bergs sketches for wozzeck

7/23/2019 Bergs Sketches for Wozzeck

1/44

Berg's Sketches for 'Wozzeck': A Commentary and Inventory

David Fanning

Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 112, No. 2. (1986 - 1987), pp. 280-322.

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2/44

Berg s Sketches for

o t ~ e c k

A

Commentary

and Inventory

D V I D F N N IN G

IN 1975 the Wozzeck sketches were examined and commented on by

Ernst Hilmar, having been made available to him by the composer s

widow. Subsequently they were catalogued, along with all the

manuscripts in the Berg legacy, by Rosemary Hilmar.* I t might

appear surprising, then, that neither George Perle3 nor Janet Schmal-

feldt4 makes more than passing mention of them in their important

recent studies. In a sense the omission is not unduly sinful not

surprisingly, the majority of the sketches show Berg at work on

constructional features of the opera which are already well known,

and there is no evidence of hitherto undiscovered esoteric planning.

Yet the sketches still have a fascinating story to tell, which until now

has been passed on only in garbled form.5 In particular, there are new

insights to be gained into Berg s ideas on leitmotivic features and

connections between scenes, many of them contained in one

sketchbook to be examined in some detail below; instances of

eventually rejected or modified ideas also throw new light on aspects

of the compositional process; finally, the accepted view of the

chronolo y of Berg s work on

Wozzeck

has to be challenged in several

respects.

All these observations would be impossible without a more

Ernst Hi lmar,

Wo ue ck von Alban Berg

(Vienna, 1975). In co nnection with the sketches the two

most important chapters are Die Komposi t ion der Oper: Versuch einer Zeit folge (henceforth

EH Ko m ) and Bemerkungen zu den Komposi tionsskizzen (henceforth EH Bem ). With the

exception of two pages in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, al l known

Wozzeck

sketches are in the M usiksam mlung of the Osterreichische Nat ionalbibliothek, Vienna.

Sketches referred to by Ernst Hilmar (p. 103, n. 103) in the Collection Meyer, Paris, apparently

d o not exist. ( I am grateful to

r

Peter Petersen, Hamburg, for this information.)

Katalog der Musikhandschn3en, Schriften und Studim Alban Bergs im Fond Alban Berg und der weiterm

handrchriftlichen Quellen im Besitz der i)steneichischen Nationalbibliothek,

i , ed. Rosemary

Hilmar (Vienna, 1980),

Alban Berg-Studien,

ed. Franz Grasberger and Rudolf Stephan, i :

Veroffentlichung der Alban Berg Stiftung; henceforth RHKat .

George Perle,

The Opera

o

Alban Berg,

i:

Wozzeck

(Berkeley, 1980).

Janet Schmalfeldt ,

Berg s Woz zeck: Harmonic Language and Dram atic Design

(New Ha ven , 1983).

With respect to the identification an d interpretation of musical con tents i t ma y seem tha t

the present study leaves l i t t le intact of EHBem or, especially, RHKat. However, i t should be

remembered that both studies were prepared in a relat ively short space of t ime and as part of

very much larger projects. Their pioneering elforts should not go unrecognized.

It may be recalled that the composit ion of Wozzeck extended over a period of more than

seven years, from the earl iest sketches in mid-1914 to the completion of the last scene in short

score in O ctob er 1921. In s o far as Berg s unpublished let ters assist in datin g the sketches, I am

indebted to EH Kom .


3/44

ERG S SKETCHES FOR WOZZECK

28 1

complete and accurate inventory than has been available hitherto.

This is presented in broad outline in Appendix

1

together with

summaries of problems of identification, features of special interest,

and evidence for dating. Appendix 2 is a detailed inventory, which

aims to identify each sketch or fragment to the nearest bar and to

indicate the content and state of completion in each case. Appendix

3

also shows for which parts of the work sketches exist, in how much

detail, and, perhaps most significantly for insights into the composi-

tional process, which parts were sketched more than once.'

C A T A L O G U I N G P R O B L EM S A N D T H E I D E N T I F I C A T I O N OF M A T E R I A L

Most major discrepancies between the present inventory and that of

RHKat are outlined in Appendix 1. In one case, however, the problem

is so complex that it demands separate discussion. This will also serve

to illustrate in general terms the kind of difficulty encountered in

working with the Wozzeck sketches, before more specifically musical

issues are broached.

Item 17 in RHKat has the same library index number as Item 4

(F 21 Berg 13/III), the same indication of foliation, but a markedly

different indication of contents. In fact the contents given under Item

4

are substantially correct and those under Item

17

quite wrong. The

latter refer instead to what may, in most essentials, be found in Item 6

(F 21 Berg 28/XXXVII) on ff.

14

and 17, the one remaining discrep-

ancy being that the 'Harmoniestudien (Vorhalte-~bun~en)'re actu-

ally a sketch for the harmonic reduction of the opening of

Schoenberg's op. 7 String Quartet which Berg made for his article

'Warum ist Schonbergs Musik so schwer ~erstandlich?'~t is possible

that these folios could have migrated to Item 6 from a previously

self-contained Item 17 during the cataloguing process both they and

the intervening folios contain materials foreign to the rest of Item 6,

which is Lulu material also catalogued as Item

79

although the

duplication of library index numbers for Items

4

and 17 is still

unexplained. In any case 'Item 17' is now a phantom entry.

Although there is no mention under Item 6 of the materials from

'Item 17' that it in fact contains, it is said to include a sketch for Act 3,

scene ii (the 'Invention on a N ~ t e ' ) , ~upposedly on the reverse side of

sketches for Lulu, which is not there. The mistake perhaps arises from

a misinterpretation of the word 'Orgel' on f. 16 , a possible abbrevia-

tion for 'Orgelpunkt'; there is indeed a sketch including the word

'Lulu' on the recto. However, there does not appear to be any evidence

Appendix 3 also shows that Act 1 scene iv is the only large section of the work for which no

sketch material is known, although it is probable that additional sketches also once existed for

Act

I

scene ii.

First published in

Musikbfatter des Anbruch 6 1924) , 329-41.

Translated as Why is

Schonberg s Music so H ard to Understand? in

Music Review 13 1952), 187-96.

In general such designations, and details of the formal outline of the opera as shown in

Appendix 3, will follow those in Perle,

The Operas o Alban Berg

i

44-88.


4/44

282 DAVID FANNING

of a ozzeck sketch here,

and even allowing for the reference to

19-l ined manuscript paper in I tem 6 being a probable misprint , the

format descript ion (quarto) would be quite wrong. Since the sketches

surround ing this one on

ff.

14 an d 17 (described un der ' I tem 17') are

indeed in quarto format, i t may be that the descript ion of I tem 6 in

R H K a t rests partly o n misidentif ication (of material on f . 16) an d

partly on the format description of material now listed under 'Item

17'. Equally it may be that the indication of contents for Item 6 was

taken over in error from Ite m 5 (also claimed in R H K a t as a sketch for

Act 3, scene ii with L u l u material p resent) and tha t this is in some way

associated with the gap left by the transposition of the largely correct

contents description for Item 6 to the ghost 'Item 17'.

In fact I tem 5 does not contain a sketch for Act 3, scene i i . The

relevant folio has descriptive analytical notes on the second move-

m ent of M ahler 's Eighth Sym phony , confusion prob ably having arisen

as a resul t of the word 'Waldun g' ( the opening of M ahler 's Faust

setting) being read as 'W aldweg' (A ct 3, scene ii of

ozzeck

takes place

on a 'Waldweg am Teich') . Such confusions can be unravelled with a

lit t le patience. More alarming though is the likelihood that further

ozzeck sketches lurk undetected elsewhere in the Berg legacy, which

runs to thousands of pages. ' '

I T E M

1

I N V I E N N A , O S T E R R E I C H I S C H E N A T I O N A L B I B L I O T H E K

However, careful examination of the known sketches already yields

much new information, and some of the most interest ing detai ls are

found in I tem s 1 an d in R H K at . I tem 1 is a small volume in

horizontal format, with pages numbered

2-40.

I t contains sketches

for the lat ter p ar t of Act 2, scene iv leading in to the open ing of scene v.

There follow more fragmentary sketches for the last three scenes of

the opera. The sketches start roughly in the middle of Act 2, scene iv

with wh at Berg elsewhere called the 'To desah nun g * (Wozzeck's

premonition of de at h) . Th ey are init ial ly concerned w ith the overlap

between the 314 Landler being played onstage and the 514 music of

the Ostinato which eventual ly drowns i t (see Example 1 . Although

the orchestral parts are rather fragmentary, part icularly as the sketch

progresses, this does not necessarily imply an early stage of composi-

tion, since the whole point of the sketch is to combine passages which

may have been worked out individually in some detail beforehand.

Th is becomes clear on pp . 4 a nd 5, where two ba rs of the f inal version

are omitted (b ar s 601-2), a t precisely the point where the onstage

music is not heard and the problem of synchronization does not apply.

l o As in I tem 22 an d (rem arka bly) Item 260 (see Appen dix 1). Several sketches referred to in

EHBem, including one shown in facsimile (ibid. , 75) are no longer to he found among the

catalogued ozzeck

materials.

