boynton-formal combination in webern's variations op (1995)

Formal Combination in Webern's Variations Op. 30Author(s): Neil BoyntonSource: Music Analysis, Vol. 14, No. 2/3 (Jul. - Oct., 1995), pp. 193-220Published by: WileyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/854013 .

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NEIL BOYNTON

FORMAL COMBINATION IN WEBERN'S VARIATIONS OP. 30

I

In the winter of 1969 Radio Studio ZUirich broadcast a series of talks entitled 'Die Orchesterwerke von Anton Webern' by Siegfried Oehlgiesser, a former pupil of the composer. In the fourth and last talk on 19 December Oehlgiesser presented an analysis of the Orchestral Variations: Oehlgiesser's script is preserved in his modest estate, which forms part of the Sammlung Anton Webern at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basle. His analysis is distinguished by its economical taxonomy of motives; it is the most extensive analysis of the Orchestral Variations by one of Webern's pupils. Humphrey Searle produced a 'brief technical analysis' of the work in which he discusses Webern's twelve-note technique.' Leopold Spinner mentions the form of the work as described by Webern in a letter to Reich in 'The Abolition of Thematicism', but declines to go any further;2 he does not include examples from the Orchestral Variations in his principal theoretical work, A Short Introduction to the Technique of Twelve-Tone Composition.3 As with most of Webern's works, few statements of an analytical nature by Webern concerning the Orchestral Variations survive. Nevertheless, in his correspondence he repeatedly returned to the issue of formal combination, as described in the following extract from a letter to Reich written some months after the completion of the work: 'formally the overall result should - as always intended - represent a kind of overture, but on the basis of variations [... ]. My "overture" is basically an "adagio"-form.'" Thus according to this description the work is essentially a combination of variations and adagio-form in which the adagio-form is subordinate to the variations. The present study seeks to interpret Oehlgiesser's identification of motives within the formal framework indicated by Webern, proceeding first with the question of variations, then considering the work as an adagio-form.

Oehlgiesser had been a private pupil of Webern from March 1932 until July 1938,' when he fled from Vienna to Switzerland because of the Nazis.6

MUSIC ANALYSIS 14:2-3, 1995 193 C Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1995. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.



NEIL BOYNTON

In his private lessons with Webem he studied harmony, counterpoint and form, and would have gone on to study the twelve-note method had he not had to leave Vienna.' He did not see Webem's sketches or row tables during the course of his study, nor did he at any time discuss Webemrn's twelve-note works with him.8 Oehlgiesser writes: 'it was through my encounter with Webem that my interest in the twelve-note method was first awoken. It was not until much later, in exile, that I discussed it with Spinner.'9 And not until Oehlgiesser was preparing for the radio talks did he actually discuss Webem's twelve-note works with Spinner 'from the point of view of analysis of the work for the purpose of performance'.1o In the first of the radio talks he acknowledges Spinner's help with his analyses," as well as the work of Reich, and Friedhelm D6hl's doctoral dissertation, Weberns Beitrag zur Stilwende der Neuen Musik.12 His analysis of the Orchestral Variations represents, in his own words, 'the attempt at a musical analysis of the work as Webem might have done it, as much as I am able'.13 Oehlgiesser identifies the first two motives of the theme as the source of later motives throughout the work.'" I shall call the motivic content of the first motive 'a', and its thematic content 'x'; the motivic content of the second motive 'b', and its thematic content 'y' (see Ex. 1)."

Ex. 1 The first two motives of the variation-theme

bs 1-2, cb.

b. 3, ob.

Reproduced by kind permission of Universal Edition A.G.Wien

Luigi Nono was one of the first to note in print correspondences between the structure of the row and the rhythmic organisation of the Orchestral Variations; Nono's serial approach was taken further by Heinrich Deppert, who claimed to have observed 'a technique of rhythmic rows' throughout the work.16 But there are no rhythmic rows, as, writes Dahlhaus, 'the basic rhythmic shape for Webem is the four-note group as a closed form, not the series'."1 And although there are similarities between the techniques of motivic variation and those of thematic variation, which for Dahlhaus suggest 'a tendency towards consolidating the relationship between melody and rhythm', the idea of such a consolidation is

194 MUSIC ANALYSIS 14:2-3, 1995 ? Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1995




'something that was quite foreign to Webern'.'s Webem, himself, described two types of motivic variation - retrogression, and augmentation and diminution - as the principal means of variation:

These two types of variation lead almost exclusively to the respective variation ideas; that is to say, a motivic variation occurs, if at all, within this framework. But through every possible shift of the main stress within the two shapes something new in the way of time-signature [Taktart], character, etc., is always produced.19

Webern offers more on the shifting of stress as a technique of variation when discussing the four-part polyphonic construction of the scherzo- subject of the third movement of his String Quartet Op.28 and its reprise:

Note, particularly on the first appearance of the theme, as [occurs] in the canon[ic presentation of the theme], that by continually changing the metre each voice falls differently with respect to the barring, thus each voice gets totally different main stresses [or, 'strong beats'] [to the others], as well as its character being completely changed.20

Dahlhaus maintains that Webern adheres to the stresses of metrical rhythm 'in essence rather than for merely notational purposes', that is, they 'are not subsumed in the dynamics, the latter being one of the parameters of serial music'.21 Dahlhaus's comments on metrical rhythm will be revisited later with respect to the proportional structure of the Variations.

In addition to the techniques of motivic variation described above, there is what Bailey describes as 'value replacement'.22 Bailey's 'value replacement' is that technique of variation described by Spinner with reference to the fourth movement of Webem's Second Cantata Op.31 where part of the value of a note is replaced by a rest.23 Oehlgiesser does not identify this as a specific technique in his analysis, although it is apparent that he is aware of its use. For example, in discussing Variation 5 he writes:

The motive a, which follows on the [solo] first violin in bs 139-40 with the pitches B-A-C-Co, is, including the semiquaver rest which follows the C0, a rhythmic figure of two consecutive quavers, a semiquaver, and another quaver, thus a diminution of the original figure.24

The results of value replacement are most remote in the case of motives which are subsequently presented in retrograde form. An example of this is the motive played by the harp and celeste in bs 139-40, which is a rhythmic retrograde of the motive played by the solo violin in the same bars, described by Oehlgiesser above. The first sounding note of this motive is the semiquaver C played by the harp, but as regards its motivic derivation the first note of the motive is in fact a quaver, divided into a

MUSIC ANALYSIS 14:2-3, 1995 195 ? Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1995



NEIL BOYNTON

semiquaver rest followed by the semiquaver C on the harp. Value replacement obscures its derivation as a retrograde (and diminuted) form of a. Webern's use of value replacement is occasionally documented in the sketches for the Orchestral Variations. For example, the motive played by the upper winds in bs 11-12 of the final version was once sketched in an augmented form (see Ex. 2).25 One may surmise the order of sketching as follows: in the sketch the last note of the motive, B?, first appeared as a dotted minim; then, a crotchet rest was inserted underneath the dotted minim, replacing its first beat, and a minim B added after the dotted minim to make up the remainder of its value. Webern then encircled the dotted minim as if to indicate the subsequent decision to restore the B? to its original duration of three beats, as it appears in the final version.26

