structural imagery pierrot lunaire revisited

8/18/2019 Structural Imagery Pierrot Lunaire Revisited

1/22

Structural Imagery: 'Pierrot Lunaire' RevisitedAuthor(s): Kathryn PuffettReviewed work(s):Source: Tempo, Vol. 60, No. 237 (Jul., 2006), pp. 2-22Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3878705 .Accessed: 22/09/2012 04:27

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Cambridge University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Tempo.

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cuphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3878705?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3878705?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup


2/22

Tempo

0

(237)

2-22

?

2006

Cambridge University

ress

DOI: 10.1017/S0040298206000180 Printed n

the

United

Kingdom

rA

A

0

u i

0\

-C?

STRUCTURAL IMAGERY:

'PIERROT

LUNAIRE'

REVISITED

Kathryn

uffett

In

1977 wrote n article

ntitled

Formal

rganisation

nd

Structural

Imagery

n

Schoenberg's

ierrot

unaire',

hichwas

published

n

vol.

2

of the

fledgling

tudiesnMusic

rom

he

University

f

Western

ntario.

More than quarter f a centuryater, fter 6years f teaching

Schoenberg,

nd

particularly

ierrot

unaire,

o British

tudents,

hree

things

avebecome lear o me.

First,

have ome to realize hat

o

one

outside anada ver eads

MUWO

which

s

a

great

hame),

nd,

second,

have

gained ufficiently

n

self-confidence

ver he

years

o

wish

hat

had tated

my

asewithmore

ssurance.

inally,

ontinued

acquaintance

ith

Pierrot as revealed ven more

subtletieshan

recognized

n

1977.

It s

a

commonplace

or

performer

o re-recordate

n

hisor her

career

works hatwererecorded

arly

n,

and the

public

welcomes

these ater eflections

nd

the

opportunityhey

ive

o

compare

he

youthful

ith he moremature

nterpretations.

he

situation

s of

course ifferentnmy ase:here heresno uggestionhat ragging y

old

piece

ut

or

omparison

ould e an xercisef

ny

alue,

hough

haveno reason o

discourage

t.A few

years go

I

shouldhavebeen

embarrassed

y

the'idea f such

elf-indulgence.

ut

oday

we live

n

very

elf-indulgent

imes,

nd

my

esire owrite bout favourite

ork

a

second ime trikes e

as

no more

utrageous

r

nsupportable

han

most

f the

narrative',

r

socio-,

sycho-,

olitico-

nd

gender-based

New

Agewriting

hat

asses

efore

my yes

hese

ays laiming

o

hed

light

n

the

workings

f music.

n

any

ase heres

some

precedent

or

what am about o do

n

David

Lewin's

evisiting

f the econdmove-

ment f

Webern's

p.

27

n

1993.1

mboldened

y

his,

offer

y

ater

reflectionsn three

ieces

hat ave

ontinuedo

engagemy

nterestn

the earlyhirtyearsince first rote bout hem.

Forme Pierrotunaireemains

mong

hemost

mpressive

nd

original

works f

Schoenberg.

t

comes

nearly

t the ndof

indeed,

t

seems

to be a sort f

anthology

f and

grand

inale o

-

a

period

n

which

Schoenberg

ad

purposefully

nd

nergetically

reed ismusic rom

variety

f constraints

not

only

tonality,

ut classical

tructures,

thematicism,

otivic

evelopment,epetition

f

any

kind);

nd

yet

n

this

et,

houlder-to-shoulder

ith nd

nearly

idden

mongst

ome f

his most

carefullyhrough-composed

ovements,

re three f the

most ightly-structuredieceshe everwrote:Nacht'no.8), Parodie'

(no. 17)

nd

Der

Mondfleck'

no.

18).

The ntense ocus n structure

n

1

'A

metrical

problem

in

Webern's

Op.

27',

Music

Analysis

12/3

(1993), pp.

343-54. Lewin's

ear-

lier

article,

with

the

same

title,

ppeared

inJournal f

Music

Theory

/1

(1962),

pp.

124-32.


