Analysis of Quartett, Op. 22, mvt. I, for Violin, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone and Piano by Anton Webern
The five-measure introduction to the first movement of Anton Webern’s Quartett, Op. 22 (1930) contains elements which, projected across the entire movement, provide it with a deep level of organization. The use of a tone row which which emphasizes the tritone, trichordal segmentation, canon, generating motives, and the integration of rhythm, color and articulation are all established in the introduction, and pla y out in remarkable fashion over the span of the movement.
The importance of the tritone to this movement mo vement is immediately apparent when comparing first and last notes of the tone row in any of its forms, as shown in the tone row matrix, Figure 1. Within the movement, Webern creates elided row statements in m. 10 (where the G in saxophone elides I1 and I7), m. 22 (where the C in violin and piano elide RI0-P0 and R0-I0), and m. 32 (where the G - this time in violin - again elides I1 and I7). The elision of rows results in closed statements that begin and end on the the same note. In addition, there are five five instances where adjacent rows share beginning/ending tones. These occur in mm. 5-6, 11-12, 27-28, 33-34, and 37b.
In all, all, fifteen fifteen row forms are used. No row is used more than once in each each of the major
sections of the movement.
Figure 1 Tone Row Matrix for Op. 22
2 C# E F D D# B Bb A G# F# C G
A# C# D B C G# G F# F Eb A E
A C C# A# B G F# F E D G# Eb
C Eb E C# D Bb A G# G F B F#
B D Eb C C# A G# G F# E Bb F
D# F# G E F C# C B Bb G# D A
E G G# F F# D C# C B A Eb Bb
F G# A F# G Eb D C# C# C Bb E B
F# A Bb G G# E D# D C# B F C
G# B C A Bb F# F E D# C# G D
D F F# Eb E C B Bb A G C# G#
G Bb B Ab A F E Eb D C F# C#
The F#-C tritone is also used in this movement to create structure through invariance. Webern bases the entire two-voice canon (discussed below) on paired rows that share the F # and C under inversion. Figure 2 shows that, in six of the paired rows, F# and C represent the fourth and ninth notes of the row, row, creating a palindromic sense of unisons. In the eight remaining row forms, F# and C occupy other positions in the paired rows. rows. Figure 2 Invariance Under Inversion Between All Rows Used by Canonic Voices P1 I11
C# B
A# D
A Eb
C C
B C#
D# A
E G#
F G
F# F#
G# E
D Bb
G F
I5 P7
F G
G# E
A Eb
F#` F#
G F
Eb A
D Bb
C# B
C C
Bb D
E G#
B C#
R1 RI11
G F
D Bb
G# E
F# F#
F G
E G#
Eb A
B C#
C C
A Eb
A# D
C# B
RI0 R0
F# F#
B C#
F G
G F
G# E
A Eb
Bb D
D Bb
C# B
E G#
Eb A
C C
P0 I0
C C
A Eb
G# E
B C#
Bb D
D Bb
Eb A
E G#
F G
G F
C# B
F# F#
P10 I2
Bb D
G F
F# F#
A Eb
G# E
C C
C# B
D Bb
D# A
F G
B C#
E G#
I1 P11
C# B
E G#
F G
D Bb
D# A
B C#
Bb D
A Eb
G# E
F# F#
C C
G F
3 The introduction foreshadows the significance that the invariant tones will have in the movement. In m. 4, both P1 and I11 I11 converge to share the clarinet’s F#, interrupting the pattern of imitation between the two voices (see Example 1). This is one of only three instances in the movement where voices converge upon a unison. In the second instance instance after the introduction, the two canonic rows converge on the the C in violin, m. 10. Finally, at the climax of the movement in m. 22, the C in violin represents an elision between RI0 and P0, and the C in the right hand of
in m. 22 represent represent the highest and the piano represents an elision between R0 and I0. The C’s in lowest notes of the movement, lending additional impact to that climactic measure.
