Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup tuning essay on Webern's microtonal first-drafts

hello all,

Johnny Reinhard and the AFMM had on their concert last
Saturday (June 1st) the American (or perhaps even the
world? -- i believe these versions have *never* been
performed before) premier of the early first-drafts of two
of Anton Webern's songs, which contain a few microtonal
pitches. Philip Anderson sang the vocal part and
Joshua Pierce played the piano part.

i have searched diligently for sketches from Schoenberg
which use the microtonal notation he discussed in a 1909
letter to Busoni, but none seem to exist ... whatever
there was, probably got destroyed in World War 2. so
these two Webern songs seem to be the only extant evidence
for the experiments of Schoenberg and his students with
microtonality, around the time that they created the
pantonal (so-called "free-atonality") style. Webern's
manuscript also seems to point to the invention of
_sprechstimme_.

Johnny had to edit out a lot of this for his program notes.
here is the full text.

(and thanks to Daniel Wolf for posting to this list a few
years ago about the 1998 Schweiger article [in German] which
started me on this whole thing.)

> PROGRAM NOTES FOR WEBERN, "AN BACHES RANFT" AND
> "DAS LOCKERE SAATGEFILDE LECHZET KRANK"
>
> by Joe Monzo
> Poems by Stefan George
> English translations (c)2001 by Joe Monzo and (c)2002 by Joe Monzo and
> Patricia Siutz
>
> ------
>
> An baches ranft
> no. 3 from Webern, _5 Songs from "Der siebente Ring" by Stefan George, op.
> 3_
>
>
> An Baches ranft
> Die einzigen Frï¿½hen
> Die Hasel blï¿½hen.
> Ein Vogel pfeift
> In kï¿½hler Au.
> Ein Leuchten streift
> Erwï¿½rmt uns sanft
> Und zuckt und bleicht.
> Das Feld ist brach
> Der Baum noch grau...
> Blumen streut vielleicht
> Der Lenz uns nach.
>
>
> At the brook's edge
> Solitary and early
> The hazel blooms.
> A bird whistles
> in the cool meadow.
> A ray of light strokes
> Warms us softly
> And twitches and fades.
> The field is fallow
> The tree still grey...
> Perhaps flowers will scatter
> After us by the Spring.
>
> -----
>
> Das lockere saatgefilde lechzet krank
> no. 4 from Webern, _Four Stefan George Songs_, publ. posthumously (1968)
>
>
> Das lockere Saatgefilde lechzet krank,
> Da es nach hartem Froste schon die lauer'n
> Lenzlichter fï¿½hlte und der Pflï¿½ge Zï¿½hne,
> Und vor dem Stoss der Vorjahr-stï¿½rme keuchte:
> Sei mir nun fruchtend Bad und linder Trank:
> Von deiner nackten Brust das blumige Schauern,
> Das duften deiner leichtgewirrten Strï¿½hne,
> Dein Hauch, dein Weinen, deines Mundes Feuchte.
>
>
> The field of the loosened earth is sick and thirsty
> Because after hard frost already the lurking
> Springtide is felt, and the teeth of the plow.
> And before the stroke of the previous years gasps:
> Be now my fruity bath and alleviating drink
> From your naked breast the flowery tremble
> The fragrance of your softly tangled hair
> Your breath, your weeping, your mouth's moistness
>
> -------
>
> The microtonal experiments of Schoenberg and Webern
> (c)2002 by Joe Monzo
>
> Since this is a festival of microtonal music, I feel the need
> to first state a disclaimer so that listeners will not have
> their expectations set too high: the early versions being presented
> here of these two songs by Webern contain indications for microtonal
> pitches in only one one and two places, respectively. So there
> really isn't much microtonality in them. But I feel that what
> little *is* there, is extremely significant for any student of tuning
> history, as they are the only surviving examples of microtonal
> music from the founding members of the so-called "Second Viennese
> School" (Schoenberg and his two most famous students, Berg and
> Webern).
>
> This is important primarily because it was mainly
> due to Schoenberg's influence (especially via his "Method of
> Composition with 12 Tones related only to one another", known
> popularly as the "12-tone method", "dodecaphony", or "serialism",
> which was developed around 1920) that 12-tone equal-temperament
> became the *de facto* standard tuning for most of the musical
> world during the 20th Century.
>
> But evidence from Schoenberg himself, in a letter to Busoni
> dated 24 August 1909, proves that shortly before that date
> he had experimented with quarter-tones himself, and ultimately
> decided not to use them. And then the following summer, Schoenberg
> wrote his famous _Harmonielehre_ ("Treatise on Harmony"), in
> which he discusses tuning and temperament and gives favorable
> mention to microtonality several times. He does give several
> justifications there for "the time not being yet right" for
> their use, citing chiefly the lack of properly-tuned instruments,
> but he also states confidently that at some point in the future
> their employment would be inevitable.
>
> My speculation is that Schoenberg's primary reason for rejecting
> microtones was that he had already entered his period of
> "atonal" composition in 1908 (he always preferred to call it
> "pantonal"), his recent premieres had caused the biggest scandals
> in Viennese concert history, and he probably didn't think it
> prudent to add any other aspects to his music that would render
> it even *less* performable or less likely to be performed, thus
> the resolution to stick to the 12-tone equal-temperament already
> in general use.
>
> The first completely "atonal" opus by Schoenberg was his
