Lewin, Toward The Analysis of A Schoenberg Song (Op. 15 No. 11) (PNM 12-1+2, 1973-74)

Toward the Analysis of a Schoenberg Song (Op. 15, No.
XI) Author(s): David Lewin Source: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 12, No. 1/2 (Autumn, 1973 - Summer, 1974), pp. 43-86 Published by: Perspectives of New Music Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832271 . Accessed: 27/06/2013 20:49
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TOWARD THE ANALYSIS OF A SCHOENBERG SONG (OP. 15, NO. XI)

DAVID LEWIN
2lb
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Als wirhinter dem bebluemten tore endlichnurdas eignehauchenspuerten.^ wardenunserdachte seligkeiten? Ich erinnere, dass wie schwacherohre beidestumm zu bebenwirbegannen wennwirleis nuran unsruehrten und dass unsre augenrannenSo verbliebest du mirlangzu seiten. Ex. 1
exposition problem action
c a d b d c
'
"denouement"
The poem has a clear two-part form,as narrative,which is supported by the endrhymescheme. Example 1 shows what I mean. I have put "denouement" in quotes, forthe end of the poem does not resolve the problem or indicate the outcome of the action to our satisfaction.More questions remain unanswered than answered; we do not know, for instance,whether the tears were of joy or griefor both; we do not know what happened after the lovers remained side by side for a long time; mainly we do not know the answer to the question posed in the text, "warden uns erdachte seligkeiten?" The narrative formand endrhymescheme (as illustratedby Ex. 1) associate that question with the last line of text,heighteningthat paradox. One might, within Ex. 1, also put "action" in quotes, as referring to lines 4-7. The natural sense of urgencyor drive one would attach to this part of the narrative is greatly undercut by the qualifying "Ich erinnere, dass...." Introducing the present tense into the apparent narrative past of the poem so far draws our attentiontoward what is happening now (the
* 43
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
at the expenseof what happened then (the depoet is remembering) scribed"action"which, is now something overwith). however, Without farther intothepoemitself delving yet,let us notesomebroad ofthepoeticanalysis so far. viewedin light setting, aspectsof Schoenberg's one to go First,one notesthatSchoenberg composedfourvocal phrases, ofthepoem.Vocal phrase1, mm.8-10, sections witheach ofthenarrative setsthe textualexposition. Vocal phrase2, mm. 11-12, setsthe problem of the narrative. mm. 13-19, Vocal phrase3, to my hearing, comprises all ofthematerial ofthe"action"lines4-7 ofthepoem.2 And vocal phrase thefinallineof text. 4, mm.21-23, setsthe"denouement," forit we mustmake someimmediate Having notedthis, qualifications, is clear that the musicalfunctions of the fourvocal phrasesdo not corin a 1-to-1 fashion withthe narrative of the coincident functions respond of text.Vocal phrase1, setting sections has comthenarrative exposition, littlein theway of musicalexposition paratively (we shall examinelater how themusicalmaterial ofthephraseis developed out ofthepiano introa definite musicalanswer to thequestion duction).Vocal phrase3 provides of vocal phrase2, endingon a substantial cadence. Measures18%2-19of thevocal lineare a definite musicalanswer to m. 12.Beyond theentire that, vocal line of mm. 16-19 contains(amongotherthings)a re-working and transformation oftheentire vocal lineofmm.11-12.Schoenberg, has then, setthetext so thatthemusic for line7 (rather thanline8) answers themusic forthequestion ofline3. Line 7, rather than8, thensupports whatsenseof denouement thereis musically. vocal Correspondingly, phrase4 has no
1 Comparethe same technique at the end of Heine's Ihr Bild: "Und, ach, ich kannes nicht glauben...." The effect is ofcourse as is Schubert's from different, very response Schoenberg's. to finish offa simple-minded musicalABA thatsetsthe tragicpresentproceding tensefinalline to the same major-key musicthathad previously the accompanied as described in his past-tense narrative. The apparent singer's optimistic delusion, The pointis that concealsa devastating dramatic simple-mindedness sophistication. Schubert takesthe singer at the finalline of text: "I can not absolutely literally believeI have lostyou"; hence I will continue to singjust as I did before. The
If one studies Schubert carelessly,one mightbelieve he was insensitiveto the point,
musical equivalent of Heine's change of tense is delayed and given to the piano in the followinglittle epilogue, now minor rather than major, loud rather than soft, as realitycrashes in on the pipe dream: "You lose, buddy, because you really have lost her!" Let the reader take care, then, when we shortlyfind Schoenberg likewise apparently"missetting"George's rhetoric. 2 One might consider separating offmm. 18-19 as a separate phrase, settingline 7 alone, after an earlier phrase setting lines 4 through 6. The special focus on line 7 of the text is evident, but it is impossiblefor me to hear the phrase that begins at m. 13 as adequately cadenced by mm. 16-17 alone. Needless to say, this ground will be covered in great detail later on.
* 44 ?
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
it is a coda, rather thanan musicalworkto do as a denouement; musically back to the music forline 1 of the textratherthan outcome,referring line 3. to identify the fourvocal phrasessimply and completely Any attempt is thusnot tenablefroma withthe foursections of the poeticnarrative rhetorical pointof view.3Let us now view the large shape of the piece from a different itslargemetric structure. Here we findclear perspective: 13at the beats measures and 8+, 1-, 20, diagrammed large producing form in Ex. 2.
piano introduction m. 1Y7meas. 8+ 5
Ex. 2
vocal contains phrases1 and 2 13-
contains vocal phrase3 20 7
contains vocal phrase4 (25) 5
The diagram projects a strongduple structure: 7-plus-5 measures, followed by 7-plus-5 measures. That structureis supported by the strongest reprisesin the music: the major/minor triad at m. 13- reprisingthe right hand of the opening; the augmented repetition of vocal phrase 1, from m. 8+, followingthe beat at m. 20. The reprise of the major/minor triad at m. 13- also coincides with the text "Ich erinnere...." That is a happy means of pointingthe musical reprise,but it is also verysuggestivein light of our earlier analysis about the functionof "Ich erinnere" in the text. It is the unique present-tense verb of the poem, and it is withheld for three lines so as to undercut the functionalityof the ensuing narrative past action. By the musical correspondence of the major/minor triads, the "present-tense"context of the poem is thus identifiedstronglywith the music of the piano introduction (which, N.B., preceded the voice's dethree lines of text in the narrativepast tense). liveryof its first In that connection, "Ich erinnere" is also identifiedwith the theatrical aspect of the singer's silence over the opening seven measures of music. Whatever we are to imagine going on in the singer'smind during that span of time evidentlyhas somethingto do with "remembering,"and something to do with settinga present-tense mode for the work in distinctionto the narrative past of the singer's opening text. (The singer's remaining silent over this amount of sheer chronological time is quite striking theatrically, not to mention that the gesturetakes up over a quarter of the piece.)
3 Whether this is a defect,a clever subtlety, or an aestheticallyneutral aspect of the work is a critical question which it would seem premature to answer at this point.
*45
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
Associating "Ich erinnere" in this way with the piano introduction,it seems consistentto regard the overall musico-dramatic form of the piece as involved with workingaround the musical gesturesof the piano introduction, rather than simplyhaving to provide a "resolution" for line 3 of the poem. The musical action of vocal phrase 3, mm. 13-20, specifically corresponds to the piano introductionin the duple structureof Ex. 2. So the big vocal cadence preceding m. 20, the large downbeat on the barline of m. 20, and the coda character of the music followingthat measure all begin to seem logical in thiscontext,where theywere earlier only puzzling. We should note that a functionalregular meter (in fact the writtenmeter) sets in strongly,for the firsttime, with the turning of vocal phrase 3 toward its cadence and the subsequent beat at m. 20. This phenomenon sets in exactly at m. 16, with the turningdown of the melodic line in the voice from its climax at m. 15. The writtenbarlines for mm. 16, 17, 19 and of course 20 itselfare all clearly audible, as is the writtenmeter hereabouts. (This span also involves the portion of the vocal line that picks up and eventually answers the question-musicfrommm. 11-12.) The clarity of local metricdefinition frommm. 16-20 is in notable contrastto the preceding metrically floatingmusic of the song. the Evidently large metric sketch of Ex. 2 is getting us significantly fartherin relating text and music organically. Beyond the points already made, the duple metric structuremanifestedby Ex. 2 appears to reflect various "duple" senses in the overall organization of the text-most notably the narrative structure "exposition/problem; action/denouement" and the supportive endrhyme structure "ab/c? adbd/c." Naturally the correspondence of musical metric structurewith text here is not simple nor 1-to-1 (the text lacks provision for anything corresponding to the music of the piano introduction). But the duple feelingof Ex. 2, as such, is arguably in the spiritof the poem.
* 46 ?
TOWARD
THE
ANALYSIS
OF
SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15,
NO.
XI
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* 47 ?
PERSPECTIVES
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* 48 ?
TOWARD
THE
ANALYSIS
OF
SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15, NO. XI
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* 49 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF
NEW
MUSIC
Now thatwe have openedan avenueofapproachto thesongas a whole, we can start at themusicin detail,havingsomesenseof thelarge looking into which theseelements are to fit.In lightof thepreceding composition intotheall-important would be amiss to it not discussion, right piano plunge introduction in thiscase. The very thematic of the opening strong profile here. (As a generalrule,I wouldalso makesuchan approachappropriate into a piecebyplunging believeone shouldnotnecessarily beginanalyzing I shouldlike to choose a different the openingmeasures.)Nevertheless, modeof entry intothemusicevenin thiscase: thelargemelodicconstrucof a song I would mistrust tionof thevocal line. In general, anyanalysis whichdid notat somepointinvestigate thataspectof thework(as wellas oftextto music). In particular, theoverallrelations thevoiceis so exposed in relation character of the vocal line in this and the to itsexsong, peculiar is that is to here treme so almost one invited begin registers striking, bythe shall of in vocal As we see the the the later, largegestures melody composer. relatedto basic intervallic in structures line are intimately exposed the in and the smallas well introduction the piano developed throughout piece in as thelarge.
8 vocal phrase1 11 vocalphrase2 13
13
vocal phrase3
20
X fI*
1T; TT-i
F rF^
21
II UI. I (,)($^)
vocal phrase 4
Q 1
I
Ex. 3
I-! -
how the vocal line is Example 3, then,is a roughsketchindicating certain relations around crucial aboutmidorganized melodically half-step dle c in the lowerregister, and the same pitch-class relations an octave The vocal are around these constructed relations higher. phrases half-step in the extreme with vocal "elevators" or between registers, rising falling theextreme The "elevators" are Ex. arrows in indicated 3. registers. by Vocal phrase1 beginsby exposing a cb-c relation in the low register at then takes a swift elevator an octave to dwell on the b-c relalength, up tion in the upper register, then takesa gently elevator triplet subsiding back down to touchthe low c again at the cadence. Vocal phrase2 reattacksthe highc forcefully, thendrifts down the octave to cadence on low d. The latter is connected to the earlierlow cb-cvia c#;thelow pitch 50
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG S OP.
15, NO.
XI
d is also inflected d#.The highc is touchedonce by its upper auxiliary the cadentiallow d; evidently thisgesture again immediately following has to do withthe question(problem) of the text,structurally as well as the rising locally(the leap upwardsmatches mark). pitchof thequestion Vocal phrase3 setsoffwitha strong c-cS relationin the loweroctave; aftertouching the low d once more,the voice shootsup to expose the in the upperoctaveat greatlength-thisbeingthe melodic c-cS relation climax of the entirevocal line, appearinghowevershortly beforethe heightof the text"action" (we will discussthatlater). The voice is unable to maintainthe high c#and subsidesback to its oft-stated high c (the "action" leading nowherenew); that high c takesa characteristic elevator to thelowerregister foryeta third and fourth downward-drifting time (mm. 16-17), and vocal phrase3 cadencesstrongly, at m. 19, on the lowc#, withconsiderable on thattone. conjunctmelodicconvergence The low d (associating overallwiththecadenceofphrase2, m. 12) is now heard as appoggiatura to the cadentialc#in m. 19. The power of the cadencein mm. 18-19,as gathering earlier is enhanced material, together of thevoice,at thepickupto m. 18, to thelow cb on which by thereturn it originally began (m. 8) and whichit has not touchedsince,havingremainedessentially above it all the time.Vocal phrase4, as musicalcoda, returns to theoriginal of mm.8-9, withtheupperoctaveno cb-cgesture in thepicture. longer We can summarize, in one sense,as follows:themostcritical half-step relations on whichthevocal melodicstructure hangsare b-c (or cb-c) and basic cluster c-cS. The resultant b-c-cSis extended upward (in the lower to register only) to included as a structural auxiliary c#(cadence on d at m. 12 "resolving" to cadenceon c#withd as appoggiatura at m. 19,etc.). In the upperregister, the tonesb, c and c#of the basic cluster are very set off.c#is the melodicclimaxof the entireline,and one can strongly notethattheupperbb is theonlytonemissing from thetotalgamutof the voice'srangeoverthesong. A harmonicrealizationof the above structural observations can be the little"motto"whichoccursfirst noted,embeddedwithin in thepiano introduction and recurs twiceat laterpointsin thepiece (see Ex. 4).
d di c C$----- , b c
Ex. 4
* 51 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF
NEW
MUSIC