Few, if any, of the paginations in the ozzeck sketches are the com poser's own (see below, p.

287 and Appendix 1, I t em 9 .

See Item 18, 21 Berg 13 /V I, 2.


5/44

I

BERG S SKETCHES OR WOZZECK

Example

[589] Z

3 6 :

5 - 7 1

L5911

Wie vie1 Uhr?

was sitzcst du da

r

I

I . I

I L 1 I

11 Uhr

I

I tI

r

So?

ich m i n t > e s mu 0 splter sein die p i t wird einem lang bei der K u m ei l

There follows the Melodrama with Chorale, in which the First

Apprentice delivers his drunken sermon to the accompaniment of

onstage music only. Having sketched the rhythm of the voice part

against the top orchestral l ine, Berg backtracks a few bars to the

beginning of the chorale bass l ine in the bombardon, which wil l

occupy the lower half of pp. 6-11. I t is derive d from a chord

progression used earlier in the scene ba rs

447-65).13

Above this line

l 3

T he process of derivation may be seen at its clearest in Berlin, Item 2; since the derived

pitches are more definitive in this version than in Vienna, Item

1 i t

may be that the former was

merely a neat copy or aide mimaire.


6/44

DAVID FANNING

Example 2

interest ing things are happening. O n p.

6,

together with th e beginning

of the cho rale bass, Berg jum ps ahea d some 40 bars to notate the

beginning of the arpeggiated retrograde of the chord progression (bar

643). Below this he tries out a chord progression for the link between

the scene of Wozzeck s drowning to the minor orchestral interlude,

that is , from the Invention on a Six-Note Chord to the Invention on a

Tonal i ty (Act 3 scene iv, bars 319-20; see Ex am ple 2). O n the facing

page 7 is a sketch for the Barracks Scene (Act

2,

scenes iv-v) sta rtin g

with the Snoring Chorus (which in the final version will be transposed

dow n a tritone here it ap pe ars a t the pitch level of the original

statem ent in Act 1, scene ii) an d go ing on in to a m ore o r less definitive

version of Wozzeck s open ing ph rases.

I t seems probable that the three new fragments here and the

continuing thread of the chorale line were part of a single conception.

In the sketch for the l ink to the Invention on a Tonali ty Berg

experiments with semitone auxiliaries to the D minor triad with

added ninth. He tries out a respacing of the firs t chord from the

progression underlying the Rhapsody sections of Act 1, scene ii

(referred to on p. 30 of this sketchbook as a N atu r leitmotif), an d of

course this is the same progression used for the Snoring Chorus whose

top line only is notated on the facing page. It is possible that this line

of thou ght was associated with the arpeggiation Db-Eb-Ab in the

opening of the chorale.


7/44

BERG S SKETCHES FOR WOZZECK

Example 3

[Scene]IV

As well as sketching the progression from the Rhapsody chord to

that of the Invention on a Tonality, to which the upper four notes

relate as lower chromatic auxiliaries, Berg writes, then deletes, a

chord with three upper auxiliaries, and this may be recognized as part

of the chord he eventually chose for the Invention on a Six-Note

Chord (see Example 3). The full significance of the fragment of

retrograde chord progression now becomes apparent. Its first arpeggi-

ation has one note in common with, and three chromatic auxiliaries

to, the Rhapsody ( Natur ) chord, and its second arpeggiation

contains the three pitch classes of the deleted triad eventually

incorporated into the Six-Note Chord. This gives an insight into the

genesis of the chord chosen for Act 3, scene iv, as well as a significant

detail of harmonic consistency, a t least in the composer s mind,

between four widely separated scenes. It also suggests a characteris-

tically Bergian conceit to do with the reinterpretation of the Natur

chord in the later stages of the work. Not only is there a transposition

to the tritonal opposite pole for the Snoring Chorus, but there is the

suggestion that the chord for the Invention on a Six-Note Chord was

conceived as being, as it were, on the far side of the

D

minor-plus-

ninth chord (in that it contains upper rather than lower auxiliaries), a

concept broadly in line with the characteristic inversion and retro-

grading of material as balancing forces in the later stages of Berg s

structures.

At the beginning of the sketchbook there are sporadic indications of

bar numbers which correspond exactly to the final version. From p. 7,

however, they are about ten short. This is because Berg subsequently

expanded the passage where the Fool approaches Wozzeck and smells

blood (bars 650-70). The beginnings of this expansion (via an

opening-out of the last chord in the retrograde progression) are

worked out on pp. 8 1 1, together with the continuing chorale line and

the now fully notated version of the retrograde progression. There-

after Berg cuts past the 15-bar quasi-reprise of the presumably

already-composed Waltz (bars 670-84) to what he called the Orgy.14

Here (on pp. 12-14) he drafts a systematically accumulating ostinato,

details of whose construction are given by Perle.I5

After p. 14 a number of the original pages appear to be missing. A

break in the binding is visible here (see Figure

1 . 1 6 But when f. 2 of

l

See EHBem, 33.

l The

Operas

o f

Alban Berg,

i, 171 3. The sketch throws no light on the discrepancy noted by

Schmalfeldt (Berg s Woeeeck, 252).

Original sources are reproduced by kind permission of the Musiksammlung of the

Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.


8/44

286 DAVID FANNING

Figure 1. F 21 Berg 1311,

pp.

14-15

Item 3 in RHKat (F 21 Berg 13lVII) is placed alongside p. 14 of Item 1

it can be seen that the sketch continues from the exact bar where it

broke off (see Figure 1, top page, and Figure 2, bottom page).

Furthermore, sketches at the end of Item 3 link smoothly with the

pages after the break in Item l.I7 Pagination in Item 1 is continuous

This assumes that the folio currently numbered 1 recto and verso shou ld be the last in the

item.


9/44

BERG S SKETCH ES FOR

WOZZE K

287

:.- dl a;-.

I . , .

,

; ~

.

.

.

.

X -I , ,+ : ; .

: ' -

i

?


10/44

288 DAVID

FANNI NG

numbered 2-14. Following these pages Hilmar then makes reference

to sketches for the March from the op. 6 Orchestral Pieces, sketches

which are now to be found elsewhere (in Item 2, F 21 Berg 13/11). It

seems that the original continuation of Item 1 became detached2' and

now forms Item 3 (though the correct order is not as paginated or as

indicated in RHKat), and that the op. 6 sketch was inserted in error at

some point, only to be removed some time after 1975.

Assuming that f. 1 should be the last in Item 3, the contents of this

item then begin with the conclusion of Act 2, scene iv, picking up

exactly where Item left off and leading into the following scene until

the sketch peters out in rejected ideas. Then Berg shifts, possibly by

association with one of these rejected ideas containing an F # major

triad (on f.

5 ),

to Act 3, scene ii,22 noting down the leitmotifs to be

used at the point of Marie's murder (where they represent her dying

This leads directly to fragmentary sketches for the next

scene (the second Tavern Scene), in which Berg tries out various

forms of the underlying rhythm. This then links smoothly with the

continuation of Item

1

(see Figure 2, left-hand page, and Figure 1,

right-hand page). Somewhat obscured by the draft of a letter, the

sketch now continues with the Song Wozzeck addresses in this scene

to Margret (bars 161-8). Above the continuation of this sketch on the

next page, Berg notes down the definitive pitches for the Invention on

a Six-Note Chord, the next scene of the opera, albeit in the form of a

dyad followed by a tetrad rather than as a single entity. This

presumably represents the next stage in his thoughts on this chord

from that already discussed (see Example 3 above).

Before proceeding with this new scene, Berg doubles back to make a

more detailed sketch for part of Act 2, scene iv, noting down fugal

entries for the passage around bars 614-1 7 with, exceptionally for the

Wozzeck sketches, indications for instrumentation. Underneath are

two short rhythm sketches. It is difficult to say whether these are

directly connected with the fugal sketch (perhaps as a study for the

Marschtempo in bars 622-5) or with another idea sketched in the same

book, such as the Drum-Major's music or the product of a stretto of

the rhythm for Act 3, scene iii. They might equally be an indication

that a theme from the 'William Tell' Overture, or perhaps more likely

the Radetzky March, was considered for the Dance music in the Tavern

Scenes, along with the Don Giovanni dances and Rosenkaualier Waltz

which do make an appearance (bars 439-42, 603-4; see Example 4).

The following 12 pages are largely concerned with the possibilities

of the now established Six-Note Chord, its application to various

This seems to have happened in Berg's lifetime, since there is a draft of a letter on pp. 14

and 15 which appears to be continuous over the break.

See, for instance, bars 83, 86, 91K in that scene.

3 See 'Bergs Wozzeck -Vortrag von 1929' in Han s Redlich, Alban Berg: Versuch eincr Wurdigung

(Vien na, 1957 ), 324, translated as 'Berg's Lecture on Wozzeck (192 9)' in Hans Redlich,

Alban

Berg: he

Man and

his Music (London, 1957), 280


11/44

BERG'S SKETC HES FOR

WOZZECK

Example 4

images in the text of Act 3, scene iv (there are several abortive

attempts at the passage accompanying the rising of the blood-red

moon), and various modifications arising from the accommodation of

leitmotivic reminiscences. This then leads into drafts for the vocal

declamation in this scene.

