Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire Vs Webern Bagatelles Op. 9 Voices of Modernism by Payman Akhlaghi 1999 UCLA

Schoenberg & Webern: Voices of Modernism?
Author: Payman Akhlaghi Graduate Studies Paper (1999)
Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9
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Schoenberg and Webern:

Voices of Modernism?
A Brief Discussion of
Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21

and
Anton Webern’s Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9
By: Payman Akhlaghi
Music 266A
Professor David Lefkowitz
Fall 1999
UCLA
Final Paper
December 15th, 1999

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© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

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Schoenberg & Webern: Voices of Modernism? Author: Payman Akhlaghi Graduate Studies Paper (1999)
Introduction
The primary thrust of this paper is an attempt in understanding the place of two
quintessentially twentieth century compositions within our current discussion of
Modernism and according to our present conclusions in the seminar for which the paper
is being written. Yet, thereafter, it also tries to achieve a better understanding of
Modernism itself, in the light of these two compositions. Here, something should be
noted. Although at first this might seem to suggest a basically circular argument in
nature, I believe it is far from being so. It should be rather considered a reflection of the
dialectic relationship between the general definition of a class on one hand, and the
particular species on the other. Indeed, this has been the methodology that was adopted
from the outset by the seminar, and considering the illusive and controversial nature of
the subject at hand, namely Modernism, it proved to have been a quite suitable approach.
***
For the purpose of our comparative discussion in regards to Modernism in the
first half of the twentieth century, Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 (1912)
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and Anton Webern’s Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9 (1911-1913; pub. 1924)
seem to be excellent candidates. To begin with, both of the pieces were composed within
one year, both belong to two of the three pillars of the so-called Second Viennese School,
and they were both composed during a period of close artistic contact between their
respective composers. Furthermore, the sonic worlds of the two pieces manifest a sharp
degree of departure from that of the music of the preceding periods. Listening to them,
one can realize, without much hesitation, that they belong to our century; that they could
not have been written in any earlier period; and that only our century, with all its
extremes of tension and liberation could have justified their understanding, or even their
existence in the first place.
Still, the two pieces could not have been more distant from each other. While
Pierrot, a rather extroverted setting of 21 selected poems, unfolds patiently, stretching
around 35 minutes, the Bagatelles manifest a high degree of introspection and an utmost
level of brevity, lasting for approximately 4 minutes. While the world of Pierrot is in part
justified by the content of the words, the Bagatelles have to stand for themselves, with no
evident extra musical context to assist them in this task. Even while both compositions
employ an “atonal” style, or preferably, language, the differences between their stylistic
characteristics are enough to endow each of them with a unique pitch-world of their own.
And yet, Pierrot and the Bagatelles are unmistakenably two daring manifestation
of an early twentieth century cherished idealism in regards to the notions of progress and
originality in music, shared by both composers, finding uniquely personal expressions in
the case of each individual.
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*Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 (1912)
Foreword:
In 1912, Schoenberg undertook a commission from an actress named Albertine
Zehme, to compose “a set of melodramas that she could perform in her musically
accompanied poetry recitals.” (Lustig) The result was Pierrot Lunaire, about which
Pierre Boulez has said, “The ambiguities that [Pierrot lunaire] contains and Schoenberg’s
bold idea about the relationship between words and music represent an inexhaustible
wellspring for the future…The name of Schoenberg remains identified with Pierrot
Lunaire.” (Quoted in Watkins’) In 1942, as part of a harsh reply to a masters' student at
UCLA who had only asked Schoenberg about his credentials, he identified himself as
