DIX. WEBERN, Anton (1883-1945)
The Complete Works of Webern fit neatly onto six CDs:
This early work -- atonal but not dodecaphonic -- shows the pupil opening the door for the teacher (Schoenberg). Webern astonished those with the ears capable of comprehending this new and fantastically original string quartet. This was 1909 -- Brahms only nine years in his grave!
1. Heftig bewegt Tempo I
In the first six bars, Webern uses four different ways of playing a stringed instrument, other than the traditional arco (with the bow) ...
- pizzicato
- col legno (with the wooden side of the bow)
- am steg (or sul ponticello, playing next to the bridge, creating a spooky, eerie sound)
- artificial harmonic (produced by holding down a finger and bowing [in this case] a fourth above, producing a very high pitch)
Intervallic motifs are encased in "cells" which reoccur in various disguises throughout the movement, and the work, as a whole. This, of course, prefigures the 12-tone discipline of the four types of rows: 1) an original row of 12 notes with none repeated; 2) the retrograde of the row; that is starting with the 12th note and ending with the first; 3) the inversion of the row -- that is, inverting the intervals (an ascending minor second becomes a descending major seventh); and 4) the retrograde inversion.
We can see Webern's method by inspecting the first two notes -- an augmented octave -- and his use of the interval of the sixth, both vertically and horizontally.
Besides all this, there is an emotional resonance in the writing. Every few bars, a new feeling seems to emerge.
Besides all this, there is an emotional resonance in the writing. Every few bars, a new feeling seems to emerge.
2. Sehr langsam
The form of the arch in this five-movement work would inspire Bartók and later generations (see Post V addendum) -- the coordination of ideas between movements 1 & 5; 2 & 4, and with 3 reaching its peak midway.
Here, we see the importance of the sixth -- both major and minor. (The cello plays a major sixth + its top note (F) creates another major sixth the second violin's top note (D).
The viola part creates a minor sixth horizontally -- its first note an F and under the fermata, a C-Sharp. An augmented fifth, which can be enharmonically respelled as a minor sixth (F-D-Flat).
The entire movement consists of only fourteen bars!
The viola part creates a minor sixth horizontally -- its first note an F and under the fermata, a C-Sharp. An augmented fifth, which can be enharmonically respelled as a minor sixth (F-D-Flat).
The entire movement consists of only fourteen bars!
3. Sehr bewegt
Here we have an actual pulse in the cello, over which the higher strings play sul pont. and pizz. Webern inserts a ritard and accelerando before ending the movement with a unison pizz. on C-Sharp.
4. Sehr langsam
Webern mirrors the second movement, with this one being only thirteen bars.
The strings are muted, as we note the augmented octave from the first movement appearing three times ... the music shifts and sways with several ritards.
The strings are muted, as we note the augmented octave from the first movement appearing three times ... the music shifts and sways with several ritards.
5. In zarter Bewegung
The final movement brings together lots of previous material. Again, the strings are muted, and the cello begins with horizontal minor sixths, followed by repeating minor thirds. The soft upper strings include the intervals of major sevenths and augmented octaves.
The final chord -- containing a clashing C-Natural and C-Sharp -- also produces a minor and major seventh, and a tritone (F-B) spread over an octave-and-a-half between the cello and first violin's final note.
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