> song-cycle on poems of Stefan George, _Das Buch der
> hï¿½ngenden Gï¿½rten_ ("The Book of the Hanging Gardens"),
> composed in two separate periods, the first group of songs
> in March and April 1908, and the second group from September 1908
> to February 1909.
>
> Both of these periods of compositional activity were precipitated
> by calamitous events in Schoenberg's life. He had become very
> close to Mahler from 1904 on, and often became involved in heated
> arguments weith Mahler over his innovative musical ideas, while
> Mahler nonetheless felt a strong conviction towards Schoenberg's
> actual compositions. Mahler had ostentatiously applauded
> Schoenberg's _1st Quartet_ (from 1904/05) at the premiere on
> February 1907 (amid much booing and hissing from the majority
> of the audience) and wrote to Richard Strauss that he found it
> "profound and impressive", but a few weeks later, after the
> premiere of Schoenberg's _Kammersymphonie_ ("Chamber Symphony",
> from 1906), Mahler lamented to his wife that he "can no longer
> follow Schoenberg's thought", adding, however, "but he's young
> and perhaps he's right". Mahler continued his strong support
> of Schoenberg, both artistically and financially, to the very
> end of his life, whispering on his deathbed (in 1911), "What's
> going to happen to poor Schoenberg now that I'm gone?".
>
> Schoenberg felt deeply indebted to this support from Mahler,
> and when Mahler left Vienna for his new job as conductor
> of the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 9 December 1907,
> it caused a bit of an emotional crisis for Schoenberg. But
> at the same time, it seems to me that without the master's
> strong criticism, Schoenberg suddenly felt free to indulge
> in his most experimental ideas. Just a week after Mahler's
> departure, Schoenberg composed his first setting of a text
> by Stefan George -- and after a period of setting texts
> of many different poets, Schoenberg now felt a real inspiration
> from George's work.
>
> During most of 1907, Schoenberg had begun drafting his
> _2nd Quartet_, and he and his wife Mathilde (the sister of
> Zemlinsky, his friend and teacher) had also begun taking
> painting lessons from a young and talented artist named
> Richard Gerstl. Schoenberg had interrupted work on the
> Quartet to compose the first group of George songs in the
> Spring of 1908 -- songs which describe the awakening of a
> new love. But by the summer, Mathilde's relationship
> with Gerstl had deepened into a love affair, and Schoenberg
> apparently had at least an inkling of what was going on,
> because he then returned to work on the 2nd Quartet,
> introducing a soprano singing despairing words by George
> in the last two movements. The last movement is also the
> first piece Schoenberg wrote in which he completely
> relinquished the the usual functions of tonality, although
> he still touches on the tonic F#-minor at key points in the
> structure.
>
> At the end of August 1908, Mathilde left Schoenberg and their
> two children at their summer house and went back to Vienna with
> Gerstl. This love triangle caused a great deal of anguish for
> all three of the protagonists, and Schoenberg and Mathilde both
> contemplated suicide. At this point, Schoenberg decided to
> return to the set of George songs and create an entire cycle
> from the middle set of poems in George's book, thus now including
> the tragic denoument of the love described in the earlier set
> of songs. On September 27, he composed _Du lehnest wider eine
> silberweide_ ("You lean against a silver-willow"), the first
> piece without any reference at all to a key. The vocal part
> of this song also marks a sharp change in style, being very
> dispassionate and declamatory, without a trace of the lyricism
> apparent in all of Schoenberg's many previous songs. This is
> important, because I believe that it indicates the beginning of
> his interest in mirroring the pitches used in *speech*, which
> would indicate an interest in microtonality, and which a couple
> of years later would result in his presentation of _sprechstimme_
> ("speech-vocalizing"), used most famously in _Pierrot Lunaire_
> in 1912.
>
> The Schoenberg/Gerstl affair ended happily for Schoenberg,
> but not for Gerstl. In October 1908, mainly at the instigation
> of Webern, Mathilde was persuaded to return to her husband
> and children. But early in November, at the age of 25, Gerstl
> burned most of his paintings in a bonfile, and then stabbed
> and hung himself. As evidenced by the changes in his music,
> this whole sequence of events had a profound effect on Schoenberg.
> During the next year, he composed in rapid succession a series of
> the most innovative pieces that had been yet written in the European
> tradition, including his _3 Piano Pieces, op. 11_, _5 Pieces
> for Orchestra, op. 15_, and (immediately after writing the
> above-mentioned letter to Busoni) the amazing monodrama _Erwartung_
> ("Expectation"), op. 17_, and he also began the first work on
> his opera _Die Glï¿½ckliche Hand_ ("The Lucky Hand"), which
> is based closely on the events of the Gerstl affair.
>
> I have searched diligently for examples of microtonal notations
> in Schoenberg's manuscripts and sketchs, but apparently none
> have survived, the only reference from his own hand being the
> letter to Busoni. But I think the "circumstantial evidence",
> concerning both he and his student Webern (as discussed below),