“the composer of Pierrot Lunaire and other works which have changed the history of
music…” (H. C. Schoenberg) About Pierrot, H. C. Schoenberg says, “Pierrot Lunaire is
a magical and evocative score that inhabits a ghostly, miniature, imagery-ridden world
full of blood symbolism. Today it is recognized as being as seminal a work as Le Sacre
du Printemps, Joyce’s Ulysses, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, and the reasoning
that led to E=mc².” (H. C. Schoenberg)
Along with Harmonielehre, which had been published a year earlier, Pierrot was
the first of Schoenberg’s compositions to gain him the approval of both the public and the
influential circles of the musical world. Its importance was immediately known to the
listeners, a fact that the composer too was well aware of. Perhaps, Prof. Roger Bourland
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once best summed it all, saying, “I love Pierrot Lunaire: there is no other piece that
sounds like it.” (class address, 1997)
Background and Evaluation
Pierrot was one of the several established characters of the French comedia
dell’arte, itself having its origins in the mid-sixteenth century Italy. (For a more thorough
study of the evolution of Pierrot see Watkins, pp. 183-185.) Many poets and composers
had already been attracted to this pale and melancholic personage, Boudlaire and
Debussy among them.
In 1884, Albert Giraud published a cycle of 50 poems on Pierrot, which soon
inspired Debussy’s Suite Bergamesque. Schoenberg selected 21 of these poems in their
German translation by Otto Erich Harleben, dividing them into three groups of seven, and
scoring the work for five solo instrumentalists playing eight instruments (the piano,
flute/piccolo, clarinet/the bass clarinet, violin/viola, and cello), besides a [female]
“singer”, who has to “speak-sing” the Sprechstimme vocal line. While the
instrumentation, in part, reflected some of the economic considerations rooted in the
cabaret music, itself exerted an immense aesthetic individuality on the piece, which
further influenced the future course of writing for the chamber ensembles. On the other
hand, this was also a continuation of Schoenberg’s conscious attempts in employing
alternative instrumental combinations, which had earlier culminated in the Chamber
Symphony, Op. 9.
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Yet it was the large-scale introduction of the Sprechstimme, Sprechgesang, or
“speak-singing”, into the world of music that remains the most striking aspect of Pierrot.
In this vocal technique, the vocalist only approximates the given pitches, while being
rhythmically precise. In effect, the notation mostly indicates the contour of the vocal line
and the slope of its relative rises and falls, at times exploring the extremes of the vocal
range. The overall result is a mid-way between singing and speaking, or one could say,
declamation in an exaggerated and controlled manner, tangent to singing. From the
outset, Schoenberg’s idea of this technique was very clear, as can be seen from his
foreword to the score of Pierrot. In Pierrot, the Sprechstimme “pitches” are marked by an
“x” sign on the stems of the notes. (Later, in Moses und Aron, the “x” would replace the
note heads while the Sprechstimme would find further philosophical significance.)
Schoenberg’s application of the Sprechstimme was remarkably original. Even
considering the often mentioned reminder about a similar passage in a lesser known work
of Humperdinck, does not necessarily nullify the claim on the originality of Schoenberg’s
invention; the counterexample seems to be too obscure and too isolated to have been able
to exert a lasting influence. In Pierrot, Sprechstimme is not a mere accessory, but a
constructive element of the sonic structure of the entire work. The instrumental ensemble
of Pierrot is not mere accompaniment to the voice, it interacts and interweaves with it,
and together, they create a coherent sonic fabric.
The above emphasis on the originality of Schoenberg’s idea, however, does not
inhibit us of finding possible evolutionary paths that could have led to the Sprechstimme
of Pierrot, besides that asserted by the composer himself in some of his writings (Style
and Idea). Among the preceding works of Schoenberg, the melodic lines of Erwartung
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(1909) come close to suggest that gestational stage of the Sprechstimme. Watkins
reminds us of the tradition of poetry declamation which was at vogue in the Viennese
cabarets of the time. One could even examine the path of operatic recitative as “sung”
conversation, and its future evolvement into the purely spoken words in Mozart’s