There follows (on pp. 30-7) a list of leitmotifs headed Epilog .

Clearly Berg is proceeding to the Interlude following Act 3 scene iv

and making a kind of inventory before deciding which themes he will

combine in the middle section (bars 346-64). This list supplements

the repertory of representational elements given by the composer and

by Perle.24 For instance the accumulation of thirds leading up to the

12-note chord (as at Act 1 scene i, bars 1 3 6 7 and Act 3, scene iv, bars

361-4) is identified as der Sich aufrichtende , and among a cluster of

musical ideas associated with Wozzeck der Gehetzte is applied first

to the theme in Act 2, scene ii (bar 272) heralding Wozzeck s entrance

and then to his entrance theme first heard in Act 1, scene iii (bar

427),25and der Emporte to part of the opening theme of Act 2 scene

iii (bars 368-9).26 Wozzeck s fugue subject in Act 2, scene ii, which

also appears at the climax of the final D minor Interlude (and so, in a

sense, of the whole work) is labelled Fatalistische (see Figure 3).27

The association of the key of Eb minor with Wozzeck will be discussed

under Modified and Rejected Ideas below.

After the inventory of leitmotifs there are sketches for the climax of

the D minor Interlude, marked Hohepunkt

(bars 364-6), and a

rhythmic outline of the combination of leitmotifs immediately

preceding it. This is followed by more leitmotifs, this time ones not

featured in the Epilogue, and a fragment of the final scene of the

opera. Finally there is a draft of the articulated orchestral glissando in

Act 2 scene i, bars 139-40.

D A T I N G V I E N N A

I T E M 3

Neither RHKat nor EHBem draws attention to the substantial

portions of Act 3 material present in this sketchbook, and this

4

'Bergs Wozzeck -Vortrag ' and Perle, The Operas ofAlban Berg,

i

93-1 17.

5

Number

1

in Perle's list

The Operas o Alban Berg, i 106 .

6

Not listed by Perle. Neither this nor the original 'Gehetzte' motif is, as Ernst Hilmar

suggests (EH Be m, 34), a rejected idea.

7

Ernst Hilmar reads 'Das Fatalische' (EH Bem , 34).


12/44

DAVID FANNING

.

3

L

Figure 3.

F

2

Berg 13/1 p 33

Figure

4

F

21 Berg 1311

p

34


13/44

BERG'S SKETCHES FORWOZZECK

291

contributes to their implausible conclusions as to its dating. The fact

that Berg is working on passages involving the combination of ideas,

namely Landler and Ostinato in Act 2, scene iv and superimposed

leitmotifs in Act 3, scenes

ii and iv, strongly suggests that the

composition is at an advanced stage. The appearance of exact bar

numbers in Act 2, scene iv and of page numbers cross-referring to the

Particell (RHKat Item 22, F 21 Berg 14) in the inventory of leitmotifs

for Act 3, scene iv further suggests that the first eight scenes of the

opera were already complete in short score (with the exception of

refinements such as the precise nature of the orchestral glissando in

Act 2, scene i, bars 139-40).

Circumstantial evidence supports this supposition. O n 24 July 1919

Berg wrote to his pupil Gottfried Kassowitz that the first act and the

second scene of the second act were finished and that he intended to

complete Act 2 during that

summer.28 We know that Berg was then

interrupted by the need to copy parts for a performance of his op.

Orchestral Pieces in Dresden and by jobs for Schoenberg s Verein fur

musikalische Pri~atauffuhrtm~en.~~n 9 July 1920 he informed Kassowitz

that he was about to set to work again on the completion of Act 2,30

and four weeks later he was able to report that he had composed three

scenes and that he might manage two more before the end of the

summer, which would then leave four scenes Ernstu t s t a n d i n ~ . ~

Hilmar suggests that the three completed scenes were the first, third

and fifth of Act 2,32 and these may indeed be found in a fairly

advanced state of completion in one sketchbook (Item 13,

F

21 Berg

131x1). However, since this book contains only the latter portion of

scene

v,

it may also be that Act 3, scene i, for which there are sketches

in a separate book (Item 20, F 21 Berg 13/XIV), was the third

completed scene, and that Act 2, scenes iv and v were the two he

hoped to complete that year, leaving Act 3, scenes ii-v still to be

composed. Item 3 would then represent the stage of composition

immediately following.

In the event Berg s plans for the remainder of summer 1920 were

interrupted by proofreading for the publication of his op. 3 String

Quartet and op. 5 Clarinet Pieces, worries about the editing of the

Anbruch journal, asthma attacks, still more work for Schoenberg s

Verein, and his agreement to undertake a book on Schoenberg for the

firm of Halbreither (the second such commission he accepted but

never fulfilled).33 Completion of the composition had to wait until the

summer of 1921. We know that Act 2, scene iv was still not entirely

sorted out, because at this time Berg was informing himself on the

EHKom,

22-3

g

Ibid.,22.

3 Ibid.,23.

3

Ibid.

3 Ibid.

33

Ibid.,2 4 5 .


14/44

292 DAVID FANNING

workings of the ac~ordion. '~ owever, the sketches in Item 1 3 are

not definitive at this point, so that no conclusions regarding dating

can be drawn. By 17 August 1921, as Berg wrote to Webern, the

second act was complete but the third only a quarter finished.35 This

would appear to be almost exactly the stage of composition repre-

sented by Item

3.

Thus it seems probable that Item 1 +

3

dates from

summer 1921 and certainly not earlier than summer 1920, that is from

the last 15 months or so of the opera's seven-year period of gestation.

A final piece of circumstantial evidence is that the 'Fatalistische' motif

is almost certainly the one referred to in Berg's letter to Helene of 7

August 191

8:

'I myself went uphill very slowly, rested frequently

according to instructions , and eventually, as I proceeded with heavy

steps, there occurred to me

. . .

a long-sought idea for one of Woz-

zeck's entrance^. ^ As evidence for an earliest possible date this is

consistent with the observations already made.

However, in RHKat Item 1 is dated May-June 1914, with the

comment 'Diese Skizzen zahlen zu den friihesten Aufzeichnungen zur

Oper' and an aberrant list of contents. In EHBem the description of

the contents of the 'first sketchbook' is totally at variance with the

material in Item 1 in fact he refers to Item 1 as the 'second

sketchbook'. This he dates to spring 1914 up to the break in the

binding (between the present pages 14 and 15), then the rest to spring

1915 or 1917 the two parts of the book being separated b sketches for

the March from op.

which we know to date from 1914.

What seems to have happened is that Ernst Hilmar was led to date

the opening of Item 1 (his 'second sketchbook') to 1914 by the

presence of the op.

6

sketch which should never have been there. (It

may be also that he was misled by the similarity of the small oblong

format to that of Item 2 his 'first sketchbook', which probably does

date from 1914; see Appendix 1. When Rosemary Hilmar came to

compile her catalogue, the op. 6 sketch had somehow found its way to

its possibly rightful place at the beginning of Item 2 (see Appendix 1).

She then made her inventory partly from the obvious contents of each

sketchbook, but partly also taking into account Ernst Hilmar's

commentary, unaware that his 'first and second sketchbooks' were in

the reverse order from her 'Items 1 and 2'. She also apparently took

the dating from EHBem without demur.38

MO D IFIED A N D R EJEC TED ID EA S IN T H E WOZZECK S K E T C H E S

Concluding the inventory of leitmotifs in Item 1 (on p. 34) is the

apparent connection between Wozzeck and Eb minor. The

4 Alban Berg,

Bride an scinc Frau

(Mun ich, 1965), 461; translated as

Lcttcrs to his Wge

(London,

1971), 280.

5 Der 11. Akt ist fertig, der 111. zu ein Viertel nur (E H Ko m , 25 -6) .

6 Berg, Bride an seinc Frau 376; Lctters to his Wgc 229.

7

EHBem, 33-4.

8

T he incorrect dating of Item is repeated in the catalogue of the Berg centenary exhibition,

Alban Bcrg: Katalog zur Ausstcllung (Vienna, 1985), 79.


15/44

BERG'S SKETCHES FOR

WOZZE K

xample 5

xample 6

xample 7


16/44

294

D A V I D FANNING

significance of Eb minor as a root-position triad with superimposed D

has been noted by Perle and others,39 but the sketches as a whole

suggest that it carried more weight in the composer s initial concep-

tion than might be suspected the clarity of its tonal focus was

reduced in the final version of the score.

