boynton-some remarks on anton webern's variations, op (2009)

8/19/2019 Boynton-Some Remarks on Anton Webern's Variations, Op (2009)

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NEIL BoYNTON

SOME REMARKS ON ANTON WEBERN'S

VARIATIONS OP. 27

Quite how this work, as well as other variation movements by Webern, may be con

sidered

as variations

is

a recurrent theme in the analysis

of

his music. Evidence from

the correspondence shows that Webern regarded the whole work as variations, and

not just the third movement, as some writers have suggested. The sketch material

held at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel offers more evidence along these lines, touch

ing on issues

of

duration and musical space and the idea of a twelve-note row, or

group

of

rows, functioning

as

a fixed point

of

orientation within a work, in a manner

similar to the harmonic function

of

a tonic - one

of

the topics raised by We bern in

the 1932 lectures,

erWeg zurKompost'tt'on

t n zwb' fTiJnen. The aim

of

he present study

is

to relate evidence predominantly from the sketches and the correspondence to the

idea of divided variations, that is, the idea of dividing a theme and variations into two

or more movements and issues

of

formal combination bound up with that; it does not

pretend to offer a comprehensive examination

of

the work as variations, especially as

regards the motivic construction.

ONE- TWO- AND THREE-MOVEMENT DESIGNS FOR THE THEME AND

VARIATIONS

Tracing the history

of

the theme and variations in the genesis

of

Webern's Op. 27

reveals three distinct designs: i) a one-movement set ofvariations; ii) a set ofvaria

tions divided into two or more movements with the theme in first position; and

iii),

the final version, a set of variations divided into three movements with the theme

at the head

of

the last movement. Evidence for these designs comes from both the

analysis

of

structural features in

the

sketches and

the

final version

of

the work and

remarks made by We bern in correspondence dating from the time

of

its composition.

These designs are not the only ones to be found, but they mark the definitive stages

of

the

history

of

variations in the work and between them they encompass

all

the

I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Board (UK) for financial support toward the preparation

of

this paper. Some

of

these remarks on Webern's 1lriations originate in: Neil Boynton,

The

Combination

of

Variations and Adagio-Form in the Late Instrumental Twelve-Note Works ofAnton Webern. Diss., Univer

sity

of

Cambridge,

1993.


2/21

2

Net?Boynton

material contained in

the

sketches.

The

main change in the history of these designs

is

the switch from a one-movement set

of

variations to a set which

is

divided into

movements. Webern's realisation

"daE

die

1/a:n'att'onen wet'tergehn

comes at a time

when

the

first part of a second movement had been sketched,

2

and thus it is worth

noting that this second movement was initially conceived as a new movement in a

kind

of

"Suite" for piano.

3

For this reason one has to distinguish between designs for

the

variations

as

a self-contained set within the work and designs for

the

whole work

as

variations. In this light, Webern's title for the finished work can be seen to reflect

the

latter. Nonetheless,

as

this essay will argue,

the

combining of sonata forms and

variations that

is

part and parcel

of

dividing

the

theme and variations into movements,

compromises

the

structural force of

the

variations, effectively limiting

them to

a one

movement design.

Shortly after starting a second movement Webern wrote to his friend and former

pupil Ludwig Zenk: "Meine Variationen sind fertig."

4

And, although

he

had already

mentioned

the

idea of a suite to David

Josef

Bach

(15

July, see note

3)

immediately

prior

to

the first sketches for this new movement (dated

18

July), his talk of"Klavier

Variationen" and "Variationen fiir KJavier" in earlier letters to Arnold Schoenberg sug

gests that

he

probably first conceived

the

work

as

a one-movement piece.

5

Figure 1a

shows a one-movement design for

the

theme and variations.

Letter from Webern to JosefPolnauer, 26 July 1936, quoted by Hans and Rosaleen Moldenhauer, Anton

von We bern: Chronik seines Lebens und Werkes, trans . by Ken W. Bmtlett. Zurich, Freiburg im Breisgau

1980,

p. 440/"that the variations go on.forther' [Hans and Rosaleen Moldenhauer, Anton von Webern: A

Chronicle of his Life and Work. New York

1979,

p. 482].

2 See Figure 4, below, for a description of the drafts for the andante.

3 We

bern

wrote

to

David

Josef

Bach on 15 July 1936: "Meine Klavier-Variationen sind schon fertig; sie

werden einen Satz einer Art Suite

fUr

Klavier bilden." [Paul Sacher Stiftung, Basel, Sammlung Anton

Webern

/ My

piano variations are already finished; they will form a movement of a kind of suite for

piano." [trans . by the author); and to HildegardJone

andJosefHumplik

on 18 July: "[ ... ) einen Teil

meiner neuen Arbeit habe ich schon fertig gestellt. Ich erzahlte Euch, daB ich etwas fUr


3/21

SoME

REMARKS

ON ANTON

WEBERN's

VARIATIONS

0P

27 20

Theme and variations

a.

one movement design

Po

Po Po


Andante

b.

two movement design

c.

Po

Andante Scherzo

final version

I

A

I

B

I

A

I

Po

·7 ffi

f ,LJJ yffn

Po Po


~ f f i

Po

I Th. I

1

I

2

I

3

I

5

I

7

I

Po o

I

j j j j

Figure 1: One-, two- and three-movement designs for the theme and variations

In this design the first row to appear in

both

the theme and the closing section is

the On ginalreihe, Webern's row number 1; the sixth variation also begins with the

Originalreihe.

I

do not wish to discuss here the differences between the relation

of

variations 6 and 7 to the theme, for now it is enough to recognise that the return of

the Origt nalreihe

establishes a connection between the outer sections of the work.