Example 1 Convergence Upon F# in Introduction, m. 4
Even when rows do not converge in unison upon F# or C, Webern places these notes in close proximity to their invariant counterparts. The notes are found in different voices, but are often in the same octave, often separated by a sixteenth note, but never separated by more than an eighth note. One finds finds adjacent F#’s or adjacent C’s in mm. 3, 7, 17, 22, 25, 29, 32-33, 35, 36, 38 and 39.
4 Also important is the setting of the F#-C tritone tritone in succession as a motive. Both F# and C are adjacent tones in rows I1 and I7, and each time they are used (mm. 10, 13, 21, 32, and 3536), Webern sets the tritone off as a rhythmically rh ythmically exposed motive. motive. Webern’s use of these five tritone motives is palindromic: palindromic: in all but m. 21 the the tritone uses rhythmic motive a’ (see Example 5). Additionally, in all but m. 21 he presents the tritone motive motive in the third, non-canonic voice of
the ensemble (described below). None of these tritone motives are heard in the piano. Example 2 shows the tritone as it appears in m. 32. Example 2 Tritone Motive in m. 32
As established in the introduction, a prime form of the series is always heard with an inverted form, resulting in an index number that is always always 0. As a result, there are only seven different pitch-class dyads between canonic rows in the movement, as shown in Figure 3. These dyads result in only four different interval classes (0, 2, 4 and 6). However, since the two canonic rows are always slightly rhythmically displaced (except for the unisons in mm. 4 and 10), these dyads are not heard as simultaneities. Rather, dyads based on odd-numbered interval classes are heard simultaneously.
5 Figure 3 Seven Different Pitch-class Dyads Between Canonic Rows
Interval Class
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
B C#
E G#
F G
D Bb
Eb A
F# F#
C C
2
4
2
4
6
0
0
The introduction is based upon trichordal segmentation of the row. Figure 4 shows the substructure of the row, consisting of adjacent trichords belonging to three different set classes. Figure 5 shows the instruments assigned to each trichord of the introduction. Example 3 shows
the trichordal organization of the introduction.
Figure 4 Trichordal Analysis of Op.22 Tone Row P1
Figure 5 Trichordal Instrumentation of Introduction
6 Example 3 Trichordal Organization of the Introduction
With only a few exceptions throughout the movement, Webern maintains the technique of assigning each dyad and trichord to a different voice, as established in the introduction. However, the order of voice entries from the introduction is not followed in the rest of the movement. One exception is found in mm. 6-15, where where the non-canonic voice (discussed below) gives full statements of I1 and I7, and is found entirely in the saxophone. Another exception is m. 28, where individual tones of I5 and P7 momentarily cross between the left and right hands of the piano. While the introduction uses trichordal segmentation, both dyadic and trichordal motives are employed throughout the movement. The canonic voices feature dyadic organization in mm. 6-11, and 28-33, which represent the first measures of each A section.
7 A study of the hexachordal qualities of the row, illustrated in Figure 6, reveals two selfcomplementary hexachords. Additionally, Figure 7 illustrates that the hexachords are combinatorial under inversion. Figure 6 Hexachordal Analysis of Tone Row P1
Figure 7 Cominatoriality Between P1 and I4
The introduction immediately reveals Webern’s preference for scoring disjunct leaps of th
th
at least a major 7 or minor 9 , rather rather than using conjunct minor seconds. Examples can be found in both the tenor saxophone and violin, whose initial motives in the introduction include th
leaps of a minor 9 . These disjunct motives serve serve a unifying role in the the movement, and are found throughout. While an analysis of the row for Op. 22 reveals Webern’s preference for interval class 1 between adjacent tones (see Figure 8), the minor second interval is used only onl y four times in the movement (mm. 4, 10, 25 and 38). Figure 8 Interval Class Analysis of Op.22 Tone Row P1
Row P1: IC:
C#
A# 3
A 1
C 3
B 1
D# 4
E 1
F 1
F# 1
G# 2
D 6
G 5
8 The overall form is a large-scale palindrome, with an ABA form flanked by an introduction and coda. While the existence of two large repeated sections initiallysuggests initially suggests binary form, the presence of a fermata at m. 28, the contrasting dynamics and rhythmic nature of mm. 16-27, and the landscape of the tone rows lead to this conclusion. Figure 9 indicates the form of mvt. I. Figure 9 Form of Op. 22/i Section Measures Rows
Introduction
A
B
A
Coda
1-5
6-15
28-37b
38-41
P1, I11
I1, P7, I5, I7, P1, I11
16-27 P10, I2, I1, P11, RI0, R0, P0, I0, R1, RI11
I1, I5, P7, I7, P1, I11
RI11, R1