It may be significant that the above-mentioned labelling follows on

from a brief notation of the Landler, which Berg labels Volk and

which has a strong Eb (major) element clashing with the G minor

accompaniment the Volk is, of course, another agent in the

oppression of Wozzeck. I t may also be recalled that Item 1 started

with Wozzeck s premonition of death, a t which point there are

repeated E minor triads with repeated Ds for the question Wieviel

Uhr? (Item 1, p. 2; see Example 1). In what we can probably take to

be the first sketchbook for Wozzeck (Item 2, F 21 Berg 13/11), amid

preliminary sketches for Act 2, scene ii, there is a rejected theme

underneath which Berg notes Eb minor followed by E major and

minor with superimposed D .40 In an interesting plan for the structure

of Act 2, scene i, Berg refers to Eb minor themes after the short

introduction, with a further appearance at the Reprise where Wozzeck

enters.41 Then in the sketchbook which probably follows this one

there are drafts for this scene including a clear Eb minor opening to

the Stretto (bar 141)42 in both cases the

E

minor tonality is less

clear in the final version. Perhaps by association, he then goes on to

sketch the section from Act 2, scene v underpinned by the Eb

minor-plus-D chord (bars 798-804)) the point of the Drum-Major s

triumph over Wozzeck after their Finally, in a sketch for the

Waltz of Act 2, scene iv (bars 480-505)) Berg notes down where E

minor (sic) and Eb major are to appear.44 All these instances point to

an idea present from the earliest stages of composition and playing a

more important role in Berg s conception than it was eventually

accorded in the score.

In a draft for the overall structure of Act 3 (Item 11,

F

21 Berg

13/XIII, f. 1) a faint sketch for the Polka of scene iii can be discerned

(see Example 5).45Rejected polka ideas go back to the earliest Wozzeck

sketches,46 and the appearance of one here suggests that the eventual

decision to fit the Polka to the basic rhythm of the scene was a

comparatively late one.

There are other, more illuminating examples of rejected ideas in the

sketches. It would appear, in fact, that all the earliest ideas for Wozzeck

9

Perle,

The

Operas

o

Alban

Berg

i

16%71. I have been unable to decipher Berg's designation

here. It reads, 'W[ozzeck] Es moll der I ( ? ) g n ( ? ) i e r t e l see Figure 4) .

Item 2 , F 21 Berg 13/11, p. 90; also Item 7, F 21 Berg 7011, f. 9.

Item 12, F 21 Berg 13/X, f. 4.

4

Item 13, F 21 Berg 13/XI,

f.

3.

43 Item 13,

f.

4 .

44 Item 19, F 21 Berg l3/V, f.

1

45

Not shown in Ernst Hilmar's transcription (EHBem, 38).

Item 2, F 21 Berg 13/11, p. 55 see Exam ple 7

47 Item 2, pp. 5&5, 58.


17/44

BERG'S

SKETCHES

FOR

W O Z Z E K 295

were eventually rejected.47 These were principally chord progressions

all consisting of three- to six-note chords containing a whole-tone or

semitone adjacency (see Example 6) . This harmonic characteristic

may well have been a spin-off from the composition of Reigen, the

second of the op. 6 Orchestral Pieces,48 and although the actual

progressions notated here were abandoned, the sound quality of their

spacing was to become important to the harmonic consistency of Act

1, scene ii, Act 2, scene i, Act 3, scene iv and the final D minor

Interlude (see Examples 2 and 3 above). The other rejected ideas here

are almost dance-like in implied character, again possibly showing the

influence of Reigen (see Example

7 .

Indeed, although the first scene to

be sketched in any detail is Act 2, scene ii (in which the Doctor baits

the Captain before they jointly taunt Wozzeck), rather than one with

obvious scope for dance-like themes, Berg actually starts sketching

from the Waltz section (around bar 202).

Berg was constantly on the lookout for the possibility of retrogrades

or inversions to provide a structural balancing force at the end of a

scene or act. It is well known that the central scene of the work

(Wozzeck s accusation of Marie) is framed by a progression presented

in retrograde as a transition to the next scene. In addition it can be

observed from the sketches that Berg considered inverting the

Emporte motif to indicate the inversion of Wozzeck s despair

( Wozzecks Verzweiflung umgekehrt ) presumably into determi-

nation on vengeance (see Item 19, F 21 Berg 13/V, f. 3). In the end he

settled on a rather incongruous octave doubling of the motif (bars

402-3)) which perhaps registers less curiously if we keep this dramatic

conception in mind.

Similarly it can be seen that he experimented with retrogrades of

the rhythm in Act 3, scene iii before abandoning the idea (Item 3 F 21

Berg 13/VII, f. 1 ). Such rhythmic manipulations were to be of prime

importance in the Chamber Concerto, which Berg began sketching

immediately after completing the full score of Wozzeck.

There are undoubtedly further discoveries still to be made in the

Wozzeck sketches, although even the closest examination will probably

not yield more than a modest addition to our understanding of the

work sketches for a 12-note work such as Lulu naturally document

the conscious processes of composition in more detail. Nevertheless

an attempt at an accurate and reasonably comprehensive account

does show several new aspects of the process whereby the unerhorte

S t i m m ~ n ~ s ~ e h a l t ~ ~f Biichner s drama was objectified, focused, and

kept within bounds. It is nothing less than Berg s masterpiece

demands.

University o Manchester

For instance, the first

five

bars of this piece.

9

Letter to Webern of

19

July 9 8 (quoted in EHKom,

21) .


18/44

DAVID FANNING

A P P E N D I X

1

G E N E R A L IN V E N T O R Y

A.

S K E T C H E S I N V IE N NA , 6 S T E R R E I C H I S C H E N A T I O N A L B I B L I O T H E K

tem F 21 Berg 1311

(a ) pp . 2-14, 17

2/iv: 589-704 and plan to 736 (om itting

601-2, 621, 634 -42 , 671-84)

( b ) p. 7 2/iv-v: 737-4 7

(c) pp. 15-16 3/iii : 159-68

(d) pp. 6, 16, 18-29

3/iv: fra gm ents, esp. 235 -84 , 3 15-20

(e) pp. 30-7

Inventory of leitmotifs, esp. as used in

In terlu de 31iv-v: 336-52, 3 64-6 ; also

includes 3/i: 33-6

f )

pp . 38-9 3/v: 375-81 , 387-9

( p. 4-0 2/i: 134-40

Identification

Missing ma terial between pages now num bered 14 and 15 now forms Vienna

Item 3. Item 1 is called the 'second sketchbook' in E HB em. R H K at takes list

of contents partly from description of 'first sketchbook'

=

Item 2) in

EHBem.

Contents

Calculation of overlap between 514 Ostinato and 314 Landler in 2/iv; pitch

an d rhy thm s truct ures for conclusion to 2/iv (685-736); com bination of

leitmotifs in Interlu de 3/iv-v. Pp . 6-7 reveal melodic and ha rm on ic connec-

tions between 2 /iv, 2/v, 3/iv an d I nter lud e 3/iv-v, all associated with first

chord of l/ii. Interesting labels for leitmotifs (including Wozzeck as 'der

Gehetzte', 'der Emporte', 'der Sich aufrichtende', 'Fatalistische').

Date

Probably summer 1920 or summer 1921. Sketches for combining passages or

leitmotifs suggest late stage of composition; letters to Kassowitz, Schoenberg

and W ebern report work on these scenes at this time (E H K om , 23-6 ).

EH Bem , 33 dat es the book partly to May-June 1914 (on the basis of

conjunction with sketches for op. 6 now elsewhere in the legacy) and partly to

spri ng 1915 or 1917. R H K a t gives May-June 1914.

tem

2

F 21 Berg 13/11

(a) pp. 5-49

Sketches for op. 6, March

(b) pp. 50-5, 58

Discarded thematic and harmonic ideas

for

ozzeck

Cast list and voice ranges

Ch aracter sketch of Ca ptain

Fragment of Doctor's and Captain's leit-

motifs combined (2Iii: 170-1)


19/44

BERG S

SKETCHES

FOR

WOZZE K

(0

p. 60-1, 64-5, 69-71, 78, Discardedideasfor2/ii

81,89

(g) pp.62-3,

66-8,

72-89

2/ii: 191-366

(h) pp.90-4 11%201-5, 212-69

(i) pp.90,94-6 Discarded ideasfor 1/ii

Identification

Item 2comprises the 'firstsketchbook' andpart of the'second' asmentioned

in EHBem. RHKat takes list of contentspartly from EHBem description of

'second sketchbook' = Item 1).EHBemdoes not mention l/ii sketches and

misleadingly refers to the appearance of the pitch-succession of Marie's

lullaby planned as a Landler melody for 2/iv (presumably referring to the

similaritybetweenthe'Eia popeia' themeanda rejectedthemeonp.65).It is

possible that the op. 6 sketch is still misplaced here, since the

ozzeck

sketches in this item show an independent stencilled pagination (beginning

with 1onp.50).In connection with thedraft for2/ii EHBem,33statesthat

Berg intended to introduce apedal point after thethird theme in the Fugue.

However, it isclear that theduet between Wozzeck and theCaptain was to

interveneherejust asitdoesinthe finalversion (Item2,p. 79).

Contents

Initial rejected ideas are either chordal, featuring whole-tone or semitone

adjacencieswhich characterize harmony in l/ii, 2/i, 3/iv, ordance-like (first

continuous sketch starts from Waltz section of 2/ii);possible influenceofop.

6 in both instances. Captain's leitmotif possibly suggested by bars 8-9

(woodwind Hauptstimme) ofop. 6 March. Draft on p. 79 shows conscious

differentation between rhythmic character of themes in 2/ii (quavers for

Captain,crotchetsandminimsforDoctor,eventually tripletsforWozzeck).