withf, forms The basic cluster a pitch-class collection b-c-c#, together whichI will denoteby "X." In Ex. 4, X is represented chord. bya certain The "neighboring" with forms a colcluster c-c#-d, f, pitch-class together lection whichI label "N." N is also represented a Ex. 4. in That chord by N is to be heardas a neighbor to X (rather thanvice versa) willbecome clear in the sequel; thisis also consistent of withthe primacy abundantly of thevocal line,withd as neighbor to b, c and c#in the largestructure The progression of the N-chordto the X-chord c#in the lowerregister. in Ex. 4 summarizes from semitone that are familiar relations important our earlierdiscussion of the largevocal melody:d-to-db(cS) in thebass, c$-to-cin the soprano,and c-to-bin the tenorvoicesof the chords.The pedal f of Ex. 4, an elementof both N and X, is absentfromthe large vocal schemaof Ex. 3. We shallcomment lateron the significance of the absenceof anypowerful f (or anyf at all after m. 9) from thevocal line. the actual aural effect of the openingof the piece, Ex. 4 Considering a artificial of somewhat thereaderto one of the appears way introducing intervallic ideas of the it does make (N-to-X) important piece. However, an immediate to the discussion of the hook-up preceding largevocal line. the of 4 motto Ex. becomes moreand that, recurring Beyond progressively moreimportant as a Leitmotif in thesong.The medialchordof themotto in the piece. In the (an alteredTristanchord?!) has a strong autonomy I will call it the chord." This in sequel "magic chord, fact,has a definite function within thecycleas a whole. (It wouldbe out of place to explore thisat length readermay be referred to m. 8 of here,but the interested No. to four and measures before the end of No. I, song XV, as a point song ofdeparture in this the latter with reference to m. 20 connection, particular ofNo. XI. As we shallnotelater, themagicchordhas a certain "framing" function withinNo. XI somewhat analogousto the frameforthe entire citedin songsNos. I and XV. For reference cyclecreatedbythemoments to othermotifs of thissongthatrecurthroughout the cycle,the readeris referred to JanMaegaard'svaluabledissertation, StudienzurEntwicklung des dodekaphonen Satzes bei Arnold Wilhelm Schoenberg, Hansen,1972.) 5 demonstrates the and role of X wider, Example basic, constructive and N-to-X withinthe piano introduction. The N-to-X relation, heard
N chordto X chord
X?!
(X5)
8vabassa - - - - - ret. of X ---- inv.forms
Ibass:N to
bass: X
Ex. 5
* 52 '
TOWARD
THE
ANALYSIS
OF
SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15,
NO.
XI
is subsequently within in the themotto, chordally "prolonged" melodically bass line.The lefthand at the openingof the piece consists of a chain of linearX-forms ifwe takef-db-c-cb, as a basic linear (retrograde-inverted, form forX). Overlapping ofX; thatchain,one finds melodicforms prime in particular, X at its basic pitch-class level can be foundat the written barlineofm. 1. (I wouldnotmakemuchofthis, but perhapsit is a subtle reasonforthe placement of thatwritten-buthardlyaudible-barline.)
T .' (+3) J T3--- (+4) --T7
p4
$Cli Ex. 6
.U
Another of thepiano introduction feature is themotif which prominent I willcall "T" (formajor/minor triad). Example6 showshow thismotif is developed overtheopening five measures. T has a preferred linearform as did X. For present we willnotconcern ourselves (bb-db-f-d), purposes, withthe problemthat we sometimes hear T-forms identified withtheir and sometimes a generaldiscus"roots," not,overthepiece. (I will defer sionof tonality in thecontext of thissonguntillater, in footnote 10.) Extheproblem how T is transposed first ample6 sidesteps byindicating by3 thenby4, referring thoseintervals back to thefirst twointervals semitones, of the linearT motifitself. In thisway,we can avoid attributing a db "root"to thesecondT-form of Ex. 6, and an f "root"to thethird form at a moment whereone hearsa different "root"overallifone listens tonally.
1 T retrograde 11 i
(echo)
Fr r, P ||,F ,1-,I I
T? retrograde P? p?
Ex. 7 of T can be heardas moving into Example7 showshow thebasic form the bass of the motto, and thencecan be analyzedas underlying the remainder of theentire first halfof thesongup to m. 13,wheretheoriginal thematic T-form is reprised. This involves thec and cb of m. 5-6 hearing as passing-betweentones of T-rather than as essential(elementsof N-to-X). There is, of course,no reasonwhythe tonesshould not have such an ambiguous function. Later we will analyzethemas lowerauxiliariesto db too,in connection withstillanother motif. conceitin light of our earlierdiscussion Example 7 is an attractive (fol* 53
PERSPECTIVES
OF
NEW
MUSIC
of mm. 13ff. to the piano introduction. To lowingEx. 2) of the relation a hypothetical sixmeasures getat thisagain,letus imagine songwhosefirst are identicalwiththoseof the actual song,and whichthenproceedsas follows:the piano right hand remains silentin m. 7; the piano lefthand in m. 7 or at m. 8; thevoiceenters goesdownto (bass clef) bb somewhere at thatmoment on thetext"Ich erinnere." I contendthatsomething like this hypothetical the actual effect of measures1 to 13, music underlies and thatEx. 7 illustrates how the arrivalof the bb beat in the lefthand is delayedforfive whilethevoice coversthenarrative-past measures, portion of the textthat precedesthe delayedpresent-tense "Ich erinnere." That seemsveryconsistent with the virtualcessationof activity in the piano part afterthe initialvoice entranceuntilm. 13, and the striking effusion ofpianistic thereafter. activity immediately In my "hypothetical I omitted the piano righthand of m. 7. song," the of shock that music distracts our attention from theleisurely Obviously of the left down hand to of the sinking bb" "hypothetical "hypothetical measure7 or 8." In thatsense,the right hand of m. 7 is to be relatedto the entrance of the voice withactual textotherthan "hypothetical 'Ich erinnere'"at m. 8. The substantial accentof m. 7 is thena theatrical cue to singer(and audience): "stop standing thereand musing;starttelling who has eversungin publicwill yourstory(in the past tense)." Anyone to the m. 7 will have an analogouseffect to that that, recognize singer, which the stage manager'scall of "places!" has on an actor.Thus the sailsintohisnarrative rhythmic pickupat m. 8: thesinger, beingaroused, than "Ich erinnere" to (rather singing himself).
1
sequences by +5 (-7)
including
II-
8vaba ssa ...
- _ - *
t,
Ex. 8
In thisconnection, one notesthe pickingup of m. 7 by m. 16 in the hand. This relation is very audiblein theoveralltextural conpiano right textofthesong.Example8 attempts to place theresultant e-e#-f# complex in a widerframe of reference, in a 5-semitone relation to thebasic b-c-c#. The actual reference of Ex. 8 to thepiano bass of mm.4-6 is strained; it be morepertinent to hear the large-scale relation of m. 7-to-m. 16 might in connection withthe large b-c and c-c#gestures of the vocal line, to * 54 i
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG S OP. 15, NO. XI
which mm. 4-6 can in turn be related. On the other hand, one immediately hears m. 7 in a 5-semitonerelation to the cb-db of m. 6 (as indicated on Ex. 8). Considering that m. 7 is so sharplyunrelated to mm. 1-6 in any number of other respects,at least that much is to the point. The idea of picking up the disturbingm. 7 at m. 16 ties in nicely with the idea of m. 16 being the point at which the piece abandons the climactic m. 15 and begins its approach to the big cadence and downbeat at mm. 19-20, with strongmetricregularity. In discussingthe effectof m. 7, we should draw even more attentionto its "fourthy"sound (i.e., 5 semitones) in relation to the bass. The actual fourthd (c#) -against-f# will persistfora long time in the accompaniment. Beyond that, the auxiliaries cb and e, fromwhich db and f#are respectivelyapproached, build up the total sound in an even more fourthy way. Namely, one hears the total complex of c#-f#-b-e, harmonicallyequivalent to a fourth-chord.That sound seems related, in my ear, to the orgy of fourths in the cascades following m. 13. More specifically,mm. 13ff. "unleash" the fourths that were a prominent structural feature of the but otherwisenot developed beginningand end of the piano introduction, there (our attentionfocussingon magic chord, N-to-X, and T at the expense of the fourthsduring the bulk of the introduction).
(closingthe chain)
(-7)
J (~
5)
<5 5
NB
8va bassa - - - - -
Ex. 9 The idea of "structural transpositionby 5 semitones," related to the sounds just discussed, is used as a means of connection across the fourthy restin m. 2, to get to the magic chord. Example 9 shows how the chain of major thirds,transposingby 5, continues into the right-handpart of the chord. (The preparation, over the opening measure, for the tritonein the left-handpart of the chord will be discussed later.) While on the subject of fourths, it is appropriate to label a new motifY in which a fourth is conspicuous. Example 10 shows this motif,which figures,along with a transposed form,in the piano introduction. I have chosen to label the left-handformas "prime" and the right-handformas "transposed," even though the latter is more immediately audible and will remain more prominentover the piece. The formwhich I label "Y" contains what I consider to be the "tonic" minor third of the piece, f-d, * 55
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
r'~ 7e- a' - rFr'
Ij r1 _J"C
Y7
nL
e
aux. y
aux.
Ex. 10
and the "tonic" fourthc#-f#. The pitch-classcomplex d-f-dbappears both in the prime form of the N-to-X idea (cf. Ex. 5) and the prime form of the T idea (cf. Ex. 7). In some sense, d-f-db is the "tonic minor/major third" of the piece, so that it is consistentto label as the prime formof Y that formwhich contains those pitch-classes."Y7" is then the "dominant" form of Y, as g#-c# is the "dominant" of c#-f#, c-a the "dominant" of I am f-d, etc. (I do not wish to discuss here how seriouslyor frivolously invokingthe notion of "dominant" in this context,beyond availing myself of a certain conceptual ease it affords.Footnote 10 will pick up that train of thought.) Example 10 illustrateshow, in order to subsume the shock of m. 7 into a Y-form answering the earlier Y7, we must hear the c and cb of the bass in mm. 5-6 as auxiliaries to the db, entailing dramatic tension against our earlier ways of hearing those tones: as essential tones prolonging N-to-X, or as passing tonesin the sense of Ex. 7, withinT.
extreme LH ci: SEHR ruhig! registers. magicchord
di , Ps-ri X 8va bassa - - J
(a
-)
Ex. 11
Example 11 illustratesthe importance of the tritonef-b over the piano introduction. The tritone is latent in m. 1, and provides strong continuityinto the left-handpart of the magic chord in m. 2. The tritoneis of course embedded harmonically not only within the magic chord but also within the X chord. The tritonealso spans the preferredlinear form of X, f-db-c-cb, a featurewhich appears locally in the left-handfiguration of the opening, and more significantly in connection with the overall 56 ?
TOWARD
THE
ANALYSIS
OF
SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15,
NO.
XI
m. 2 to m. 6 (the cb there of thebass line from structure being"about to resolve" to thebb in m. 13). Let us examinenow the way in whichthe piano introduction prepares vocal phrase1. It is pertinent Ex. 4 in thisconnection, to review recalling features of the N-to-X chordal progression. the voice-leading The alto on f. The sopranovoice movesfrom voice of the two chordsremains c# to c, a gesture within whichis also embeddedmelodically Y7 (Ex. 10). The bass movesfrom d to db, a gesture whichis also embedded within Y T The involved in and semitone the (Ex. 10) (Ex. 7). remaining gesture of N-to-Xchordsis c-to-bin the tenorvoice.And it is that voice-leading embeddedin an innervoice of the mottoand not embeddedin gesture, as yet, other motif whichthevoice seizeson at itsentrance significant any as the basis forthe large melodicstructure of its first phrase (cf. Ex. 3, vocal phrase1). This symbolizes the dramatic detachment of the singer's from the central ideas of the introduction original thoughts (while explicit nevertheless some basis forcontinuity providing acoustically).
3 ^rm8
c b b b c I ISr
c b
cc
b
~ *- echo of voice
Ex. 12
in moredetailhow carefully theb-c relations in vocal Example12 shows 1 are with material from the Aside from the phrase integrated piano. melodicoscillations of b withc, one notesthe use of the left-hand materialfrom m. 3 (markedwithasterisks in Ex. 12) to providethe rising "elevator"forthe voice in m. 9. This is confirmed of by the recurrence themottoan octavehigher b-c in the thereafter, shortly solidifying upper vocal octave. (It willbe notedthattheasterisked material is nota central motive of the piece,but an acousticalassociation.) In connection withour dramatic so far,dwelling on b-c has the analysis concomitant effect of inhibiting theb (cb) from down to bb with moving a big beat,as in the"hypothetical It should not be at this song." necessary to rehash the as to this is an point argument why appropriate thingfor the voice to be doingwhilesinging its openinglinesof text,before"Ich erinnere" and the low bb at m. 13. A finetouchhereis the use of bb in the vocal line of m. 8 as a passingtone.This emphasizes even morethe factthatcb is not resolving to bb. (There are no morebb's in the music untilm. 13-.) * 57 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF
NEW
MUSIC
accentson the cb's of m. 8, anAside from the melodicand rhythmic other factor whichmakesit clearthatbb is a passing tonehereis thepower of the "ab major/minor triad,"i.e., T10... in the vocal line of m. 8. at the climaxof the phrase,and how Example 13 showshow T10 recurs it moveson to T2 at thecadence.
TIO T10 I I I I
Ex. 13
of version T10-to-T2can be heardas a "dominant" Perhapsthegesture theearlier T3-to-T7 (right hand,mm.2-5, as in Ex. 6). The phraseneed not relyon that relationto any great extent, however.A much more motive structure here reference of the is the to Y-forms diapotent aspect in Ex. 14. grammed
At'l
i j ~~
j'i
J'
i --Y6
(= Y7-1); completed by g4
' " TI el = d * " pickup
'.r
Y6, aboutb-and-c; inverted completed (in register) by e
Ex. 14 as to the Since Y is a mirror of itself, thereis somegeneralambiguity ofY forms or inversions one ofanother). proper (as transpositions labeling Here, later analysiswill show that the formlabeled "Y6" in Ex. 14 is indeedto be considered as a transposition ofY. thanan inversion) (rather it is to be heard as a semitone "too low," i.e., a semitone Specifically, lowerthan the Y7 whichthe piano played in the top line of mm. 2-5 since the notesinvolvedare the (Ex. 10). This alreadyseemsplausible, of piano and voice so far in the piece, respectively, highest discounting thepiano right hand of mm.7ff. Later events willclinchtherelationship. The otherY-form of Ex. 14 I have analyzedas an inversion, than rather a transposition. theoverallsenseof thevocal phraseis thatthelower First, moves up, while the upper register moves down. Second, that register senseis reinforced d#up to e at the end of thephrase, bythemovefrom the slightly earliermove from answering g#down to g, in m. 10. Third, the senseof theb-c relation in thelowerregister is thatb movesup to c; thesensein theupperregister is thatc movesdownto theheavily accented b of m. 9, despitethe "teaser"highc thatrecurs in m. 10. All of thisindicatesa basic inversional sense underlying the phrase.And when one notesthat a centerof inversion is specifically b-and-c,thisclinchesthe 58
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15,
NO. XI
"b-and-c"beingmelodically theessenceof thephrase.4 choiceof notation, 15 to the idea continues work with that the Y6 of m. 10 is Example too low," below the earlierY7 of the piano. At the heardas "a semitone end of m. 10, on top of the vocal cadence, the piano comes in witha of the motto.The top line of the piano here thusre-initiates Y7. reprise Since thevoice has just sungY6 in its upperregister, the effect is of the the voice. The voice re-enters, piano's "correcting" pickingup the c of Y7 from thepiano and finishing off Y7 correctly of m. 11 withthec-a-g# the line of mm. melodic the voice cannot (compare 3/2-4/2). However, maintain Y at the 7-level, back and immediately down again to Y6 slips as m. 11 goes along. We shall return laterto the dramatic"meaning"of these summarized in Ex. 15. gestures,
JLJ i_ *D^-- '??_