Note also that variations 4 and

6,

which are to be found in the sketches, and which are

shown in Figures

la

and lb, do

not

appear in the final version

of

the work.)

The

conditions for a variation set do

not

presuppose a particular shape for the

work or movement

as

a whole, variations are, so to speak, the formless form: in this

context the rationale for creating a framing arch

is

to set

the

boundaries

of

the

whole

series

of

variations, to indicate the closure of he set, or at least to offer something that

ies

of

Schoenberg's letters in the Librmy

of

Congress are held in the Arnold Schonberg Center, Vienna;

these copies were used

as

the source for the present essay. In the second letter, the word Variationen is

written in Roman letters, and thus stands out from the surrounding words in cursive script, perhaps as the

designation

of

a possible title for the work.

6 On the distinction between Originalreihe and

Grundreihe

see Regina Busch, Letter to the Editor

(apropos Kathryn Bailey's article 'Willi Reich's Webern' in TEMPO No. 165; extracted from a longer let

ter to the Editor

ofTEMPO ,

in: Tempo 166

1988),

pp. 67-69.


4/21

2 2

Nez?

Boynton

contributes to the closure of the set, more than simply stopping at the end of the last

variation. The means by which the framing arch is created in the one-movement draft

is similar to what

in

the

1932

lectures Webern described as analogous to the referen

tial function

of

the main key

of

tonal music: "Die Reihe

in

der urspri.inglichen Form

und Tonhohe gewinnt eine Stellung analog der 'Haupttonart' der fri.iheren Musik;

die 'Reprise' wird naturgemaB zu ihr zuri.ickkehren. Wir schlieBen 'im gleichen Ton' I

- Ganz bewuBt wird diese Analogie zu fri.iheren Gestaltungen gepflegt, und so wird

es wieder moglich, zu groBeren Formen i.iberzugehen."

7

do not think it

is

possible to

cite the one-movement draft

as

an example

of

this analogy just like that, rather one

must insist on the similarity

of

the two, because what we have in the one-movement

draft

is

not a reprise

per se

and in fact to talk of reprises

in

variations presupposes one

is

already dealing with a special type

of

variations

as

we find when considering the

andante in the two-movement draft). Although it is difficult to judge the force of this

device, the appearances

of

he

On ginalreihein

the one-movement draft create connec

tions between the parts

of

a large form (large in comparison to the short, expression

ist pieces that preceded twelve-note composition), and it is the scale on which such

connections operate that

is

significant. Pursuing the analogy with tonality, one might

compare the difference between a return

of

the tonic and a reprise

in

a variation set

with the Allegretto and the Adagio molto of the last ofLudwig van Beethoven's

ix

Van ations

Op. 34: in the ''Allegretto" the tonic reappears for the first time since the

theme (but with material

of

a different character), the ensuing ''Adagio molto" begins

with a quotation of the opening of the theme.

8

See Figure 2.

A mere eight days since beginning sketches for a second movement and only

five

days after telling Zenk that his variations were finished, Webern wrote to his friend

Josef Polnauer saying that he now realised the variations go on further.

9

ow much

further, how many movements were envisaged for the suite

as

a whole, and whether

all of the movements of the suite would be variations is not disclosed. Nonetheless, it

is worth reconsidering the idea of a continuation of the theme and variations at the

point when the new movement was completed. See Figure lb. Here, one can see that

a new framing arch for the theme and variations is created through the return of the

7 Anton Webern, Der Weg zur neuen Musik, ed. by Willi Reich. Wien 1960, p. 58 26 Februmy 1932)/"The

original form and pitch of the row occupy a position akin to that of the 'main key' in earlier music; the

recapitulation will naturally return to it. We end 'in the same key ' This analogy with earlier formal con

struction is quite consciously fostered; here we find the path that will lead us again to extended forms."

[Anton Webern,

The

Path to the New Music, ed. by Willi Reich, trans . by Leo Black. Bryn Mawr a. o.)

1963, p. 54.]

8 F D B ~ G E ~ c F . Cf. Arnold Schoenberg, l


5/21

SoME REMARKS ON ANTON WEBERN's VARIATIONs Or 27

.

Th

I

2 3 4

5

I '':,etto

dagio molto I

D G

c

r ili

rrJii p

Figure 2: Tonal and motivic return in Beethoven's

Six

ran ations Op. 34

Originalreihe at the beginning

of

the reprise

of

the andante. The arch structure sets the

limits of a two-movement design for the variations. The last section of the two-move

ment design thus functions

as

reprise of he new movement, which is evident from the

motivic construction, and it also appears to serve in some way

as

the end-frame of the

whole set of variations - finale seems too strong here, for there is little that could

be described

as

serving the function

of

summing-up. Again,

as

in the one-movement

design, quite what the force of this connection that spans the variations amounts to is

difficult to ascertain, but the intention

of

creating some sort

of

a link

is

unambiguous,

especially in view of the fact that the first part of the andante begins with different

rows altogether, that is one might have expected the reprise of the andante to begin

with the same rows

as

its first part. Paradoxically, it is at the moment of dividing the

variations that

the

need for an arch that spans

the

whole work

is

perhaps felt

to

be

most acute - the rationale remains the same whether the variations are divided or

not. Likewise, the strong motivic connection between variation 7 and the first part of

the andante provides immediate support for the idea that variations go further despite

the obvious physical separation (issues of space and proportion that also appear to

relate to the idea that the variations go further will be examined later).

The division of the variations into movements and the quasi-harmonic structuring

across the whole set present new formal possibilities. Whereas in Beethoven's ix

f/ariatt ons Op. 34 the harmonic structuring of he set offers the possibility ofseparating

the

tonal return from a motivic reprise, in Webern's Op.