Date

Probably very early many rejected musical ideas (including a version of

Andres'ssongin l/ii), castlist notdefinitive. Ifcontemporarywith op.6,.this

is almost certainly thefirst ozzecksketchbook,andmay be dated to shortly

afterthe premiere ofBiichner's playon5May 1914(seeEHKom,20-1).

Item

3

F21 Berg 13/VII

(a)

ff.

1,1' Rhythmic patterns for 3/iii (including

186-90)

(b) ff.2,2, 3,3

2/iv: 704-37

(c)

ff.

3'-5'

2/v: 746-73

(d)

ff.6,6'

3/ii: 103-8

(e) K 68

3/iii: 122-2 1 (fragmentsonly)

Identification

Item3originallyformedpartofI tem 1.Ff. 1, 1 belongattheendoftheitem.

RHKat does not identify sketches for 2/iv and takes certain erroneous bar

numbersfromEHBem.

Contents

Experiments with retrogrades of rhythm for 3/iii (later abandoned). 3/ii

sketchconcernedwithmedleyofleitmotifsat thepointof Marie's murder.


20/44

298 DAVID FANNING

Date

Probably summer 1920 or summer 1921 (see Item 1). RHKat gives 1917

(taken from EHBem, 34, which suggests this as an earliest possible date on

the evidence of the handwriting, although it must be contemporary with Item

1, for which EHBem gives 1914).

Item

F 21 Berg 131111

Discarded ideas for 2/ii, 2/iv, 3Iiii (many identical to those in Item

2 .

Drum-Maior's motif in definitive form on f.

1

(2/iv: 508-12). RHKat dates

these sketches to 1914 (perhaps because of similarity to contents of Item 2).

For no apparent reason the 'Akkordverbindungen' on f. 2 are separately

catalogued in RHKat as Item 269, and dated to 1910. In fact no very precise

datinefor Item 4 seems ~ossible.

A

number of details on f. 1'. if not-added

subsequently, suggest 1920 as a possibility

-

the contents of the folio are

preliminary, mainly rejected, thematic studies for 2/iv, drafted and

composed that year, and the Waltz idea is given an accurate bar number for

its appearance (later not taken up) in 2lii and the Drum-Major's leitmotif a

page number cross-referring to the Particell of llv, all suggesting that the

first six scenes of the opera at least had already been composed (see

Appendix 1, Items 13, 14, 11, 8).

Item

5

21 Berg 28lXVI

Ff. 1-5': no

o~reck

material present.

F

5' contains sketch of analysis of

Mahler Symphony no. 8, second movement, mistaken for

orzeck

3lii in

RHKat 'Waldung'[, sie schwankt heran] misread as 'Waldweg' [am Teich].

Remaining contents largely sketches for Lulu (see RHKat Item 54).

Item 6

F 21 Berg 28lXXXVII

Entirely sketches for Lulu, except:

(a) f. 14

Harmonic reduction of opening of Schoen-

berg's op. 7 String Quartet (for essay,

'Warum ist Schonbergs Musik so schwer

vers tandlich?')

(b)

ff.

14', 17

2/iv: 464-80

(c) f. 17' Possibly a discarded version of lliii:

41 7-24

Identification

Gap in original (or earlier) pagination before appearance of

ozzeck

materials

confirms that pages listed above are not in their original location. Details

given in RHKat may have been duplicated in error from Item 5. Roughly

correct desciiption given under 'ghost' item 17 (see above: 'Cataloguing

Problems and the Identification of Material').

Date

Probably late (1921) in view of highly developed nature of sketch for 2liv and

apparent notation of stave layout for Particell or vocal score on f. 17.


21/44

BERG'S SKETCH ES

FOR

WOZZECK

Item 7

F 21 Berg7011

(a) f. 2

Plan for trilogy of operas, Wozzeck op. 7,

incent

op. 9,

Wolfgang

op. 11, to be

interspersedwith ChamberConcertoop.8

anda cappella chorusesop.10

(b)f.5

?3/i:63-4

(c) ff.6,6"

?Planfor3/i

(d) f.8'

l/v: 677-9, ?l /v:705-7

(e) f. 9,9, 10

Rejectedfragments

Identification

Ff.9,9", 10probably belongwith Item4(sameformat,alsocopiesofmaterial

in Item 2).With the exception of f. 2 these are all fragmentary sketches of

littleapparentsignificanceanddifficulttodate.

Item F 21 Berg131x11

(a) f. 1

Form-scheme for Act 2, then more

detailedplanfor2/iv

(b)f.2

Discardedrhythmsketch?for3liii

(c)

ff.

2, 1

Verydetailedplanfor2/iv

Contents

Showsconscious concern todifferentiatebetween transitions and to regulate

relationshipbetweenorchestraandonstagemusic.

Date

Probably 1920

EHKom, 23quotes letter toKassowitz reportingonformal

plan for2/iv.

Item 9

F 21 Berg701111

(a)

ff

1,2-5',7,7', 10,lov,

11

l/ i: 1-161

(b) ff. lV, 12, 12'

l/ii:2

1 1-1

2, 286-95, 303-25

(c) ff . lv ,10 l/v: fragments and notes on dramatic

structure

(d) 8-9' l/v:691-717

(e)

f. 11'

2liii:380

Identification/Contents

l/ i sketch is a moreor less continuousvocal scoredraft,suggesting that the

originalorderofpages (writtenon)wasapproximately asfollows:lov,10,2,

3, 2, 1,3,7", 7, 11,4,4, 5,

5

(seeAppendix2).

Date

ProbablyaroundJuly 1919(seeEHKom,22).

Item 1

F21 Berg70111

(a) ff. 1-10'

11%

326-482 (omitting362,424-5, 473-5)

(b)

ff.

11,1lV

3/i:45-51


22/44

300 DAVID

FANNING

Contents

Material of 3/i related by dramaticsubject-matter to thatof l/iii (Marieand

child). l/iii sketchmakes two'false starts' beforecontinuoussketch.

Date

Probablybefore summer 1919

EHKom,22 quotesletter toKassowitzof 22

July 1919reportingcompletionofAct 1.

tem F21 Berg 13/XIII

(a) f. 1

ScenarioforAct 3

(b) f. 1'

Scenariofor Act 2; sketch for rise of cur-

tain3/i: 1-6;detailsoftransitionsin Act2

Identification

Act3scenariotranscribed inEHBem,38,omittingrejected Polka theme (see

Example 5 above) and reading 'Chor' instead of 'Charakterstiick' [ la

Debussy] apropos3/v.EHBem, 36 statesthat theAct 2scenarioindicatesa

conclusion to the actwith a massiveclimax broken off by thechorus 'Frau

Wirtin' sung behind a closed curtain in fact this was intended as a link

betweenthethirdandfourthscenes.

ContentsIDate

Act 2 scenario presumably predates that in Item

8

(probably 1920),as it

mentions the rejected 'Frau Wirtin' chorus in 2/iv. Nevertheless it already

shows Berg's conscious care to differentiate between introductions, between

transitions,andbetweenconclusions.

tem

2 F21 Berg 13/X

(a) f. 1

2/iii:400(articulatedorchestralglissando)

(b) f. 1

Discardedchords

(c) f. 2

l/i: gigue(65-9) in styleofcourante

(d) f. 2

?3/i:33-5

(e) f. 3

Discardedleitmotifs

(f)

f.4

Plan for 2/i and discarded sketch for

opening6-8)

Discarded waltz theme

Contents

2/i plan referstoEbminor themes (tonalitylessclear in finalversion).

Date

Probably fromvariousdates (alltornpagesandfragments);2/iplanprobably

immediatelyprecedes Item 13(August 1920).

tem 3 F21 Berg131x1

(a) ff. 1, lV,2', 3

2/i:6-59, 139,141-72 (for 140seeItems 1

and 16)

(b) ff. 2, 3

2/iii: 364-82, 395-7

(c) ff. 4,4 2/v: 797-81

8


23/44

BERG'S

SKETCHES FOR

WOZZECK

301

Contents

~b minor emphasized in 2/i and 2/v. 2/iii linked by subject-matter to 2/i

(Wozzeck's entrance and exit).

Date

This is possibly the sketch referred to in letter to Kassowitz of 9 August 1920

(EHKom, 23), or else part of it (see above: 'Dating Vienna.Item 1 3').

Item 14

F 21 Berg 13/IX

(a) ff. 1, lV,3, 3', 4 2/i: 2-53, 93-123; also copyist's neat

version of 8 1-4

(b) f. 2 3/v: 371-82

Identification

F. 2 is in a different format and belongs with f. 4 of Item 16.

F

4 contains an

extract from a pre-op.

1

Piano Sonata (see RHKat Items 260-1).

Date

May follow on from Item 13 (i.e. after August 1920), since this is a more

detailed sketch for 2/i. Located after Item

14 Ernst Hilmar found Item

11

(EHBem, 36), and these sketches may originally have belonged together.

Item 15F 21 Berg 13/VIII

(a) ff. 1, lV,2

2Iiii: 383-402

(b)

f.