Ex. 2 Sketchbook V, p.50, st. 12-14, bs 10-11

[st. 12] [st. 14]

10 11

Reproduced by kind permission of Maria Halbich and the Paul Sacher Stiftung (Basle)

II

Oehlgiesser does not attempt an elaborate codification of the motive-forms of each variation in his analysis, but is primarily concerned with showing the source motive from which they are derived. Although he identifies virtually all motives that are not presented chordally, whether they are in contrapuntal combination or not, it is in fact the main voice of each section which is formally most significant with respect to Webern's conception of the horizontal and vertical modes of presentation of a musical idea: 'the presentation is horizontal as to form, vertical in all other respects'.27 The same idea is expressed more fully by Spinner:

Webern ... combines the classical forms in their fundamental structural functions with a polyphonic presentation; this implies the distinction of the main part as carrier of the structural functions of the form.28

Oehlgiesser's identification of motives a and b in the main voice of each section is summarised in Fig. 1. The thematic content of all motives whose rhythmic content is a is x; the thematic content of all motives whose rhythmic content is b is y, with the single exception of the second motive of Variation 1 - the thematic content of motives being considered equi-





Fig. 1 Motivic summary of Oehlgiesser's analysis

Theme ax by ax ax by ax a b a a b a Variation 1 a bx a a b a a b a ~ a b a

Variation 2

Variation 3

Variation 4 a b a a b a a b a a b a

Variation 5 a b a a b a Variation 6 a b a a b a a b a a b a

' ' denotes the elision of two notes through the overlapping of two motives

valent under transposition, inversion and retrogression, and the rhythmic content of motives being considered equivalent under retrogression, augmentation and diminution, and value replacement.29 Motives a and b appear in the theme and Variations 1, 4, 5 and 6. The motivic pattern 'a b a a b a' is stated twice in the theme and again in Variation 1, although in Variation 1 adjacent appearances of a overlap, producing the elision of two notes. The two-fold statement of the motivic pattern with elisions is repeated in Variations 4 and 6; the pattern is stated once in Variation 5 without elisions. Some of the parts of the motivic pattern are variously replicated in subsidiary voices, although it only ever appears in full in a subsidiary voice in the third canonic voice of Variation 4 (which begins in the oboe, b.111). The motivic pattern does not appear in Variations 2 and 3.

According to Schoenberg's description of the relation between theme and variations, 'the course of events should not be changed, even if the character is changed; the number and order of the segments remains the same'.30 In the Orchestral Variations the number and order of motives a and b within the motivic pattern 'a b a a b a' is the same in the theme and in Variations 1, 4, 5 and 6. These variations might therefore be considered as structural variations in the Schoenbergian sense. Both Guido Adler and Erwin Stein describe a more specific idea of variations with reference to Mahler's symphonies that is perhaps more appropriate to the structural variation in Webern's Orchestral Variations than is Schoenberg's general description of the classical variation set. Adler writes of Mahler's symphonic practice: 'variations in the true sense, as an independent form, are not favored; they are introduced in a free realization in the third movement of the Fourth [Symphony] through metamorphoses of the principal melody'.31 Stein elaborates on this type of variation:




NEIL BOYNTON

The Poco Adagio of [Mahler's] fourth Symphony is the only real example of that well-known kind of modified recapitulation which is closely akin to the lyrical species 'Variations on a Theme ... '. In some respects the movement may have been modelled on the Adagio from Beethoven's Ninth. In this type of lyrical variation, the theme retains its original structure and it is its motifs that are modified.32

This type of variation is distinct from developing variation, which both Adler and Stein describe as the principal means of variation in Mahler's symphonies. Regarding developing variation Stein writes:

Out of new combinations of the motivic material, out of a different order, different repetitions and a different development of the motifs, ever new melodic shapes arise kaleidoscopically which have nothing in common with the original structure of the theme. (p. 16)

Thus the material of developing variation is not structurally related to the theme, whereas the material of that type of lyrical variation found in the slow movement of Mahler's Fourth is.33

As regards the Orchestral Variations, Webern's description of the correspondence of the parts of the variation-form to those of the adagio- form offers an explanation as to why the motivic pattern appears in Variations 1, 4, 5 and 6. In a letter to Reich he writes:

The 'theme' ['Thema'] of the Variations extends to the first double bar; it is conceived as a period, but is 'introductory' in character. Six variations follow (each one to the next double bar). The first bringing the first subject [Hauptthema] (so to speak) of the overture (andante- form), which unfolds in full [in voller Entfaltung]; the second the bridge-passage [Uberleitung], the third the second subject [Seitensatz], the fourth the recapitulation of the first subject [Reprise des Hauptthemas] - for it's an andante form! - but in a developing manner, [in durchfiihrender Art], the fifth, repeating the manner of the introduction and bridge-passage, leads to the Coda; sixth variation.34

(In cases of ambiguity I shall refer to the theme of the variations as the 'variation-theme' and the main theme of the adagio-form as the 'main theme'.) The motivic pattern appears in those parts of the variation-form which correspond to the introduction, the main theme, the reprise, the retransition and the coda of the adagio-form: it is present in those parts which, theoretically, are strongly related to the main theme, and absent in those parts which constitute the subordinate group of ideas (the transition and the subsidiary theme), indicating that these parts do indeed provide a contrast to the main theme.35 Webern's description of Variation 1, as bringing the main theme 'fully developed' ('in voller Entfaltung'), implies




FL

d

??

t,o

@

t

cP)

z V

?

Ex. 3 Periodic construction of the main theme of the adagio-form

1. a 2. bx 3. a a 4. b 5. a a

I I I II AntecedentII Antecedent eI- I IJ- J 1

J - 1-*, 0- i- eo ! -50V is o.. .o

'caonic accompaniment'

6. b 7. a a 8. b 9. a

Consequent acJ4nm 'canonic accompaniment'

a,_, a a


0

0

0

0 z 0

z

0

0

?i



NEIL BOYNTON

that the form of the main theme is essentially contained in the variation- theme, or rather, in the introduction, which was 'conceived as a period'. The periodic construction of the main theme is evident from the motivic structure of the main voice (see Ex. 3).