The introduction establishes two rows, P1 and I11, that are employed in the coda in retrograde, creating a mirror image of the notes of the introduction. Also, P1 and I11 take on the the structural role of closing out the A sections of the movement. This is done in similar fashion each time in mm. 5 (close of introduction), 15 and 37b (close of A sections), with fp with fp closing closing trichordal motives based on rhythmic motive b (see Example 5). These closing motives are always on pitches 10, 11 and 12 of P1 and I11, although found in a different octave each time. The tone rows and rhythm used in the two A sections are identical, iden tical, except for instrumentation and contour. The first A section section features the tenor saxophone as the third, noncanonic voice (discussed below), surrounded surrounded by the canon. In the second A section, the third, non-canonic voice appears in violin, clarinet and saxophone entirely above the canon, found here in the piano. Each note of the second A section section moves in opposite contour when compared to its counterpart in the first A section. The B section includes a palindrome around the climax of the movement, m. 22. Example 3 shows the palindrome, which features an escalation in the number of instruments,
9 rhythmic activity, and dynamics. Rows RI0/R0 and I0/P0 move outward in both directions from m. 22. The C’s in the violin (highest note of the movement) and piano (lowest note of the movement) serve as the axis of this palindrome, with with the outer ends at mm. 21-24. These fortissimo C’s represent the loudest dynamic in the movement. Rhythm is integrated is integrated into the palindrome as well: a consistent stream of eight sixteenth-notes moves out from the axis, culminating in slurred motives in the piano, saxophon e and clarinet. Example 3 Use of Palindrome in B Section, mm. 21-24
The two-voice canon established in the introduction continues to the end of the movement. The two two inverted lines are offset and use duplicate rhythms, rh ythms, but the rests between imitative entrances are not always identical. The rhythmic separation separation between dux and dux and comes is usually a sixteenth-note, but alternates alternates and can be as long as two eighth-notes. eighth-notes. As a result, when taking this rhythmic inconsistency into consideration, this is not a strict canon. As set forth in the introduction, the canon’s roles of dux and comes alternate, but no consistent pattern plays out in the movement. Figure 10 shows the palindromic pattern established in the introduction, however this pattern is no t found elsewhere. After being shared
10 by clarinet, violin and piano in the first A section, the canon is found only in the piano for the second A section. The climactic B section involves each voice in presenting the canon. Figure 10 Palindromic Pattern of Canonic Entrances in Introduction Measure Dux Comes
m. 1-2 P1 I11
m. 3 I11 P1
m. 3-4 I11 P1
m. 5 P1 I11
In each A section, a third voice is added which does not participate in the canon. This third, non-canonic voice first appears in the rhythmically contrasting saxophone part, which clearly presents I1 and I7 from mm. 6-15. This is shown in Example 4. The scoring for saxophone is unique, in that its greater rhythmic activity separates the color of the instrument from its surroundings. The non-canonic voice returns in mm. 28-37a, but is this time shared by the violin, clarinet and saxophone, again performing I1 and I7, and duplicating the rhythm of mm. 6-15. The B section does not feature the third, non-canonic voice, providing further justification for mm. 16-27 as a separate section. Example 4 Third, Non-Canonic Voice in Saxophone, mm. 6-15
11 The appearances of the third, non-canonic non -canonic voice in the A sections are dissimilar in another regard. While the non-canonic voice in each instance uses identical rows, the motion of each canonic voice is inverted when compared to its counterpart. The only exceptions are the final notes of I1 in m. 32, and the final notes of I7 in mm. 35-36, which duplicate d uplicate the direction of their counterparts in the first A section. The third, non-canonic voice is also rhythmically unique. Vertically separated from the canonic voices, it is given rhythmic independence in the style of a hocket. As stated earlier, Webern sets the tritone tritone off as a rhythmically exposed motive. The F# of that interval always occurs on the downbeat of a measure (mm. 10, 14, 32 and 36a/b). The introduction sets forth four distinct generating motives that supply motivic material for all all voices throughout the movement. These are labeled as motives a, b, c and c’ in in Example 5. These motives are not consistently consistently paired with dynamic dynamic markings, articulation, pitch, or
instrumentation. (One exception is that the piano part does not use motivea motive a anywhere in the movement.) The canon uses no more than three of these short motives in any an y one statement of a tone row. In m. 6, the third, third, non-canonic voice begins with a portion of motive a, but adds two new rhythms, a’ and and c’’ , closely related to motives a and c from from the introduction. Motive a’ reverses reverses the order of the eighth and sixteenth from motive a, and augments the final eighth note into a quarter note. Motive c’’ repeats repeats the rhythm of the dyad found in motive c.
