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Anton Webern: Drei Kleine Stucke Op. 11 movement 1

Renz Eulric Adame Prof. Roxane Prevost MUS4374 April 17, 2017

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Anton Webern was an Austrian conductor and composer. Himself, along with his mentor Arnold Schoenberg, and Alban Berg, comprised the core circle of the Second Viennese School. Webern’s influence was so strong that he managed to inspire his mentor Schoenberg. Webern’s music was most notable for his usage of 12-tone technique and his application of it in the concision and organization of symmetry, found in his music both visually and tonally, but also mathematically. Innovations in his music, contrapuntal technique, organization of pitch, rhythm, and melody greatly informed and inspired Western European 20th century music. An example of the usage of his 12-tone technique is his three little pieces for cello and piano opus 11. Webern wrote this piece for his father whom asked him to write a piece for cello in a letter. Webern began work on this piece, initially meant to be a sonata for cello, as he told Schoenberg in a letter. The letter said that he was finally trying to write a piece that is longer than the usual. However, as it turns out, he stopped work on the sonata to instead, write his three little pieces for cello and piano. What came of it was this piece composed of three movements, expertly woven in Webern is writing using his twelvetone technique. I will show this later in my analysis (See example). I will be analyzing the first movement of the piece by translating the score into interval notation and scanning each chords and pitch class sets in search of patterns and connections in the piano part and cello part, both separately and together. Through intervallic analysis, I will try to unfold Webern’s web of connections through the melody and accompaniment as well as showing each connection through transposition and inversion. I will also explain his usage of Contextual inversion to help connect the numerous amounts of tetrachords within the movement as well as how he takes fragments of certain pitch

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class sets and composes it out throughout the movement. Anton Webern creates links throughout the whole movement through usage of SC(0145) and by extension, subsets SC(014) and (015) in order to link every part of the piece through transposition, inversion, contextual inversion, and composing out through the piano part and the cello part. In my analysis, I have found that the form determines the distribution of pitch class sets and the density of PCS throughout the movement. In the attached score (See example 1), we can see that the movement divides evenly into three separate sections. The first part, from first measure to the end of the third measure, serves as a calm section of this movement, clearly represented by the sparsity of texture and the quiet dynamics in both instruments. The second section, the fourth measure until the end of the fifth measure, is the more, agitated, with thick textures in both instruments. The thick texture in this section creates a large concentration of notes and chords and is emphasized by the loud dynamics, to which is the only part of the piece that reaches a dynamic level higher than that of pianissimo. Finally, the third section of the piece, beginning at bar six up until the final measure of the movement, represents the final calm section in the movement. In this section, the piece begins to return to its calm and quiet dynamics. The movement returns back down to pianissimo as the texture thins out quietly into the piano in the end. Throughout the piece, this model serves as the form of the whole piece that the first movement outlines. With the second movement being the chaotic movement, and the third movement, returning back into the calm and quiet ending similar to that of the first movements ending.

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The opening of the movement represents the first calm section of the movement spanning from the first bar up until the first sixteenth note of the fourth bar. The cello part starts by simply playing three notes in this section followed by sparse chords in the piano part each time slightly outlining the SC(0145) (see example 2) whilst the cello outlines its subset (015) (See example 1) within this section and the three notes that it plays. Set Class (0145) plays quite an important part in Webern’s music, as this tends to be quite a predominant set class in most of his works (See examples). The first few notes in the cello and piano part begins by clearly outlining the set classes that this movement repeatedly uses. The piano begins by outlining SC(0145) with [4589] in the left hand (See example 2). In addition, Webern makes a point in clearly outlining SC(0145) by repeating PCS [4589] in the left hand of the piano as the lowest chord in measure 2 (See example 2). This is followed by defining SC(015) in the cello (See example 1) across three bars, PCS [6,10,11] and in the right hand of the piano (See example 2) in the second bar as Pitch-class sets [801] and [780] (connected by I 8) (See example 2-a). The piano’s right hand connects to the cello through Transposition and inversion ([6,10,11][801] by T2 and [6,10,11][780] by I6) (See example 2-a) and finally showing SC(014) in the piano’s right hand as PCS [625] (See example 2). Furthermore, both the piano and cello help establish the predominating set classes in the second and third bar with the tri-chords [3,0,11] and [6,10,11] (repeated from the cello part) (See example 3) to which help connect the first and second section, and tetrachord [7,6,10,11] (See example 3. Simply from the first section of the movement, we can already see the density of Webern’s writing, despite the fact of how simple it