Nine phrases are formed from the twelve motives of the motivic pattern: phrases 1 and 2 are played by the solo first violin (bs 21-3, 24-6); phrase 3 is played by the clarinet (bs 27-31); phrase 4 by the trumpet (bs 32-4); phrase 5 by the first violins (bs 35-9); phrase 6 by the horn (bs 40-2); phrase 7 by the tuba and trombone (bs 43-7); phrase 8 by the horn and cello (bs 48-50); phrase 9 by the first and second violins and the clarinet (bs 51-4).36 Oehlgiesser describes the phrase played by the cello in bs 38-9 as a canonic accompaniment to phrase 5 ('kanonische Begleitstimme', p. 2). Likewise, as the main voice is that voice which comes first in contrapuntal passages, the phrase played by the winds and trumpet in bs 44-7 is a canonic accompaniment to phrase 7, and the phrase played by the bass clarinet and viola in bs 52-5 is a canonic accompaniment to phrase 9. Phrases 6, 7 and 8 of the main theme are motivically an exact repetition of phrases 2, 3 and 4, excepting the value replacement which occurs in phrases 6, 4 and 8. Such repetition is typical of periodic construction.37 In the main theme of the Orchestral Variations, the antecedent begins with an upbeat phrase and comprises five phrases in all, and the consequent comprises four phrases.38 The value replacement that occurs in phrase 5 produces remote results. The full value of the last four notes of phrase 5 should be: semibreve, minim, semibreve, semibreve. The semibreve duration of the third note is obscured by the overlapping of the two forms of a which constitute this phrase, the second form of a being an augmented retrograde of the first. The thematic content of phrase 2 (B6, B , D, C) is identical to that of phrase 9 (Bk, B6, C#, D), and this is the only such correspondence in the main voice: the main theme ends by returning to the thematic content of its first downbeat phrase. The irregular combination of motive b and the thematic material 'x' in phrase 2 (the only such combination shown in Fig. 1) thus turns out to be an essential part of the means by which formal closure is brought about in the main theme.

Webern's remark to Reich that Variation 1 brings the main theme of the adagio-form in its 'fully developed' form is explained by the repetition of the double statement of the motivic pattern with elisions in the reprise and the coda of the adagio-form: the motivic pattern of the main theme is not further developed on its successive appearances.39 The division of the main theme into a section of five phrases followed by a section of four phrases is also preserved in the reprise (bs 110-251; 1252-34).40 The disposition of the motivic pattern throughout the work, thus far considered, is equally attributable to both variation- and adagio-form. The absence of the motivic pattern in Variations 2 and 3 indicates that the putative variation-form is interrupted in these so-called variations, unless, for example, a different





'skeleton' were used.41' The subsidiary theme is entirely constructed from two new motives

stated in its first two bars; Oehlgiesser writes that 'motivically this variation is fashioned without exception from motive b' (p.4).42 I shall call the motive played by the flute 'b"', and the motive played by the cello and clarinet 'b2' (bs 74-5). Motive b1 is a reformulation of the dotted rhythms of b: it is derived from b through the retrogression of the second half of b and by altering the proportions of the second half so as to correspond to the first half; b2 is derived from b through value replacement (see Ex. 4).43 The derivation of b2 from b is documented in the sketches (see Ex. 5).44 The sketches for the subsidiary theme are on pages 64, 63, 66, 65, 68 and 67 of Sketchbook V.45 The contents of the sketches are listed here roughly according to the order of composition: the unorthodox numerical order of the pages results from Webern's practice of beginning on a right-hand page and continuing on the left-hand page opposite; hence, for example, page 64 (a right-hand page) precedes page 63.46 Staves 2-5 of page 66 are laid out as a four-stave system. The contrapuntal rhythm of bs 74-5, st. 4 and 5, represents an augmented form of b. Corrections to the last three notes of this form of b lead to a semiquaver three-note chord and its quaver repetition (b.75, st. 3), which when coupled with the first note of

Ex. 4 Derivation of the first two motives of the subsidiary theme

bs 74-5, fi. b'

bs 74-5, co., cl.

R(b) [' r . L J2 44 Im L4


MUSIC ANALYSIS 14:2-3, 1995 201 C Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1995



NEIL BOYNTON

Ex. 5 Sketchbook V, p.66, st. 2-6, bs 74-5

Fl. 74 Fl.75

[2] kl. Tr. [2112]

Hm

[41 .

24

[51 !V 4 #.U

K1.

[614


the motive, as indicated by the arrow joining the two in the sketch, produce the outline of the final motive b2. The final stage of the derivation is the arpeggiation of the three-note chord as three successive semiquavers (b.75, st. 6). The resulting motive b2, viewed in light of the value replacement described by Oehlgiesser, is the retrograde of the form of b with which this sketch was begun.

Oehlgiesser identifies the two contrapuntal voices of Variation 3 as main voice and accompaniment, and notes that the three appearances of bl in the main voice of bs 74-81 are repeated in retrograde in bs 82-91.47 Oehlgiesser's observations hold for the motivic construction of bs 74-81, but the division of the music into phrases indicated by Webern's




> C)

z

IN

V1

?

O -IN

0

Ex. 6 Transition from the first to the second model of the subsidiary theme

End of first model Transition Beginning of second model

augmented phrase 1 phrase 2 upbeat- motive

Vn. 1: bly Tpt.: b2x Tpt.: bly Fl.: bx

I I I

mohto [ lbhafl Vn. 1 nit. tempo rit. wieder leichtbewegt subito lebhaft wieder leichl

= m

Fo ] l. Trp. . S 2 = l6o bewegt

a12a160 ff miDp~. Trp.

US sP op Vn. 1Cl Ob.,

90.Ob.. 'C1 r,:-, .-B.C1.

,TN

Vn. 2 SO, ff POb.f

,,d Fl. H p. >

Ha. Timp.


0

0 z

0

z

?:



NEIL BOYNTON

performance markings cuts across the symmetrical structure of these bars: the fermata at the end of b.89 and subsequent ritardando separate the first note of the sixth appearance of bW in the main voice from its last three notes.48 The thematic content of the first five appearances of b' forms the pattern 'x y x x y'. The repetition of the pattern 'x y x' is interrupted after its second motive. Thus the subsidiary idea is not constructed in the same way as the main idea, as Oehlgiesser maintains, but shows the characteristically loose construction of subsidiary themes, in that an ongoing repetition is interrupted.49 In this context bs 90-4 may be seen to represent a transition from the interrupted repetition of the motivic pattern 'x y x' to the establishment of a new model in bs 95-102, based on the motivic pattern 'y x', which is repeated in bs 103-9. The small transition begins with the continuation of the interrupted motive bW in the flute (b.90), which when combined with the accompanying note in the horn produces, rhythmically, an augmented version of the three-semiquaver motive that serves as an upbeat to the last full statement of bW (b.88) and to the phrase which follows (b.91; see Ex. 6). The core of the transition is the motive b2x, played by the trumpet, which is divided between two phrases, both of which make a feature of dyadic repetition: the dyad (E,, E) is repeated in the first phrase (b.91); the dyad (G, F?) in the second (bs 92-4). The repetition of a single note at or near the end of the phrase is a feature of all the phrases of the first model and its repetition, the last of which contains two repeated notes ((G, B), bs 88-9); it is also a feature of the upbeat semiquaver figure to the first phrase of the second model (b.95), which comprises the repetition of the dyad (B, D). Dyadic repetition thus provides the link between the end of the first and the beginning of the second model of the subsidiary theme.