12 Example 5 Generating Motives from Introduction and Related Motives from Third Non-Canonic Voice
The B section is the most rhythmically active, with all four instruments used in close proximity around mm. 22-23, based on motives a, c and c’ . This rhythmic rhythmic energy is integrated integrated with palindrome, dynamics, and extreme range to make m. 22 a unique, climactic moment in the movement. The combination of all the instruments instruments creates a new color which contrasts with the the sparse, economic instrumentation found elsewhere in the movement. While Webern does not consistently tie instrumentation to the use of the row in a serial manner, he does integrate the use of instrumentation into the form form of the movement. In the similar introduction and coda, each instrument is heard separately, pla ying minimal material with only periodic overlapping. As discussed earlier, earlier, the first A section section features an active saxophone part as the non-canonic voice, surrounded by the canon. This is the only instance where an instrument is featured in such a way, and supplies this section with a color not repeated elsewhere in the movement. The second A section shares the the same material, however each noncanonic motive is spread among violin, clarinet and saxophone, with the canon placed solely in the piano.
13 The introduction also serves to introduce each instrument of the ensemble. All four instruments are capable of a wide spectrum of tone colors and dynamics. In particular, the violin violin part includes consistent alternation between pizzicato and arco throughout the movement, along with the use of a mute. Additionally, the saxophone and clarinet are capable capable of a wide dynamic range. Finally, Webern’s treatment treatment of the piano is unique: successive entrances of the the left and right hands almost always present notes from different tone rows, treating each hand separately, rather than as a single single unit. Across the movement, the relationship relationship between the left and right hands is rhythmically close, with entrances of the two hands usually no more than an eighth-note apart. As early as the first two measures, one hears the ability of the wind instruments to blend with other members of the ensemble. Despite the potential for great contrast, this blending lends a homogeneous sound to the work. Webern elides instrumental colors by rhythmically connecting one instrument’s motives with notes that are very close in register to another instrument. While the vertical combination of voices may somewhat obscure aural identification identification of the trichordal organization, the overlapping of voices combines contrasting timbres of the ensemble to generate a linear rhythmic rhythmic momentum. In mm. 1-2, for example, the saxophone completes its motive only a whole-step whole-step under the beginning of the violin’s figure, thereby creating a rhythmic and coloristic connection between the first two trichords of the movement. This is shown in Example 6. A few additional examples of this this effect include mm. 9, 13, 16, and 17.