> strongly confirms that his microtonal experiments would have
> concerned the vocal parts of his later set of George songs,
> from fall-winter 1908/09.
>
> Now to return to Webern...
>
> In a famous statement by Schoenberg, he once said, "I have to
> keep all of my new ideas secret from Webern, because he uses
> them before I do, and I thus find myself in the embarassing
> position of seeming to imitate my students". The truth of this
> accusation is documented admirably by, among many other things,
> the fact that Webern also began composing songs on texts by George
> at the same time as Schoenberg, and he also apparently composed
> them in two sets, totaling nearly the same number (15 in
> Schoenberg's cycle, and 14 for Webern). Webern only wrote
> "composed 1908/09" on the whole set of George songs, so it
> is not possible to prove the date of their composition more
> accurately, but only to gain clues from an examination of the
> music-paper and the various plans Webern drew up for the grouping
> of the songs, and from the letters Webern wrote to Schoenberg in
> 1909. Both of these investigations lead to the conclusion that
> Webern composed a set of about 5 to 7 George songs around the
> winter of 1908/09, and then another set later in 1909.
>
> Even more strikingly, the manuscript of "An Baches Ranft"
> ("At the brook's edge") has crossed-out sketches at
> the end which use the mathematical symbols < ("less-than")
> and > ("greater-than") as accidentals in front of the notes.
> These are *exactly* the same symbols Schoenberg illustrated
> for the indication of quarter-tones in his letter to Busoni.
> This mention in the letter was prompted by the fact that Busoni
> had just sent Schoenberg a copy of his little book
> _Entwurf einer neuen ï¿½sthetik der Tonkunst_ ("Outline for a
> new aesthetic of music"), in which he suggests using 36-tone
> equal temperament, conceived as two third-tone scales a
> semitone apart, as an expansion of pitch resources.
>
> To me, however, the biggest surprise is that, along with
> verbal comments specifying what he wanted, Webern used
> little crosses instead of note-heads to indicate the microtonal
> pitches. This is *exactly* the notation Schoenberg later
> used for his _sprechstimme_! So to supplement Schoenberg's
> accusation about Webern, it must be noted that the stealing
> of ideas between teacher and student apparently flowed both ways.
>
> One thing I find highly significant, and indicative of
> Webern's slavish relationship to Schoenberg, is that the
> microtones in these two songs appear only in the vocal part,
> and that Webern eliminated them even though they could easily
> have been performed by the singer, as we will hear today.
> The only explanation I can find for this is that once
> Schoenberg (in _Harmonielehre_) decided definitively to
> stick to 12-tone equal-temperament, Webern felt obliged
> to do so as well. "An Baches Ranft" was the only song of
> the two which Webern actually published during his lifetime,
> and the published version is entirely in 12-tone tuning.
> Interestingly, when Peter Westergaard published "Das Lockere..."
> in 1968, he added natural signs to all of the notes which
> appear in Webern's manuscript without accidentals, but
> the only note in the entire song which does not have an
> accidental in the published version is the microtonal one
> in Webern's manuscript.
>
> Now, as to the significance of the placement of these
> sparsely-used microtones in Webern's songs: All of the
> George poems set by Schoenberg and Webern exude a
> highly-charged eroticism. Interestingly, both of the
> Webern songs which contain microtones use the metaphor
> of the vagina as a freshly-plowed but still unplanted field.
> In "An Baches Ranft", a pretty Spring image is set up in the
> first three-quarters of the poem, but then at the mention
> of "the tree still grey" the mood changes, and that is
> where Webern used the two microtones, on the words "noch grau".
> "Das Lockere..." sets up a very similar scenario, and the single
> microtone indicated by Webern is on the last syllable of
> the word "Zï¿½hne", referring to the teeth of the plow.
> As the vocal part here and in the next line softly dies
> away, the piano part becomes violent. In the second half
> of the poem the mood becomes more tender, and the music
> softly reflects this change.
>
> Webern's verbal explanations are along the lines of:
> "voiced softly between E and Eb", etc. The appearance of
> Schoenberg's "less-than" and "greater-than" signs at the
> end of the "An Baches Ranft" manuscript imply that he
> wanted quarter-tones, but he never specified *exactly*
> what tuning he wanted for the microtonal pitches.
>
>
> ---
>
> Much more historical background on these songs can be found
> on my webpage "A Century of New Music in Vienna"
> http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/schoenberg/vienna1905.htm
>
> I became aware of Webern's microtonal experiments through
> the article "Weberns verworfene Mikrotï¿½ne" ("Webern's rejected
> microtones") by Dominik Schweiger, appearing in _Mitteilungen
> der Paul Sacher Stiftung_, no. 11 (April 1998). I have also
> made this article and my English translation of it available
> on the internet at:
> http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/webern/micro/Webernmicro.htm

-monz

essay on Webern's microtonal first-drafts

🔗monz <monz@attglobal.net>

🔗jpehrson2 <jpehrson@rcn.com>