to it with the same feeling as we might derive from such structures as are created through the purely intuitive use of the imagination. It is unlikely that such an Art-Golem could be created; yet, were it to be possible, then no objection to its artificial, drily cerebral origins would hold.

Traunkirchen, 15./8. 1922

Perfect regularity (symmetry and the like) is not suited to music. Rather, coherence is achieved through contrast (antiphony, counter- subject, comes, secondary theme, dominant, etc.). At least, all devel- oped forms will feature contrast. Petrified music, on the other hand, might be commensurate with perfect regularity. Much may be more or less literally repeated in musical space. But musical space is not infinite; it is circumscribed by recollection. One must make do within these limits. Whatever may be wasted in a presentation through breadth, may be doubly lost," since depth will thereby also be lost.

* that is, the loss is squared, or even cubed

Modling 1/6. 1923

PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

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13

SCHOENBERG : FIVE STATEMENTS

The main difference between me and the polytonalists (Milhaud, Casella, etc. ) and Stravinsky and all other tendencies of this kind refers principally and fundamentally to thematic material. Everything else necessarily follows from this. For while these composers, almost without exception, employ themes which according both to their harmony and to their phrase-structure (i.e., length and number of phrases, regularity of meter [ ? I , primitive symmetry, etc.) could be treated much more simply,-which, in other words, offer no clue in their germinal state to any treatment that they will eventually receive (and which one may for this reason call extra- vagant, despite their otherwise witty and striking qualities) -my themes (with few exceptions) are such that they could not be har- monized with the old harmony, that in the manner in which their phrases are combined they diverge altogether from the conventional, that the differences among the lengths of their phrases, as well as the changing location of their points of stress, inevitably bring about the creation of new forms. The material from which my music arises is different and accordingly, for this reason, forms and other aspects will also be different. The music of my contemporaries, however, manufactures golden watches out of iron, rubber tires out of wood, and so on. I t does not, therefore, do justice to its materials, and it expects that the overlay, the coating over the finished product, might do the trick. Bart6k naturally belongs here too. I do not want to say that I truly think little of these artists, though I do believe that their path, even if tempting, is false.

168 PERSPECTNES OF NEW MUSIC

SCHOENBERG: FIVE STATEMENTS

O n Wilhelm Werker's Studies of Fugal Symmetry , etc. in BACH

This book is likely to have been given to me (by Polnauer) for Christmas, about 1924 (or perhaps even 1923??, but I doubt it) . At any rate, I went through it in part with my pupil Robert Gerhard (Castello) at that time in Modling ( ! ), and I pointed out to him on this occasion that several things mentioned by Werker were not un- familiar to me. In particular, I referred to the 3rd movement (Varia- tions) of my "Serenade". This movement ( I finished the whole work in 1923 ( I think in May!) ) was composed no later than 1920, so that it may have been conceived in 1919. It is one of the first pieces in which 12-tone technique is prefigured as X-tone technique. In this case it is a matter of 14 tones. The working method is, however, already that of 12-tone technique. The interesting aspect of this piece lies in the nu- mercial relationships which intentionally underline its construction :

The theme consists of twice 14 tones which first appear in measures 1 - 5 ~ ; from that point on the theme proceeds in retrograde with the same 14 tones for another 5% measures, so that the entire theme is 11 ( 2 x 5 ) measures long.

Each variation is of this same length, so that at the end of the 5th variation (th. + 5 var. = 6 ) 6 X 11 measures = 66 measures have been completed. After the 11-measure Coda, the piece ends up with 7 X 11

14 I1 measures = 77 measures, i.e., -x 11, or 14 ( tones) times -measures. 2 2

Now, 12-tone technique is already in evidence here : in keeping with it, a single tone appears only as a member of a row, and not more often (except in trill-like figuration, as for instance in the violin, mm. 7017 1) . Therefore the entire row is stated X times 7 times, and likewise each single tone ( I would have to prove this by counting; somebody should do this).

170 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

SCHOENBERG: FIVE S T A T E M E N T S 171

Besides, the total number of tones may similarly be represented as a multiple of tone-number and measure-number, for it is actually the product of 14 (tones) times X (rows). Consequently, as the compari- son between X times 7 and X times 14 will reveal :

there are twice as many tones as there are rows-for which the repeti- tion of the row in the theme's presentation already provides the reason.

One might further examine the relation between the rows and the inversions, retrogrades and retrograde inversions.

20/IX. 1928

Also the Sonnet from the Serenade with its 14 ( X 11) lines !

6/12. 1928

172 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

SCHOENBERG : FIVE S T A T E M E N T S

From an Expert's Opinion for the Akademie!

This is a shallow conception of the nature of music. What is essential is not the quality of sound-no matter how much it may be the com- poser's intention to write for particular sounds-but what is written: the (geometrical, mathematical or "architectonic") relations among pitches and timespans. When the composer thinks of sound quality, dynamics and tempo, he is already his own interpreter of his ideas. That is, he employs the means of performance in order to lend his ideas gen- eral accessibility. Performing artists then become, to a certain degree, interpreters of interpretation. Yet the idea is a finished product, without any interpretation, as soon as it is notated.

4.XII. 29