14 Example 6 Elision of Saxophone and Violin Colors, mm. 1-2
th
th
The major 7 and minor 9 intervals, first heard in the introduction but found througho ut, create rapid changes of timbre within single voices. These timbre changes are periodically emphasized by the fp the fp dynamic, dynamic, creating further contrast in the span of only two to three notes. Both rhythm and instrumental instrumental color are further integrated through the use of hocket. The use of hocket technique to link voices results results in longer, connected passages. Measures 6-8, 2021, 22-23, 29-30 and 35-36 all feature displaced rests which serve to link the music together for measures at a time. Also, as noted earlier, earlier, the non-canonic voice in each A section creates a hocket with the canon. Another compositional element established in the introduction is the sharing of iden tical dynamic markings between each paired dyad or trichord between the two canonic voices. This consistent sharing of dynamic markings continues throughout the movement, with the exception of m. 16. The matched dynamics serve to intertwine voices and further the linear momentum and elision of instrumental colors discussed earlier. The five different dynamic markings, including pp, including pp, p, f, ff and fp and fp,, are not consistently tied to statements of the row. Nor are they consistently tied to articulation or rhythmic motives. However, Webern does match dynamic markings markings to the large-scale palindromic form. form. The
15 introduction and first A section use only p only p,, pp and pp and fp fp,, as do the final A section and coda. The climactic B section adds f adds f and ff and ff to to build intensity. As introduced in the introduction, every note of the movement is written with a precise articulation marking. Webern employs legato, legato, staccato, accents and pizzicato markings to increase the variety of instrumental instrumental colors already at his disposal. But articulation is not consistently paired with pitch, dynamics, or rhythmic motives. To illustrate, Example 7 shows the various articulation styles assigned to motive b. Example 7 Articulation Markings Assigned to Motive b in mm. 3, 17 and 20
Articulation plays a role in conjoining the cano nic voices in the introduction and throughout the movement. Their articulation markings are are identical, except for m. 21, 25-27, 39, and 40-41. Also, each presentation of the non-canonic voice uses identical articulation, despite the change in instrumentation. Finally, when comparing the A sections, sections, the second A section begins by duplicating the articulation of the first A section, but soon (by m. 31) ceases that duplication. In summary, numerous compositional elements are set forth in the introduction to mvt. I of Webern’s Op. 22 which 22 which give the movement a high degree of organization and cohesion.
16 Canon, emphasis on the F#-C tritone and invariant tones, hocket, palindrome, dyadic and trichordal segmentation and elision of instrumental colors were some of the techniques uncovered in this movement. The identification of these elements provides fascinating insight into the intricate inner workings of Webern’s Webern’s compositional technique, and gives further impetus th
to explore additional works by this 20 -century composer.
Anton von Webern’s Webern’s Quartet Quartet for violin, violin, clarinet, tenor tenor saxophone, saxophone, and piano, op. 22
The com poser
Anton von Webern Webern was born in Vienna, Vienna, Austria, in 1883. (The predicatevon predicate von identified identified those of aristocratic heritage until a 1918 revolution outlawed its use; the composer’s works were publishe d under the name Anton Webern.) His father’s career in mining engineering caused the von Webern family to move several times during Anton’s youth; in Klagenfurt at the turn of the centur y centur y he studied piano and music theory under Edwin Komauer. He also learned to play the cello and participated in community orchestras. His earliest compositions, for piano and cello, date from this period. In 1902 he was deeply impressed by performances of several Wagner operas, and entered the University of Vienna to study musicology and composition. Before receiving a doctoral degree in 1906, he began studying privately with Arnold Schoenberg. Upon leaving Schoenberg’s tutelage, Webern and fellow Schoenberg protégé Alban Berg began experimenting in earnest with their teacher’s method of twelve-tone twelve -tone composition. Webern worked as a conductor in several theaters, but preferred to concentrate on
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composition. In 1911 he married his first cousin, Wilhelmine Mörtl, with whom he had three children. Webern found parallels between twelve-tone composition and the music of the Renaissance he had studied in Vienna —both endorsed classical strictness of form and complex polyphony. Other influences on Webern’s work included authors such as Johann Goethe and poet Hildegard Jone. (Information in this section is from antonwebern.com antonwebern.com,, a web site published by Pixelrush.) The com position
Webern’s Op. 22, Quartet for Violin, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone Saxophone,, and Piano,, was first conceived in September 1928. A detailed account of Piano its creation is found in Anton in Anton von Webern: Webern: A Chronicle of His Life and Work , by Hans and Rosaleen Moldenhauer. According to their narrative, Webern wrote to his publisher, “I have turned again to a new work: a concerto for violin, clarinet, horn, piano, and string orchestra — in the spirit of some of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos.” He outlined in his sketchbook a three-movement work with themes inspired by several Austrian locations apparently having personal significance. s ignificance. The following year, a letter to Alban Berg indicated that the work was nearing completion, and had changed its form and instrumentation and length— length —two movements, rather than three —to that of the work that would eventually be published. Webern was distracted by other projects and did not complete the quartet until September of 1930. It was performed shortly thereafter in Vienna, to harsh abuse from music critics. Webern’s fellow composers of the Second Viennese School, however, deemed it a masterpiece.