voice: YY6
piano: Y7
Ex. 15
c-a of mm. 8-9, the Meanwhile,we returnto discussthe oscillating on which of the voice the entire will laterend, at mm. gesture part song 22-23. The gesture does not fitsnuglyinto a largerfamiliar motifimI would it notion it. the thatc-a mediately surrounding approach through is to be heardas the "dominant form" of the "tonic"minorthird f-d.We have had similar oscillation on f-dearlierin thepiece; Ex. 16 showswhat I mean. When the c-a stopsoscillating in m. 9, the nextnoteswe hear
Ex. 16
are d and f,though thisis a verylocal event.Finally, in which thecontext we are presently mostfamiliar withc-a is that of Y7, withinwhichthe
4 This discussion may seem pointlessly pedantic to some. I can only urge my own conviction that careless notation,chosen without examination of the aural function of the phenomena involved, can lead to substantial musical confusion. Thus, e.g., "IS" for "V/iv," etc. In this passage (m. 10) one can findmany Y-formsabout on the page, and in each case one can call the formeither a transposition or an inversion of Y. I would consider all forms beyond the two I have discussed aurally tenuous if not downrightnon-existent.Careless notation (of these, or of the two I have noted) would create "relationships" on paper that could well confuse the ear of the analyst.
59
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
minorthirdis embedded.Example 15, and earlierdiscussion, indicated theimportance of relating Y7 to Y6, "downa semitone," within thevocal minorthirdembeddedwithinY6 is b-g#, line. The corresponding or of and the c-a mm. 8-9 is heard as a semicb-ab, oscillating readily being toneabove the earliercb's and ab's of the vocal line. The relation recurs in the upperregister near the openingof vocal phrase2, wherethe high c-a will subsideto the highg#-b as Y7 overallsubsides to Y6. Thus the c-a of 8-9 can be mm. but relatedto oscillating indirectly convincingly and the originalchoice of the "7" in the label the c-a of Y7 abstractly; forY7 alreadyreflected thenotionthattheminor third c-a ofY7 was the ofthebasicminor "dominant" f-d. third
N7
X7
Ex. 17
N7
N6
Ex. 18
N1
XI
Ex. 19
19 continuethe motivic of vocal phrase Examples 17 through analysis wherewe leftit in Ex. 15. Example 17 demonstrates 2 beyond N7-to-X7, the "dominant" formof N-to-X,withinthe line (just as Y7 earlierwas the "dominant" of Y). Example 18 showshow N7, besidesmoving to X7, also can be heard to slip down a semitone to N6 within the line.This in down to Y6 (the slipping minorthirds analogywithY7 earlierslipping involved the c-a and in embedded each of 7-to-6 being g#-b pair motifs). theapproachto thecadence of the Example 19 showshow N1 governs also howN1-to-X1 is involved withthe"question mark" phrasethereafter; of the highc afterthe cadentiallow d, and withthe connection to the low c thatbeginsvocal phrase3. N1-to-X1is of course"a semitone too here.We recallthatthe latterhalfof phrase 1 high" in the low register and the openingof phrase 2 involvedY6, "a semitone too low" in the Each of these reciprocalgestures involvesspecific basic upper register. 60 ?
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15, NO.
XI
tonesof the vocal line. Y6-instead-of-Y7, in the upper register, involves in hightonesc-b insteadof cS-c,while (N1-to-X1)-instead-of-(N-to-X), the low register, involves low tonesc#-c insteadof c-b. Boththesesubstitutionsare quite audible in context.In the upper register, "c-b rather than c$-c" is veryclear (cf. Ex. 15). In the lowerregister, it is not very hard to locatethelow c#'s of m. 12 and thelow c of m. 13 withreference to the low cb's and c's of m. 8, particularly Of course as one is singing. themotivic context in whichthetonesare embeddedreliesheavily on the
piano introduction.
We can review all of thisas follows:after thepiano introduction, which a largemetric forms unitof thepiece,thenextlargemetric unitcomprises the first twovocal phrases, on Ex. 2 earlier. mm.8-13, as indicated That unit has an overallsymmetrical melodic"action." The upper register is a "down semitone": c of instead c-b instead relation brought high highcS, of c#-c Y6 insteadof Y7, including reference back to the music relation, of thepiano introduction. The lowerregister is brought "up a semitone": low c insteadof low cb, c#-crelationinsteadof c-b relation, N1-to-Xl insteadof N-to-X,including somereference back and also possibly allowfirst the low c of m. in 13 the voice. ing That overallaction,forthesecondmetric unitof thesong,is completed on the lasteighth of m. 12, if one acceptsthehighc thereas a substitute forthe low c. The piano evidently does, since it comesin withits longlow beat that at It is onlyafterthat,however, moment. that bb delayed the voice completes its total melodicaction in register (which is of the essenceof thataction), hitting the low c of m. 13. The highc at theend of m. 12 is thus,aptly,a musicalquestionmark: does the low c#resolve to thehighc? This tiesup witha consistent reluctance on thepartof the the metricunit of mm. 8-to-13, to sing cS-to-cin either voice, through motion of low c#to highc in m. register (cf. Ex. 15 again). The putative 12 is weakenedby the evidentresolution of the c#to the d immediately the high c. On the otherhand, if that c were only low, one preceding would have no trouble theearlierc#'sresolving to it through the hearing withtheaid of thestrong beat provided d, particularly intervening bythe the end piano. Howeverthe low c would be grotesque vocallyas setting of a question.Thus it might be conceivable to consider the finalc of m. 12 as "really"low,but displacedan octavebythepitching of thequestion at thatmoment. The piano presumably "hears" it thatway. One might thatthepiano is very keenon themotivic conjecture support(N1-to-X1) featured bywhichthec#can be carriedto c. For thepiano'sintroduction N-to-Xstrongly (Ex. 5); the last thingthe piano playedbeforethe end of m. 12 was a strong N-to-Xwithinthe mottoat mm. 10-11; and the piano has just heardthevoicesinga clearN7-to-X7(Ex. 17). The piano, then,might strongly expector desirethatthe N1 of Ex. 19 will move on * 61 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF
NEW
MUSIC
to X1, producing a pitch-class c. To the extentthat N, X and N-to-X are pitch-class of register, the piano might not care so ideas,independent muchwhichc thevoiceactually provides. The voice of coursedoes care,and thebeat within thevocal line is deuntil the low c 3. that vocal This layed opens completes phrase definitely the "overallaction"forthemetric unitof mm.8-13, discussed earlier, by The forceof the beat c#-cand N1-to-X1in the low register. providing also involves somec#-to-c within thevocal linein register. simply providing to in the (This, however, "ought happen" upper register-andwill later will the hear a on of m. 13, beat the secondeighth on.) Although singer thebeat provided low the earlier two is overbb piano's eighths by clearly It is as if the push of the piano's ridingto myear, in the totalcontext. beat givesthesinger once he has heardthelow bb,to sing encouragement, low c and "Ich erinnere," insteadof highc and a questionmark."Now I'm beginning to remember!" We have reacheda crucialarticulation in bothtextand music.Starting withthetext, we can find at leastthree relatedbutdistinct dramatic comto whichwe can attachRoman numerals for ponentsof "Ich erinnere," in future convenience discussion. The audience-and possibly the singer-becomesaware of the as an actorin thepresent, rather thanthepast. singer the singer-becomesaware of the (II) The audience-and possibly actionof "remembering" singer's present specific (something). at thismoment but not earlier, (III) The singerbecomesconscious, of specific inacpast events-or more likelyfeelings-hitherto cessible to his recall.In thiscontext, lines4-7 of thepoem really are "action."Only the trueactiontakesplace in the present, as thesinger strives to recallthepertinent The apparent memories. ofthelovers, is a formal past "action,"thenarrated pastbehavior screenforthattruepresent action.Such,at anyrate,is the dramaticreading whichSchoenberg's to me; further setting projects withmusicalreferences, will follow. expansion, (I) Musical support, aroundm. 13, forthe above threedramatic componentsis to be notedas follows: (I) aware of the singer as an actorin thepresent becoming ofthelowbb beat (A) theimmediacy to a lesserextent, for the low c vocal beat on (B) ,similarly, "Ich" of activity in thepiano at m. (C) the (heightened)resumption itsessentially 13, following complete suspension duringthe whole timethe singer has been singing(in the past tense) so far; * 62
X
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
(II)
(III)
aware of the actionof "remembering" (something) becoming in the piano of earlierpiano music recollection (A) bb strongly (1) recallof the openingpitch-class at itsoriginal T-motif (2) recallof theconcomitant pitchclasslevel (to recuryetagain in theright hand a measurelater) and (to a sufcontour (3) recall of the originalthematic ficient of the T-motif at the opening extent) rhythm ofthepiece,to recurthrough mm. 14-15 passimas the T-motif is transposed about recollection in the voice of earlierpiano music: recall of (B) the thematic associatedwithtransT-contour-and-rhythm of The contourand rhythm continue positions thatmotif. to dominate thewholevoice partof mm. 13-14,up to the secondquarterof m. 15, even afterthe intervals of T disappear. in the voice of earliervocal music (C) recollection (1) recall of the low c fromvocal phrase 1 passim,and from the cadence of thatphraseat the end especially ofm. 10 (2) recall,in m. 13, of T2 as a collection(c major/minor theT2 surrounding the low c of m. 10; triad), from thesinger's past events-or feelings-hithspecific remembering erto inaccessibleto his memory:completion of the low cS-c from m. 12 to m. 13 in thevocal line.This is something gesture the singer has so farbeen notably unable to accomplish(cf. Ex. 15 and variousearlierdiscussions). It touchesoffa formidable workout of c-and-cSthroughout thewholevocal lineup through m. 17. The workout thuspresumably to corresponds musically at leastsomeof the "trueaction"discussed earlier-of trying to hitherto inaccessible into presentconmemories bringspecific sciousness.
We shallnoteother, moresubtle, aroundm. 13 "remembering" gestures later.Almostall the musicalfeatures cited above involvemusicrecalled from the piano introduction. We discussed of m. 13 and folthe relation earlier.It is appropriate to continue thatdislowingto thatintroduction cussionnow. In the contextof the above Roman-numeral components, I and II, the dramaticsymbolism of "remembering" music particularly from the piano introduction is ambiguous. Does the singer remember this music?Or just the audience? What does it mean if the singerdoes, or does not, remember that music? These matters need some criticaldecisions (by the performers-consciously or intuitively-asmuch as, or morethanbytheanalyst). * 63'
PERSPECTIVES
OF
NEW
MUSIC
One can approach the problemas follows:are we to take the piano introduction a reality as symbolizing externalto the singer(e.g., "what actuallyhappenedbeforethe song begins"?). Or are we to take it as a of thesinger's internal and feelingsprojection musings, present thoughts or pre-conscious? In the first quite likelyunconscious case, "becoming aware of the singer as an actorin the present" and "becoming aware of the singeras a 'rememberer'"(I and II earlier) are things which the audience does at m. 13, but not the singerhimself. In the second case, awarenessin those respectsdawns on the singerrightalong with the audience. The interpretation whichsatisfies me bestis someamalgamof theabove two extremes. I feelthatthe singer has definitely lost,by the end of the awareness he had at mm. 13ff. of being"in the present." song,whatever Hence his return to the "past tense"musicof m. 8 at m. 21. This givesa definite dramatic function to thatreprise. As notedearlier, thereprise very is otherwise if one considers the abstract form and puzzling, only rhyme schemeof the text,associating line 8 withline 3 rather than line 1. This observation tendsto support the piano as "external" to thevoice. On the otherhand,theclimactic of thehighc#, attainment withitsconcomitant earlierinabilities in theserespects, does Y7, in m. 15 afterthe singer's indicateto me somesortofpsychological To the extent that breakthrough. it suggests subconscious matterrisinginto consciousness (or almost) at thatmoment, it favors theinterpretation of thepiano as "internal" to the A to the is with consistent both/and singer musically. approach problem theidea that"whatactually in the seems hard to happened past" separate, in thissong,from thepresent memories and recallabilities of thesingeras if thesinger weretrying to get at theemotionally essential of a features as past incidentin the course of "objective"narrative description, he in a to the singer almight, say, talking psychotherapist. By myreading, mostsucceeds in thisinternal but can't follow quest (m. 15), quite through moreis required, (m. 15 comestoosoonin thetext;something etc.). Then theessential emotional recallslipsaway (mm. 16-17) and, by theend of the song,the singer is right back wherehe started at m. 8, onlymoreso. The lastlineof textis very to with the appropriate go imageof emotional here. the there his addresses beloved directly, paralysis Curiously, poet and forthefirst time: "so verbliebest du... ." In thisreading, thefrustration of the singer, m. would be following 15, strongly signaledby the of the pornographic frustration of reader or audience,aroused interest over lines4 through 6 of the poem and thenprogressively frustrated by lines7 and 8. In sum,I takethesymbolic function of thepiano,through thesong,as and internal to the singer, in an inseparable bind. I beingbothexternal * 64 ?
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