27

by virtue

of

dividing

the

variations into separate movements, some variations (or parts thereof, videlicet the

second movement of the final version) will be reprises - not of the theme, but - of

earlier variations. In fact in the two-movement design the relation of the reprise of

the andante to its first part

is

obviously much stronger than its relation to the theme,

in other words the relation to the theme is obscured by the exposition-reprise rela

tion that holds within the andante itself. Another way

of

considering the problem is

to imagine the hypothetical case of a listener arriving at the reprise of the andante:

in order to establish the framing arch there would have to be something to send


6/21

ett oynton

the

listener back

to

the theme, but because

the

reprise of

the

andante so completely

matches its first part there

is

little stimulus to hear back beyond this point, to

prompt

in the listener a reawakening of memories of

the

theme, and so

the

arch that bounds

work is eclipsed by the exposition-reprise relation in

the

last movement. Whereas

the

quasi-harmonic structuring

of

Webern's two-movement design promotes relations

between theme and variations,

the

new formal possibilities opened up by dividing

the

variations into movements concern mainly

the

relation of variations

to

each other.

Formally, there are now two primary structuring forces in operation:

the

theme

of the

variations, and

the

main theme of

the

andante.

The

latter

is

still notionally subordi

nate to

the

variation-theme, but it very nearly approaches

the

former in terms

of the

effect that it has on the shape of

the

work

as

a whole.

The

moral of

the

story would

appear

to be

that exposition-reprise relations between variations subvert

the

relation

of

the reprise-variations to the theme.

Having finished

the

work, We bern wrote to Schoenberg: "Die Variationen sind auf drei

ganz abgeschlossene Satze verteilt. Auch erscheint das 'Thema' nicht besonders hinaus

gestellt. Ich mochte fast sagen, man soll

es

gar nicht erst suchen."

10

See Figure 1c. A

similar description

is

given later to Eduard Steuermann, the work's dedicatee:

Ich schicke Dir mit gleicher Post meine "Variationen" u. bin sehr gliicklich, daG Dich meine

Widmung an Dich freut. Wie ich Dir, glaube ich, schon angedeutet habe, sind sie

in

fUr

sich

abgeschlossene Satze (drei) aufgeteilt. Ich stelle auch das "Thema" gar nicht ausdriicklich

hinaus (etwa in friiherem Sinne an die Spitze). Fast ist es mein Wunsch, es moge als solches

unerkannt bleiben. (Aber wer mich danach fragt, dem werde ich es nicht verheimlichen).

Doch

moge

es

Iieber gleichsam dahinter stehen. (Es sind - Dir verrate ich es natiirlich

gleich- die ersten

11

Takte des 3. Satzes). [ ... ]

Der

erste Satz ist quasi ein Andante, der 2.

ein Scherzo[ .. ]. Der 3. Satz ist nun wirklich eine Variationen-Reihe, in seinem Bau.1

1

10 Letter from Webern to Schoenberg, 21 September

1936,

Library

of

Congress, Washington/"The varia

tions are arranged in three quite self-contained movements. The 'theme' is also not specially set apart

[from them]. I would almost say, one should not at all look for it at first." [Trans . by the author.]

11 Letter from Webern to Steuermann, 6 December 1936, published in: Regina Busch, Aus dem Briefurech

sel Webern-Steuermann, in: Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn (eds.), Anton Webern I. Miinchen

1983 (Musik-Konzepte, Sonderband), pp. 23-51, here pp. 32-33/ I am sending you my Variations by the

same post and am very happy that you are pleased with my dedication

of

the work to you. As, I believe,

I have already indicated to you, they are divided into self-contained movements (three). Also I make the

theme by no means expressly prominent (at the top, as it used to be for instance). I almost wish that it

remain unrecognized

as

such. (But I will not hide it from anyone who asks about it. Nonetheless, it had


7/21

SOME REMARKS ON ANTON WEBERN's VARIATIONS 0P 27

2 5

These two letters clearly show that Webern considered the whole work as variations,

the letter to Steuermann specif)ring in addition

other

forms involved : thus, the first

movement represents a combination of andante-form and variations, and the second

a combination of scherzo-form and variations.1

The

issue of formal combination,

touched

on

in these remarks,

is

one

of

central significance

to

his twelve-note works.

Webern first mentioned the idea

of

a theme and variations divided into three move

ments to Steuermann the day before he began sketching the scherzo movement:

Ich arbeite [ ... ] an den Variationen

fUr

Klavier, von denen ich Dir schon erzahlt habe. Es

werden aber welche in

mehreren

Siitzen. Zwei von diesen sind schon fertig, den dritten

u.

wie ich glaube, letzten hoffe ich noch vor Schlug der Ferien - also bald - zu beenden

u.

damit die ganze Arbeit, die Dir, liebster Freund, gewidmet sein soli. Ich will die 3 Satze ein

fach "Variationen"

benennenP

The changes that took place in order to arrive at the final version from the two-move

ment design consist principally in putting the variation movement in last position,

deleting variations 4 and 6 from that movement, and, it would seem perhaps by way

of

compensation, adding two new variations in the guise

of

the scherzo movement.

14

better stand behind, so to speak. (It

is

- naturally I shall tell you straight away - the first

11

bars of he

3rd

movement.) [ ..

]The

first movement is quasi an andante, the second a

scherzo[

.. ].

The

third movement

is just really a series of variations, in its construction." [Trans . by the author.]

12

Some

of

the correspondence from this time

is

discussed by Kathryn Bailey, Willi Reich's Webern, in:

Tempo 165 1988), pp. 18-22; cf. also Busch, Let ter to the Editor.