German operas, as early signs of the need and the search for a middle ground between
conversation and singing. And still, one realizes that these hypothetical genealogies can
not come close to disqualifying Pierrot’s Sprechstimme from being called a truly original
invention, simply because the slope of its departure from the preceding traditions of vocal
writing is sharp enough to mark it as a revolutionary point in the mostly evolutionary
context of the history of music.
***
By the time of Pierrot, Schoenberg had already discovered a personal “tonal”
style, which was to be coined as “atonalism”, a term which was disliked by Schoenberg
himself. At the heart of this style (language?) lied what he called the “emancipation f
dissonance”, a reference to “the comprehensibility of dissonance”: treating the
dissonances equally as the consonances, and “renouncing a tonal center.” Schoenberg
traces the origins of this style to 1908, to the works of himself, and later, that of Webern
and Berg (H. C. Schoenberg, pp. 567-568).
I call this style of composition essentially “centrifugal”. Generally speaking, in
the preceding tonal periods, all the pitches in the compositional palette of a given piece
were conceived and defined in terms of the intensity of their “pull” toward the tonal
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center. Even in the so-called period of the“extended tonality” (possibly, a term which was
first used by Schoenberg, referring to the late-romantic style, specially that of Wagner),
part of the driving force of the compositions is derived from the rapid shift of an illusive
tonal center, which still, at any given moment, would define and re-define other pitches
in relationship to itself.
I say that in contrast, in the early atonal compositions, the pitches are defined by
“negation”, by the degree of their pull from a center, rather than their attraction toward
it. Such a way of thinking about this style of music might help to better understand the
following perplexing passage, found in My Evolution (Style and Idea, p. 86):
“…In my Harmonielehre (1911), I maintained that the future would
certainly prove that a centralizing power comparable to the gravitation exerted by the root
is still operative in these pieces [Two Songs Op. 14, Hanging Gardens, Three Piano
Pieces Op. 11].”
Let’s consider the first five measures of Pierrot (ex. 1):
Example 1: Moondrunk, measures 1-5
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The instrumental lines consist of 10 out of the 12 chromatic pitches, none repeated or
doubled, except for the F# which is common between the flute and the violin parts. While
a separate route of study could discuss the passage as a precursor to the up-coming 12-
tone method, here it would be enough to note that its organizational logic is primarily
governed by a tendency toward escaping away from a uniquely identifiable central pitch.
Alternatively, however, one could argue that the piano spells an augmented C triad and a
C#°9 successively, while the violin and the flute spell a D#° triad, superimposed on the
piano’s arpeggiated harmony (with the Bb being considered as a neighboring tone.)Even
if that were indeed the origin of the selection of these pitches, it should be noted that the
mere identification of certain elements of the tonal vocabulary in isolation does not
necessarily mean that the composition as a whole could be understood within a tonal
context. Furthermore, even from this point of view, two facts could be clearly observed;
first, that the choice of three distant roots (C, C#, and D#) makes the establishment of a
single audible tonic extremely difficult; second, that the cited tonal vocabulary, i.e. the
augmented triad and the diminished chords, are themselves notorious in the tonal arena
for their tonal ambiguity. In short, despite the presence of certain identifiable tonal
elements, and even if they were interpreted as tonally audible pitch aggregates, the
passage evidently displays a clear “renouncement” of a certain pitch as the tonic. The
entrance of the Sprechstimme in the second measure only adds another layer of tonal
obscurity to the passage.
The opening strategy of “Moondrunk” remains consistent throughout the first
number, and indeed, throughout the entire Pierrot. This essentially melodic passage also
paves the way for the upcoming dissonant harmonies in the rest of the piece. Major and
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minor seconds and sevenths, as well as tritones, are part of the prevalent constitutional
elements of Pierrot (ex. 2):
Example 2: Valse de Chopin, measures 5-7