Considering the second model (bs 95-102), although the motivic relation of the first main motive (trumpet, bs 96-9) to the first main motive of its repeat (trombone, bs 105-6) is not clear, they both have the same thematic content and an upbeat comprising three three-semiquaver figures

Ex. 7 Sketchbook V

(a) p.65, st. 9, rhs

[zz~7_ _ -x __ - -- _ _

(b) p.68, st. 12, middle

K; Reproduced by kind permission of Maria Halbich and the Paul Sacher Stiftung (Basle)

204 MUSIC ANALYSIS 14:2-3, 1995 C Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1995




Fig. 2 Structure of the main voice of the subsidiary theme

Subsidiary Theme Reprise

1st Model Repetition Transition 2nd Model Repetition (bs 74-81) (bs 82-9) (bs 90-4) (bs 95-102) (bs 103-9) (bs 110-12)

blx bly blx blx bly bly blx bly blx ax

' denotes the elision of one note through the overlapping of two motives

- these two phrases being the only two occasions where three three- semiquaver figures appear in succession. The sketches reveal that these two phrases initially stood in a much closer relation to each other: the first sketch for the first of these phrases has the same rhythm and contour as an early sketch for the second (see Ex. 7).~o The motivic content of the second main motive of the model (cello, bs 100-102) - considerations of metre apart - is identical to that of the second main motive of the repeat (harp, bs 107-9)." Like the first model of the subsidiary theme the second model is also interrupted on its repeat, the last note of the second motive being dovetailed with the first note of the reprise of the main theme. The double occurrence of the process whereby a model is set up and its repeat interrupted corresponds in essence to the structure of the subsidiary theme of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op.10, No. 1, as described by Ratz, where the same process occurs twice.52 The structure of the main voice of the subsidiary theme is summarised in Fig. 2. The subsidiary theme of the Orchestral Variations is not therefore structurally related to the variation- theme.

The transitional idea (Variation 2) comprises two motives, the second being an imitation of the first (bs 56-9). The combination of motives in this idea is derived from the form of b and its imitative entry stated by the oboe and viola in b.2 of the variation-theme. Example 8a shows the rhythmic reduction of motive b and its imitation in the variation-theme; Ex. 8b shows the rhythmic reduction of an augmented variation of these two motives in closer imitation from the sketches for the transition.53 The final version of the transitional idea (Ex. 8c) was arrived at through the insertion of two quaver rests between the two halves of motive b as they appear in the sketch, and is repeated four times in all. Through the insertion of rests, motive b is broken up in preparation for its reformulation in the upbeat phrase to the subsidiary theme as motive b1 (bs 72-3).5 In a letter to Jone shortly after finishing the composition of the work, Webern quoted b and its imitative entry in b.2 of the variation-theme as 'one of the germ cells'." It is in fact the germ cell of the transition. Like the subsidiary




NEIL BOYNTON

Ex. 8 Motivic derivation of the transition

(a) Theme, b.2 (final version)

r, ;. ., [

tP .

(b) Sketch for the transition a. . -m t, m ,z

(c) Transition, bs 56-9 (final version) 04 9

d 4 e ow.. r " '-

i I

Ex. 8b reproduced by kind permission of Maria Halbich and the Paul Sacher Stiftung (Basle) Exs 8a and 8c reproduced by kind permission of Universal Edition A.G.Wien

theme, to which it leads, the transition is not structurally related to the variation-theme.

Given the absence of the motivic pattern 'a b a a b a' or any other skeleton derived from the variation-theme in the group of subordinate ideas of the adagio-form, it would be reasonable to conclude that the motivic pattern is a feature of the main theme of the adagio-form and its related parts, and that, as intimated by Webern to Reich, the work represents an adagio-form overall.

III

But the proportions of the work section by section, counting in bars (20:35:18:36:25:11:35), do not apparently support its analysis as an adagio; nor, as has often been remarked, do they support the idea of variations. Even the 1:1 proportion of the main theme to its reprise and the retransition in the sketches is absent in the final version of the work. In the later sketches the main theme is thirty-five bars long, and the retransition ten bars.56 In the final version the retransition is of eleven bars. Through this change, the reprise and the retransition thus appear to be more closely related to the subordinate theme (1:1) than to the main theme (36:35). Yet for the Second Viennese school precise proportion was considered to be an aspect of formal construction, as is evident, for example, in Ratz's analyses of works by Bach, Beethoven and Mahler." Clearly the proportions of the Orchestral Variations do not readily invite interpretation when reckoned by





the number of bars within each section, but Dahlhaus's observations about Webern's use of metrical stress, 'to which he adhered in essence', suggest that the number of strong beats would be more significant to the proportions of the work than the number of bars.58 Which beats within a bar Webern considered strong and weak might be supposed from Schoenberg's Harmonielehre. Although first published in 1911, it was not superseded in Webern's lifetime:

In every meter the first beat of the measure is accented (gut, strong, heavy). In two-beat measures the second is unaccented (schlecht, weak, light), in three-beat, the second and third. In compound meters (4/4, 8/4, 6/4, 6/8, etc.), and in subdividing the larger note values, the relation of accents depends, in the same way, on whether every two or every three [notes] form a unit, that is, whether the division is by two or by three.59

The only case not dealt with by Schoenberg, and which occurs in the Orchestral Variations, is that of bars containing five beats. Five-beat bars raise the perceptual issue of whether it is really possible to hear four consecutive unstressed notes without subdividing the bar. Five-beat bars are Webern's only irrational bars in the Orchestral Variations; there are no seven- or eleven-beat bars. Had there been such other irrational bars, where it would be impossible to avoid subdivision, one might have grounds to conclude by extension that five-beat bars should also be subdivided in some way. But there are none, and as the division of five beats into, for example, two plus three could be notated in bars of two and three beats, one may suppose that Webern considered five-beat bars as having one strong beat. Figure 3 shows the number of strong beats in each section of the Orchestral Variations according to Schoenberg's classification of strong and weak beats, counting five-beat bars as having one strong beat. With the obvious exception of the variation-theme, the length of each section of the Orchestral Variations is a multiple of eighteen, counting the reprise of the main theme and the retransition as a single unit. Reckoned in this way, the proportions of the work would seem to confirm its analysis as an adagio, for it is the main theme of the adagio-form that gives the basic unit of the work, not the variation-theme.60

So much can be said of the final version of the work at least. But the first sketch for the subsidiary theme comprises the motivic pattern 'a b a a b a' (see Ex. 9; pages 63-4 of Sketchbook V, from which Ex. 9 is drawn, are reproduced in Illustrations 1 and 2). The appearance of the pattern in the sketch for Variation 3, as well as in the variation-theme and Variation 1, suggests that at the time of making that sketch Webern considered the pattern as a motivic skeleton that might serve as the basis for structural variations and not just a feature of the main theme of the adagio-form, or of those sections of the adagio-form which he might have intended to be




NEIL BOYNTON

Fig. 3 Formal scheme of Webern's orchestral variations showing the number of bars and the number of strong beats in each section