On

andante-form see Anton We bern,

Ober musikalische Formen: Aus den Vortragsmitschriften von Ludwig Zenk, Siegfried Oehlgiesser, Ru

dolf Schopf und

ma

Apostel, ed. by Neil Boynton. Mainz

a.

o.) 1999 (Veroffentlichungen der Paul

Sacher Stiftung/Publications

of

the Paul Sacher Stiftung 8), and Schoenberg, Fundamentals of Musical

Composition. Regarding the temary division

of the

scherzo in Figure 1c see Neil Boynton, Anton We

bern,

Vrm att onen

op. 27: Gegeniiberstellung der Handexemplare von Else Cross und Peter Stadlen, in:

Markus Grassl and Reinhard Kapp (eds.), Die Lehre von der musikalischen Aufftihrung in der Wiener

Schule: Verhandlungen des Internationalen Colloquiums Wien 1995. Wien, Koln, Weimar 2002 (Wiener

Veroffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte 3), pp. 101-111. On Webern's understanding of scherzo-form

in

general, see Webern, Ober musikalische Formen.

13 Letter

from We bern

to

Steuermann, 24 August 1936, published in: Busch, Aus dem Briefurechsel We-

bern-Steuermann, p. 26/"1 am working[ .. ]

on the

variations for piano which I have already told you

about. It will be variations in several movements, however. Two of hese are already finished, the third, and

I think, last I hope to complete before the end of the holidays - soon therefore - and with that the whole

work, which should be dedicated to you, dear friend. I want to call the 3 movements simply 'Variations'."

[trans . by the author]

The

idea

of

three movements

is

also mentioned the day before in a letter toJone

23

August 1936); see Webern, Briefe an HildegardJone undJosefHumplik,

p.

34, no.

69,

or Webern, Let

ters to HildegardJone andJosefHumplik, p. 33, no. 69, respectively.

14 Both the two-movement draft and the final version might be considered as comprising a theme and ten

variations: when the three sections of the andante are reckoned in o/16 an idea which was tried out in the


8/21

2 6

NettBoynton

he

last variation

of the

variation movement remains the same

as

it was in

the

one

and two-movement designs. And now, this last variation

as

closing section

of the

work can be seen to refer back to

the

first part

of the

andante by dint

of

the motivic

connection that in the two-movement design served

as

evidence

of

continuity

of

the

variations across the divide between movements.

Putting

the

variation movement last creates

the

unusual situation where the theme

is

no longer at

the

head

of

the work

( an

der Spitze ) - Webern's unease in explain

ing

to both

Schoenberg and Steuermann that

he

had written a set

of

variations with

the theme buried in the middle

of the

work aside

is

obvious. Consequently,

the

usual

sort

of

relations

of

a

theme

and variations are lost - in

the

normal course

of

events

one thinks, for example,

of the

play, at

the

beginning

of

each new variation, between

references back to

the theme

and the contrast, or otherwise, in character with

the

preceding variation. And, when in

the

final version one does arrive at the theme at

the

beginning

of

he last movement, one

is

hardly overwhelmed by a sense

of

connections

coming

home

to roost (as if

the

normal relations

of

theme

to

variations were some

how working in reverse). Nonetheless, a framing arch

is

possible once more, now

that

the

variation movement

is

in last position - that

is,

now that

the

last section

of

the

work

is not

a reprise

of

the first part

of the

last movement (now that this movement

is

nun wirklich eine Variationen-Reihe ), a way

is

left open for

the

listener to hear

further back into

the

work. In essence,

the

final version ofWebern's theme and varia

tions represents

the

finale

of

a work with motivic-thematic connections between each

of

its three movements. In

the

large, some structural aspects, notably

the

framing arch,

bear resemblance to Johannes Brahms's

Symphony

no.

4

(the return

of

first-movement

material based on thirds toward

the

end

of the

passacaglia), and

the

broad outline

of

the

work

is not

dissimilar

to

Brahms's

Quintet for Clart net and

Strings

Op.

115,

which

also has a variation finale. See Figure

3.

In Brahms's

Qutntetthe

return

of

the

opening

motto in

the

coda

of the

finale creates a work-bounding arch.

he

material

of

vari

ation 5

is

linked

to the

motto in such a way that it can be said that the music moves

toward

the

motto

as

a fitting conclusion

of

that movement, rather than it simply ap

pearing

as

a trivial addition.

sketches with respect to the middle section, each is eleven bars long, yielding an overall structure for the

work

of

eleven eleven-bar sections. This type

of

structuring is perhaps

of

most interest when viewed

as

a controlling structure for the work, as a means of defining the extent of the theme and variations, some

thing which takes on a new dimension when dealing with divided variations. he changes of metre in the

sketches are discussed as part of the genesis of the andante, below.


9/21

SoME REMARKS ON ANTON WEBERN's VARIATIONs

OP.

27

2 7

Sonata

form

dagio Scherzo

Theme

and variations

I

xposition

I

laboration

I Reprise I I I I I I

ndantino

I resto ~ I I I

COda]

Figure : Work-bounding motivic return in Brahms's Quintetfir Clan net

and Strings

Op.