The parallel motion of the resultant harmonies is also ubiquitous (ex. 3; see also the piano
part of Columbine, measures 33-37):
Example 3: The Dandy, measure 3
It seems that “emancipation of dissonance” is the most radical of all of the six
emancipations in Pierrot.
Rhythm too has received special treatment. To begin with, in this 1912 score, one
does not have to painfully excavate in search of the traces of a contrasting metric change
or the presence of composite meters, the way that it had been required, say, up until the
lat decade of the nineteenth century. For example, Moondrunk is partially organized
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around the alternation of 2/4 and 3/4 meters. More subtly, however, one can realize how
the sense of meter is disrupted in many of the movements, such as in Moondrunk, Valse
de Chopin, or The Sick Moon, despite the usage of metered notation. This is primarily a
result of the extended phrases, irregularly placed subdivisions, misplaced accents, and the
overall interaction of the lines. Unlike the bold results of the rhythmic emancipation in
Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Pierrot delivers smoothly flowing lines, which are
almost liberated from the meter (not the pulse), and the effect of which is quite in
accordance with the surreal atmosphere of the work.
No. 4, Valse de Chopin, is a good example of such an effect. The piece is rather
like the reflection of a waltz on the rippling surface of the world of Pierrot, rather than a
precise rendition of a waltz. By any measure, it is completely odd for a waltz to begin on
the second beat of the measure (ex. 4):
Example 4: Valse de Chopin, measure 1
The contrasting length of the simultaneous phrases adds more to the ambiguity of meter
(ex. 5 and 6):
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Exmple 5: Valse de Chopin, measures 2-4
Example 6: Valse de Chopin, measues 6-8
The phrases start and end mostly irrelevant of the meter (ex. 7):
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The metric ambiguity is further enhanced by the interaction of the Sprechstimme.
***
Formal Strategies in Pierrot
At least during this period, Schoenberg’s pace of composition was generally fast,
and Pierrot was not an exception. In Style and Idea (p. 55) we read: “…Several times, I
wrote two or three pieces of Pierrot Lunaire[…]in one day.” Thus, it might seem
plausible to maintain that Pierrot was through-composed, more or less the way
Erwartung had been composed in 21 days. This could imply that the unifying elements of
Pierrot are at minimum.
However, a close examination of the score seems to suggest the contrary. While
tonality is mostly gone, some new or traditional means of coherence have been employed
systematically, although some of them might not be conspicuous on the early hearings.
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The first of such means is the motivic relationship. Let’s recall ex. 1, the opening
passage of the first movement, Moondrunk. Rhythmically, the piano passage is composed
of two main groups, “a” and “b”, and their combination, “c” (Ex. 8a):
Example 8a: Extracted rhythmic motives from the opening of Pierrot Lunaire
The violin presents an augmented version of “a” (Ex. 8b):
Example 8b: Augmentation of the rhythmic motive (a)
These two motives appear recurrently throughout other movements, as well (ex. 9, and
10):
Example 9: The Dandy, measures 3-5
Example 10: Valse de chopin, measure 13
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Furthermore, the overall contour of the opening passage is also reflected in the later
occurrences of the motivic phrase, either directly (ex. 11, and 12), or in inverted form (ex.
13):
Example 11: The Dandy, measures 15-16
The motive can also be found as an isolated rhythm with contrasting articulations (ex.
14):
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On the other hand, the prevalence of the dissonant sonorities has given the piece
another level of cohesion. On a larger scope, certain traditional forms have been
employed. No. 8, Night, is a true passacaglia, as its subtitle claims. And Valse de Chopin
is at least reminiscent of a waltz.
Besides the above, some other means of unity and contrast, at times traditional
ones, are freely employed. The melodic ideas are quite often fragmented and sequenced
(ex. 15), at least with contour preservation, and the opening passage too has been treated
as such recurrently:
There also seems a tendency toward the achievement of coherence by the means
of intervallic motives. The opening m3rd interval of the violin has been found by scholars
to be a major element in Pierrot (Watkins). I also find a pre-occupation with certain

