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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.
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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
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SoME
REMARKS
ON ANTON
WEBERN's
VARIATIONS
0P
27 20
Theme and variations
a.
one movement design
Po
Po Po
Theme and variations
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
Theme and variations
~ 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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.]
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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
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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.
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(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
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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).
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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.]
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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.]