can entertainother consistentpossible solutions,though. However, having raised the issue, I do not feel the obligation to go into them.5 c#having been connected to c in the low register, fromm. 12 to m. 13, the singer's work of remembering hitherto inaccessible material (III above) proceeds by reversingthe direction of that gesture. c is raised to c# in the lower register,with strong support from T-motif forms. The singer does not have the "right key" for T (i.e., "bb"), but does have the appropriate thematic contour and rhythmwhich has so far identifiedT when appearing as an incipit motif. His statement of T2 in m. 13 thus contrastssharplywith his earlier T2 in m. 10: there the T motifwas being used as a cadence motif,rather than an incipit, and the singer did not produce the thematic contour. The forcefulnesswith which the singer retrievesthe low c fromm. 10 as a basis for subsequent action is striking. The low c#in the voice at m. 14 is carried in by the T-motif play, but is not melodically or rhythmically powerfulon its own, as part of the critical c-c#action. It receives overwhelmingsupport fromthe piano, though. One can hear the low c#of the piano at the barline of m. 14 goading the voice along impatientlyin that regard. The growing excitement of the singer is now evident in the progressiveexpansions of the thematic Tcontour, with different intervals, leading into m. 15 and the high c#. I referto the contoursthat begin in m. 13 and proceed: c-eb-g-e,c#-e-g#-d, The low d of m. 14 overlaps the last two contoursabove, further d-g-c#-g#. the excitement.The low d, as a point of departure fora T-contightening is of course either "wrong" or "premature." It distracts from the tour, 5 The external/internal function of the accompaniment is a generalproblem to confront in theanalysis of anysong.Sometimes thesolution is obvious.It is not so at theend of Schubert's Ihr Bild,discussed (to takean interesting in comparison) footnote 1. If the piano there is takento be "inside"the singer, theminore of the the internal of the man by thegrief he has just epiloguesymbolizes overwhelming refused to acknowledge. In thiscase, thesinger mustapproachthepreconsciously even perform cedingmajorevocal cadencewiththat in mind,and thenpossibly somesortof theatrical "take"after he stopssinging (if he can do so in good taste). the minore If, on the otherhand, the piano is "outside"the singer, epilogueis directed to the audience.In thiscase, the singer purely musttakecare to ironic, the theatrical of his "happy" cadence pointthe ironyby maintaining projection withcomplete conviction after he has stoppedsinging, "not hearing" the epilogue at all. The dramatic situation and problem hereare verysimilar to thoseat the death of Lear: doeshe realizethatCordeliais really dead and die of grief, or does he die from the strainof actually his optimistic thatshe mayreturn maintaining fantasy to life?As withLear, it seemsto me thatthe problem in Ihr Bild cannotbe defiresolved mustconfront the nitely by analysis;on the otherhand, the performer or intuitively) and somehow resolve it forhimself if thepiece problem (consciously is to work in performance.
* 65 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
that c#,as yetnot firmly c-c#gesture established, may be by suggesting reader recall our earlier to d. The disa tone may only passing goingup cussionof the rolesof c#,d and c at the cadence of m. 12; evidently the his ear still has low d in here. that singer of low d is quickly obliterated But theeffect by thevocal attainmentmelodicand at last!-of the highc#at the end of m. 14, withenormous This to a on a amounts accent. c-c# gesture grandscale, as it rhythmic carriesall the earlierhighc's of the vocal line up to thismelodically clifrom the the voice "remembers" the c#.6 with mactic Y7, c#, piano Along of c-to-c# in witha vengeance.This entailsa glorification introduction, of in All are course notable theupperoctavethrough 15. these features m. contrast to earlier events thevocal line. concerning is a Measure 15 clearlynot only melodicclimax,but also the span of maximaldramaticachievement for the voice, in "remembering specific matter inaccessible." Whether the achievement hitherto is in some sense sufficient is debatable.On the one hand, one could argue thatthewhole and towardthe voice'sreaching c#,c-to-c# songso farhas been pointing Y7 in the upper octave,and the voice has now attainedall of them. of the song could be taken drato thisview, the remainder According back to the maticallyas a relaxationafterthis achievement, subsiding a originalstateof reposeforthe voice. One could effectively stage-light in semi-darkperformance accordingto thisnotion: piano introduction in intensity to a periodof maximal ness; dim lightup form. 8, growing illumination m. 15; thencedimming (a good metaphor)during again to the level of m. 8 at m. 21; thencea slow fade witha blackouteitherat m. 24 or at "measure25" (the piano goes offthe keyboard there). On the otherhand, I prefer to argue that the achievement of m. 15, whilesubstantial, represents onlya plateau of dramatic accomplishment; thatthe expectedadvancebeyondthatplateau is frustrated at m. 16 and
6 The freshsonorityof the fourth-and-tritone elevator d-g-c$ used to get to the upper octave here is extremelyeffective.The same interval structurewill be used as a descending elevator cS-g#-dat the end of m. 15, thus framingthe climactic m. 15 with those sonorities. There are other fourth-and-tritone sonoritiesaround, both locally and earlier. For local association to the voice's d-g-c# of m. 14 is the equally fresh me, the strongest a-bb-eb of the piano righthand in m. 13. This, in turn,could lead back to earlier gesturesin the vocal line (we will pursue that matter later). The X complex contains such a sonority(f, c, b), as does the magic chord (f, b, e). Those are not weightymatters to my ear. In connection with the d-g-cf of m. 14, I am mainly aware of the freshnessof the sound preparing and framingthe melodic climax, and beyond that primarilyof the melodic functionsof the individual notes involved: the low d and high ct as discussed in the body of the paper; the g between as having to do with the earlier g#of m. 14 and the later g#of m. 15-these recalling the gS's and g's of the voice in mm. 10-11.
66 -
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15,
NO. XI
the following music.After the endingof m. 12 and the tentative through riseof c#to d in thelowerregister of thevoiceat m. 14,one might expect the vocal line,after the highc#"plateau" in m. 15, to push on reaching "action" here all, the narrated up to d, and perhapseven beyond.After is stillgoingstrong in the text.In thisconnection, the play withvarious levelsof themajor/minor triadin thepiano overmm.13-15 is suggestive: the "c: triad" of m. 14 in the bass movingup in some sense to the "d triad"in the right hand a measurelater.7 In general, the notionthatthe vocal linefailsto attainhighd (and/orbeyond) after m. 15 is suggestive in lightof thecadence in thevoice at m. 19. There the low d, pickedup fromthe end of m. 12, movesdown as appoggiatura to the low c#,and d failsto establish even in the low register. itself, ultimately, But we do not need to entertain about missing speculations highnotes to appreciate variousmanifestly thanrelaxing)things frustrating (rather about the attackof m. 16 and the musicthatfollows. The recurrence of c-a in the voice at m. 16, afterthe c-a of m. 15, recallsthe "oscillating c-a" of mm.8-9, a gesture whichwill return in mm.22-23 withan even senseofstasis. At m. 16,theoscillating c-a is embedded in a greater greater oscillation of all ofY7 overmm. 15-16/4.The resulting aura ofdiffidence and hesitancy about Y7 itselfis in markedcontrast to the directand driveof the voice fromm. 13 into m. 15. If one were to take energetic Y7 at m. 15 as a definitive thereshould not be so much achievement, vacillation on the motif withthe oscillating hereabouts, oscillating itself, c-a recalling the static"past-tense" of m. 8. In factY7 continues to drift the openingof m. 17. Example 20 away back intothe darkness through shows whatI mean.
15r-3--16r-- --3 17
Ex. 20
reference back to mm. 11-12 in the Beyondthat,m. 16 is a distinct so as transformed to a lose deal of motivic and local contour voice, good Measure 17 is another such the liquidation a profile. yet gesture, carrying in bothrespects.8 One can noteasilyclaim thatthesemusical stepfarther
7 I am not attributing "roots" to all the major/minor triads. The preceding referencesare just convenient shorthand. I would simplyclaim that the weight of each T-form hereabouts is carried psychoacoustically, in the context,by the lowest note of the form, which is also the initial note. 8 What in the world does this "whole-tone music" have to do with the present song?! Actually, I thinkI hear a referenceto #VIII of the cycle. That song began with energeticwhole-tonemusic. Its initial text was: "Wenn ich heut nicht deinen
* 67 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
references back to mm. 11-12 connote only "relaxation"ratherthan "frustration." was For,at theattackof thevoicein m. 11,thehighc-a-g# failure to attain involved with the and and c#,c-c# Y7, crucially singer's from theslippage thepiano'shighc#to thesinger's highc (see Ex. 15 and earlier At theopening ofm. 16 in thevoice,we have pertinent discussion). the same features "frustrating" high exactly present: the voice singing to maintain and c#,c-to-c#, Y7, and allowingthe earlier c-a-g#, failing highc#'sto slip down to c. The slippagedown to c here is particularly that the voice mightinsteadhave poignantif one feelsany implication risenevenhigher it. thanc#, insteadof falling back from of The musicof m. 11 set the first "the part question"in the text.The of is much the in urgency question dissipated, myhearing, by theliquidationsof themusicin thevocal partat mm. 16-17. Insteadof "rememberThis thesinger thequestion"!9 ing theanswer," appearsto be "forgetting off in music of mm. to the is 16-17 forgetful drifting inapposite strikingly the text there-pornographic interest should be reaching peak intensity overexactly thistext.But by the timewe get to thecritical"und" at the end of m. 17,we are back on thefuzzy low cb wherethevoicebeganm. 8 bass that reference witha hintof "ab major/minor (the piano assisting triad"underthe"und" cb). A number of otherfeatures about the attackof m. 16 can be discussed in thisconnection. The mechanical in thepiano right hand of m. pattern 15 is abruptly an expectedc# (NB!) and "f# interrupted, frustrating triad"at the barlineof m. 16. The latter will subsequently major/minor be pickedup by the voice in m. 18. The c in the voice,at the barlineof m. 16, can be heard (among manyotherthings)as a substitute forthe thwarted hand there;thisis verymuch in keeping c#in the piano right withearlier discussion ofthevoice'sc. We have notedthatthevocal part,at m. 16, refers back to m. 11. The of the piano right us back even hand at m. 16 throws e#-f# interrupting to m. 7. That was a pointbefore thevoice evenbegan to sing.In farther, it was specifically thesinger's cue forhisopening entrance. This seems fact, in lightof the laterreferences to m. 8 at theend of m. 17 and interesting but I can't quite formulate at mm.21ff., reaction. myspecific Anotherfrustrating aspect of m. 16 is the abruptcessationof 32ndnoteactivity in the piano figuration, rebounds exceptfora fewfollowing
Leib beruehre... ," and there seems to be an arguable sonorous association to the text here, now that the momentis at hand: "wenn wir leis nur an uns ruehrten...." 9 A particularlyfine point in the technique of destroyingthat urgencyis the resettingof the low d-to-highc leap across the barline of m. 17. The new context, rhetorical and metric,completely destroysthe questioning force which adhered to that leap at the end of m. 12. Note the dynamics going into the barline of m. 17. In fact, the d-c leap has already had its back broken across the barline of m. 16.
* 68 ?
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
to thatshock.The initiation m. 13, after of theflowing 32ndsduring five for measures was a textural inactive the element strong essentially piano, associatedwith "Ich erinnere." of the rhythmic The abruptchoking-off flowat m. 16,then, of the would logically an frustration symbolize abrupt crucialmemory flow. it is notablethat,forthefirst timein thepiece,a regular meter Finally, becomesaurallyfunctional the of m. remains so at barline and 16, right at leastthrough theattackofm. 20. It is interesting thatthisunambiguous and persistent of the piece, is to the time-signature meter,conforming established the voice alone halfits by (through unimpededrecurring measurerhythmic motivein mm. 16 and 17). This is a strong clue that definitive is not "something happens"at thebarlineofm. 16. That notion withthe idea that mm. 16ff. consistent constitute a "gradual relaxation from theachievement of 15"; but it is highly withtheidea that consistent thevoice'shighc at m. 16,and theaccompanying click-back in thepiano, a definitive of frustration a consewhatever have been represent might of the voice's m. in on ofpushing beyond quence havingattained 15, terms thatplateau. It is likelythe low bb in m. 17 that triggers the singer's awareness of so hopelessly adrift fromthe motivicambienceof the song,corgetting withhis psychological responding drifting away fromthe questionof m. 11. Perhapshe recallsherethelow bb beat of the piano preceding m. 13, whichhad triggered "Ich erinnere" as well as or even morethan there, the openingbb of the song. At any rate, motivicactivity in the voice vocal definitely picks up over mm. 18-19, leading into the strongest cadencethesinger is to achieve.To theextent thatthelow bb of m. 17 is a signalto the singerrecalling the piano's bb preceding m. 13, it would to thesyntactic roleof theword"dass" play an analogousrole,musically, in the textof line 7, feebly but distinctly to get back to "Ich erintrying nere,dass ...." The voice's low bb is of course about to recuron that an "ersatzT-reprise" whichhooksup to the dass," in m. 18, initiating in m. 13 moredefinitely. T-reprise If we takethelow bb of m. 17 as thepointwherethesinger begins"rethe following membering" (something)again, insteadof forgetting, cb to m. 8, wouldbe a musicalanalogof "wheream "und,"withitsreference I? Let's see... I was telling thisstory...." The following vocal bb-db, T8 and thematic T contour, a falsereprise of thebasic structure, constituting would be a musicalanalog to: "Oh yes,I remember...I was T-gesture, to remember trying (at m. 13)....." But he onlyremembers something thathe was trying to remember notwhatit was thathe was (something), to recall.In any case, singing the original triad" "bb major/minor trying has nothing to do withanything in the vocal line so far-it is much too late in the song forthe singerto appropriate that gesture here. Beyond * 69'
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
of the thematic itself is imperfect (he doesn't that,his memory gesture and the openingbb-db, remember m. 13 verywell). He getsthe contour but actuallywindsup singing a formof T8, an "f# triad."Does he perchance remember thisas the level of T that "should have been" comhand goinginto the frustrating m. 16 earlier? pletedby the piano right Does he perhapshave some vague tonal sensethatthe piece "was in f# minor" and shouldend up in that"key"now? earlier, One can sum up here by sayingthat,havinggone completely adrift from thesongin m. 17,thesinger to pull himself thenbegins back,particin terms of "remembering dramatic ularly something" (cf. II of theearlier he remembers thathe is singing thissong (low cb at the analysis).First, end of m. 17, referring to m. 8); thenhe remembers thathe is supposed to be remembering back something (low bb, "dass," T8 of m. 18 referring to m. 13, etc.). He does not yetremember, though, justwhat it is thathe is supposedto be remembering. But he is certainly his memory cranking thedisastrous after stallofmm.16-17. engine, The gathering in buildis very up ofthesemusicalreminiscences helpful the low cb and bb of ing towardthe cadencecomingup. Coincidentally, the voice in m. 18 providea veryusefulmelodicpointof departure fora on from above conjunctriseup to the cadentialc#of m. 19 (converged via d# and thed-appoggiatura). we have leftoffat the f# in the voice at m. 18. Once the Motivically, he succeedsin remembering the question-cadence of m. singer getsthere, thecorresponding of thatmeasure. This memory is muchmore f# 12,from centralto his important task,and the subsequent tones,in re-permuting the N1-to-X1configuration, do providea musicalanswerof sortsto the of m. 12. Most notably, the cadentiald of m. 12 now question-cadence becomesan appoggiatura to the cadentialc#of m. 19, so thatthe singer does at least"getback to cS" in somesenseafter thefrustrating c's ofmm. 16-17. Of coursethec#of m. 19,beinglow,is not a complete equivalent the highc# (much less doinganything beby anymeansforre-attaining even the low c#has not before been stabilized. yondthat). Nevertheless, It has alwayshad, from its introduction in m. 12 on in the vocal part,a certaintendency to move on up to d in the lowerregister; hence finally thevocal low c#does represent a definite achievement-definistabilizing thelowc's ofmeasures tively moving 8, 9, 10 and 13 up to thatc#overthe vocal line as a wholeso far.The d-c# cadentialgesture of thevoice in m. 19 is givenweighty in theaccompaniment support bythebassof themotto hereabouts. of theN-to-Xchords, d-to-db(cS) is an important component as we are reminded here;and thebass db of theX-chordin m. 19 doubles thesinger's cadential c#. In sum,thevocal cadencein m. 19 does represent somesortofpertinent achievement on the part of the singer.Unfortunately, presentmemory 70