No. of bs No. of strong beats

Variation-Theme bs 1-20 20 23

Main Theme bs 21-55 35 36

Transition bs 56-73 18 18

Subsidiary Theme bs 74-109 36 36

Reprise of the Main Theme bs 110-34 25 25 36

Retransition bs 135-45 11 11

Coda bs 146-80 35 36

Totals 180 185

Ex. 9 Sketchbook V, pp.64, 63

[p.641 [p.63]

75pi= arco

., 74

7C, 60 -- T - 7C

; 78 79U_ 7778s

GII 82 pi= 83 84 rco 8 88 87 88 bI B C'1 9 1F9


strongly related to the main theme, as was ultimately the case with Variations 4, 5 and 6.61

Considering the work as a combination of forms, each section would have to perform a dual function. In the case of the main theme these functions are performed by the same agent: the motivic-thematic structure, which is equally important in determining its form as a structural variation of the variation-theme and as part of the adagio-form. Theoretically, the





requirement of adagio-form that the subordinate group of ideas should provide a contrast to the main theme conflicts with the requirement of variation-form that 'the course of events should not be changed', which suggests that such a combination is not possible based on the dual function of a single agent.62 In the final version of the Orchestral Variations, the demands of adagio-form are met through the introduction of new, contrasting motives in the subordinate group of ideas; the demands of the variation-form to repeat the motivic pattern 'a b a a b a' are not. One supposes that in fulfilling the requirements of adagio-form the variation- form was of necessity interrupted, as the motivic-thematic structure could not sustain the conflicting requirements of them both. The work is essentially an adagio-form, although the 'x y x x y' pattern of the thematic content of the first five motives of the main voice of the subsidiary theme survives as a fragment of the abandoned skeleton. Webern's remark to Reich that the work is 'based on variations' is not borne out in the final version, but describes instead the history of its composition.63




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NEIL BOYNTON

NOTES

1. 'Webern's Last Works', The Monthly Musical Record, Vol. 76 (December 1946), pp.231-7 (pp.233-5).

2. Letter to Reich, Anton Webern, The Path to the New Music, ed. Willi Reich, trans. Leo Black (Bryn Mawr, PA: Presser, 1963), pp.61-2 (3 May 1941); Spinner, 'The Abolition of Thematicism: and the Structural Meaning of the Method of Twelve-Tone Composition', Tempo, No. 146 (September 1983), pp.2-9 (p.4).

3. London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1960. 4. Der Weg zur Neuen Musik, ed. Willi Reich (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1960),

p.66 (3 March 1941), author's translation. 'Es soll, dabei ist es geblieben, formal im Gesamtergebnis eine Art Ouvertiire vorstellen, doch auf Grund von Variationen [...]. Im Grunde ist meine "Ouverttire" eine "Adagio"-Form.' The English translation in Path, 'I settled on a form that amounts to a kind of overture, but based on variations' (p.60), does not convey the comparison between end result and initial plan that is implied in the German original. This comparison is not present in Webern's description of the form of the work to Jone: 'this theme with its 6 variations finally produces, from the formal point of view, an edifice [Bau] equivalent to that of an "Adagio"' (Letters to Hildegard Jone and Josef Humplik, ed. Josef Polnauer, trans. Cornelius Cardew (Bryn Mawr, PA: Presser in association with Universal Edition, 1967), pp.43-5 (26 May 1941)). Webern completed the 'composition' of the work in November 1940, although it was not until February 1941 that he finished the fair copy (Letters to Hildegard Jone, pp.42-3 (14 February 1941)).

5. Oehlgiesser is listed in Webernm's income book during this period (Basle, Paul Sacher Stiftung (hereafter PSS)).

6. Hans and Rosaleen Moldenhauer, Anton Webern: A Chronicle of his Life and Work (London: Gollancz, 1978), p.685 n. 22. Oehlgiesser died in 1993.

7. Private conversation with the author. 8. Letter to the author (12 January 1993). 9. Ibid. 'Erst durch die Begegnung mit Webern wurde mein Interesse fiir die

Zw6lftontechnik wach. Erst viel spifter, in der Emigration, diskutierte ich mit Spinner darfiber.'

10. Ibid. 'Unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Analyse der Werke zwecks Auffiihrung.' 11. 'Einfiihrungsvortrag', p.10 (28 November 1969). Oehlgiesser regarded

Spinner as his senior, for at the time when Oehlgiesser was going through the basic courses of harmony, counterpoint and form, Spinner was already studying the twelve-note method (private conversation with the author). Some of Oehlgiesser's drafts with Spinner's annotations are preserved in Basle, PSS (I am grateful to Regina Busch for this information).

12. In response to my question as to which of Reich's 'books on the life and work of Anton Webern' he was referring ('Einfiihrungsvortrag', p.10), Oehlgiesser replied that 'Willi Reich['s book] is predominantly biographical and not





analytical, as far as I know the work' (letter to the author, 12 January 1993). ('Biicher uber das Leben und Werk Anton Weberns', 'Willi Reich ist vorwiegend biographisch und nicht werkanalytisch, soweit ich das Werk kenne.') Oehlgiesser's reply implies that he was only referring to one book by Reich. Presumably, this was Anton Webern. Weg und Gestalt. In Selbstzeugnissen und Worten der Freunde, ed. Willi Reich, Sammlung Horizont (ZUrich: Verlag der Arche, 1961). The only other book on Webern edited by Reich is Path. D&hl's dissertation was completed in 1966; it was published as a book under the same title in 1976 (Berliner musikwissenschaftliche Arbeiten, 12 (Munich: Katzbichler)).

13. 'Der Versuch einer musikalischen Analyse des Werkes im Webern'schen Sinn, nach Massgabe meiner Krifte' ('Anton Webern. Orchestervariationen op.30', p.7).

14. Similar, although separate, lines of enquiry have been pursued by Kathryn Bailey, The Twelve-Note Music of Anton Webern: Old Forms in a New Language (Cambridge: CUP, 1991), pp.222-36; and Heinrich Deppert, Studien zur Kompositionstechnik im instrumentalen Spdtwerk Anton Weberns, Musikbiicher von Tonos, 3 (Darmstadt: Tonos, 1972), pp. 154-70. Deppert describes what is tantamount to the developing variation of motives set out in the theme, although his intention was to identify rhythmic rows in the motivic disposition (see below).

15. Bailey calls the first two motives a and b (The Twelve-Note Music of Anton Webern, p.225); Oehlgiesser calls them a and b (p.1). 'Thematic' refers to pitch; 'motivic' refers to rhythm, following Erwin Ratz, Einfiihrung in die musikalische Formenlehre. Uber Formprinzipien in den Inventionen und Fugen J. S. Bachs und ihre Bedeutung fur die Kompositionstechnik Beethovens, 3rd edn (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1973), p.45.