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Berg wrote, “This Quartet is a miracle. What amazes me above all is its originality. One can assert with confidence that there is nothing in the entire world of music production that attains even approximately such a degree of originality, i.e. a full hundred percent.” Schoenberg called it “fabulous.” A n al y s is : Se h r m äß ig
The first movement, Sehr mäßig (very (very moderate), most resembles a sonata form. The five-measure introduction to the first movement uses two simultaneous tone rows, P7 and I5. (The second movement was composed first, so the first tone row presented in that movement is labeled P0 in most published analyses.) These rows are passed between the violin, saxophone, and piano, immediately demonstrating the sparse, pointillistic texture of the piece. The clarinet c larinet plays only two notes, consecutive staccato F ♯s (all pitches are expressed here as concert pitches). These F ♯s reveal much about Op. 22. F# is the point of intersection between the two rows of the introduction when organized in a matrix, and also their point of intersection in these opening melodic lines. This device is used almost constantly throughout the first movement; virtually every row form is used in combination with that row which it intersects at F#. Pierre Boulez points out in the liner notes to the London Symphony recording that the F# above middle C is played twice, staccato, in each instance. This F# is also the registral axis of symmetry of the first movement. Kathryn Bailey’s thorough analysis of Quartet in in The Twelve-note music of Anton Webern is Webern is invaluable in understanding understanding the piece (pp. 171-178). Bailey explains that the exposition introduces the two main
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themes of the first movement. The primary theme is played by the saxophone, row I7 followed by I1. In a departure from traditional sonata form, the second theme is introduced almost simultaneously. This second theme is in the form of a mirror cannon with F# as the reflecting point. It is played by the piano, violin, and clarinet, with the second part of the canon c anon following the first by one sixteenth note. The exposition is repeated, for a total of twenty measures. The development section consists of four units of three bars each. The development uses more dramatic intervals and greater dynamic contrast, and moves more quickly through row forms. The first, second, and fourth units, however, have only two simultaneous voices, compared to three in the exposition. Each of these also uses two tone rows. The third unit, the climax of the movement, uses five simultaneous voices (each hand of the pianist playing a separate voice) and four tone rows. Each of the row forms is used in the climax, at T6 (P6, I6, R6, and RI6). The climax is indicated by the extreme high and low pitches of the movement, a high and a low C, each two octaves and a fifth from the central F# (Bailey 171). The recapitulation presents the themes again with their original row forms and transpositions, though the leaps are inverted (for example, in the exposition, the first theme begins on C#, moves up up to to E, then down downto to F; in the recapitulation, it begins on C#, moves down to E, then up to F). Rhythmic development in the piano creates more frequent two-note two- note “chords” (Bailey 174). Development and recapitulation are each repeated, with only a very slight variation in the piano in the final bar of the recapitulation. The
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five-measure coda then presents the introductory rows again, this time in retrograde form. A n a l y s i s : Se Se h r s c h w u n g v o l l
Webern wrote several letters and sketchbook entries regarding the form of Sehr schwungvoll (with (with much momentum), the second movement of Quartet. His comments on the movement, however, are of questionable value in its interpretation, since it seems to have undergone a series of metamorphoses in development. An early sketch indicates a rough ABACABCA form, though Webern also apparently remarked on the movement’s “exact analogy” to a scherzo from Beethoven’s piano sonata op. 14 (A[B]ACADA). Webern’s finished product, though seemingly freely composed, may be loosely interpreted as an ABACABA rondo (Bailey 243-244). The first theme of the A section, comprising bars 1-19, uses only untransposed row forms: P0, R0, I0 and RI0. The second A theme, bars 20 to 32, explores the T6 rows at a more moderate tempo. In this theme, a rather free sort of canon is developed with a two-voice texture (Bailey 245). The first B episode introduces two more themes, each using a variety of row forms and transpositions, but both emphasizing the T2, T3, T4, and T9 groups. The first B theme is at the initial tempo of the movement, the second, at bar 51, slightly slower. Both themes are loosely canonic in form. The sixty-third measure reintroduces the A material, still slowing in tempo. A brief transition uses R5 and R11 in bars 88-93 (Bailey 246-247).