2

3/ii: 73-80 and fragments

Contents

These scenes connected by dramatic subject-matter (Wozzeck's confronta-

tion of Marie).

F

1 indicates that the voice line was the last to be decided.

Date

Probably 1919 or 1920. May belong with Item 19 f. 3 same format (16-lined

paper unusual in orreck sketches) and were found together by Ernst Hilmar

(EHBem, 35-6). Contents of Item 19 appear to postdate those of Item 9

(probably July 1919); contents of Item 15 are similar to those of Item 13

(probably August 1920).

Item

16

F 21 Berg 13/IV

(a) ff. 1,2",3, 10, lov, 11' 2/iv: 455-504, 514-29, 538-60

(b)

f

lV,2 Extract from piano duet arrangement of

Schoenberg's op. 9 Chamber Symphony

(c) f. 4

3/v: 371-3

(d)

f. 6

3/i: 61-7

(e) f. 6'

3/ii: 81-91

f

,

f

2/i: 109-30, 139-40, 164-6

(g) ff 8, 8', 10"

3/iv: 284-315, 327-8

(h) f. 9

Plan for conclusion to 2/ii

(i) f. 11

2Iiv-v: 737-48


24/44

7;probably 1921(althoughf.argelyelaborationsofmaterialsin Item

302 VI FANNING

Identification

F.4andf.9indifferentformat

probablymislocated.F.4belongswith Item

14,f.2.

ContentsIDate

mustpredatep.40ofItem1).

Item

7

F 21 Berg 131111

Ghost entry. Index number same as Item 4; contents description roughly

correctforItem6 (seeabove:'CataloguingProblemsandthe Identificationof

Material').

Item 8

F21 Berg 13/VI

(a)

ff

1,lV,2,4,4' ,5,5'

2/iv: 511-20, 560-642

b)

f. 3

l/v:665-9 and laterfragmerits

(c) f. 3"

Faircopyof l/iv: 635-55

ContentsIDate

Elaborationofmaterialin Items1

3and16 suggests 1921.Andres's song

in2/ivshowscorrectiontowordsfoundinWitkowskieditionofplay (Leipzig,

1920)

seePeter Petersen, 'Buchner aus zweiter Hand: Neue Thesen uber

Bergs Wozzeck-Libretto', Alban Berg Symposion Wicn 1980, ed. Rudolf Klein

(Vienna,1981),80-3.

Item 9

F21 Berg 13/V

(a) ff. 1,

l

2,2"

2/iv:411-49,455-65,48&505

(b) f. 3 2/iii-iv: 403-16

(c) ff.3', 4,4'

l/i: 153, 162-200 and miscellaneous frag-

ments,2/iii:394

(d) ff. 5,5"

Discardedcontinuationof2/ivWaltz

Date

2/iv material appears to predate Items 16and 18; l/i material appears to

followonfromItem9.Soprobably 1919or 1920(seeAppendix 1,Item 15).

Item

2

F 21 Berg 13/XIV

(a) ff. 1, lv ,2, 2

3/i: 17-40,52-63

Date

Probably summer 1920or summer 1921 (see above: 'Dating Vienna Item

1 3', p. 289).

Item 2

F

21Berg74/XV

(a) f. 1

2/i: 211-18

Identification/Contents

Theremainder of this item is largely taken upwith lecture noteson Rondo


25/44

BERG S SKETCHES FO R WOZZECK 303

form (with examples from Beethoven Piano Sonatas op. 13 and op. 31 no.

I).~O

Date

This is a sketch for instrumentation and may even postdate completion of the

Particell (October 1921 .

Item 22

F

21 Berg 14

'p. 63' 2liv: 624-32

Identification

This single page is interleaved in the Particell after p. 121. The handwriting

and layout are the same as the sketch for 2liv: 606-8 reproduced in Ernst

Hilmar, Wozreck von Alban Berg 75 (present whereabouts uncertain).

ContentsIDate

This is a more developed sketch than that in Item 1, and so probably dates

from summer 1921.

Subsequent Wozreck items in RHKat are fair copies, proofs and printed

scores. Item 26 should have index number 28lVII (see Lulu Item 53, which

also gives correct description of contents).

Item 26 F

21 Berg 48

f. 9 3/iv: 320-7. The fourth of Berg's pre-op.

1

Piano Sonatas opens with the

beginning of the Interlude 3liv-v see facsimile in Alban Berg: Katalog zur

Ausstellung (Vienna, 1985), 37.

B.

SKETCHES IN BERLIN, STAATSBIBLIOTHEK PREUSSISCHER KULTUR BESITZ

Item

1 N. Mus. MS 68

3/iii: 209-15 (Wozzeck's exit from the Tavern). Notated in 214. Appears to

postdate drafts for this scene in Vienna Item 1 3, so probably 1921.

Item

2 N. Mus. MS 69

2/iv: 447-65, 604-32. Plan for Chorale Variation. More definitive than Item

1 probably 1921

Item

N. Mus. MS 70

(a)

Sketches for op. 6, March, similar to those at the beginning of Vienna

Item 2, p. 5.

(b )

Letter suggesting that the sketches dated from 1913-14.

5

I am grateful to Dr Douglas Jarman for the identification of this sketch.


26/44

DAVID FANNING

APPENDIX 2

DETAILED INVENTORY

KEY

A

Concept only (usually verbal)

A2

Discarded idea

A3 Leitmotif or thematic fragment

B

Rhythm (and contour) only single line

B2

Rhythm and contour only more than one line

B3

Rhythm and some melodic details

C

Single melodic line

C2

More than one melodic line

C3 Nearly complete texture (voice line often contour only)

D Complete texture (usually omitting details of instrument-

ation)

A. VIEN NA, C STERREICHISCHE NATIO NALB IBLIO THEK

Item

F 21 Berg 1311

589-97: C M 2

595: C2; 598-600: C2; 603-4: C2; 606-9: B2

604-14: C1-C2; 643: C1, C3; 737-47: C2-B1; 3/iv 319-20:

C3

615-20: C2; 643-9: D; 650-64: A2; 665-8: B3

623: C1; 624-33: A2; 626-7: C1; 649-56: C3; 660-1: C3;

665-70: D-C3

685-96: C2; 697-700: A2; plan to 736

697-704: C1 (see Figure 1)

161-5: D (see Figure 1)

?159-60: C 1; 166-8: D; 3/iv 220: A3

614-17: D; ?622-5: B1

222: Al; 222-3: A3; 227: A3; ?230-5: A2; 237-8: A3;

241-3: A3; 249-51: A2; 262-7: A2; 275: A3; 27t3-84: A3;

discarded ideas

?228-33: A2; 241-6: C1; 243-6: C2; 269-74: Al; all 12

transpositions of 3/iv chord

235-8: B3; discarded ideas

238-58: B3; ?267: A2; 3/iii 122-5: B1

258-73: B2; 277-84: B3

3 15-20: C 1 discarded scale and arpeggio ideas

'Epilog' inventory of leitmotifs for Interlude 3/iv-v. l/i

4-5: A3; 136-8: A3 (twice); l/ii 201-4: A3; 212-16: A3;

l/iii 363: A3; 453-4: C3; 486-7: A3; l/iv 656-8: A3; 2/i

55 6:

A3

l/iii 427: A3; l/v 661-3: A3; 666: A3; 2/i 29-30: A3; 109,

112-14: Al; 2/i-ii 170-4: A3; 2/ii 313-14: A3; 2/ii 368-9:

A3; 2/v 761-2: A3; 776-8: A3; 3/ii 86: A3 (see Figure 3)

2/iii 412-13 or 2/iv 443-4: A3; 3/iv 336-52: C1-B2; 364-6:

C2 (see Figure 4)


27/44

BERG S SKETCHES

FOR

WOZZECK 305

36-7

l/i 12C-2: A3; 139: A3; l/ii i 372: A3; 449-52: Al; l/v 715:

A3; 2/i

43 6:

A3; 84: A3; ?109: A3; 3/i 33-6: A3

38-9 3/v 375-81:C2;387-9:Cl

40 2/i 139-40: D

Item

2

F 21 Berg 13/11

Sketches for op. 6, March

Discarded harmonic and thematic fragments

Discarded harmonic and thematic fragments, ?l /i i 3 14:

A2

Discarded harmonic and thematic fragments, 3/iii 122-5:

A2

Cast list and voice ranges. Character sketch of Captain

Discarded theme, 2/i 170-1: A3

Discarded themes for funeral march interlude

193-4: A2; 195-7: A2; 203-4: A2; 21 1-15: A2; 231: A2

191-4: B1; 192-201: B3-Bl

Discarded ideas for 2/ii and 2/iv

191-204: B2; 196-7: C2 p. 67 reproduced in Hilmar,

Wozzeck 73)