16. See Nono, 'Die Entwicklung der Reihentechnik', Darmstddter Beitrdge zur neuen Musik, Vol. 1 (1958), pp.25-37 (pp.31-4); Deppert, 'Rhythmische Reihentechnik in Weberns Orchestervariationen opus 30', in Festschrift Karl Marx zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Erhard Karkoschka (Stuttgart: Ichthys, 1967), pp.84-93; some of the material in this article was later used in Deppert, Studien zur Kompositionstechnik im instrumentalen Spdtwerk Anton Weberns.

17. 'Problems of rhythm in the New Music', in Schoenberg and the New Music, trans. Derrick Puffett and Alfred Clayton (Cambridge: CUP, 1987), pp.45-61 (p.60).

18. Ibid., p.61. 19. Letter to Reich, Der Weg zur Neuen Musik, p.67 (3 May 1941). 'Diese beide

Arten von Verinderung ffihren nun fast ausschlief3lich zu den jeweiligen Variationsideen, das heilt: eine motivische Verinderung geht, wenn iiberhaupt, nur in diesem Rahmen vor sich. Aber durch alle m6gliche Verlegung des Schwerpunktes innerhalb der beiden Gestalten entsteht immer was Neues in Taktart, Charakter usw.'

20. 'Analyse des Streichquartetts op.28', in Hans and Rosaleen Moldenhauer, Anton Webern. Chronik seines Lebens und Werkes, trans. Ken W. Bartlett




NEIL BOYNTON

(Zilrich: Atlantis, 1980), p.672. 'Beachte noch, insbesondere beim ersten Auftreten des Themas, wie im Canon, dadurch, dass taktmissig auf Grund des fortwihrenden Taktwechsels jede Stimme anders flillt, also gdnzlich andere Schwerpunkte bekommt, auch deren Charakter sich villig indert.'

21. See Dahlhaus, Schoenberg and the New Music, pp.60-61. 22. The Twelve-Note Music of Anton Webern, pp.225-6. 23. 'Anton Weberns Kantate Nr.2, Opus 31. Die Formprinzipien der

kanonischen Darstellung (Analyse des vierten Satzes)', Schweizerische Musikzeitung, Vol. 101 (1961), pp.303-8. Spinner notes that the rhythmic structure of the main voice is preserved in the three accompanying voices, whilst the successive presentation of thematic material in the main voice is given over to its simultaneous, i.e. chordal presentation in the second and third accompanying voices.

24. pp.5-6. 'Das Motiv a, das in den Takten 139/40 mit den Tonen B-A-C-Cis in der 1. V1. folgt, ist unter Einbeziehung der Sechszehntel-Pause [sic], die dem Cis folgt, eine r[h]ythmische Gestalt von 2 aufeinander folgenden Achteln, einer Sechszehntel [sic] und wieder einer Achtel, also eine Verkleinerung der ursprtinglichen Gestalt.'

25. Basle, PSS, Sketchbook V, p.50, st. 12-14, bs 10-11. The numbering of the sketchbook adopted here follows the Sacher Stiftung's catalogue (Anton Webern. Musikmanuskripte, ed. Felix Meyer and Sabine Htinggi-Stampfli, Inventare der Paul Sacher Stiftung, Vol. 4, 2nd edn (Winterthur: Amadeus, 1994)). In Ex. 2 the bar numbers are in blue pencil. Example 2 shows the initial continuation of b.10 (st. 12) in stave 14; stave 13 is empty. Later attempts at bs 10 and 11 appear at the end of staves 9 and 7, respectively, and are connected to the earlier sketch for b. 10 by arrows.

26. Bailey describes a technique of motivic 'inversion' with respect to a, whereby the value of its long notes are swapped for the value of its short note and vice versa (p.226). I do not accept this as a distinct technique of variation, but see it as a coincidental by-product of value replacement. Bailey chooses the harp and celeste motive in bs 139-40 as her first example of an inversion of a. And although this motive may be produced through such an inversion of a, it was most probably arrived at through the retrogression of the motive played by the solo violin in the same bars. Likewise, her other examples of inversion (pp.226-7) can all be accounted for by value replacement alone. Whilst there are examples of value replacement in the sketches for the Orchestral Variations (as noted above), I have found no evidence of the technique of inversion described by Bailey.

27. Letter to Reich, Path, p.60 (3 March 1941). 28. 'The Abolition of Thematicism', p.4. 29. The only derivatives of a and b to within such equivalence that are not listed

in Fig. 1 are those of b2 in Variation 3. b2 is derived by value replacement from b; it is not included in Fig. 1 as it is principally associated with the accompanying voice (see Oehlgiesser, p.4). The derivation of motives in Variations 2 and 3 is discussed below.





I list here the instrumentation of the motives in Fig. 1. Where Oehlgiesser does not specifically identify the instrumentation, I have taken the first motive of contrapuntal sections as the beginning of the main voice, and thereafter the next motive of the same row form, or chain of row forms, as its continuation. The identification of motives in the main voice of the theme is straightforward. In Variation 1, Oehlgiesser (p.2) identifies them as follows: motives 1 and 2 are played by the solo first violin (bs 21-3, 24-6); motives 3 and 4 by the clarinet (bs 27-30, 29-31); motive 5 by the trumpet (bs 32-4); motives 6 and 7 by the first violins (bs 35-7, 36-9); motive 8 by the horn (bs 40-2); motive 9 by the tuba (bs 43-6); motive 10 by the tuba and trombone (bs 45-7); motive 11 by the horn and cello (bs 48-50); motive 12 by the violins and the clarinet (bs 51-5).

Oehlgiesser notes that the motivic patterns 'a b a' and 'b a b' appear in Variation 4, and that when in any one voice of the four-part canonic presentation two of the same motive-forms appear consecutively they are overlapped, as occurs in Variation 1 - which he mistakenly refers to as Variation 2 (p.5). The motivic pattern 'a b a' appears in the first and third voices; the pattern 'b a b' appears in the second and fourth voices. The identification of motives in the first voice, that is to say, the main voice, is as follows: motive 1 is played by the double bass and horn (bs 110-12); motive 2 by the cello (bs 113-14); motive 3 by the harp and cello (bs 115-16); motive 4 by the cello (bs 116-18); motive 5 by the solo first violin (bs 119-20); motive 6 by the first violins, timpani, and trombone (bs 121-3); motive 7 by the timpani and trombone (bs 123-4); motive 8 by the cello (bs 125-6); motive 9 by the first violins (b. 127); motive 10 by the first violins (bs 127-8); motive 11 by the cello (bs 129-30); motive 12 by the horn and celeste, right hand (bs 131-2).

Oehlgiesser further identifies a twofold appearance of the motivic pattern 'a b a' in Variation 5. He explicitly identifies the instrumentation of motives 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the main voice, and notes the value replacement which led to the derivation of motives 2, 3 and 5 (Oehlgiesser, pp.5-6; the derivation of motive 3 is discussed above, p.191). The full identification of motives in the main voice is as follows: motive 1 is played by the viola (bs 135-6); motive 2 by the flute (bs 137-8); motives 3, 4 and 5 by the solo first violin (bs 139-40, 140-41, 142-3); motive 6 by the solo second violin and solo cello (bs 144-5).