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symmetrical motivic structures to be present. The augmented and diminished sonorities
of the opening passage are known to be symmetrical. Also consider the following passage
played by the flute (ex. 16):
At first, the choice of the pitches for the flute seems to be perplexing. Upon a possible
parsing of the passage, however, we could find three conspicuous fragments of
essentially symmetrical intervallic structure (ex. 17):
Example 17: Symmetrical pitch-aggregates in Moondrunk, measures 37-38
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Even if this is considered to be too much reading into the passage, the sense of the
balance of the contour in this passage, and in effect, in the entire piece, cannot be denied.
Besides the repetition of the motivic figures, or merely their contour, intact or
inverted, contrary motion of the parts in, at times chromatic steps, is present. In addition,
rhythmic diminution and augmentation are not limited to the treatment of the opening
passage.
The instrumentation too contributes to the overall coherence of the work. The
very fact that all of the instruments never appear together in any of the movements except
in the last one suggests a dramatic organization which assists the forward motion of the
entire composition. Most of the time, the instruments are required to play within their
normal ranges, and few extended techniques can be found throughout the work, although
the piece is not devoid of subtle application of such techniques. (One such occasion
appears in the measure 28 of The Dandy, where the piano non ped is asked to play a
“silent” chord, below which a melodic passage will resonate the overtones of the
undamped strings.)
On the other extreme, The Sick Moon is only scored for voice and flute, giving the
movement an extremely meditative mood.
The poems themselves play a major role in the general coherence of the piece, as
well. All 21 of them are in 13-line rondeau form, in which the verses have the following
repetitive pattern:
A ______ _______
B ______ _______
_____ A _______
_____ B _______
A
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Schoenberg’s selection and organization of the poems also suggest a linear dramatic
development in itself, while the general melancholic mood of all the poems determines
the overall atmosphere of the work in its entirety.
And above all, the unique sound of the Sprechstimme connects the separate
movements to each other, like a thread through the beads.
***
Conclusion:
Based on the above discussion, the musical world of Pierrot Lunaire seems to
demonstrate strongly three of the emancipations, which have been under discussion in
our seminar, namely the emancipation of dissonance (seen for example in the treatment
of parallel dissonances), sonority, and timbre (mainly represented by the Sprechstimme,
and to some degree, by the instrumentation.) In regards to overall sonority, Pierrot seems
to be the first convincing outcome of the early 20th century atonalism.
The case for the other three emancipations needs some supporting argument. At
first, the fact that Pierrot’s textural technique is essentially an extension of the traditional
German polyphony makes it hard to defend the emancipation of texture in Pierrot. But
considering the combined effect of the musical elements, the textural fabric is actually
heard as a strikingly fresh and innovative one, which is a clear hint to the emancipation of
texture in this piece. This is by a large extent due to the interaction of the Sprechstimme
with the instrumental lines, as well.
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The emancipation of rhythm, however, although subtly present, does not equally
match the boldness of the first three emancipations.
And perhaps because of the limitations, which are imposed by the demands of the
text, the form of the piece seems to be less adventurous of all. Also, the fact that Pierrot’s
sonic world is in major part justified by the content of the words does only further
complicate the case.
Still, Pierrot seems to claim a unique emancipation, which rightly and
almost exclusively belongs to it: the revolutionary introduction of a new musical genre.
Not since the culmination of the genre of symphony in the early 1800’s, or at least, not
since the introduction of the German Singspiel (Hansel und Gretel) in the later part of the
nineteenth century any boldly original genre had been introduced to the musical world.
Oddly enough, Pierrot itself also achieved the culmination of its own genre, due to the
rare comprehensibility of its conception.
********
*Six Bagatelles for the String Quartet, Op. 9 (1911-1913; pub. 1924)
A comparably detailed study of the Bagatelles is out of the purpose and scope of
the present paper. Hence, I contend with a mere brief discussion of this work.
Background
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By 1911, Webern, who had already begun his studies with Schoenberg, was
developing a uniquely personal style of composition, quite distinct from the late-
romanticism of his first compositional period. Three Pieces for the String Quartet were
composed in this year, and 4 other such short pieces were followed in 1913. In 1924, the
