timbral tunes

>Mahler confesses to Alma after the Chamber Symphony performance that
he himself can no longer follow Schönberg's development. He blames
it on his 'old age': 46 years. Mahler
had gotten into an argument with Schönberg at one point over
whether or not it waspossible to create a Klangfarbenmelodie ['melody
of tone colors (timbres)'] by constantlyshifting the orchestration of
asingle note; Schönberg was to carry out this idea in 1909 in
the third of his Funf Orchesterstücke. With this dispute in mind,
Mahler's remark aboutbeing too old to have an ear for Schönberg's
music was perhaps referring directly to his loss of the ability to
hear high frequencies, due to aging and daily exposure to the volume
of 100-piece orchestras. In any case, the logic in Schönberg's
thought and music are convincing, and Mahler continues to support him
all the same.

The above quotation comes from Joe Monzo's terrific history of music
in "turn of the century" Vienna. Clearly, there is a "different kind
of listening" going on... that possibly presages our present-day
fascination with the overtone series and "timbral listening...."

From webern to Sethares (??) Perhaps not such a great leap after
all...

Monz' article:

http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/schoenberg/Vienna1905.htm

________ ___ __ _ _
Joseph Pehrson