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looks. This first three bars serve as the first calm section of this movement, to which then continues on to measures 4-5 as the middle and chaotic section of the piece. The middle section of the piece represents the chaotic section of the movement, and foreshadows the character of the second movement by being dense, loud, and agitated. It first starts to build in the cello as three sixteenth note triplets [478] (See example 1) that connects into another tri-chord [347] through I 11 followed by [3,0,11] linked together through T8 (See example 1-a). In addition, these three tri-chords connect together to form two tetrachords ( [3478] and [11,0,3,4] ) joined together through transposition (T8) (See example 1 and 1-a). At this point, we see both the piano and cello part increase in note density and texture. In the fourth bar, Webern writes a fairly large chord in the piano that represents not only the loudest section of the movement, but also outlines all three set classes (SC(0415) and subsets (014) and (015)) (See example 2). When pulled apart, we see that at the top section of the chord, we have PCS [891], which represents SC(015) and followed by PCS (10,11, and 2) that shows SC(014) (See example 2). In the end of this section, we see the tetrachord [9,10,1,2] connected to PCS [4589] through T5 as the texture begins to thin out (See example 2 and 2-a). Finally, we find SC (0145) interweaved into this chord in the form, repeated for the third time from the beginning, of [4589]. As I analyzed both the cello and the piano part together, I found a Tetrachord in the fourth bar that is connected together from the cello E♭ and the big chord in the end of the fourth bar in the piano (PCS [10,11,2,3] that connects to PCS [4589] through T6 (See example 3 and 3-a). As well, I found 3 trichords in the fifth bar (PCS [890], [7,11,10] and [7,11,0]) with the first two chords joined together through I7 (see example 3 and 3-a). The movement then begins to return to the

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calm of the first section as it goes into the third section, connected by a tetrachord in the cello [11,0,4,3] that takes us into the final section of the movement (See example 1). The third section of this movement (mm. 6-9) returns into the quiet pp’s and ppp’s of the first section that points to the same characteristics that this section shares with the third movement (See examples). In measure 6, the cello starts with a descending statement of SC(014) (PCS [458]) (See example 1) that connects into a tri-chord in both the piano and cello [890] joined by T4 (See example 3) Underneath all of this, we have tetrachord [2367] (SC(0145)) and tri-chord [126] (See example 2). In the following bar, we see not only the highest point in terms of notation in the cello, but also another incredibly dense chord in the piano found in measure 7(See example 2) . This chord is quite dense and comprised of quite a number of tri-chords and tetrachords together: (See example 2 and 2-a) SC(015): -

[9,10,2] [11,3,4]

SC(014): -

[10,11,2] [3,4,7] [7,10,11] [0,3,4]

SC(0145): -

[9,10,1,2,] [10,11,2,3]

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Surprisingly, all of this connects together through that one chord and joins through a series of Transpositions and inversions (example 2-a). Finally, the texture essentially fades out and thins out to the end of the piece, with the cello outlining one last PCS, [347] (See example 1). The piano and cello part together, PCS [10,1,2] (See example 3) connects together through I5 (See example 3-a) and the piano with [9,10,2] and [6,9,10] (connects to [347] I1) (connects to [10,1,2]T4) (See example 2-a). Lastly, the piano ends quietly and softly, with 2 short and soft iterations from the piano outlining the SC(014) one last time (See example 2). Through this analysis of form and connection, we see the intricacy of Webern’s web throughout the movement. Another example of these connections are found throughout the movement as Contextual inversion (See example 4). Another intricate web found in Webern’s three little pieces for cello and piano is contextual inversion. Through analysis of the movement, there are two different kinds of contextual inversion. The first, is when the chord is inverted around IC4, which I will call “A”, For example [E,F,G#,A] = [E♭,E, G,G#]. The second is when the chord inverts around IC1, which I will call “B”. for example [E,F,G#,A] = [G#,A,C,C#]. In the first measure, we have [E,F,G#,A] which contextually inverts into [E♭,E, G,G#] in the fourth measure through “A” and is connected by T11. Secondly, in the fourth measure [E♭,E, G,G#] then contextually inverts to [D,E♭,G,G♭] through “A” and is connected by T11. In the fifth bar, [G#,A,C,C#] contextually inverts to [A,B♭,D♭,D] in the end of the 6th measure and the beginning of the 7th measure through “A” joined together, by T1. In addition, there are chords that are contextually inverted through “B” and are connected through transposition and inversion. In the first measure [E,F,G #,A] contextually inverts into