middle movement of the 1911 cycle, the only one which contained words and voice, was
omitted, and the first and the third movements of the cycle, slightly modified, bracketed
the 1913 cycle. The resulting Bagatelles, Op. 9, were thus published, with a rather
romantic foreword by Schoenberg, in which he had emphasized the brevity of the pieces,
and their independence from extra musical context. (For an English translation of the
foreword, see Style and Idea, p. 483.)
Evaluation
The first striking aspect of the Bagatelles is their extreme brevity, both aurally
and visually. Each movement is deliberately laid out in one single page, and the total
performance time of the cycle is less than 4 minutes. However, despite their short
durations, each movement demonstrates a maximum degree of musical density. As in the
case of Schoenberg, the precision of tempo, dynamic and articulation markings has been
given the utmost care, while here, the presence of so many markings in a relatively short
span of time, brings each piece to a pointillistic exactitude. Even the technique with
which each “phrase” or even each single pitch has to be sounded (arco, staccato,
pizzicato, spiccato, sul punticello, sul tasto, etc.) is clearly marked. Special sonic effects
are achieved through cross-voicing (the cello sounding above the viola, etc), the extended
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use of harmonics (both natural and artificial), at times combined with the sul punticello
command, further enhanced by a tremolando effect with, say, a pp dynamic. Such a
crystalline organization elevates each pitch and each pitch aggregate to an unprecedented
syntactical, or perhaps even semantical, significance. Besides, the quick linear change of
the timbre results in what Schoenberg had [?] coined in his 1911 Harmonielehre as the
Klangfarbenmelodie, or “tone-color melody”, i.e. a melody of timbres.
The pitch selection of the Bagatelles is as equally precise and detailed. Overall
speaking, they employ an “atonal” style (language?) as the vehicle of their expression.
But Webern’s stylistic personality remains completely distinct from, say, Schenberg’s
Pierrot. With a certain degree of compromise, it can be seen that each movement is
developed out of a central melodic idea, or a “cell”, which provides the essential
intervallic content of each movement. Thereafter, some of the melodic and harmonic
potentials of the cell are explored, while the cell itself goes through certain
transformations, such as intervallic augmentation or diminution, transposition, inversion,
retrograde, and their possible combinations. Besides, Webern’s compositional technique
comes extremely close to what I call “three-dimensional composition”, where the
traditional ideas of melody and harmony give way to a simultaneous and equal treatment
of the entire span of the musical space. Furthermore, because of the one-page layout of
each movement and their temporal brevity, it also becomes possible to view them as
essentially spatial compositions, where each given point of time finds a simultaneous
reference to both the future and the past. (I admit that the latter point could be an
extremely subjective perception.)
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The Bagatelles have little to do with tradition. In regards to their
instrumentation, they sharply depart from their contemporarily revered tradition of the
writing for the string quartet. In other words, except for the mere choice of the
combination, their timbral world is quite original. The Bagatelles indeed discover some
of the, until then, unknown potentials of the quartet writing.
Here, as in the case of Pierrto, or perhaps even more so, a subtle emancipation of
rhythm is present, resulting in a free sense of metric flow. While, again, the movements
are notated in the traditional metric style, the relative lack of standard phrase structures,
and the misplacement of other factors which contribute to a sense of rhythm (dynamics,
accents, even timbral effects) disrupts a regulated sense of time. Put another way, the
“events” are organized along the time axis with much more complexity than the given
meters suggest.
In terms of their non-repetitive forms, the Bagatelles are possibly without
precedent in the history of classical music. (One could counter with the Emfindsamkeit of
the rococo; but upon further examination, it seems evident that the meaning of non-
repetition in the Bagatelles is a quite distinct one.)And in regards to their sheer brevity,
only some of the shorter Chopin Preludes (Op. 28) come to mind. Besides, in comparison
with Pierrot, they venture to justify their musical world without the assistance of any
(verbal) extra musical context.
The texture of the Bagatelles is also equally unique and original. If we
were set to trace the origins of pointillism in the twentieth century music, these would
surely be suitable contenders.
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And clearly, the emancipations of dissonance and sonority are the most
evident of all of the six emancipations in the Bagatelles.
****
Overall Conclusion
Both Pierrot Lunaire and the Bagatelles are unmistakenably true voices of the
early twentieth century, and because of the many facets of their ground-breaking