3/22

STRUCTURAL IMAGERY: 'PIERROT LUNAIRE' REVISITED 3

these

three

ongs

offers vividcontrast

with other

movements f

the

cycle

that

represent

n

aggressive

reedom

from

ust

the structural

canon

upon

which hese

hree

movements

epend.

ndeed,

forme

one

of

the

most

nteresting

spects

of the

cycle

s the

way

n

which

t

brings

together nd uses sidebyside the mostdisparate tyles ndtechniques

of

organization,

anging

fromthe strict

ontrapuntal

echniques

of

'Der

Mondfleck'

nd the

densely

saturated

organic

thematicism

f

'Nacht'

to the extreme

reedom

f

pieces

such

as 'Der kranke

Mond',

in

which all these

things

re

abnegated.

But

t s not

simply

he seem-

ingly

nomalous

appearance

of these

three

ightly

tructured

ieces

n

this

generally

ree

ycle

hat nterests

me;

what

find

specially

asci-

nating

s that

these

particular

tructures

nd

techniques

were chosen

and

manipulated

s

they

were

n

direct

esponse

o

the

texts,

s

means

of

expression.

he

'passacaglia',

fugue

nd

canons

of nos.

8,

17 and

18

go

far

eyond

he

types

f surface

ctivity

hat re

customarily

ssoci-

ated

with

word-painting',

o

imagery

t a

much

deeper

evel: what

I

havecalled structuralmagery'.

At

an

even

deeper

evel the structures

f

these three

ongs

express

the

central dea of the

cycle

tself.

ierrotunaire

s

parody:

the music

parodies

forms,

tyles

nd

techniques

'Valse

de

Chopin',

Passacaglia',

'Serenade',

Barcarole',

ugue)

ust

as the

text

arodies

rituals

'Prayer',

'Rote

Messe',

Galgenlied'),

haracters

'Madonna',

Der

Dandy',

Eine

blasse

Wascherin')

nd

deals

'Die

Kreuze',

Raub',

Gemeinheit').

he

poems

themselves re

in a form hat nvites

mbiguity:

rondeau

of

three

non-rhyming

uatrains

n

which

the

first wo

lines

of the

first

return

midway hrough

he

econd,

nd

thefirst

ine

reappears gain

as

an

added

line at

the

end of the third.

The

poems

as

written

learly

suggest

ternary

orm,

ut the

return

of

the

first wo

lines

halfway

throughmarks binary ivision s well.And the dded final inemakes

the

threeverses

unequal

while at the

same time

giving

certain

yclic

symmetry

o thewhole.

n

his

ettings

choenberg

makesuse of all the

possibilities

mplicit

n

this fertile tructure.

he three

pieces

to be

consideredhere

all

respond

differently

o the structure

f the

text,

he

three

trophes

f

Nacht'

reinforcing

he

ternary

ivision,

he

amazing

palindrome

f 'Der Mondfleck'

mphasizing

he

binary

mplications,

and

the

aptly

named 'Parodie'

quite

appropriately easing

the ambi-

guity.

Is

it

binary?

s

it

ternary?

es.)

'Nacht'

I can't think f a piece ofmusicfrom nyperiod nwhichthe texthas

wielded a

greater

nfluence

han t

does

in

Nacht',

the

first

ong

of the

second

group

of the

cycle.

This

is

surely

choenberg's

most

striking

example

of the

synthesis

hat

he valued

so

much:

n

this ase

not

only

the

horizontal nd the vertical

spects

of the

piece

but

the

temporal

and

structural imensions

s

well

are

directly

elatable to

a

single

source.

n

the

poem

swarms

f monstrous lackbutterflies

re used as

a

metaphor

or he

falling

f darkness.

he creatures escendthreat-

eningly

rom

heaven,

sinking

with

heavy

wings

upon

the

hearts of

men'

and

killing

he

ight

f the sun'.

Every

spect

and

every

etailof

the

music s directed owards he

expression

f this

metaphor; very-

thing

n

t derives rom

single

butterfly

There areonlytwo motivesn thesong,and one ofthese s already

inherent

n

the other: the second

is the

inescapable

outcome of

multiple

tatements f

the

first.Not

only

do these two

motives hus

replicate

he

cause-effect

elationship

escribed

n

the

text,

n

which

one of the motifs

the

falling

f

darkness)

s the result f the

prolifera-


4/22

4

TEMPO

Example1:

Butterfly

nd

nightfall

otives

tion

of

the other

the

swarm

of

black

butterflies);

ut the motives

re

themselves,

ndividually,

icturesque.