Oehlgiesser identifies a fourfold appearance of the motivic pattern 'a b a' in Variation 6, and notes that consecutive appearances of a overlap. The identification of motives in the main voice is as follows: motive 1 is played by the trumpet and cello (bs 146-9); motive 2 by the violas (bs 150-52); motives 3 and 4 by the flute, oboe and clarinet (bs 153-7); motive 5 by the first violins (bs 158-60); motive 6 by the trumpet and tuba (bs 161-3); motive 7 by the tuba (bs 163-4); motive 8 by the flute (bs 165-6); motive 9 by the clarinet and celeste (bs 167-70); motive 10 by the clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute (bs 168-73); motive 11 by the first violins (bs 174-7); motive 12 by the winds and second violins (bs 179-80). The extra beat inserted after the first note of




NEIL BOYNTON

a in motive 1 is incorporated in later appearances of a in motives 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9. The derivation of motives 4 and 10 from a is obscure, although the thematic content of both is x. In both cases they are the second of two overlapping forms of a and have longer note values than the form of a which precedes them, which suggests that they are derived from the preceding form of a in part by augmentation, as in the case of motive 7 of Variation 1.

30. Fundamentals of Musical Composition, ed. Gerald Strang and Leonard Stein (London: Faber, 1967), p. 168.

31. 'Gustav Mahler', trans. Edward Reilly, in Reilly, Gustav Mahler and Guido Adler (Cambridge: CUP, 1982), pp.13-73 (p.55); first published in German as Gustav Mahler (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1916). In a letter to Jone, Webern describes his variations as 'metamorphoses' of the variation-theme (Letters to HildegardJone, p.44 (26 May 1941)).

32. 'Mahler the Factual (1930)', in Orpheus in New Guises (London: Rockliff, 1953), p.16.

33. See also Stein, 'Synopsis of Form', in Mahler, Symphonie IV, authoritative version (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1963), pp.[ii-iii]. Walter Frisch gives a survey (of essentially the motivic-thematic aspects) of developing variation in Schoenberg's writings in Brahms and the Principle of Developing Variation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), pp.1-34. A more wide- ranging view is presented by Dahlhaus, 'What is "Developing Variation"?', in Schoenberg and the New Music, pp.128-33. Schoenberg's earliest known description of the technique of developing variation is reproduced with a critical commentary in Coherence, Counterpoint, Instrumentation, Instruction in Form, ed. Severine Neff, trans. Charlotte M. Cross and Severine Neff (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994), pp.lxiii-viii, 36-42.

34. Path, p.62 (3 May 1941). The German terms are taken from Der Weg zur Neuen Musik (p.67). Webern used both the terms 'andante form' and 'adagio- form' in describing the Orchestral Variations (the former in the letter quoted above; the latter in the letter to Reich of 3 March 1941, and in the letter to Jone of 26 May 1941 (see n. 4 above)). Elsewhere, Webern appears to have used the terms more or less synonymously to denote essentially a three-part form with a contrasting middle section: in Rudolf Schopfs notes from Webern's lectures on Beethoven, the section which deals with slow movements is headed 'Adagio-form. (Andante) Form of the slow movement' (Basle, PSS, Notizbuch, p.87). ('Adagioform. (Andante) Form des langsamen Satzes'.) cf. Ratz, Formenlehre, pp.30-32, 35-6 (who characterises two principal types of subsidiary theme), and Schoenberg, Fundamentals, p.190 (who includes 'the Andante forms (ABA and ABAB)' in his discussion of rondo forms).

35. Schoenberg writes: 'the purpose of a transition is not only to introduce a contrast [namely, the subsidiary theme]; it is, itself, a contrast. [...] A transition, especially if it is an independent section, belongs to the group of subordinate ideas' (Fundamentals, p. 178).

36. In all instances where two forms of a overlap, they also form one phrase.

216 MUSIC ANALYSIS 14:2-3, 1995 C Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1995




These nine phrases correspond to the main voice of Bailey's nine sections (The Twelve-Note Music of Anton Webern, p.229).

37. cf. Schoenberg: 'the consequent [of a period] is a modified repetition of the antecedent' (Fundamentals, p.29).

38. The identification of antecedent and consequent suggested by the analysis of the motivic structure is the same as that given by Karlheinz Essl, although he offers no explanation as to why he identified them as such (Das Synthese- Denken bei Anton Webern. Studien zur Musikauffassung des spdten Webern unter besonderer Beriicksichtigung seiner eigenen Analysen zu op.28 und 30, Wiener Ver6ffentlichungen zur Musikwissenschaft, 24 (Tutzing: Schneider, 1991), p.208).

39. Letter to Reich, Path, p.62 (3 May 1941); Der Weg zur neuen Musik, p.67. There is also a pun on the German phrase 'in voller Entfaltung', meaning both 'fully developed' and 'in full bloom'.

40. Furthermore, the thematic content of the first and last phrases of the consequent of the main theme ((B6, C?, D, F), (B?, B6, C?, D)) is identical to the first and last phrases of the second part of the reprise ((F, D, C., Bb), (C?, D, B?, Bb)).

41. cf. Schoenberg: 'since the viewpoint determining what features are essential is not necessarily uniform for all variations, there may be more than one usable "skeleton" ' (Fundamentals, p.169).

42. 'Motivisch ist diese Variation durchwegs aus Motiv b gebildet.' 43. Oehlgiesser, p.4. Essl also notes that bI and b2 are derived from b (Das

Synthese-Denken bei Anton Webern, p.213). Bailey calls the motive played by the flute 'c', and the motive played by the cello and clarinet 'd'. She identifies c as a derivative of b, and d as a derivative of a (The Twelve-Note Music of Anton Webern, p.227).

44. Basle, PSS, Sketchbook V, p.66, st. 2-6, bs 74-5. Bar numbers and row numbers (b.74, beneath st. 2 and 4) are written in blue pencil; 'Hm' is written in green pencil.

45. The sketches for the Orchestral Variations comprise thirty-four pages (Sketchbook V, pp.47-80). Each page is in oblong format, approx. 27 x 33.5 cm, and has sixteen staves.

46. Webern's working methods are discussed by Ernst Krenek, 'Commentary', in Anton von Webern, Sketches (1926-1945), compiled by Hans Moldenhauer (NY: Fischer, 1968), pp. 1-7.

47. p.4. The third motive is a retrograde form of the first in both cases. 48. Oehlgiesser's adherence to the motivic structure as indicator of the musical

material is similar to Spinner's implicit advocacy of the symmetrical patterns in his analysis of the first movement of the Piano Variations Op.27, and may be an indication of Spinner's influence on Oehlgiesser (see Spinner, A Short Introduction, pp.32-3 of the musical examples).

Essl maintains that the subsidiary theme is constructed as a period: bs 74-91 constitute the antecedent and bs 92-109 the consequent (Das Synthese- Denken bei Anton Webern, p.215).