originality, each of them deserves to be given an appropriate niche in the pantheon of
Modernism, even though it must be according to different definitions. The Bagatelles
have this clear advantage that because of the absence of a conspicuous extra-musical
elements in their conception (such as a text), they can better fit into the hard definition of
Modernism, on the grounds of their self-sufficiency. This is besides the fact that in the
genealogy of the twentieth century Modernism, the lineage to the mid-century serialism
is now collectively believed to pass through Webern, thanks in major part to the polemic
efforts of Pierre Boulez.
Pierrot, however, does not allow for such a definition to be applied to it, at least,
because of the important role of verbal content in the composition, and also because of
the clear evidence of traditional “residues”, as could be seen in the detailed analysis of
its form and its employment of contrapuntal techniques, among others. Pierrot seems to
be too deeply reliant on the outside to qualify for the criterion of self-sufficiency. Even
so, Pierrot can certainly pass as a truly Modern piece, according to the second group of
the Prof. Lefkowitz’ definitions, considering its boldly original innovations.
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******
Afterwords
Still, for a piece with the stature and the origianlity of Pierrot, I find it a rather
undesired compromise, as if we have mercifully granted it a secondary path to the shrine
of Modernism.
The problem of Pierrot poses one side of dilemma with which I am faced. On the
other hand I am concerned about the shared traits of Modernism in the musical periods
before the twentieth century. I have often found the 4th movement of Beethoven’s
Consecration of the House, titled The Dance of the Dervishes, a remarkable illustration.
A radically distinct sound within the composer’s oeuvre, the movement stands for me as
a testament to the fact that, all being equal, the only limiting element on the road of the
creative artist’s imagination is the problem of justification. When Beethoven found an
opportunity for “exoticism” in music, he employed a wilder side of his musical fantasy,
something he might have normally refrained to do. This limitation is a result of what I
call “the paradox of the creative artist”. The artist is expected to deliver something new,
while the thing should not be so new that cannot be understood. In short, the existence of
his/her creations depends on the extent of their justifiability.
Besides I have also often thought of Bach’s Three-Part Invention in Fm as an
extremely self-sufficient composition, despite its clear tonal associations. To put it
briefly, it seems that in this piece, the motivic development supercedes the tonal language
as the means of coherence.
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Thus, can we say of these two remote compositions (and their respective
composers) to be Modern? If so, shouldn’t we re-define Modernism, so that our
definition can accurately be applied to everything that is truly modern?
Marginally, let’s not forget that the existence and understanding of many
traditions of the twentieth century musical innovations is itself consistently being
justified by the powerful context of “the paradigm of Modernism”, a fact, which is so
subtle that, is normally neglected.
Thus, at this point of my inquiries, in an attempt to answering the aforementioned
dilemma, I present the following rather crude definition, which tries to understand
Modernism in general, and the twentieth century Modernism in particular:
I think modernism can be viewed as the isolated
concentration on the enhancement of purely
musical elements, resulting in the expansion of the
vocabulary and the syntax of music, and
ultimately leading to a higher order of musical
semantics, in a justifiable manner.
The 20th century Modernism, in particular, while
fitting within this general scheme, is further
distinguished from the Modernism of the past in
that it has almost consistently manifested the
highest degree yet of such focused orientation
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amongst the individual composers, unprecedented
throughout the history of music in terms of its
intensity, specifity, the rate of progress, self-
awareness, the extent of its diversity and freedom,
and its wide-spread demographic prevalence.
***
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Bibliography
Scores:
Schoenberg, Arnold: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21; 1914, Universal
Webern, Anton: Sechs Bagatelles für Streichquartet, Op. 9; 1924, Universal
Recordings:
Webern’s Works for String Quartet: Emerson Quartet; 1995; DG
Pierrot Lunaire: Peter Eötvös, Phylis Byrn-Julson, Ensemble Modern, 1993, RCA
Sources:
Griffith, Paul: Jacket notes to the Webern recording
Lustig, Roger L.: Jacket notes to the Schoenberg recording
Schoenberg, Arnold: Style and Idea, editor Leonard Stein; 1975, UC Press
Schonberg, H. C.: The Lives of the Great Composers, Norton 1970
Watkins, Glenn: Soundings; Music in the Twentieth Century, 1st ed., Schirmer Books,
1995.
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Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire Vs Webern Bagatelles Op. 9 Voices of Modernism by Payman Akhlaghi 1999 UCLA