115

Considering Webern's designs for divided variations prompts one to consider some

of

the factors that condition the introduction

of

sonata-form elements into varia

tions. The introduction

of

a sonata-form reprise creates problems not only for the

relation of the reprise-variation to the theme, but at the same time creates an entity

that clearly exceeds the extent

of

the theme both

in

its length and proportions and

in

the number

of

its parts. One device which stops short

of

this

is

what Schoenberg has

described with respect to variations

1-3

ofBeethoven's Thirty-Two

Van atz ons

WoO

80

as the unfolding

of

an idea in successive steps. These three variations are based on the

same motive and although they are grouped together the absence of an intervening

contrast means there

is

no' suggestion

of

a reprise, rather the impression

is

one

of

a

gradual unfolding. The switching

of

the left- and right-hand parts between variations

1 and 2

is in

some ways similar to the switching

of

parts between the exposition

and reprise ofWebern's andante. In Beethoven's variation

2

however, one recognises

immediately the continuation

of

the idea precisely because there is no intervening

contrast; and in variation 3 the unfolding can be seen to reach an obvious climax

when the two running parts

of

the preceding variations are combined against each

other. In these three variations the one-to-one relation

of

the variation to the theme

is

confirmed every step

of

the way - one can clearly see that the building blocks

of

the emerging internal form correspond to the theme;

in

Webern's andante, in the

two-movement design for the variations, the reprise creates at once an internal con

nection far bigger

in

extent than the theme and forces one to address, retrospectively,

a frame

of

reference that is not normally encountered

in

this context. It

is

perhaps also

worth noting that in Beethoven's

Thirty-Two Variatt ons

the internal subset begins in

variation

1

hardly the place that one would or could develop an internal force strong

enough to rival the theme.

The idea

of

compromise,

of

the variations being effectively reduced to one-move

ment structures, relates to the autonomy

of

the theme and variations, not to the so

nata forms involved, nor to the piece

as

a work of art, whatever that might mean. By

which, I mean to set limits regarding the observations on the designs for divided vari

ations, above. Clearly, I am not suggesting that this absolutely cannot be done - and

here, I am thinking ofSchoenberg's comments on the relation

of

art and theory: im

Kunstwerk gibt es keine Irrti.imer, keine Irrlehren und daher kann ein Kunstwerk nie


10/21


11/21

SoME

REMARKS ON

ANTON

WEBERN's VARIATIONs OP.

27

throughout Webern s sketchbooks: frequently one finds changes of metre in the first

sketches for a movement; there are also examples where

the

metre

of

a whole move

ment is

changed apparently after the sketching

is

complete, for example,

the

metre

of

the last version of the theme and variations movement in Op. 27 is ¥8 in the printed

score

itis

¥2.17

In the andante,

the

changes in metre persist right up to the beginning

of the reprise. The dates in the sketches suggest the writing

of

the movement can be

divided into three drafts. Clearly this

is

a rough picture, and one can discern other

drafts within drafts, nonetheless, the dates in the sketches match up with reports

of the work s progress in the correspondence and this broad outline is sufficient for

present purposes. See Figure

4.

a)

Draft

1

b)

Draft2

c) Draft3

47

18.

VII.

36

5/8

First

part, 2-

and 4-bar units

22. VII. 36

50

5/8

First part, 6-bar unit

49

10.

VIII. 36

3/16

First part, 18-bar unit

49 5/4

26. VII. Abreise

nach

Uttendorf

First part,

11-bar

unit

52

5/16, 3/16

Middle

section

51

5/16, 3/16

Middle

section

Figure 4: Drafts for the andante, Sketchbook IV

54

3/16

19. VIII. 36

Reprise

After completing

the

first draft, begun on

18

July, Webern wrote

to

Zenk

on 21

July

that his variations were finished; after completing the second draft, begun on 22

17 Some of these are reported by Kathryn Bailey, Rhythm and Metre in Webern s Late Works, in:

Journal

of

the Royal Musical Association 120/2 1995), pp. 251-280; see also Regina Busch and Reinhard

Kapp, Tempofi·agen bei Anton We bern mit der Vorfiihrung zweier von RudolfKolisch einstudierter Auf

nahmen, in:Jean-Jacques Diinki, Anton Haefeli and Regula Rapp (eds.), er Grad der Bewegung: Tem

povorstellungen und -konzepte in Komposition und Interpretation

1900-1950.

Bern

1998

(Basler Studien

zur Musik in Theorie und Praxis 1), pp. 185-201, especially pp. 194-196.


12/21

210

Net

Boynton

July, he wrote to Polnauer on 26 July, the day

of

the departure for Uttendorf, that the

variations go further; after finishing the third and final draft he wrote to Steuermann

on 24 August that the variations would be divided into three movements in

all

- he

began sketching a third movement the next day, on 25 August.

18

The only part

of

the

movement that was unambiguously conceived

as

a new movement in a suite was the

first draft, as this predates the postcard to Zenk. The realisation that the variations

go further could be seen to be something that Webern arrived at through reviewing

the material he had completed since that postcard to Zenk, and so the contents

of

the second draft are potentially germane to that idea; certainly, the third draft was all

written with the idea

of

divided variations in mind. The first three pages

of

sketches,

pages

47

50 and

49

concern the first part of the andante; the next two, pages 52 and

51

concern the middle section; and the last page, page

54

the reprise.

19

t

was We

bern s practice to begin on the right-hand page

of

a double-page spread, then move to

the left-hand page, hence the page order

50

then

49

52 then 51- the even-numbered

pages being on the right-hand side

of

the sketchbook. The first and second drafts are

written entirely in quintuple metres, and ; in the third draft, only the middle sec

tion includes sketches in a quintuple metre,

5

/16, while the whole of he movement can

be followed through this draft in :Y16.

* * *

The sketches for the first part

of

the andante are spread across

all

three drafts. The

pairing

of

rows in the relation P

:R

(in the first instance

P8

and

R8

Webern s row

numbers 45 and 46 respectively) is introduced

in

the very first line

of

the first draft.