NEIL BOYNTON

49. See Ratz, Formenlehre, pp.30-32. 50. Going by the row form from which the first motive is taken (p.65, st. 9) its

last note should be C, as in the final version of the work (b.99, trumpet). The same motive with C instead of F? is tried later on the same page using the same rhythm, although the contour is changed to what was eventually used in the final version (st. 14, rhs).

51. Oehlgiesser describes bs 92-109 as a varied repetition of bs 74-91, thus implying that all the motives of the new model and its repeat comprise forms of b' (p.4). The second main motive of the new model and its repeat did in fact originate as retrograde forms of that form of b1 which first appears in the second phrase of the subsidiary theme, bs 76-7 (Sketchbook V, p.68, st. 5, bs 96, 97-100; st. 10, bs 101-2; st. 13, rhs). Nevertheless, considering the second half of each of the two motives as the augmented retrograde of the first, they can also be derived through value replacement from b.

52. Formenlehre, p.31. 53. Basle, PSS, Sketchbook V, p.62, st. 2-5. The sketches for the transition, in

chronological order, are on pp.60, 59, 62, 61 and 64 of Sketchbook V. 54. Oehlgiesser analyses the first motive of the transitional idea as comprising part

of motive b (dotted crotchet plus quaver) and part of motive a (crotchet plus minim) (p.3).

55. Letters to HildegardJone, p.42 (22 December 1940). 56. Sketchbook V, pp.58, 57, 60 (main theme); pp.70, 69, 71 (reprise); pp.71, 74

(retransition). 57. Formenlehre, pp.62, 71 (Bach), 110, 137, 169-70 (Beethoven), 175, 178, 195,

198. Gesammelte Aufsdtze, ed. F. C. Heller (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1975), pp.56 (Beethoven), 162-3 (Mahler). The example from Beethoven in Gesammelte Aufsdtze is the same as that on pp.169-70 in Formenlehre. The essay in which this example appears ('Analyse und Hermeneutik in ihrer Bedeutung ffir die Interpretation Beethovens', pp.53-64) has been translated into English by Mary Whittall, 'Analysis and Hermeneutics, and their Significance for the Interpretation of Beethoven', Music Analysis, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1984), pp.243-54.

58. Schoenberg and the New Music, p.60. 59. Theory of Harmony, trans. Roy E. Carter, paperback edition (London: Faber,

1983), p.205n. 60. The length of the variation-theme suggests that Webern was making a

reference to Berg (some of the significance of the number 23 for Berg is described by Douglas Jarman, The Music of Alban Berg (London: Faber, 1979), pp.228-30). The appearance of the number 23 at the beginning of the Orchestral Variations recalls the manner in which Berg used the number 10 as a cipher for Hanna Fuchs-Robettin in the Violin Concerto. Berg's cipher for Hanna Fuchs is stated at the outset of the Violin Concerto: the introduction is ten bars long. Jarman notes that 'its importance [...] is signalled from the outset by Berg's own indication which stands at the head of the opening bars of the work: "Introduction (10 bars)" ' ('Alban Berg, Wilhelm Fliess, and the





Secret Programme of the Violin Concerto', in The Berg Companion, ed. Douglas Jarman (London: Macmillan, 1989), pp.181-94 (pp.185, 185 n.19)). Yet although there is other analytical evidence to suport this hypothesis, there is no historical evidence linking Berg to the Orchestral Variations and as far as I am aware the significance of the proportions of Webern's other twelve-note works is purely functional, so the idea that Webern might have used numbers symbolically should be treated with some caution. If the twenty-three strong beats of the variation-theme were indeed a deliberate reference to Berg, one might expect to find other ciphers employed by Berg. Perle is credited with having suggested that the number 10 represents the number of letters in Hanna Fuchs' name (Stadlen, 'Berg's Cryptography', in Alban Berg Symposium Wien 1980. Tagungsbericht, ed. Rudolf Klein, Alban Berg Studien, 2 (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1981), pp.171-80 (p.176)). Likewise, the number 23 supposedly represents the number of letters in Berg's full name, via a corrupt spelling of one of his middle names which he preferred. (I am grateful to Michael Taylor for this information.) A second type of cipher used by Berg is the letter cipher: thus (A, B [B,]) represent the initials of his name and (H [Bk], F) those of Hanna Fuchs (see George Perle, 'The Secret Programme of the Lyric Suite', Musical Times, 118 (August, September, October 1977), pp.629-32, 709-13, 809-13 (p.709)). Both of these types of cipher are to be found in Webern's Orchestral Variations. The notes A and B, are in fact the first two notes of the Orchestral Variations. They are also the first two notes of the main theme, and, more significantly in view of their relation to the number cipher described below, the first note of the antecedent of the main theme is A, whereas the first note of the consequent is Bb. The antecedent of the main theme has five phrases; the consequent has four. The number and division of phrases may be interpreted as a cipher for Alban Berg, whereby the number of phrases represents the number of letters in Berg's name. Thus the name Alban Berg is doubly encoded in both the variation-theme (A and B,, 23 strong beats) and the main theme (A and B,, nine phrases) of Webern's Orchestral Variations. Furthermore, the number of phrases in the antecedent and the consequent of the main theme, and, hence, Berg's cipher, is reflected in the proportions of the adagio-form as a whole (that is to say, not counting the variation-theme). The proportional scheme is given in the figure on the following page.

Finally, there is the striking similarity between Webern's motive a and the Hauptrhythmus of Berg's Lulu: '"

' ' ~ '. The variant of Berg's Hauptrhythmus

which accompanies the Canon between Lulu and the Painter (Act 1, sc. 1, bs 156-85) is identical to Webern's motive a: 'r r r' (see Jarman, The Music of Alban Berg, pp.164-5). The ciphers described above suggest, if indeed they were used symbolically by Webern, that the Orchestral Variations represent a tribute in memory of Berg.




NEIL BOYNTON

No. of strong beats

variation-theme 23 23 main theme 36 transition 18 subsidiary theme 36 90 = 18 x 5 reprise of the main theme 25 retransition 11 coda 36 72 = 18 x 4

TOTAL 185

61. Pages 63-4 are laid out on sixteen-stave paper in three systems of four staves each: st. 2-5, 7-10, 12-15. The sketch of the motivic pattern uses the first stave of each system, beginning on p.64, st. 12, with the single exception of the first attempt at the first motive (p.64, st. 12-15, lhs) which uses staves 12 and 14. This attempt is crossed out. The first attempt at the third motive (p.63, st. 2, lhs) is bracketed off. These two attempts are not reproduced in Ex. 9. Some alternatives are tried in the single staves above each system on both pages and were presumably added after the whole of the motivic pattern had been sketched in the first system of each stave; these alternatives are not reproduced in Ex. 9. Bar numbers, the row number in b.74, and the bracket in b.81, are in blue pencil; the row number in b.82 was first written in black pencil and later gone over in green pencil; the bracket in b.89 is in green pencil.

62. Schoenberg, Fundamentals, p.168. 63. Letter to Reich, Path, p.60 (3 March 1941).




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