192-6: C2; 197-9: B3; discarded ideas

Discarded ideas ?for 2/ii

204-25: B2

226-31 B1; 232-7: C2; 238-43: B1

244-54: B2; 253-9: C 1; 255-8: B2; 262-7

1

C 1-B1

Discarded ideas; plan for 270-345: A1

287-90: C1; 291-2: C1; 293-6: C1; 346-66: Al; discarded

sketch for military tattoo

272-5: B1; 276-7: A2; 277-9: C2; 282-3: B1; 287-9: C1

279-80: C2; 284-5: B1; 286-96: B3

296-8: B3; plan for 299-3 17: A 1; 3 17-18: A3; 326: A3

Plan for 329-66: Al; discarded Wozzeck themes

201-2: A3; ?203-5: A2; 212-22: A2; discarded idea

containing

Eb D

conjunction

212-69: A1

201-4: A2 chords still not finalized); discarded ideas

Discarded ideas for I/ii)

Item

3 F 21 Berg 13/VII

186-90: B2; 618 version with upbeat not used

Retrograde rhythms not used); see Figure 2

704-12: C1 two versions); see Figure 2

713-23: C1

724-37: C1 two versions)

713-16: C1

746-51: B1

750-1: C l ; 751-60: B2-C1

761-73: B2

761 C1; discarded ideas

Discarded ideas


28/44

DAVID FANNING

6 3/ii 103-7: C2

6' 107-8: C2

3/iii Discarded rhythm

7 122-5: A3; 122-5: B2; discarded rhythms; 168-79: B1

7 122-5: A3; 144-52: B2-B1

8 130-6: B1; 193-211: A1

8

190-6: B1; 208-11: B1

Item F

21 Berg 131111

Discarded ideas for 'Wirtshausscene' (2/iv or 3Iiii)

Ostinato, Waltz, Landler, Polka

Discarded ideas for 2/ii and 2/iv; Drum-Major leitmotif in

definitive form 2/iv 508-12: A3

'Themen' (discarded ideas)

'Akkordverbindungen' (discarded)

Blank

'W[ozzeck] Fugenthemen Strasse' (2lii all ideas

discarded)

'Strasse Zapfenstreich' (tattoo ?for llii-iii or 2/ii,

discarded); polka (?for 31iii discarded)

Item

F 21 Berg 28/XVI

No

ozzeck

sketches present (see Appendix

1)

Item 6

F 21 Berg 28/XXXVII

Item

7

F 21 Berg 7011

Remarks for Frankfurt performance of Chamber Concerto

Plan for operatic trilogy (see Appendix

1)

?3/i 63-4: A2

?Plan for 3/i

677-9: B1; discarded theme (?l/v 705-7: A2)

Discarded sketches (f. 9 has E b minor theme with super-

imposed D)

Notes on Bach chorales and counterpoint

Notes on Bach three-part inventions

Miscellaneous analytical notes

Sketch for chamber orchestra piece (unidentified)

Item 8 F

21 Berg 13/XII

2/iv: Al; 3/iii 144-6: B1; definitive formal layout for entire

work (three acts, each of five scenes)

Continuation of 2' (plan for 2/iv)

Discarded rhythm sketch ?for 3/iii

Detailed plan for 2/iv (reproduced in Hilmar, Wozzeck

76)


29/44

BERG S SKETCHES

FOR

WOZZE K

Item 9 21 Berg 701111

58-64: C3; 65-77: C3; 65-108: B2-B1; 109-14: A1

286-95: C3-B2; notes on dramatic concept of l/v

42-57: D; 54-7: C1

1-19: D

78-109: C3-Bl

20-41: D

128-36: D

136-43: D-C3

144-53: D-B3

151-61: C3-422

Telegram dated 3 December 1919

129-35: B2-B3; 1364: B1

109-28: D-B3-C3

691-9: D

700-7: D

707-13:

D

714-17: B2; 714-17: C3 and discarded rhythm

4 6:

A3; 15: A3; 25-6: A3; 30-2: A3

672-4: A2; 700-1 A3; 71 2-15: A3

Notes on French and English Suite dance movements

with characteristic rhythms from Bach Suites)

115-27:

D

380: A1

303-25: C 1-D

21 1/12: D; 303-5: A2

Item 1 F 21 Berg 70111

326-34: C3; 326-33: C2

326-34: D

335-41: D

342-9: C3

350-61: C3

372-99:

D

?410-13: A2; 394-5: A2

396-403: C3; 398-403: C2: 400-3: C2

404-16: C3-D

363-70: C3

369-71: C3

417-23: C3; 426-7: C3

428-33: C3

434-9: B3

440-6: BSC2

447-54: C2-B3

453-4: A2; 453-4: C3; 455-8: C2; 456-8: C3

459-67: C3

468-72: C3; 476-80: A2

481-2: A2

45-5 D; discarded fragments

45-51: BSB1


30/44

D VID F NNING

Item

F 21 Berg 13/XIII

1

Scenario for Act 3 (cf. transcription in EHBem, 38)

1'

Scenario for Act 2 (less detailed than Act

3

scenario);

sketch for rise of curtain 3/i 1-6: A2; plan for transitions

in Act 2 (still provisional mentions chorus 'Frau Wirtin'

in 2Iiv)

Item

2

F 2 1 Berg 13/X

1

2/iii 400: C3

1'

Discarded chords

2

Sketch for 9/16 courante (later became gigue, l/i

65 9:

B2); discarded 414 idea

2

F minor idea

(?3/i 33-5: A2)

3

Leitmotifs for 'Kind' and 'Dirne' (discarded); discarded

theme (?2/i 6-10: A2)

3 Blank

4

Plan for 2/i and discarded sketch for opening (2/i 6 8: A2)

4 Waltz (discarded)

Item

3

F 21 Berg 131x1

6-59: B2

43-5: B2; 50-9: C2-C

1

364-8: D; 367-71: C 1-Bl; 367-74: D; 372-5: C3

162-71: C3; 164-5: D; 170-2: D

139: C3; 141-61: C3 (planned stretto in Eb minor) (140

sketched in Items 16 and

1)

374-81: C3-B3; 381-2: B2; 395-7: B1

805-18: C3

797-805: C3

Item 4

F 21 Berg 13/IX

1

2/i 29-53: C 3 4 2 ; 50-53: C2

1'

2-6: C2; 4-5: C2; 6-29: D-C3

2 3/v 371-82: C2

2

Blank

3 2/i 8 1 4 : D (fair copy); 109-12: B3; 109-23: B1-B2

3 106-8: C3; 107-9: B3

4 93-100: C3; 97-107: B3

4

Sketch for pre-op.

1

Piano Sonata (see RHKat, Items

260-1)

Item

5

F 21 Berg 13/VIII

1 2/iii 383-9: C3

1'

390-7: C3

2 397-402: C3-B2; 400-2: B1

2

3/ii

73-80: D-B3; 100: A3; 103: A3; 103: A2; discarded frag-

ments


31/44

BERG S SKETCHES

FOR

WOZZECK

309

Item 6

21 Berg 13lIV

455-62: B2

Extract from piano duet arrangements of Schoenberg's

op. 9 Chamber Symphony

460-70: B2; 471-80: Bl ('folgt Walzer')

51 1-13: A2; 513-29: C 2 4 3 ; 513-25: C2

Discarded waltz idea

371-3: C2 (part of missing page Item 14, f. 2)

Blank

61-7: D C 2

81-91: B3

109-30: D-B3; 117-23: A2; 164-6: B1

139-40: C3 (and part of a letter)

284-96: C2

297-315: C2

Details of instruments (?original concept of part of 21iii);

concept of part 2lii; discarded rhythm (?around 2/ii

297-300)

Blank

538-50: C2-B3 and stage directions up to 559

546-60: C3; 3liv 327-8: D

737-48: D-C3

480-504: C3

Strips of manuscript with score layout indications (?for

2/iii)

Item 7

21 Berg 131111

Ghost entry see above, 'Cataloguing Problems and the Identification of

Material'.

Item

8

F

21 Berg 13lVI

51 1-13: A2; 513-20: C2; ?526-9: A2; 555-9: A2; discarded

fragments

560-89: C3

589-98: A2; 599-4302: A1 ('Todesahnung Landler 1')

Blank

665-9: A3; 702-3: A3; 708: A3; 709: A3; discarded frag-

ments

635-55: D (fair copy)

600-5:

596-9: C3; 605-10: B3 (reproduced in Hilmar, Wozzeck,

74)

610-24: B3

62-2: B3

Item

9

21 Berg 13/V

1 2liv 480-505: C2; discarded fragments

1

2liii-iv 411-15: A2; 416-21: C2; 429-47: C3-B3; discarded

themes


32/44

DAVID FANNING

447-9: A3; 45545: C3

421-9: D

402-3: A2; 403-16: C W 2

47-8: A3; 65: A3; 80: A3; 172-6: C2; 184-200: C1; 201

A3; discarded fragment

172-91: C2

394: C3

153: D (fair copy); 162-5: B3; 165-72: B3

Discarded fragments for continuation of 2/iv Waltz

tem

2 F 21 Berg 13/XIV

1

3/i 17-18: C1; 17-29: M I ; 19-29: C 3 4 1

1 26-35: C2-B1; 28-32: C2

2 33-40: C2; 38: C3; 38-40: C3; discarded theme

2 52-63: C3-B2

tem 21 F

21 Berg 74/XV

tem

22 F 21 Berg 14

'63' 2/iv 624-32: C2 (see Appendix

1

tem

26 F 21 Berg 48

9

3/iv 320-7: D-C3 (as opening of pre-op.