This pairing creates symmetrical pitch formations in the horizontal plane. The final

version of the movement is entirely structured from such pairs of rows, and in light

of

the final version

of

the work, this pairing proves to be exclusive to the movement.

This feature is one aspect that marks out the first draft

of

the andante - as inferred

from the correspondence, above - as independent

of

the variations. Another new

feature is the quintuple metre.

By the end of the second draft, however, in the upper part

of

page 49 the new

metre

is

bound up with one that creates a formal connection with the variations

movement: the first complete draft

of

the andante theme

is

eleven bars long, the

same length as the variation theme and each

of

its variations. No sooner than an

eleven-bar section

is

established, the significance

of

its length as a formal criterion

of the

theme and variations is putatively swept away when at the beginning

of

the

18

Postcard

to

Zenk, see note 4; letter to Polnauer, see note 1; letter to Steuermann, see note 13.

19 All the sketches referred to from Sketchbook IV are on 16-stave landscape paper, ca. 27 x 33.5 em.


13/21

1

SoME REMARKS oN ANTON WEBERN's VARIATioNs OP. 27

I I

third draft, in the lower part of page

49,

the

metre

is changed to

3

/16. The change on

page 49 is wholesale, affecting all

of the

music composed thus far: the eleven-bar

unit at the top

of

the page is written out again in :Y16

with

only a few changes, mostly

concerning the end of the section. It appears as

if

this writing-out of the music

-

the

first entry in the sketchbook since Webern reported

to

Polnauer his having

realised that the variations go on

further

is simply the recording of afot t accomplt:

The switch to

:Y16

brings

the

motivic pattern

of the

opening

of the

andante into the

closest relation with the opening of variation 7 of the preceding

movement:

both

begin with the fourfold appearance of a five-beat motive set against a triple metre;

the

motive is syncopated in variation 7 and on

the

beat in

the

andante. In the latter,

the rhythmic outline

of

this opening first appears in the second draft in

%

(page

50,

staves

7 8

and 11-12: the continuation is indicated by an arrow drawn in blue

crayon). See Figure s.zo

Variation 7

is

sketched in

3fs

and, apart from

the

very first bar, bar 78[a],

the

con

tinuation

of

which gives way to 78 [bJ one

beat

later than in the final version. See

Figure S(a). The rhythmic shifting

of

the whole variation necessary in order to arrive

at

the final version is striking in that

the

relation between phrase contour and metri

cal accentuation (however vestigial the latter is in practice) is completely altered at

a stroke.

21

Nonetheless, nothing changes

as

regards the mutual positioning of

the

repeated five-beat motives. It seems in both variation 7 and the andante that the set

ting

of

a motive

or

phrase against the metre is used

as

a device for establishing refer

ential features in the music: the first and fourth appearances of the five-beat motive

occupy the same position in the bar. In variation 7 the fourth appearance, marked

tempo ,

is

used

as

the beginning

of

a new group

of

phrases, the music effectively

recommences from the same position that it held at the beginning of the variation.

Note also that the fourth phrase begins with the same pitches as

the

first. In the

first part

of

the andante the fourth appearance

of

the motive is the last in a group

of

phrases, and here a sense of closure is created by a return to the initial position. This

20 The sketches are all in pencil, but for the following: Figure S(a), bar-lines, bar numbers, clefs at the

beginning of the stave, VII Var. , tpo , 20 and accompanying bracket written in blue crayon,

1

and

accompanying bracket in red crayon; Figure S(b) bar numbers in blue crayon, row numbers, brackets

at

end

of rows, and dashed lines in

the

middle

of

rows in red crayon; Figure S(c) bar numbers in blue

crayon.

21 In this connection Webern's remark

to

Willi Reich about

the

treatment of

the

two motivic ideas of

the

l l:triations for Orchestra Op. 30 is telling: Durch aile miigliche Verlegung des Schwerpunktes innerhalb der

heiden Gestalten entsteht immer was Neues in Taktart, Charakter usw. [Letter, 3 May

1941,

published

in: Anton We bern, Der Weg zur neuen Musik, pp. 66-67, here p. 67]/ Through all possible displacements

of he centre

of

gravity within the two shapes there's forever something new in the way of time-signature,

character, etc. [Webern, The Path to the New Music, p.

62.]


14/21

I

j

I

I

212

'

'

78[a]

VII V

·;.;·

I U ' - ' ~

:

ar.

~ q s

IP

I' ' '

Net

Boynton

78[b]tpo

79

rit.

201

.

__.,..

~ 1 1 5

/_,

1:....

f

ubt

p

.

''if'

·

1

a)

Sketchbook IV (Paul Sacher Stiftung, Basel, Sammlung Anton Webern), p. 48:

transcription offirst phrase

of

variation 7 of he variation movement, bars 78[a], 78[b]-79, staves 14-15

Sehr mallig .h.

=

IO.VIII

45

Ill

46

3

4 5 ~

6

1® 1

.

u

I

~

'

· ~ ~

'

b{

'

p

F=-

I ~

l ~

'

v----J;;

r0.

A.

:

'

.

45

I

v•J

6 · ~

b) Sketchbook IV, p. 49: transcription

of

the beginning of he andante in

¥16

bars 1-7, staves 11-12

[staves 7 8]

[staves 11-12]

A

2

_r : 1

3 gilt

4

-

. .

@

1.

r

~

f ~ u

f ~ ~ ~

dim.

qn

h;

]

-

6-

b.io

:

.