The word

used

in

the

poem

for

the

giant

reatures

Riesenfalter

translates

s

monstrous

utterflies

r

moths

I

have

also seen

it translated

s

bats),

but

the

essential

harac-

teristic fthis reatures ts creased'or folded' hape falten:o

fold r

pleat).

The

first,

nd

seminal,

motive

of the

song

-

hereafter

he

'butterfly

otive'

is a musical

manifestation

f

the

shape

which

has

been

used

by

artists

nd children

like

over he

ages

to

represent

lying

birds

or insects

(see

Example

la).

Schoenberg's

butterfly

s not

symmetrical,

owever;

ts second

wing

hangs

slightly

ower

than

ts

first,

nd it thus contains

within

tself

he seed

of chromatic

escent.

When

one of

these butterflies

s

followed

by

another

whole

tone

lower

this

descent

becomes

a

significant

lement,

a

second

motive

resulting

romthe

proliferation

f

the

first

hereafter

he

'nightfall

motive');

ee the stemmed

notes

n

Example

b.

The entire

material f

the

piece

is

presented

n

a

tightly

omposed

introduction. considerablemountof nformationsgivenushere n

a

very

hort

ime,

hough

n a

register

nd with

density

hat

make

ts

comprehension

nlikely.

he

butterfly

otive

s

presented

n such

a

way

as to make

clear,

f we are

attuned

to

it,

that there s

a

tonic

analogue

n this

piece.

This

piece

is not

n

a

key,

ut t

quite

definitely

returns o

the same

-

tonic

level

at

structurallyignificant

oments.

A

symmetrical

ircle

f

butterfly

otives

n

bars

1-3

begins

and

ends

with tatements

t the tonic

evel,

E-G-Eb.

Five

motives onstitute

his

circle,

ach

taking

he second

note

of the

previous

one as its

starting

point;

thus uccessive

utterflies

rogress

pwards hrough

series

of

minor

hirds

see

Example

Ic).

This

is

exactly nalogous

to the

tradi-

tional

gambit

round

he circle f

fifths,

ut s

accomplished

n a

much

shorter ime and withmanyfewer tatements,incetheminor hirds

one of

the ntervals

hat ubdivides

he octave

ymmetrically.

a)

Tk

buftfly

otiva

b) rlit

of o

motie

duc

llrtiv

b)

Proliferationf

bocbrfly

otives

rducesnigtfal

motive

c)

Tonal

ircle

f

uerfly

otives

NB

Everything

ounds n

octave

ower

than

rittenere

There

is an extra

butterfly

n

these

three

bars,

a sixth

Lepidoptera

which does

not observe

the

same

swarming

nstinct

s the rest.

This

one

begins

on

the third ote

rather

han

he

econd)

of the third

tate-

ment B-DV-A) and thusreads A-C-A (see againExample Ic). Thus

not

only

s the

nightfall

otive

ntroduced,

ut

the

relationship

f

the

two motives

s made

clear:

as a

profusion

f

downward-swooping

butterflies

auses darkness

o

fall,

o

a

descending

eries of

butterfly

motives

nevitably roduces

hromatic

escent.


5/22

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY:

'PIERROT LUNAIRE REVISITED

5

Nothing

ill ccur

n the

ong

hat

asnotbeen

directlyuggested

in thefirst

hree

ars.

he two

motives irst

resented

ere

revaried

and

ombined

n a

large

umber

f

ngenious ays,

nd

llthe

hords

in the

ong

are verticalizations

f

the

butterfly

otive

minor

hird

plusmajor hird)r nexpandedersionf t major hirdlusperfect

fourth,

erfect

ourth

lus

tritone,

ritone

lus

perfect

ifth;

here s

nothing

lse).2

But the

expression

f

the text

oes not

stop

with

he

choiceof

motives.

nce thebutterflies

ave

een

set

n motion

heir

ctivity

s

carefullyegulated

o

produce,

uring

he ourse

f

the

ong,

steady

decrease

n

definition

hat

s

equivalent

o

the

ncreasing

bscurity

hat

takes

lace

t

dusk.

n

the

first

lace,

f

course,

he

ong

s setfor he

two bass

nstrumentsf

the

group

bass

clarinet

nd

cello)

and the

piano,

laying

n an

extremely

ow

range

t

the

beginning

nd at the

end.