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP.
15,
NO. XI
thatmusicalachievement is subsequently thwarted return by theultimate of thevocal line to the irrevocable low c's of mm.22-23. Once more,the to establish effort and maintainc#at the expenseof c has been singer's thistimefinally, off (now in and once morethe singerdrifts frustrated, on repeatedc's, c-a oscillation, etc.,after rhythmic augmentation) failing to maintain of the reprise of m. 8 in mm.21ff. has c#.The overalleffect beendiscussed earlier. Another matterof interest here is the inverted T-contourf#-d#-b#-d which the voice approachesthe cadential appoggiatura. Since through of theT-contour have had a strong melodicincipit character primeforms in the song,the inverted contouris effective forcadencing.But, as with the preceding theintervals are "wrong."Specifically bb-db-a-f#, "wrong" is the b#: if it wereb, the inversion of T would be intervallically exact. The b#is, of course,necessarily tied up withthe approachto the c#of m. 19, and thenceto thewholec-and-c# overthe piece,as we have story at length. The intervallically "wrong"f#-d#-b#-d, like the just discussed seemsto have to do withthe singer's in preceding bb-db-a-f#, problems Note how forcefully the piano "corrects"the inverted remembering. motive withitsc-a-f-g# intothebig beat after, immediately leadingright of m. 20 (much more on thissubjectlater). Also, the rhythmic/metric in thevoice heredoes not fitwell withthe origaspectof the T-contours inal (thematic)T rhythmic/metric sense.In fact,one notesthattheonly a T-contourwith place in the song wherethe voice succeedsin singing either the "right" intervals or something likethe "right" rhythmic/metric sense is precisely at "Ich erinnere": there,both the intervals and the senseare "right."So we maypresume thatthe "wrong" rhythmic/metric intervals and rhythmic/metric senseaccompanying theT-contours in mm. 18-19 have to do withthe idea mentioned earlier:the singerremembers that,but not what,he is supposedto be remembering. Thus, while the approach to the cadence in m. 19 does succeed in doing something about thequestion of m. 12, it failsto cope adequately withthe musically even while that In issue. this "T-problem," then, sharply raising respect, the cadence is inconclusive enough to be overridden by the piano's cadenceintom. 20, as we shall discusslater. It may be helpfulto go over the dramaticinterpretation of the vocal line fromm. 16 on once more,thistimein specific connection withthe three aspects of "Ich erinnere"to which I earlier attached Romannumeral labels.It will be convenient to takeup II first: the audience'sand possibly the singer's-awareness of the singeras a "rememberer" in thepresent. Fromm. 16 on, as earlier, the audience,at least,willbe very aware of thesinger in thatcapacity, ifwe do notspecify whatit is exactly thathe is to be remembering that In mm. time. 16-17 the during singer is hard at workforgetting not onlym. 11 and itsquestion, but evenwhat * 71 *
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
themusicof thesongas a wholeshouldsoundlike.This forgetting (in the the ifsuch of obverse is the (in remembering present), necessary present) of this From achievement. constitute is to view, point any remembering climax of the the end of m. 17-just before"und"-is a psychological fromwhichthe singer of maximalforgetfulness, song: it is the moment That corresponds to at some extent. himself out least pulls subsequently well withthe text,sinceline 6 is the climaxof the narrative action,and well with interest. The notionalso corresponds the peak of pornographic as a the idea expoundedearlierthat m. 15 is not completely satisfying climax forthe song,but seemsrathera plateau fromwhich one might and ofm. 17. The audience's, pushon to a pinnacle-or fallintotheabyss from the end of m. 17 of awareness the as rememberer, singer singer's, Whether or in m. has not cadence been discussed the 19, already. through m. 8 at remembers the singer(as opposed to the audience) consciously of m. 21 seemsdebatable.I believethatthesinger himself is notconscious ofthepiano partaroundthecrucialbeat of thereference. The "meaning" to thispointlater, m. 20 is of courseinvolvedhere,and we shall return aware of afterexamining thatmusic.In any case, the singeris certainly himself as a rememberer m. 18 through at leastfrom thecadenceofm. 19, achievesa certainamountof dramatic and he actuallyand consciously work in that capacity.The audience will be completely aware of the as rememberer which them to the is (or forgetter, same) all the singer the of the to end waythrough piece. To thatextent, and audience,respectively, will be aware of the singer a as an actor in the than rather the past (I of our singer fortiori present earlieranalysis).Let us now consider III: thesinger's effort to remember or events hitherto inaccessible to his Musiconsciousness. specific feelings to be connected this at with establishleast c#, appears cally establishing c to cS, doingall thisin theupperoctave,etc.,as undering Y7, moving takenin the vocal line of mm. 13-15. The barlineof m. 16 is an abrupt and definite frustration, to myreading.The cadence of m. 19 according does succeedin establishing the low c#,superseding earlierlow c's in the vocal line,buteventhatachievement is ultimately frustrated bythereturn to low c in mm. 22-23. And, to the extentone feelsthat the necessary musicalbreakthrough would involvepushing beyondm. 15, or bringing more materialinto the vocal line,the frustration of the singer's desired actionis all thegreater.10
10 A notable component of the of ct throughoutthe piece, to stability/instability my ear, is the clear tonal sense of the music at moments involving importantct's and db's. Although one can hear a bb root for some time into m. 1, the firstreally convincingroot feeling I have in the piece is that attached to the X-chord in m. 4, and the subsequentlyprolonged db in the bass. Here db is heard as a solid root
* 72'
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
So far, in discussing the music of measures 13 to the end, I have concentrated mainly on the vocal line, referring to the accompaniment only where that reinforces or qualifies certain aspects of the voice. This seems a reasonable approach, since the vocal line up to m. 13 was virtuallyunhalf of accompanied, and also since the piano and the voice, over the first the song, were presented as musically autonomous instruments. We must now returnto m. 13 and examine the piano part of the latter half of the ways in which the two song. Along with that, we shall investigatefurther instruments interact,musicallyand dramatically. The T-forms in the piano, mm. 13-15, have already been discussed to some extent. One observes that the succession T-to-T3 in the left hand, mm. 13-14, reprisesthe identical succession of the right hand, mm. 1-3 (see Ex. 6). So more than simplyT itselfis recalled fromthe opening of the piece here. T3 is naturally all the strongerat m. 14 for having the thematic contour and rhythmattached. The doubling of the left hand with the voice here draws attention to the singer's firsttentativec-to-cS gesture (mm. 13 to 14), and also to how feeble a role the voice nonetheless still plays in settingup its own c# here. The voice's c# needs a "nudge" from the piano, just as the voice needed the low bb "nudge," a measure earlier, to sing the low c. The voice is making progress,though: its time
(stability), but also with a very clear dominant function (instability). Whenever the motto recurs in the piano one hears the bass of the X-chord in the same way. Y7, with its central melodic ct-c relation,is going on in the tune during the motto, and the soprano c of the X-chord (the crucial melodic c of Y7 that sinksfromc$) can be heard harmonicallyas a frozenleading-tone to the root db of the harmony. This seems cogentlyconnected with the character of the c-cS relations in the song as a whole. If we follow the bass line from m. 4 /2 on, we can note that the established "dominant" db remains as a pedal (explicit or implicit) up to the bb beat preceding m. 13. This reinforcesthe notion of Ex. 7-that that beat can be heard as have entered in m. 7 or having been delayed fromwhere it might hypothetically m. 8. The piano part of mm. 13-19 can be (very fancifully) glossed tonally as a highlyelaborate variation on the root progression"bb to V/f#" that underlay the piano introduction.(It helps to have other points of contact relatingthose spans of the music, as discussed earlier in connection with Ex. 2, etc.) In that connection, we note that the X-chord of the motto in m. 19, which sustains the db (V/ft) root, is back for the firsttime in its original register-in contrastto the two earlier chords of the motto in m. 18-and that the crucial db in the bass of that chord doubles the crucial cadential ct of the voice. To repeat: the strong root sense affords"stability" to cS; the clear dominant function,however,makes it "unstable." That is, one expects c#to resolve harmonically to f$. This hardly happens at m. 20 (where it "should"), but fromm. 21?/2 effect on, one can indeed hear an implied f# harmony.Or is this a second-inversion still implyinga functionalc: root? In any case, if one had to pick a key in which to hear the entiresong, it would surelybe fr. (Does that have somethingto do with
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PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
lag behind the piano's nudges is down to a tripleteighthinstead of a quarternote's duration. My firstreaction to the left-handoctaves in mm. 13-14 was that they were only to help the long notes sustain. But this was not veryconvincing. The lower register (at least on a grand piano) has enough power not to require the doubling, particularlywhen it is so easy for a listenerto follow the familiar T-motifs.Perhaps the octaves look ahead to the righthand of m. 16, which in turn looks back to m. 7, and thence to all the f#and c#octaves in mm. 8-10 and 21-24. I cannot focus those speculations more cogently at present. More clear is the observation that the left hand of m. 13, the octaves included, can be regarded as a reprise not just of the opening T-motif of the piece, but also of the subsequent f-d "echo" in the bass of mm. 2-3, an octave lower. The reprise,that is, includes the notion of transferring the descending-thirdhalf of T by an octave. More geninvolved is the idea that the descending third somehow "recurs." erally We have noticed that phenomenon before in the context of what I have called "oscillation." Example 16 indicated a plausible relation between the f-d under considerationhere and the ubiquitous oscillating c-a thirds. In that light,perhaps the rhythmic relation between the lefthand octaves in mm. 13-14 and the voice part in mm. 22-23 is significant. All of this seems to the point regarding at least the octaves in m. 13. The dramatic
the interruptedT8 in the piano right hand going into m. 16, and the subsequent T8 in the voice of m. 18?) In general, now, I feel that tonalityfunctionsin this work mainly as one means of clarifying, enrichingand qualifyinga basically contextual ("atonal") structure. This in the sense of the preceding remarks.Another example: the basic minor/ major third (d,f,db), common to prime levels of both N-to-X- and T-motifs,is presented in strong tonal contexts at the opening of the song, embedded in those motifs: db-f-din the righthand of m. 1, embedded within T, as "b3-5-03 in bb"; d-f-dbin the bass of the motto, mm. 3-4, as "6-$7-5 of ft." I am sure this is pertinent to my hearing f-d as the "tonic minor third" of the piece. If one tried to push tonal analysis,however,beyond such considerations, I believe the resultswould be either too general ("the song is in f#, largely over a V pedal, with some referenceto Ciii"), or too speculative, or too mechanical and irrelevant. What, for instance, is one to make, tonally,of the big beat at the barline of m. 20, where the dominant X-chord evidently "resolves"? How far does one get into the song by calling the chord of m. 20 "a substitutefor i6 in ft" or "an altered III in as substitutefor i"? These descriptionshave somethingto do with the harmonic f#, effect of the bass tone, but ignore the all-important magic chord in the upper voices, marked considerably higher dynamically and split off from the low tone in the notation. It can be argued (as we shall later on) that it makes more sense to consider the bass "non-harmonic" here, the basic harmonybeing the magic chord. In any case, even fromthe tonal point of view above, how can the X-chord, as dominant, "resolve" into a chord that still maintains the harmonic effectof the tritone f(eS) -b? Of course it can (and does), but the effectcan not be explained completely-or even substantially-by tonality.
74
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
of presenting the doublef-dtherein theform of octaves, rather meaning thanecho or oscillation, would bear someinvestigating. The a-bb-ebin the right in footnote 6, hand,m. 13,has been discussed in connection withthed-g-c# of thevoicein m. 14,etc.As withthelatter the a-bb-ebprovides a veryfresh so in configuration, sound,particularly itsregister. The fourth-plus-tritone effect can be intellectually relatedto a motivic idea we shall discusslaterin connection withthe subsequent cascade figurations. This is notveryinteresting to myear, however. As with the d-g-c# in footnote of the indiaware of the functions 6, I am mainly vidualtonesinvolved, a coloristic the as more considering harmony having function thata motivic one. The bb and eb anticipate tonesof accenting the subsequent brokenfourth-chord. The higha movesto the ab of the and I can heara reference to themelodic ofY7 (piano, fourth-chord, a-g# mm.4/2-5; voice,m. 11). The rhythm of the a-bb-ebgesture is important. Both vocal phrases1 and 2 containsignificant melodichalts midway: on the voice's b, last quarterof m. 9, and on the g, last quarterof m. 11. In each case, the motif" "was an important (t ( rhythmic aspectof thevoice'sgetwithin each that on g#-c-g# ofm. 10, tingunderway again phrase: rhythm on f#-c#-d# of m. 12. Here the same rhythmic motifappears yet once moreas thepiano getsunderway after itslongquietus, and as thesinger's crucialrecollections getsunderway. We turnnow to the 32nd-note The "fourthy" soundsgenfiguration. recall the of the introduction discussed erally "fourthy" aspects piano earlier.Specifically, the overall harmonic effect of mm. 6-7 is recalled (pickingup what was earlieran interruptive event). Also the transposiare from recalled the of left hand m. 1. The latterassociation tions-by-5 is supported the for and the first time since) flowing (once again, by the overall of contour the rhythm, by cascades,and by downwards-flowing the sequentialcharacter of the figuration. The latterbecomes, in fact,a chain of exact sequences(by 5 semitones) whenthe lefthand takesover the figuration in m. 15, headinginto the low register of m. 1. The left hand of theopening, as wellas theright hand,is thusalso reprised signifibythemusicofmm.13ff. cantly In orderto analyzethe overalleffect of the cascadesmoreclosely, it is to divide the basic motif on the last quarterof helpful (e.g., ab-eb-bb-f-b m. 14) into two components. "A" will denotethe downward component of the motif, two fourths down (e.g., ab-eb-bbof the alwayscomprising above cited motif-form); "B" will denotethe upwardcomponent(e.g., f-bof thecitedform).B hopsa tritone twoappearances, (up) on itsfirst thereafter a fourth A out at the crucialbarlineof m. 16; B (up). drops continues forsometimethereafter. Because of the pauses on sporadically each B-component at regularrhythmic it is easyto hear succesintervals, 75