I

c) Sketchbook IV, p. 50: transcription

of

he beginning of he andante in%, bars 1-4, staves 7-8, 11-12

Figure 5


15/21

SOME REMARKS ON ANTON

WEBERN's

VARIATIONS

Qp,

27

213

sense of closure

is

reflected in the symmetrical pitch structure, which literally returns

to its point of departure.22

Paradoxically, despite that the ¥16 metre effectively replaces as the metre of the

andante in the second draft on page

49,

both versions

of

the completed section on

this page embody features which show that

the

variations go on further. Obviously,

the formal

connection-

that the length

of

the andante theme

is

the same

as

the vari

ations theme - is most apparent when considering the version in , the motivic one

when considering the version in ¥16. As regards the formal connection, it would seem

that it

is

not the quintuple metre that

is

significant in itself, rather it

is

the length of he

first part of the andante when measured in relation to that metre, which, apart from

indicating the absolute significance

of

eleven, suggests also that the content

of

each

bar or group of bars is somehow meaningfl1l, that

is,

in general terms, periodic pat

terns smaller

than

the length of the andante theme deserve scrutiny, and this brings

one back to the repeated five-beat motive at the beginning of the theme, among

other

things.2

3

Later the five-beat motive

is

reduced to a three-beat one and this

is

pursued for a while. Considering the course

of

the theme in ¥16, the complexity

of

the

opening five against three

is

then seen to resolve into simpler and shorter three-beat

patterns. In this context,

the

idea ofswitching from one metre to another

is

little more

than electing a new basic metre for the movement. The notion of contemplating es

sentially the same object in different metres - in some ways, a change of perspective,

whichever one is chosen

as

the basic metre - recalls Dika Newlin's remembrances of

Schoenberg talking about houses designed by Adolf

Laos:

Uncle Arnold compares

them to sculptures made of glass, in which one can see all the angles at once. 2

4

* * *

22

The same device can be seen at

the

opening

of the

scherzo movement: a three-quaver motive is set

against

a%

metre; a return to the initial position in bar 3 is avoided by the insertion of a quaver rest.

23 In many ofWebern's sketches the basic unit or initial motive corresponds to the length

of

the bar.

The

first motive of the third movement of the

oncerto

Op.

24,

a three-beat motive, was first sketched in ,

the metre was subsequently changed to 72 By contrast, in the litriations Op. 30 it appears the content can

be most readily measured motivically, in the arrangement of the two basic motives in the main voice (as

put forward by Webern's pupil Siegfried Oehlgiesser in a talk for Radio Studio ZUrich, produced in 1969;

Radiovortdige, Sammlung Siegfi·ied Oehlgiesser, Paul Sacher Stiftung, Basel) - at least here, the relation

of motive

to

metre takes on new forms. See also Neil Boynton, Formal Combination in Webern's Varia

tions Op. 30, in: music analysis 14/2-3 (1995), pp. 193-220.

24 Dika Newlin,

Schoenberg

Remembered: Diaries and Recollections

(1938-76).

New York 1980,

p. 133, quoted in: Busch, Ober die horizontale und vertikale Darstellung musikalischer Gedanken, p.

235.

Regina Busch there also pulls together othe r examples

of

three-dimensional objects used by Schoenberg

and Webern. See Busch, Ober die horizontale und vertikale Darstellung musikalischer Gedanken, p.

232.


16/21


17/21

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

SoME

REMARKS ON ANTON WEBERN's VARIATIONs Or. 27

(a) Draft showing two sets ofo/16 bar numbers, starting fi·om 2 and 1 staves 4-5,

and the alternation of /16 and :Y16 staves 4-5, 7-8

9)

(10)

(11)

(b) Draft showing the annotation

6

Takte above bar 17 (bar

6),

staves 10-11

Figure 6: Sketchbook IV (Paul Sacher Stiftung,

Basel,

Sammlung Anton Webern), p.

52

215

This last check shows that in the reprise the first note

of

the Originalreihe would

fall

exactly on the first beat

of

he first

o/16

bar. Although one sees only the

3

16

metre

in

the

final,

printed version

of

the work, the structural correspondences

of

the erstwhile

quintuple metre remain intact.

* * *

The

two-movement design for

the

variations

is

characterised by

the

return

of

the

Originalreihe at the beginning of

the

reprise

of

the andante, thereby creating a link

not to the first part

of

the andante, but

all the

way back to the theme

of the

vari

ations movement. An abandoned draft for the middle section

of

the andante on

page

51

shows how the sequence

of

rows that runs throughout this section initially


18/21


19/21

SoME

REMARKS

ON ANTON WEBERN's VARIATIONs Or. 27

217

overshoots

the

mark and is subsequently pared back to end with the rows PO and RO,

which, to pursue the analogy with tonal construction, appears to function like the

model and sequence construction of the middle section

of

many small ternary forms,

ending

on

an appropriate upbeat chord.

30

The

row structure

of the

middle section

is

based

on

a group

of

four rows, which

is

twice repeated in sequence, each time a

perfect fourth higher than

the

last;

the

last group ends with

the

pair

(PO, RO).

In

the

abandoned draft a third sequence is introduced which would inevitably lead away

from this pair. Annotations in the draft show that Webern counted off each pair of

rows

( 3. x , 4. x ,

etc.), beginning with

the

first pair

of he

first sequential repetition.

See Figure

8.

(a)

Draft, Sketchbook

IV,

p.