Thusthe

ound

s ndistinct

y

ts

very

ature;

his

murkiness

making

he

pitches

ifficult

o

distinguish

is

ncreased

n

the econd

strophey hemannerfperformance:he elloplays remolot the

bridge,

hebassclarinet

s

flutter-tongued

nd

he

piano

being

poor

country

ousinwhen

tcomes

o exotic

imbres)

s

played

taccato.

Between ntroduction

nd coda

(which

s not

strictly

peaking

coda,

ince hevoice

inishes

nly

alfway

hrough

t)

he

ong

ivides

clearly

nto

hree

trophes,

ollowing

he tanzas

f

the

poem.

These

strophes,

rticulated

y

hanges

f

tempo

toetwas

ascher

ndback

o

the

riginal

empo gain,

n

bars

11 nd

17

respectively

are

even,

ix

and even ars

n

ength

though,

s

we

shall

ee,

the

econd f

these

divisionss not

clearcut),

nd

becauseof

the

change

f

tempo

he

differenceetween

he outer

ections

nd

the horter

iddle

ne is

even

reater

han twould

ppear

obe.

Canon s usedthroughout.he firsttropheonsistsf a single

canon

which

akes ix

bars o unfold.

he

subject

f

this

anon s well

defined

rhythmically

istinctive

nd

melodically

emorable

and

the mitationan be

clearly

istinguished.

t s

a canon

n four

arts,

with ll the nstruments

aking

art,

he

right

nd eft

ands

f the

piano operatingndependently.

he second

trophe

onsists

lso of

one

ong

anon,

ut his ime

n

only

hree

arts,

ndon

a

subject

hat

is

anything

ut

clearly

efined:

ll themotion

s

in

quavers,

nd the

material

s a

sequence

which

ould

begin

and

end

anywhere.

he

uncertainty

ver

he

shape

of

this

ubject

s

complemented

y

the

playing

echniques

sed

by

llvoices

seeabove),

which

minimize

itch

recognition.

furtheroice

drops

way

at

the end

of

the

second

strophe,fter hicheveralrief anons ccurnquickuccession,he

first

oving

n

quavers

nd

the

ubsequent

nes

n

tripletuavers,

ll

sequential,

ith

hecomes

ncreasingly

rowding

he

dux.

These ast

canons re

fragments,

limpses

aught leetingly

utnot

recognized,

impossible

o

perceive,mbiguous

nd bscure.

sthe nd

fthe

hird

strophe pproaches,

he

descendingequence

f

the

final anon s

extended nd the two

canonic oices

thatwere

abandoned arlier

return,

ne at

time,

n

onger

ote alues.

he second

fthese

rings

back he

ubject

rom

hefirst

trophe

n

anticipation

fthe eturnf

the

irstine f text

though

t

s not

uite

s slow

s twas

originally

theminims f bar4 are crotchets

ere or as

clear,

incet s

played

with he remolohat haracterized

he econd

trophe.)

2

This

brings

o mind

comparison

hat

may

eem

unlikely

ut

s, think,

ogent.

hat

s,

he

Liszt

Sonata,

n which ll the basic thematic

materials run

through ery uickly

n the

introduction

nd then

roceeds

o

spin

tself

ut,

hough

n this ase

for

early

alf n hour

-

a Goliath eside

Schoenberg's

avid,

butnonethe ess

n this

espect ery

imilar.


6/22

6

TEMPO

Example

:

Canon

subject,

irst

trophe

Figure

At

the

end,

the

circle of

butterfly

otives

from he introduction

returns,

nd even

this,

whichwas

unclear

the first ime because

of

its

register

nd the dense

overlapping

f

motives,

s less clear

upon

its

return

ecause it s

accompaniedby

a new and

even ower

part

n

the

piano left and andbythevoice,whichhas notyetreachedthe endof

the

text.

And,

as

in

the

return

of the

first-strophe

ubject,

the

momentumbuilt

up

in

the middle

of

the

piece

carries n so

that he

final

ycle

f butterfliesnfurls

t double

the

speed

of the nitial ne.