1 Piano Sonata IV)

B. BERLIN. STAATSBIBLIOTHEK PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ

tem

1 N Mus. MS 68

Quarto, 12-stave manuscript. 3/iii 209-15: C3. Sketch in full score, two

systems (seven staves; five staves). Probably given to Friedrich Wildgans by

Helene Berg in 1955 (see letter on adjoining sheet).

tem

2

N .

Mus. MS 69

2/iv 447-65: Al; 604-32: Al. Plan for Chorale Variation derived from chord

progression. Annotation: 'Manuskript Alban Bergs mit Beispielen zur 4.

Szene des zweiten Akts der Oper Wozzeck '.

tem

3

N.

Mus. MS 70

Sketch for op. 6, March (cf. Vienna Item 2, p. 5). Adjoining page contains

draft of a letter to Doktor of 17 July 193 1, mentioning that the sketch must

date from 17 or

18

years previously.


33/44

BERG S SKE TCHE S FOR WOZZECK

A P P E N D I X 3

S U M M A R Y

O F

TH E SKETCHES

(See Key to Appendix 2, p. 304.)

ct 1, scene i (Suite)

Prelude

Pavane (30)

30-2 A3 9/10

Vla cadenza (51)

Gigue (65)

65 A3 1913

D. bn cadenza (109)

109-14 A1 911

Gavotte 15)

Double I (127); Double

I

(133)

Air (136)

136-8 A3 1/31 136-8 B1 917

139 A3 1/37

Reprise 153)


34/44

DAVID FANNING

Interlude

1

73)

cene (Rhapsody and Hunting Song)

Rhapsody (20 1)

201 A3 1913

201-2 A3 2/90

201-4 A2 2/94

201-4 A3 1/30

?203-5 A2 2/90

Hunting Song 1 (2 12)

Rhapsody (223)

Hunting Song 2 (249)

Rhapsody and Hunting Song 3 (257)

Interlude (311)

?314 A2 2/52

cene (Military March and Cradle Song)

Military March (330)

Quasi Trio (346)

Introduction (363)

363 A3 1/30

Cradle Song

1

(372)

372 A3 1/36

Cradle Song 2 (388)

394-5 A2 1014


35/44

BERG S SKETCHES FOR WOZZECK

Coda and Transition (417)

4 17-24 A2 61 7

Through-composed episode (427)

427 A3 1/33

Interlude (473)

476-80

A2

10110

481-2 A2 10/1OV

486-7 A3 1 30

cene v

(Passacaglia) (488)

No sketches known, except:

Interlude (656) (=Quasi-rondo A)

656-8 A3 113 1

661-3 A3 1/32

665-9 A3 1813

666 A3 1/32

cene

v

(Quasi-rondo)


36/44

DAVID FANNING

ct 2,

scene i

(Sonata)

Introduct ion (1)

Exposition a (7)

Transi t ion (29)

29-30 A3 1/32

Exposition (43)

43-6 A3 1/37

43-5 B2 1 3 /l V

Transi t ion (4)

5 5 6 A 3 113

1st Reprise a (60)

Transition (81)

84 A3 1/37

1st Reprise (90 )

1st Reprise (93 )


37/44

BERG S SKETCHES

FOR

WOZZECK

Development (96)

109 A 3 1/37

109 A1 1/32

112-14 A1 1/32

2nd Reprise a (128)

Interlude (stret to) (141)

2nd Reprise (150)

2nd Reprise 162)

97-107 B3 1414

106-8 C 3 1413

107-9 B3 1413

109-2 3 B 1-B2 1413 109-30 D-B3 1617

109-12 B3 1413

cene ii (Fantas ia and Fugue)

Invent ion a+b (171)

193-4 A2 216 1

195-7 A2 2/61

191-4 B1 2/62

191-7 B2 2/66

192-7 B3-B1 2/62

192-6 C2 2 /68

196-7 C2 2/67

Waltz (202)

203-4 A2 2/61

21 1-15 A2 2 /61

23 1 A2 216 1

204-13 B2 2/72

21 4-25 B2 2/7 3

226-31 B1 2/7 4


38/44

D VID F NNING

Chorale c (272)

270-345 A1 2/79

276-7 A2 2/83

272-5 B1 2/83

282-3 B1 2/83

284-5 B1 2/84

277-9 C2 2/83

279-80 C2 2/84

Fugue a (286)

286-96 B3 2/85

287-9

C

2/82

287-90 C 2/80

291-2 C 2/80

Fugue b (293)

296-8 B3 2/86

293-6 C1 2/80

Development a+b (298)

299-3 7 A 2186-7

Fugue c (313)

313-14 A3 1/33

Development a+ b+c (317)

31 7-18 A3 2/87

326 A3 2/87

329-66

A1 2188-9

Fugue (341)

Coda (345)

346-66 A1 2/80

Interlude (=Largo A ) (366)

cene iii (Largo) (372)

Largo B (387)


39/44

BERG S SKETCHES

FOR

WOZZE K

Recapitulation (Largo A2a) (398)

400-2 Bl 1512

Largo A2b (402)

402-3 A2 1913

Interlude (=Sch erzo I , i.e. Landler A ) (412)

41 1-15 A2 1911

412-736 A1 811, 2, 2

412-13 A3 1/34

Landler B (430)

Landler A2 (439)

ene v (Scherzo) (443)

Transition (447)

447-9 A3 1912

447-65 A1 Berlin 2

Tr io l a (456)

Trio I b (465)

471-80 B1 1612

Scherzo I1 (W altz A) (481)

Waltz B (496)

Waltz D

(514)


40/44

318

DAV ID FANNING

Waltz E (529)

Waltz

F

(539)

Waltz (546)

555-9 A2 1811

558-9 A2 16/10' (twice)

Trio I1 (Hunting Chorus) A' (560)

Trio

I1

B (576)

Trio I1

A*

(581)

Ostinato (589)

589-98 A2 1812

Scherzo I (Quasi-reprise of Landler A) (592)

Landler B (603)

604-32 A1 Berlin 2

Trio

I

(Chorale Variation) Melodrama (605)

605-10 B3 1814'

606-9 B2 115

61G24 B3 1815

624-32 C2 22/63

Appendix 1

(see

Transition (634)


41/44

BERG S SKETCH ES

FOR

WOZZECK

650-64 A2 118

665-8 B3 119

Scherzo I1 (Quasi-reprise of Waltz) (671)

(Waltz C+D) (685)

691-736 A1 1/13

697-700 A2

111

3

Introduction (737)

cene

v

(Idtroduction and Rondo marziale) (742)

Rondo marziale A' (76

1

)

76 1-2 A3 1/32 761-73 B2 314' 761 C 315

Rondo marziale A2 (768)

Rondo marziale B' (776)

776-8 A3 1/32

Rondo marziale (785)

Rondo marziale C' (789)

Rondo marziale B2 (800)

Rondo marziale A4 (805)

ct 3

scene (Invention on a Theme)

1-6 A2

1111

(twice)

Theme (3)


42/44

DAVID FANNING

Variation (10)

Variation 2 (1 7)

Variation 3 (19)

Variation 4 (26)

Variation 5 (33)

?33-5 A2 1212'

33-6 A3 1/37

Variation 40)

Variation 7 (45)

45-51 B3-Bl 10111'

Fugue a (52)

Fugue

b

(57)

Stretto (62)

63-4 A2 715'

Codetta (71)

ene

ii (Invention on a Note)

A (73)


43/44

BERG S SKET CHES FOR WOZZE K

Interlude (109)

cene

iii

(Invention on a R hythm )

Polka (122)

122-5 A2 2/55

122-5 A3 317, 317'

Song 1 145)

Polka (154)

Song 2 (168)

Stretto (186)

193-211 A1 318

Interlude (2 12)

122-5 B1 1/25

122-5 B2 317

130-6 B1 318

144-6 Bl 811

144-52 B2-B1

168-79 B1 317

186-90 B2 311

190-6 B1 318"

208-1 1 B

1

318'

317'

209-15 C 3 Berlin

cene iv (Invention on a Six-Note Ch ord)

Part (220)

220 A3 1/16

222 A1 1/18

222-3 A3 1/19

227 A3 1/18

?228-33 A2 1121

?230-5 A2 1/18

237-8 A3 1/19

241-3 A3 1/19

Part 2 (257)

262-7 A2 1/18

?267 A2 1/24

2 6 S 7 4 A

1

1/21

235-8 B3 1/23

238-45 B3 1/24

258-69 B2 1/26

27&3 B2 1/27


44/44

D VID F NNING

Part (284)

Part 4 (302)

Interlude (Invention on a Tonality) (320)

320-7 D -C 3 26019

327-8 D 16110

336-45 C 1-B2 1/34

337-45 C3 1/31

346-52 B2 1/35

364-6 C2 1/35

cene (Invention on a continuous quaver motion) (372)

371-3 C2 1614

371-82 C2 1412

375-81 C2 1/38

387-9 C 1/39

bergs sketches for wozzeck

Documents