51

system

9

xi

4

R2

20

Rl

33P2

(b)

Final version

middle section

R2

Rl

P2

systems 2 3

3. X 4. X

5 x 6.x

7

6

xx

4

R7

23

xx

2

RO

8

Rl6

3P7

24

RI PO

6

R7

Rl6 P7 Rl

Figure 8 : Row schemes for

the

middle section

of the

andante

7 x

43

4

44

RI4

reprise

RO PO

PO RO

Taken together, the sequence of rows in the middle section and the reappearance

of

the riginalreihe

at the beginning of

the

reprise make a figure peculiar to neither

variations nor andante form alone, but rather one that results from the combination

of

structural elements

of

both. Whatever one makes

of the

effect

of the

analogy with

tonal construction - and, of course, this aspect of construction has to be rethought

30

A

harmony which leads to the recapitulation. In classical music this harmony is the dominant, because

it reintroduces

the

tonic

in

its tonality-defining sense. [Schoenberg, Fundamentals

of

Musical Composi

tion, p. 123] Cf. also Leopold Spinner's remarks on Scherzo Form , which include an analysis of the first

movement ofWebern's Op. 27: Leopold Spinner, A Short Introduction to the Technique ofTwelve-Tone

Composition. London (a. o.) 1960, pp. 9-10 (text), pp. 31-35 (examples).


20/21

2 8

Net? Boynton

in relation to the final version of the work - it is nonetheless clear that the Original-

reihe

exerts a force upon the pitch structuring leading up to its reappearance that is

like, at least by virtue

of

its extent, the force exerted by the return of a tonic in earlier

music.

The

structuring

of

he andante

as

a small three-part form with a contrasting middle

section is also evident in the relation

of

the phrasing to the symmetrical pitch forma

tions that derive from the P

:R

row pairs throughout the movement. In

the

outer parts

of

the andante the boundaries of the phrase groups correspond with the symmetrical

pitch formations : each of the groups ofphrases ends with a return to the pitches with

which it started. This patterning mimics the notion of a harmonically stable fist)

construction that is centred on the tonic, as is typical of establishing sections.

31

In the

middle section

of

the movement none

of

the phrases or phrase groups bar the last

corresponds with the symmetrical pitch formations - the beginnings and endings of

the first phrases are indicated by the rit. and tempo markings.

32

Here, each pair

of

phrases (the phrase pairs roughly match up with the row pairs) ends with different

pitches to which it started;

all

these phrase groups are relatively unstable

(locker)

in

that they move away from their point of origin. Only the last phrase in the middle

section corresponds with a symmetrical pitch formation, that created by the row pair

PO, RO), and so do all the phrase groups

in

the reprise. The restoration

of

this corre

spondence that was a feature of the first part of the andante lends support, by analogy

with tonal construction, to the function

of

the last row pair

of

the middle section

as

an upbeat chord to the reprise.

The remarks on the

Variatt ons

have drawn primarily on evidence

in

the sketches and

correspondence and much

of

the discussion has centred on large-scale formal issues.

One topic that did not receive much attention is the smaller scale, motivic aspects

of

variation form, the specific connection

of

any one phrase with the theme. Schoen

berg's method

of

describing motivic connections and derivations has

in

the past been

decried for want of the systematic rigour expected of modern analytic theory, and

perhaps this apparent lack

of

rigour, or lack

of

substance that might serve

as

the basis

for more robust theoretical enterprises has diverted attention from what his manner

31 For a description of stable and loose construction, see Erwin Ratz, Einftihrung in die musikalische For

menlehre: Ober Formprinzipien in den Inventionen und FugenJ. S. Bachs und ihre Bedeutung

fiir

die

Kompositionstechnik Beethovens. Wien

3

1973, p. 21.

32 bis phenomenon is noted by Nicholas Cook: [ ...]there are important aspects

of

phrasing which cut

across the palindromes and the serial structure in general. [Nicholas Cook, A Guide to Musical Analysis.

London, Melbourne 1987, p. 310.]


21/21

SoME REMARKS oN ANTON WEBERN's VARIATIONS

OP.

27

219

of

describing

the

processes

of

motivic variation has to offer. Perhaps

we

might adopt

some ofSchoenberg's ideas about motivic variation, such as those laid out in the early

chapters

ofFundamentals ifMust cal Compost tt on

("Every element or feature

of

a motive

or phrase must be considered to be a motive if it

is

treated

as

such, i.e. if it

is

repeated

with or without variation."

33 ,

as

the basis for assessing motivic connections between

theme and variations in the music ofWebern,

not

to mention the kind of connections

that Webern demonstrated himself when analysing Beethoven's

Sechs

let chte

Vart att o-

nen iiber

et n

Schwet zer Lt ed

WoO 64 in lectures given in February

1937.

34

Certainly,

this approach seems to be what

is

called for if

we

are to take

as

our starting point an

earlier remark by Schoenberg, dated

10

July 1928 which he noted down at the time

of

composing his own

Vart att onsfor

Orchestra

Op. 31: "Die moderne Variationen Form

legt nicht so

gro:Bes

Gewicht darauf, wie die alte, class das

Thema

aus der Variation

unmittelbar herauszuhoren ist, sondern begniigt sich, in der Erkenntnis,

class

alle we

sentlichen Qualitaten unter allen Umstanden wahrgenommen werden, mit der

Ver-

arbeitung der konstruktiven Eigenschaften."

3

5

33 Schoenberg, Fundamentals ofMusical Composition, p.

9.

34 Webern, Ober musikalische Formen, pp. 383-388.

35 Arnold Schoenberg, Die moderne Variationen Form, unpublished manuscript, Arnold Schonberg Center,

Vienna, T35.18/"The modern form

of

variations does not place so much weight as the old one on being

able to detect immediately

the

theme in

the

variation, rather it is satisfied in

the

knowledge that, with

the processing

ofits

constructive properties, all essential qualities are perceived

under

all circumstances."

[Trans . by the author.]

boynton-some remarks on anton webern's variations, op (2009)

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