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[G#,A,C,C#] (See example 4). In the end of the fourth measure and the beginning of the fifth measure and connects together through T4 (See example 4-a). As well, another instance of the “B” inversion is in the fourth measure when [E♭,E, G,G#] contextually inverts into [B,C,E♭,E] (See example 4) in the fifth measure and is connected through T 8 (See example 4-a) . Even through the different contextual inversions, when illustrated on a score, we can still see the continuing pattern of the fact that there is still three different sections to this movement. The Slow, sparse section in the beginning, the chaotic, agitated section, and the dense, quiet section that thins out to the end in the final four measures of the movement. So we see that the genius in Webern’s writing not only comes through in the connection of each chord from one chord to another, but also the level of symmetry that can be found within this movement, and by extension, throughout the whole work itself. In mentioning symmetry, another method in which Webern created symmetry in this piece is through the method of composing out. We see as he takes the first section of the cello part and expands it throughout the entire piece. The first three notes in the cello outlines the subset of Set Class (0145), subset (015). As I analyzed the first movement of this piece, I began to notice that this first PCS [6,10,11], was actually composed out through the whole movement. Meaning that Webern took these three notes and expertly placed them in specific places throughout the movement in such a way that intricately defines the symmetry of the piece and even clearly outlines the three major sections of the movement. First, Webern takes the first note, (F# or interval 6) and marks the beginning of both the actual tri-chord and the trichord that has been composed out. Second of all, he takes the second note of the set,

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(B or interval 11) first found in the end of the second bar, and takes the cello part and composes the note out to the end of the fifth measure, 4 measures after the bar it started and 9 notes after the first note (interval 6). Finally, Webern takes the final note of the set (B♭ or interval 10) and he places it another 4 measures after the previous note (interval 11) and exactly another 9 notes after the previous note placing it right at the end of the piece. Not only does this do an effective job of creating symmetry throughout the movement, but it also shows the three different sections of the piece. This is yet another way of how Webern expertly creates symmetry within his music. Through an analysis of the piece, we can find numerous different ways in which Webern creates symmetry within one movement. It shows how he uses these different methods of composition within 12-tone to really show the symmetries and connections between the chords and how it clearly outlines SC(0145) and its subsets (014) and (015) throughout the piece. As we look even further, we see the amount of detail that goes into every phrase and the placement of notes within each measure throughout the whole movement. Through intervallic analysis, we can see that most of the notes, if not every single note, in this movement can be connected in one way or another and be placed into either SC(0145) or its subsets (014) and/or (015). On top of the connections within the set classes, we also see how the set classes create a link between each of the sections within the piece. From the quiet and calm demeanor of the first three measures, to the chaos and agitation in measures 4-5, and finally returning to the calm and quiet in the last four measures of the movement. Webern also uses contextual inversion and composing out in order to create some symmetry within the movement. He uses contextual inversion not only to create symmetry but also to show connections

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from one chord to another, as well as from one section to another through thicker textures and increased concentration of chords. Finally, he takes the first three notes of the cello line and composes it out perfectly symmetrically through the movement in order to define the symmetry of the movement.

Bibliography: Straus, Joseph N. Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016

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"Anton Webern." Wikipedia. April 13, 2017. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Webern. Schaffer, Seth. "Analysis of Webern’s Pieces for Cello and Piano Op. 11, No. 1." David Bard-Schwarz. June 10, 2015. Accessed April 16, 2017. http://www.davidbardschwarz.com/pdf/shafer.one.pdf.

Score:

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Webern, Anton. Drei Kleine Stucke Op.11. IMSLP. March 20, 2017. Accessed April 16, 2017. http://imslp.org/wiki/3_Kleine_St %C3%BCcke,_Op.11_(Webern,_Anton) Discography: Webern, Anton, Drei Kleine Stucke Op. 11. YouTube. December 15, 1010. Accessed April 10, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C3SeVoM_II