In

the first

trophe

he two

motives

hat

were introduced

n

inter-

locking

fashion

n

bars 1-3

are

picked

apart

and

presented

n succes-

sion,

with

two-note

scending

motive

dded

at the

end. The

subject

that

results s

by

far he clearest

nd

most

memorable

of the

song

see

Example

2).

The two

motives se

notes of

relativelyong

duration

nd

are

rhythmically

istinct:

he

butterfly

s

in

minims,

he

nightfall

n

crotchets.

4

ci.

-

"-ii

,

- -

-

This

subject

s

nteresting

n another

espect

which

s

quite

unrelated

to

either

nsects

r darkness.

t contains

complete choenberg

ipher,

though

with the notes

in the

wrong

order

see

Figure

1).

There

are

only

wo extra

pitches,

b

and

Gb.

EG S D

[D]

CH

BA

[G]

=AR

N OLD

SCHONBERG

This

canon

subject

has been described

s

the

generative

material f

the

piece.

Charles Rosen

says 'Night"

..

develops ntirely

rom ten-

note

motif:

verything

an be traced

back

easily

o that

kernel.'3

While

it is

certainly

rue that

everything

an

be

traced

back to this

ubject,

what

Rosen seems

not to

recognize

s that

here

s

one

very

mportant

further

tep

on

this

path,

which eads

directly

ack to the

three-note

motive lone.

Alan

Lessem

calls

this

ubject

the

passacaglia

theme',4

which

lso seems

to me to be

in

error,

ince

t occurs

only

once

more,

in a

varied

form,

n

anticipation

f

the return

f

the firstine of

text

t

the end

of the

ong,

nd

n

fact

he

piece

s

not a

passacaglia

t all

n the

normal

understanding

f the

term.

t

is

clearly

strophic

form

n

which

all

three

trophes

re built

from

he

same two short

motives,

combined

n a

wide

variety

f

ways,

ver

changing,

ften

verlapping

and

nesting,

nd

proceeding

t

many

different

peeds

(running

he

gamut

from

emibreves

o

triplet uavers).

The

subject

s first tated

at the

tonic evel

by

the bass clarinet

n

bass-clef

ange

and

imitated

y

cello,

piano

lefthand and

piano right

hand,

n

that

rder,

ll

one

or two

octaves

elow.

Each

entry

ollows

he

previous

one

by

one

fullbar

(three

minims).

The fourth

ntry oes

overthebarline ntobar

9,

where

the

ascending

ailmotive

s

replaced

by

continued hromatic

escent

o the

downbeat

of bar 10.

The first

trophe

nds

with

the two

motives

occurring

imultane-

ously

nbar

10,

over ow notes held

in the

piano.

The cello

plays

the

nightfall

otive

t the

bridge,

ntroducing

hemannerof

playing

hat

3

Charles

Rosen,

choenberg

London:

Marion

Boyars,

976),

.

60.

4

Alan

Philip

Lessem,

Music nd Text n

theWorks

f

Arnold

choenberg

Ann

Arbor:UMI

Research

ress,

1979),

p.

147.

n

spite

of his

slightly

isleading

dentificationf the

ong

first-strophe

anon

subject

s a

'passacaglia

heme',

however,

essem

does

recognise

his

theme as

growing

ut of the

three-note

generative

ell'

that have called the

butterfly

motive,

nd

this as been theview

taken f the

piece

generally.


7/22

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY:

'PIERROT LUNAIRE

REVISITED 7

it

will

use

in

the second

strophe

nd

much

of

thethird.

he voice

sings

'Verschwiegen'

n

the notes

of

the

tonic

butterfly

otive,

n the

bass

clef. This is

an

important

moment:

not

only

are

the two motives

isolated

n

separate

voices

and

sounded

together

with

no

other

ctivity

to detract rom hem, utthesearetheonlythreenotes that resung

in

the entire

piece,

all the

restof

the

voice

part

being

performed

s

Sprechstimme.

his sudden

clarity

s

surprising

ere.

