Webern: Six Pieces, Opus 6 (1909)

Author(s): Richard Hoffmann

Source: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Autumn - Winter, 1967), pp. 75-78
Published by: Perspectives of New Music
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832409
Accessed: 04-01-2016 20:09 UTC

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 WEBERN: SIX PIECES, OPUS 6 (1909)
RICHARD HOFFMANN

A L L worksofWebernrevealthemasteryofthecraftofthesmallgesture,
the obsessionwithmanipulatinginherentlyredundantunits,the subtle
shaping,balancing and rotationof ideas, the calculated dispositionof
materialinto essentiallycongruentphases,the sensitivejuxtapositionof
disproportionatestressesand shiftingbeats, the artfulpreoccupation
withcoloristicfluxand, above all, his indebtednessto his teacherand
friend:ArnoldSchoenberg.
Opus 6, No. 1 is no exceptionand the chart(pp. 76-77)-with verbal
comments-attemptsto focusattentionon thecompositionalcomponents
and theirsynthesis and to presentgraphically"what the workis, rather
than how it is made"!

75

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 N.B. Despite the asymmetric articulation
(in proportions of measures, 3: 4: 7: 5) the High Point
overall balance and symmetryof the struc- (exactly half-way)
ture is evident.

= ca 50 ostinati decrease in impe

rit. - - - -tempo
1I2 3 4 5 8 19 10 11 12 13
16 I7
p(pp) homophonic f
contrapuntal polyphonic "Die increase in impeti-motion, rhythmicdiss
grosse Melodie" at first in multi-dimensional climax, registral extr
bass, then in highest register

2 3 4 5 6

O0)

"Diegrosse
Melodie"
= approximate retrograde inversion of &

expansion of intervals, systematic increase in

B and B6 are the central tones (not tonal centers!) appearing prominentlyat all crossr
as well as being emphasized (circumscription) in every measure (4-9) or also su

Ex. 1. Opus 6, mm. 1-7

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 High Point
beginningof ostinati
8 _9 1011
a)cidea

IM..-r?
b)

.L K-1

e)

contraction of intervals, systematic decrease in impeti-motion

\1

going throughthe cadence twice

15 16 17 18 19

lp

I I
IItion

2" ,a)d) -Al-B__-C_

G_-AA

A.e -- ,..,,

Ex. 2. Opus 6, mm. 8-19

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 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

N. B. REMARKS
mm. 1-3 antecedent:7 impeti(4 + 1 + 2); consequent: 7 impeti(3 + 1 + 3)
analogousto the balance ofmm. 14-19 fan-likeresolutionof chords;
sonoritiessimilar to Schoenberg'saround 1908 (GeorgeLieder)and
especiallyOp. 16. Compare the chordin m. 2 to the second chordof
Op. 16,no. 3.
mm.4-14 melodiccontourssimilarto Schoenberg'sOp. 15 (especiallyNos. 1 & 6)
whilethe combinationofvoicesand multiplicity ofmeter("rhythmic
dissonance")is reminiscent ofhis Op. 16, no. 2 (middlesection).How-
ever,in Webern,themelodicfragments do notseemto be goal-directed
-except forthe overwhelming "grosseMelodie" which-a model of
climatic construction-terminates in the uppermostconfinesof an
ostinato.
m. 14 the whole-toneglissando,an extraneousgesture(the diminuendois
especiallycharacteristicofthehypersensitivity ofWebernand hisincred-
ible attentionto detail!) is notunlikeSchoenberg'suse ofthe harpglis-
sando in Op. 16, no. 2 (middlesection)as it preparesthe listenerwith
this"signalmotive"forthe prosaicending:cadentialrepetition.

S78

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