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
sive B-componentsrelatingeach to the next, across the intervening A-components. Example 21 charts the pitch-class aspects of that "B-story," throughm. 15.
RH: LH:
f-b
b-f
f-bb
bb ----(e) -
-(f), - - -f-bb bb-eb eb-ab
m.14
m. 15
Ex. 21 The example clarifies that there are two parts to the "B-story" here, corresponding to before and after the last quarter of m. 14 (where the hands switch motifs,the T-motif recurs once more in the righthand, and -!-the voice hits its crucial high c#). In part 2 of the story (after the barline of m. 15, in the left hand), the B-components build up a fourthchord: f-bb, bb,-eb, eb-ab. This is evidentlyrelated to the fourthsof the A-component. In fact, f-bb-eb-abis a literal pitch-class retrogradeof the firstA-gesture ab-eb-bb (-f) in the righthand, on the last quarter of m. 13. So we defer considerationof part 2 of the B-storyuntil later, when we have also examined the A-story. For part 1 of the B-story(Ex. 21, righthand, up to m. 15), the essential gestureis evidentlythe progressionof the tritonef-b (or b-f) to the fourth f-bb (or fifthbb-f). The "fifthbb-f," as indicated by a dotted line on Ex. 21, does not appear with the characteristic B-rhythm,but it does appear with the correctB-contouracross the barline of m. 15, where it can be identifiedas the fifthspanned by the original T-motif. Other events around the barline of m. 15-indicated by other dotted lines on Ex. 21indicate that thisidentification is proper. made that we can further relate the total gesture Having identification, "f-b to f-bb" with the overall bass line fromm. 2 to m. 13, as discussed in connection with Ex. 7 earlier, and also in connection with Ex. 11. The magic chord of m. 2 was the strongest early manifestationof the harmonic to note, in this connection, a power of the tritonef-b,and it is interesting certain harmonic influence of the magic chord in the music surrounding the B-tritonesof mm. 13-14. I have indicated this in Ex. 22. The magic chord harmonies there, in each case, are prefaced by identical pick-up harmonieswhich I have labeled with an asterisk. From the point of view just discussed, part 1 of the B-storyis a highly condensed reprise of an essential feature of the total gesture underlying 13 bb." This condensed reprise also leads to a "piano introduction-to-m. beat and recurrence of bb T-namely those in the righthand at the end * 76
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
Ex. 22
of m. 14.1' Once again, it is very much to the point that the voice hits its crucial high c$ right after that right-handbb beat (following its earlier "lagging" behavior, with respect to the piano, at the beginning of m. 13 and again at the beginning of m. 14). The bb's and f's of the piano also provide quite audible "root support" for the voice's high c#,which the doubles. piano also momentarily Part 2 of the B-storyis related to the A-storyas discussed earlier; the surplus fourthsof mm. 16-17 are also part of that complex. At this point, then, we return to study the storyof the A-component as a point of departure. Since the A-components go by so fast, I hear each of them pribuildmarilysimplyas spanning a certain segmentof the circle of fourths, in one to relation another in that In context. the overall ing up analyzing A-story(and what will subsequentlyhappen to the B-fourths),it is helpful to plot each A-component along an abstract circle of fourths.Example 23 is the result,up throughm. 15. 11Another, moreabstract, thephenomenon would wayof regarding justdiscussed take as a point of departure the chordalformof N-to-Xembeddedwithinthe That progression motto. thesemitone contains and c-to-b, ct-to-c gestures d-to-db, each heard againstthe pedal tone f (see Ex. 4.) It is thosegestures, of course, whichare melodically theindiprolonged bythebass lineof mm.2-6. If we follow cated expansion one stagefarther, we arriveat the gesture to be process b-to-bb, heardagainstthe pedal tonef. That gesture is, of course,"part 1 of the B-story." From this point of view,we have abstractly relatedthe gestures of the N-to-X idea to thebb-f within forthosegestures. T, as a sortof boundary This abstract formulation is an intellectually elegantwayof tying up the apparideas of T and N-to-X.More to thepoint, it evidently (in light ently independent of the preceding as a good deal to do withactual important events of discussion) themusic."Part 1 of the B-story," in thissense,helpsto confirm the retroactively of thatabstract idea in analyzing the relation of thepiano introduction pertinence m. 13, as discussed in connection with (bass linemm.2-6) withthe low bb before Ex. 7. 77
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
Ex. 23
In Ex. 23, c#has been takenas 12 o'clockon thecircleof fourths with someforethought. The reasonwill becomeveryclear later.Meanwhileit ofc#forthevoicethroughout maybe to thepointto recalltheimportance thesong.In theexample, thenumbers all arrows, exceptfor"B2," labeling refer to successive of the arrowlabeled So the appearances A-component. "1" denotesthe first of the appearance ab-eb-bb(-f?) in A-component: the last quarterof m. 13. The arrow labeled "2" denotesthe second in the first A-component: bb-f-c quarterof m. 14. And so on. The arrow labeled "B2" denotesthe f-bb-eb-ab built up by part 2 of the B-story m. 15. during The diagrammanifests someinteresting structural Firstis the features. inversional balance of thewholesystem, of centers of inone the c#being version. The repetition of arrows 3 and 4 by arrows 5 and 6 on the right sideofthecircleis balancedbyarrowB2, whichrepeats thecorresponding of left-side the circle in segment (although retrograde).Second, all A-arrows the while B2-arrow go counterclockwise, Third, goes clockwise. the pitch-classes g and (especially) c#,the centersof the inversional as yetuninvolved in thescene, whileall other balance,remain pitch-classes have nowbeeninvolved. The relevance ofthatanalysis is immediately confirmed bythenexttwo of in mm. B-fourths 16-17: d-g and g-c. This constructs the appearances ofthecircle (clockwise)arrowd-g-cwhich"closesthelink"at thebottom of Ex. 23 aroundg as one of thecenters of inversion. whatreEvidently, mainsto be done,in thisgame,is to "closethelink"correspondingly at the of the either or its the alltop circle-by g#-c#-f# retrograde-around center c#. important But theB-component is apparently unableto make thatlink.Insteadit hitseb-abonce moreat theend of m. 17. That was as close as a B-fourth * 78 '
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
ever got to the top of the circle of Ex. 23. It is where the B2 arrow leftoff, on the circle, just before the abrupt break at m. 16; thus eb-ab at the end of m. 17 can recall the final low fourthof m. 15, just before the crucial break-off.And the fourtheb-ab is also where the whole storyof Ex. 23 began, in retrograde (arrow 1.) Beyond all this, the fourthat the end of m. 17, by providing "root support" for the voice there,helps to throwthe whole ambience of the song back to m. 8, away from whatever work remains to be accomplished here. Nevertheless, the crucial link is closed. Locally, this is accomplished (counterclockwise) by the upper registerof the piano part: f#of m. 16, of m. 18. Note the contributionof the registration, and the rest,in c#-g# the variant of the motto, as making this connection aurally possible. The link is accomplished more powerfully later on, this time going clockwise, from the right-hand g# of m. 20 into the continuation c#, etc. in the righthand thereafter. It is easy to identifythe g#of m. 18 f#, with that of m. 20 in the piano right hand, because of the magic chord that supports each one. Since the melodic fragmentof m. 19 in the piano may be heard as transitional,and since the e#of m. 16 can be heard as an we can in fact claim with some justice appoggiatura to the followingf#, that the overall gesture f#-c#-g#-c#-f# is the essence of the piano melody from the crucial break at m. 16 rightto the end of the piece. This sheds some light on why the fourthc#-f# is melodically active from mm. 213 on, while it was only present in the harmony at mm. 8-10. It is not that fourthsin the right hand at mm. hard, indeed, to hear the rising c#-f# 213/ff.as variants of the risingfourthsof the B-componentsearlier. This particularlywhen the rhythmis slowed down so much in other respects around mm. 22ff.And it is also not difficult to hear, at m. 18, the familiar fourthof the motto, and Y7, in relation to the preceding orgy of c#-g# fourths generally. It is, in fact, of importance that the fourthsjust mentioned are the crucial melodic fourthof the motto and Y7 (c#-g#, the "dominant" fourth of the piece), and the crucial harmonic fourthc#-f# of mm. 7-10 and 22ff. (the "tonic" fourth). The point is that the play of fourthsdiscussed in connection with Ex. 23 sets up those two fourthsvery clearly. That and the "missing link" preparation, focussingon c# as center-of-inversion fourthsc#-g# and c#-f#, sets up the thematic gesturesof mm. 18 and 22ff. in such a way as to interactcogentlywith the voice's struggleto maintain c# after the barline of m. 16. It may be recalled that the motto in the piano at mm. 10-11 was tied up with the voice's failure to attain c# (etc.) there. Correspondingly, some of that flavorwill carryover to m. 18.12
ct-g$ in this context? Perhaps, to the extent particularlythat one can hook up the voice ft to the piano f#of m. 16. But connectingvoice to piano notes melodically
12 Does one hear the voice f#at m. 18 as connecting to the piano's subsequent
* 79
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
It remains to investigate thebig beat at the variousevents surrounding barlineof m. 20. I take the harmony of the beat to be simply themagic withtheextraa in thebass onlya Klirrton in itsharmonic chord, aspect. in footnote (See earlier remarks, 10,on the-to me wrongheaded-"tonal of thischord.And observe of the chordand analysis" again the notation the dynamic indications.)The low tone does lowerthe centerof gravity ofthesoundand provide a thicker to thepsychological density appropriate sense of resolution here. The low a also has certainmotivicfunctions whichwe shall examinelater.But the basic harmony remains the simply chord to ear. The of cessation on the bass 16ths the magic my eighth-note low f of m. 21, at the end of theslur,supports That low f of thishearing. coursereproduces the magic chordonce moreunderthe sustained notes oftheright nowhaving vanished. hand,theKlirrton The peculiarly effect of the magicchordherehas to do with satisfying a number of motivic Here I use theterm"motivic" in an almost features. sense. The chord the in which motto it is empurelyWagnerian itself, and the concomitant melodic on of the motto have bedded, fragment top all been established as a Leitmotif in thefullsenseof thatterm.If we examinethethree ofthatLeitmotif in thesong, we noticesomeappearances to effect the of its last here. thing verypertinent appearance The features common to all threeappearances of the Leitmotif are the
does not feel rightin this context. More to the point mightbe the relation between the voice f#at m. 18 and the vocal cadence on c in m. 19, producing an ft-ct fourthwithinthe structure of the vocal line itself.This is audible enough, especially if one picks up the hint from the db two notes before the fX (and the root sense V-i of the T8 form??). One could emphasize the latter featuresby vocal accents ("dass UNS-re AU---gen"). But that would be gross, and would contradict the dynamic indication. The effect,if there, should be subliminal. The f#of the voice in m. 18 is certainlyimportantin recalling to singer and listenerthe question and music of m. 12, as discussed before. The entrance of the motto in the piano here seems particularlyeffective. I have not analyzed that to my own satisfaction,but I am sure that it involves the assonance of augen with the earlier hauchen. The motto comes in much sooner here, after the triggering text sonority.There is a component of the poem involved which we have not discussed: the hauchen was das eigne while the augen are unsre. The shiftingpersons (wir, das eigne, spuerten,uns, ich, wir,..., du, mir) as well as tenses bear some consideration. Curiously,Ihr Bild also brings in dich suddenly at the end. Up until the discussion around Ex. 23, our examination of Schoenberg's constructive techniques in this song focused on what might be called "proto-serial" motivic and intervallicprocedures.Example 23 et seq. dealt with a constructive use of total chromaticismitself,and in an inversionallybalanced context. The interested reader can find a more general theoreticalexposition of such matters,and a wider range of musical examples, in my article "Inversional Balance as an Organizing Force in Schoenberg's Music and Thought," PNM Vol. 6, No. 2. The present song illustratesvery well ". .. the two principles of serialism and 'tonic inversional balance' of the total chromatic. . side by side."
* 80
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG S OP.
15,
NO. XI