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Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire Vs Webern Bagatelles Op. 9 Voices of Modernism by Payman Akhlaghi 1999 UCLA

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Droits d'auteur :

Schoenberg & Webern: Voices of Modernism?

Author: Payman Akhlaghi Graduate Studies Paper (1999)

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

Schoenberg and Webern:

Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21

Anton Webern’s Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9

By: Payman Akhlaghi

Professor David Lefkowitz

December 15th, 1999

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

quintessentially twentieth century compositions within our current discussion of

is being written. Yet, thereafter, it also tries to achieve a better understanding of

For the purpose of our comparative discussion in regards to Modernism in the

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

existence in the first place.

Pierrot, a rather extroverted setting of 21 selected poems, unfolds patiently, stretching

originality in music, shared by both composers, finding uniquely personal expressions in

the case of each individual.

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

*Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 (1912)

In 1912, Schoenberg undertook a commission from an actress named Albertine

Lunaire.” (Quoted in Watkins’) In 1942, as part of a harsh reply to a masters' student at

music…” (H. C. Schoenberg) About Pierrot, H. C. Schoenberg says, “Pierrot Lunaire is

full of blood symbolism. Today it is recognized as being as seminal a work as Le Sacre

that led to E=mc².” (H. C. Schoenberg)

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

sounds like it.” (class address, 1997)

Background and Evaluation

Debussy among them.

In 1884, Albert Giraud published a cycle of 50 poems on Pierrot, which soon

inspired Debussy’s Suite Bergamesque. Schoenberg selected 21 of these poems in their

flute/piccolo, clarinet/the bass clarinet, violin/viola, and cello), besides a [female]

instrumentation, in part, reflected some of the economic considerations rooted in the

hand, this was also a continuation of Schoenberg’s conscious attempts in employing

alternative instrumental combinations, which had earlier culminated in the Chamber

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

Yet it was the large-scale introduction of the Sprechstimme, Sprechgesang, or

declamation in an exaggerated and controlled manner, tangent to singing. From the

Schoenberg’s application of the Sprechstimme was remarkably original. Even

to exert a lasting influence. In Pierrot, Sprechstimme is not a mere accessory, but a

and together, they create a coherent sonic fabric.

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

writing is sharp enough to mark it as a revolutionary point in the mostly evolutionary

context of the history of music.

By the time of Pierrot, Schoenberg had already discovered a personal “tonal”

dissonance”, a reference to “the comprehensibility of dissonance”: treating the

dissonances equally as the consonances, and “renouncing a tonal center.” Schoenberg

and Berg (H. C. Schoenberg, pp. 567-568).

I call this style of composition essentially “centrifugal”. Generally speaking, in

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

following perplexing passage, found in My Evolution (Style and Idea, p. 86):

“…In my Harmonielehre (1911), I maintained that the future would

Pieces Op. 11].”

Let’s consider the first five measures of Pierrot (ex. 1):

Example 1: Moondrunk, measures 1-5

© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights Reserved.

Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 vs. Webern’s Six Bagatelles, Op. 9

piano’s arpeggiated harmony (with the Bb being considered as a neighboring tone.)Even

obscurity to the passage.