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Episode C, bars 93-121, presents I8, R1, RI8, P11, and R11 almost as a single line, with some parallel motion between the clarinet and saxophone and occasional dyads in the piano. This theme is in stark contrast to the rest of the movement because of its s parseness and slower rhythm. The harmonics played by the violin add to the dissimilarity. The same rows are then presented again, substituting RI6 for R11 and using a denser texture and an overall louder volume. At bar 121, a brief, brief, accelerating transition with fortissimo fortissimo supertriplets supertriplets leads into the unhurried third A refrain (Bailey 247). The final episode, bars 153-182, adds T7 and T8 rows to the material from the first episode. It also resembles the first episode due to its distinctive though inexact canon and due to the dynamic and performance markings. These elements relate the last episode strongly to the first, emphasizing the rondo form f orm (Bailey 247). The last refrain uses the opening row material again, this time at extremely loud dynamic levels-except for the final note, played by the saxophone at pianissimo at pianissimo.. The most striking characteristic of the quartet’s second movement is its freedom. Experts regard it as one of Webern’s most unrestrained and unconventional works (Leland Smith, “Composition and Precomposition in the Music of Webern,” p. 100). Its imprecise canonic elements, oddly placed tempo changes, and twisting of classical forms are unusual for Webern-though not entirely unheard unheard of (Bailey 248-249).
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Conclusions
Webern’s Quartet, op. 22, represents the composer’s talents at the height of his creative career. His organization is absolute, but, at the same time, his freedom is refreshingly bold. The simplicity-withincomplexity of the Quartet rival, and, indeed, acknowledge and praise the works of of the great “tonal” composers who preceded him. Matrix fo r Quartet, op. 22 0 9 8 11 10 2 3 4 5 7 1 6 0 F# Eb D F E G# A Bb B C# G C 3 A F# F G# G B C C# D E Bb Eb 4 Bb G F# A G# C C# D Eb F B E 1 G E Eb F# F A Bb B C D G# C# 2 G# F E G F# Bb B C C# Eb A D 10 E C# C Eb D F# G G# A B F Bb 9 Eb C B D C# F F# G G# Bb E A 8 D B Bb C# C E F F# G A Eb G# 7 C# Bb A C B Eb E F F# G# D G 5 B G# G Bb A C# D Eb E F# C F 11 F D C# E Eb G G# A Bb C F# B 6 C A G# B Bb D Eb E F G C# F#
First mov ement, son ata form
Introduction 1-5 P7, I5 rows; staccato F# motive introduced Exposition 6-15 Primary theme in saxophone; secondary theme mirror canon [repeat exposition] Development
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16-18 First developmental unit; mirror canon continues throughout development 19-21 Second unit 21-24 Third unit; climax of pitch and density; all T6 row forms are used 24-27 Fourth unit [grand pause] Recapitulation 28-37 Return of original row forms from exposition; some alterations in line movement and rhythmic content [repeat development and recapitulation] Coda 37-41 Rows from introduction presented in retrograde S ec ec o n d m o v e m e n t , r o n d o f o r m
Refrain A 1-19 Primary theme; untransposed (T0) row forms 20-32 Secondary theme; T6 row forms; canon Episode B1 33-50 Primary theme; episode uses a variety of row forms
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51-62 Secondary theme Refrain A 63-87 Primary A theme returns 88-93 Transition Episode C 94-121 Textural, rhythmic, and timbral contrasts 121-131 Transition Refrain A 132-152 Both A themes return Episode B2 153-182 Expanded row vocabulary; canon Refrain A 182-192 First A theme returns; dynamic contrast