overthose chordalprogression themelodiclinec#-g#-c N-magicchord-X, melodic"tail" (c-)a-g#.Let us call thiscomand the subsequent chords, plexthe"nucleus"oftheLeitmotif. In mm. 2/2-5/2, the nucleus was precededby a metrically weighty off intonothingness. whilethemelodictail drifted magicchord, Emphasis on themagicchordat the expenseof thenucleus, herewas thusfocussed even to theextent thatone heardtheN and X chordsas accessory to the extent. magicchordto a considerable preceding As themusicdeveloped, N-to-Xbecamea very though, important germ forthe organicgrowth of the intervallic structure. By the timethe Leitmotif nextappeared,in mm. 10-11, the weighty magic chordpreceding thenucleushad accordingly and one heardthemedialmagic disappeared, chordof the nucleus, N and X, as essentially between itsdura"passing," tionbeingan apparently than structural of the rather feature expressive musicthere(like a written-out fermata).The tail of the nucleusdrifted offagain, thistimein the vocal line of m. 11. Here again, as earlier, the went(locally) "nowhere." X-chord In mm. 18-20, now,theseaspectsof the Leitmotif are radically transformed. An "extra"magic chord,beyondthe one within thenucleus,reas in m. 2, onlynow at the end of the appearswithgreatmetric weight, notat thebeginning. The X-chord, whichhad bothtimes broken nucleus, off now leads purposefully into the before, "goingnowhere," right weighty whichhad earlier drifted magicchord.And themelodictail c-a-g#, simply offbothtimes, now pointsverypurposefully towardtheg#, whichcarries a strong beat. In getting to thatg#, the tail is transformed. The T7-form whichunderlay theright hand in mm.4-5 is now givena strong melodic the insertion of f the into the contour. This a melodic by profile produces linear formof T7, and with the thematic in but inversion. T-contour, The effect of theinverted T-contour is of coursestrongly cadential.See the earlierremarks on the voice'sf#-d#-b#-d. In discussing the latter, we notedhow the piano here "corrects" the intervals of inverted-T. We also identified thefailure of thevoice to sing"right" T-intervals in mm. 18-19 withthe singer's to remember what he is inability supposedto be rememand we noted that the T-contours which he in facthighlight bering; sings that issue here. The intervallically exact inverted-T in the piano, then, whichis also much "better"as regards its rhythmic/metric sense,should a us to clue what it is that was in the give just eluding singer mm. 18-19, and in his memories moregenerally. From thatstandpoint, the factthat the piano's inverted-T leads directly and forcefully into the magic chord is suggestive. it suggests that the magic chordsymbolizes at Specifically, least a significant of those memories inaccessible to the part singer's consciousness. cadence and downbeat at m. 20, present (Hence thestrong the dramatically overriding inadequatevocal cadence in m. 19.) To for* 81 a
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
tifythis thesis, let us review some other aspects of the behavior of that chord in the piece. In general, the magic chord, which is so weightyat its firstappearance in m. 2 as to renderN and X its accessories,never develops into an organic the way that N-to-X does. It generativefeatureof the intervallicstructure, an and it recedes autonomous is sonority, verymuch into the background of one's aural attention as N-to-X begins to take over. In particular, the magic chord is verylittlein prominence during the entiretime the voice is singing. The "passing" magic chord over the barline at m. 11 has been noted; but one also notes that this is the only place between the singer's entrance and his cadence at m. 19 where he is silent for longer than the he needs to breathe occasionally. And the voice's rest across eighth-rest the barline of m. 11 coincides exactly with the time the magic chord is sounding. The magic chord in m. 18 is more problematic in this regard (cf. footnote 12, especially the remarks at the end) but does not draw attentionunduly away fromthe voice; one is too accustomed, by this time, to the nuclear magic chord of the motto,as passing between N and X. The magic chord does not appear explicitly elsewhere between m. 8 and m. 19/2, though it does exercise a definiteharmonic effectaround the barline of m. 14, where the singeris gettinginto the thickof his remembering(see Ex. 22). It may be significantthat the magic chord recurs "almost explicitly" on the second quarter of m. 21, at a moment when the voice is singingone of its tones. This is a unique such event of the piece. But the bass f is two octaves too low, and the upper three tones of the chord are not re-attackedalong with the f (and are acousticallymuch attenuated by this time,) so that it is dubious to claim that the voice is actually "supported by the magic chord" here in the full sense of that idea. In fact, the piece notably lacks any moment at which the magic chord supportsany emphatic (not to say climactic) vocal achievement. Compare Tristan, and its chord, in that respect! N-to-X, ignoringthe passing magic chord between, is an intervallicgesturewith whose ramifications the voice is highlyinvolved. See particularlyExx. 3 and 4, and the surroundingdiscussion; then of course also Exx. 17, 18 and 19. In that context, the big magic chord of m. 2/2, before the voice is in, precedes N-to-X and draws weight away fromit. And the big magic chord of m. 20, afterthe voice is "out" (in some sense), follows N-to-X and in fact "resolves" it, again drawing weight away from it. The magic chord is to that extent "outside the piece" as far as the singer's consciousness is concerned. The fact that the magic chord is autonomous, rather than generative,also helps keep it "outside the piece" forthe singer. These observationslend considerable supportto our earlier idea, that the magic chord is indeed verymuch involved symbolically withthosememories inaccessible to the singer'spresentconsciousness,hence in a sense "outside * 82'
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
thesong"as faras hisawareness is concerned. The weighty chords at m. 2 /2 and especially at m. 20 make excellent dramatic sensefrom thatpointof some view,as does thevocal restacrossthebarlineof m. 11. Conceivably, musicinvolving the singer's the magic chordwas what lay remembering in making succeeded the ahead, above theplateauofm. 15,had thesinger how showed the was a 22 breakthrough. singer Example alreadygetting whiff ofthatidea as he builtup toward m. 15. In thisconnection, thevocal in m. 19 does stabilize thelow c#, to achieving something-andsomething do withthetextquestion-but notably failsto do anything about rememthemagicchord.Perhapsthewholepointofm. 18 is thatthevoice bering doesn'thearthechordin thepiano.The cadenceat m. 19 is very feminine, and is immediately overwhelmed metrically by the accent of the subsequent (unsung) chordat m. 20. Also,the cadentialc#of thevoice in m. 19 doublesthebass ("root") of theX-chord, on to whichpromptly drives resolve intothemagicchordafter thevoice has stoppedsinging. As discussed one could analyzethe dramatic situation at m. 20 earlier, in two extremeways, dependingon whetherone takes m. 20 (and other piano solo sections) as being "external" or "internal" to the one can mix theseextreme modes: thebeat at m. Or, as I prefer, singer. 20 is external, in that it saysironically to the audience: "he will never remember this."But thebeat is also psychologically internal:thesinger is overwhelmed not conscious)thathis internal by the realization(possibly searchhas failed, and he givesup at thispoint.The reader, if so inclined, can reviewhere earlierspeculation on the singer's following psychology m. 21. The notionof the singer's psychic energy draining away afterthe beat of m. 20 is effectively tone-painted by the bass line there.(More simply, the bass line also tone-paints the tearsof the text.) The reference of the bass linein m. 20 to thebass lineat theopeningof thepiece also suggests the idea thatthe singer is "right back wherehe started"(onlymoreso). As forthe actual tonesof this"contrabass clarinet"passage: one can takeas a pointof departure thestrong melodicsenseof a-to-g# goinginto m. 20 in theright hand of thepiano. That a-g# is locallyembedded in the inverted T7 motif, butmoreemphatically as theend ofthe"tail" functions of theLeitmotif thatis,as theend of thefamiliar melodicY7. At nucleus, the moment thatthisa resolves to g#, at the barlineof m. 20, the "contrabass a enters clarinet" undertheg#, the relationship in theair keeping Whentheclarinet a finally it repeats thea-g# harmonically. moves, gesture and continues on chromatically to gt. By the end of the measure,the clarinet is back on a an octavelower;thelinenowoncemoremovesdown chromatically through g#to g, and now keepsgoingon to f#. Considering thatthepointof departure forall thiswas thea-g# at theend of Y7, the "tail" of theLeitmotif, I can hear a clear reference hereto thevocal line * 83 -
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
of mm. 11-12,wherethevoicebeganwiththe "tail" of theLeitmotif and extended downchromatically, thea-g# at through g, to f$. It was notably thatf# thatthevoice earlier So pickedup themusicof m. 12, in m. 18'/2. the bass line is tying business a referhere,supplying up someunfinished of mm. 11-12,withthe "right ence to thefirst halfof thequestion-music notes" (the voice havingrecalledthe "wrongnotes"forthatreference in mm. 16 and 17). If we looka bitmoreclosely, we can findin the contraY7 form(db-cbass clarinet line,acrossthe barlineof m. 21, an explicit to createthe gesture a-g#) whosetail is extended (and evenc-a-g#-g-f# tually-f). This comes veryclose to the voice in mm. 11-12, up to the f. pivotalf#. Onlythevoice did nothookthatf# up to anysubsequent In thatY7 is the "dominant" of the ofY, thethird c-a the "dominant" third to consider the gesture f-d,etc.,we can try c-a-g#-g-f# by extension (-and eventually f) to be the "dominantform"of the gesturef-d-dbis immediately as c-cb (-and eventually bb). The latter gesture recognized theone familiar from of thebass line in mm.2-6 manyearlierdiscussions m. 13). So themusicof thefirst halfof thequestion (etc. -and eventually ofthatbass linegesture, and it is (mm. 11-12 up to f#)is the"dominant" thatmusicwhichthevoicehas so muchtrouble within mm.16-17. exactly Once thevoice getsto thef#, in m. 18, it can remember therestof m. 12 The piano (in itscontrabass clarinet quite effectively. line) of coursehas no trouble in remembering And thepiano getsthat ff down c-a-g#-g-f#. to f,whichthevoice was unable to do. This is the "dominant" to gesture cb down to bb," at which the piano has also been successful "getting earlier. In connection withtheabsenceof anyf from thevocal lineafter thef# of m. 12, we can note that thereare severalplaces wheref would be a note to sing,motivically. An f immediately or soon highlyappropriate afterthat f# would be motivically in fact.Referring back to consistent, Exx. 17, 18 and 19,we notethatthevoice line of thesemeasures includes motivic N7-to-X7and N1-to-X1, and also N6, but thatN6 does gestures not progress on to X6 (whichwould put an f after of m. 12). At the f# theend ofm. 14,an f rather thana g wouldbe motivically after expected the d, in lightof the progressive with T-forms on in the voice play going linefrom m. 13 up to thispoint.Finally, in m. 18,after thevoice'sbb-db, one certainly of T; and hencef after thedb. "expects"theprimeform Can one concludefrom thisthat"getting thef# of m. 12 downto f" is whichalso has to do withfrustration forthesinger? If he ever something did singthe f,would the magic chordappear overit? It is suggestive to aroundtheseideas,butI don'tfeelone couldconcludetoo much speculate the "missing f" from thevoice partafter m. definitely. enough, Curiously 12 (in factafter m. 9) might also relateto the highbb missing from the voice'sgamutoverthe piece. Should thevoice movedownfrom thehigh 84
TOWARD THE ANALYSIS
OF SCHOENBERG'S
OP. 15, NO. XI
cb to thatmissing highbb, as he "ought,"in orderto executethe "dominant"gesture as thepiano does executethosegesture?'3 In spiteof f#-to-f, footnote Nevertheless, 13, I wouldanswer"no" to thepreceding question. the observation that bb and f are two conspicuous tonesin the missing vocal line is somehow role of in lightof the overallstructural suggestive just thosetones,and in relationto each other,in the piano part. This of voice of the dissociation manifestation seems,at any rate, a further from action. accompaniment A fewmorepointsremainto be notedin connection withthebass line of mm.20-21 (and beyond).The a-g# the right-hand gesture, governing at thatbarlineand initiating approachto m. 20, appearingharmonically the continuation of the bass line as just discussed, also appearsin the relationof the retrograde-inverted in the X-forms and ab-g-f#-d a-g#-g-eb "contrabass clarinet" line.The a of thefirst form receives great naturally ofcoursereceives accent;theab ofthesecondform less,butis stillaudible, sinceone groupsthe 16thsmotivically in blocksof four.The intervening block of four 16thsis a (retrograde-inverted) not an X-form. N-form, Since one expectsX-forms because of the to m. 1, reference exclusively, thisdrawssomeattention to theminor(rather thanmajor) third involved in thatform. Hence a subtlemotivic accentis givento the recurrence of thetonea, theminor third c-a, theY7 in whichthatc-a is embedded, and thegesture "answered" c-a-g#-g-f# f). The Y7 is eventually (eventually by Y at its primelevel: f#-d-f in the bass of m. 21, thenall subsequent cS's and f#'s ad lib. Y becomessomewhat hereif one can hear back, stronger clarinet"solo, to the d-f-db of the preceding motto past the "contrabass bass line.But I wouldn't about that. The form of Y is in worry prime any case somewhat of an abstraction, based on the prominence of Y7 in the withthenotionthatthec-a and g#-c# of Y7 music,together components are to be heardas "dominants" of the "tonic"minorthird f-dand fourth c#-f#.
* * * * *
I am leftwitha lot of loose ends. One I feel I shouldpick up. The readermayhave got the impression, from Ex. 22, thatthereis somehar16-17, to the low cb of "und" and thence the subsequent low bb, with abortive T-motif there to represent "Ich erinnere" (by "dass")? Perhaps. But if so, the gesture could be executed more clearly. The low bb of course cannot substitute completelyforthe high bb in any case. See my dramatic analysis earlier of the singer's psychology at and following "und." Insofar as a c-cb-bbgesture,with a T-form beginningon the bb, recalls the approach to the beat of m. 13 fromthe bass of mm. 5-6, the singer's gesture here would be part of his remembering the m. 13 beat here-that is, remembering that he is supposed to be remembering something.But, though I can entertainit, I am far fromconvinced by the melodic analysis that initiated this footnote.
13 Can one read this idea into a connection of the high c's of the voice, mm.
85?
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
of mm. 13-15,or monictechnique thetotaltexture consistently governing ofthesongas a whole.I haven'tfoundanysuchtechnique. I believethere is none,butI wouldbe happyto be proved wrong. One shouldreturn to re-examine the thematically here,if not earlier, pregnant openingmeasureof the piece and the way it qualifiesfor a listenerthe materialwhich follows.The openingof No. XI, though, ofNo. X. sounds muchlessautonomous whenheardright after theending in N.B. notonlytheg and a#there, but also thepreceding chainof fifths on intothesequencesat theopening of No. XI. thebass,continuing right all to thegreater of themagicchordin m. 2. This, of course, glory Other loose ends,musicalor dramatic, the readercan pick up on his to reviewyetagain and further own, if so inclined.It would be dreary qualifyhow appropriate Schoenberg's handlingof the textis, in spiteof of it. One could continue his apparent"missettings" goingoverand tying I think of this it is quite oftheessence up aspectsof thepiece indefinitely. thatone can never tieeverything work, piece,as withmostofSchoenberg's in a "linear"prosediscussion. The title up in a neatpackage,particularly of thispaper reflects I willbe satisfied if I have succeeded myconviction. in setting in resonance, withinthe reader,certain ideas musico-dramatic whichI feelpertain to thework.
* 86 ?

Lewin, Toward The Analysis of A Schoenberg Song (Op. 15 No. 11) (PNM 12-1+2, 1973-74)

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Lewin, Toward The Analysis of A Schoenberg Song (Op. 15 No. 11) (PNM 12-1+2, 1973-74)

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Toward the Analysis of a Schoenberg Song (Op. 15, No.

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS OF A SCHOENBERG SONG (OP. 15, NO. XI)

exposition problem action

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

vocal contains phrases1 and 2 13-

contains vocal phrase3 20 7

contains vocal phrase4 (25) 5

| } hin-ter dem be-b Als wir

nur end - di lich nur das e eig rienplus ne nous fut

ben_ wir be-gan - nen,

nos mains fai

nos yeux a - oeu

gen ran -nen.

ver- blie-best du mir

ten. ce. ..... ........

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

8vabassa - - - - - ret. of X ---- inv.forms

8vaba ssa ...

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OF SCHOENBERG S OP. 15, NO. XI

r'~ 7e- a' - rFr'

di , Ps-ri X 8va bassa - - J

' " TI el = d * " pickup

Y6, aboutb-and-c; inverted completed (in register) by e

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

JLJ i_ *D^-- '??_

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OF SCHOENBERG S OP. 15, NO. XI

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OF SCHOENBERG S OP. 15, NO. XI

-(f), - - -f-bb bb-eb eb-ab

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

TOWARD THE ANALYSIS

OP. 15, NO. XI

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