Verschwiegen

rans-

lates as

'secretly'

r

'silently'

r

'discreetly'

nd

is

the

last

word

in a

phrase comparing

he

horizon

to

a closed

book

of

charms,

n

unfath-

omable book of

secrets.

n a

strange

rony,

his

utterance

eems to

be

attempting

o revealrather

han

to

hide

the secret

f

the

two

motives

and of the

piece.

In

bar

11

the

bass clarinet

lays

nesting igure

n which series

of

butterflies,

moving

in

quavers,

outlines

the

nightfall

n

crotchets

starting

n the afterbeat.

he idea

of

nesting

irst

ppeared

s a

sort

of

countersubject

n bars 8

and

9,

when

both

the

bass clarinet

nd the

piano lefthand,havingfinishedwiththe canon subject,playedthree

butterflies

n

quavers

which

together

utlined

monster

utterfly

n

minims

see

Example

3a).

In bar

11

the

figure

has

changed

signifi-

cantly:

nstead

of

producing

larger

utterfly

he

three

mall

butter-

fliesnow descend to

produce

the

nightfall

see

Example

3b),

and

this

nesting igure

erves s

a transition

o

the

subject

of

the next

canon,

where

t s extended nd

further

mbellished.

Example

:

Nesting utterfly

otives,

s

8,

11

I

JI I

------.-----

I

..

b)

.

CL.

nightftal

roive

In

bars 11-13

a

preliminary

ar

built on

the two-note

scending

motive

hat nded the

first anon

subject

ets

the

pattern

f imitation

to be used

in

the

second-strophe

anon

(only

three

voices now:

cello,

bass

clarinet,

iano right

hand,

each

entering

fter full

bar).

The

canon subjectproperrunsdirectlyn from hisbar,beginningn the

cello

n

bar 12. After

ts

elongated

nitial

tonic)

note,

this

onsists

f

a

regular

descending

hromatic

equence

in

quavers,

whose

apparent

simplicity

omewhat

disguises

he

fact hat

t s

an even more

complex

nestingfigure

using

the

two

basic

motives

of

the

piece.

The back-

ground, long

chromatic

ightfall,

s

accomplished hrough

string

f

butterfliest the

middleground,

hese

being

n

filled

n

chromatically

(i.e.

the

nightfall

otive

n

both

ts

normal

nd

ts nverted

orm)

t the

foreground

see

Example

4).

Though

this

ubject,

ike hat f

the

first

trophe,

ses

both

butterfly

and

nightfall

motives,

his s a

combination

f

a

quite

different

ort:

instead of one

following

he other

as

happened

in

the

first

trophe,

here the two are inextricablyntermingled,ndtheresult s not,as it

was

there,

clear and distinctive

ubject,

but

a

sequence

thatmoves

along

in

notes of

equal

value

and

is

potentially

ndless.

That the

ending

point

s

arbitrary

s shown

by

the fact

hat

both the

answering

voices end short of

the material

n the

cello's

dux. In fact

all three


8/22


9/22

STRUCTURAL IMAGERY:

'PIERROT LUNAIRE' REVISITED 9

Example

:

Piano eft

and,

trophe

12

nightfall ~

~~~~

L

.....J

-

-----

--------------

..............--2.-.-------z-

--f---- .......------.

-

,b

?rf- ----------_

bufft

l

-T------

--T-----

-------

- ---

all~

;-----------

,buaterflyi..$ .

bummftp

.m

humanypmu_

n

.,xuFI%

tTTt]_jILd'

btfto.ypmwc

.

As

the second

strophe

s

ending,

n the downbeat

of bar

16,

with

a

ff

tonic

butterfly

n

the

owest

range

of

the

piano,

the other wo

instru-

ments

begin

another

anon.

Now

the

bass clarinet

ollows he cello

after

nly

one

minim.That this

s

a

canon

is

completely

bscured

by

thefact hat hetwo voicesbeginatthe same time, laying hromatic

rising

igures

n

parallel

hirds,

hich

give

no

hint f

mitation.

n

the

second beat of the bar the clarinet

egins

to imitate

he

cello,

and

the

third ote of the

mitated

material

s the first

ote of

a

butterfly.

he

butterfly

s

chromatically

illed

n,

as

it was

in the second

strophe,

nd

is

played by

the cello

in

the

manner that

it used

throughout

hat

strophe,

ut the

manner f

playing epresents

transition,

s

the clar-

inet

givesup flutter-tonguing

nd

plays

normally gain,

as it will

n

the

strophe

o

follow.

or

thefirst ime he

tonicdux

s answered

t

what

n

this

piece passes

for he dominant.

This canon is in

two

segments,

with

the comes

eaping

down after

this nitial

motive o imitate

t

the unison for

he

remaining

ar. The

material fthe econd

segment

sstrikinglyifferent.eginning n the

downbeat

of bar

17

the

familiarmotives

re

given

a

completely

ew

twist.

Here,

n

a

highly

eceptive

motion,

series

f

butterfly

otives

(a

motivewhich

n

theory

escribes

chromatic escent

nd has thus

far

always

had

this

aspect exaggerated)

scends

quickly

over

a

wide

rangeby

virtue f the third ote of each

figure

aving

been

displaced

upwards

by

an

octave

(see

Example

6a).

This

is the

only ascending

passage

n

the entire

ong,

nd

seems to be

either

n

preparation

or he

text Und vom Himmel' at the

beginning

f

the third

trophe

though

this

ext

s

associatedwith

description

f downward

motion),

r

a

late

reaction o

the

textof

bars 11-13

('Aus

dem

Qualm

verlorner

iefen

steigt

in

Duft'),

perhaps uggesting

hat n

the face

of the

nevitable

descent fdarkness

ny

referenceo

upward

motion s

only

n llusion.

This

series of

motives

s

sequential,

ike the

subject

in

the second

strophe,

nd,

also like

that

ubject,

nds

arbitrarily,

iththe comes ne

figure

hort f what occurred

n

the

dux,

both voices

continuing

n

to

complete

bar

18,

each

in

ts own

way.

The cello

s

played

on

the

finger-


10/22

10

TEMPO

Example

:

Third

trophe

board.

Throughout

his canon

the

piano

left

hand holds

a

chord

an

expanded

nd verticalized

nversion

f the

butterfly

otive,

with

nter-

vals

of four

and five

semitones),

beginning

with

a tremolo

on the

second beat of bar 16.

The

right

and

ascends

n

sympathy

ith

the

canon in the othertwo instruments,laying seriesof threedyads

three

imes,

ach

time n octave

higher.

he

upper

voice

of each

group

is a tonic

butterfly,

hile

the ower

voice

s

the

first f the two

permu-

tations f this

motive ntroduced

n bars

14

and 15

see

Example

6b;

cf.

the owervoice and

the ast

system

n

Example

5).

a)

Third-itrophe

anon,

.

17f.

.17

I1

Tempo

...

I-9110i

i i

O

..I...

b)

Butterfly

nd

utterfly

ermutation,

. 17f.

Mi

'_

Bars

16-18 act

as a transition

rom

he second

strophe

o

the

third,

inthewaybars 10-11 oined thefirst nd secondstrophes. he transi-

tion s

given

more

time

on this

ccasion,

s

the

voice

s silent or

nearly

two bars between

second

and third

erses

there

was

no

pause

beyond

afermata

ver

hebarline

etween

first nd

second).

The

tempo change

at bar

17would

mply

hat he

third

trophe

egins

t

this

oint,

ut the

chord

n

the

piano

left and

-

the

goal

towards

which

hebass

part

has

been

moving

nexorably

hroughout

he second

strophe

finishes

nly

at

the end of that

bar,

nd

the motion

n the

upper

parts

n

16

and 17

s

in

quavers,

he

rhythm

hatcharacterizes

he

second

strophe,

ot the

third. n

the first

anon

in these

two

bars the cello

retains

he

manner

of

playing

hat haracterized

ts econd

strophe,

while

this s where

he

clarinet eturns

o the normal

playing

hat

t

will

use

in the third.

he

voice begins tsthird extended)quatrain n bar 18, and, in an exact

parallel

o bar

11,

where

hevoice

began

ts econd

quatrain,

his

s

the

bar

n

which he nstruments

et the

rules' for

he canons

to follow

n

the third

trophe.

In

bar

18,

the

piano right

and

plays

three

hords

n the

shape

of

a

butterfly,8

hile

the efthand

fills he

bar

exactly

with a

meandering

chromatic

melody

whose overall

motion

s

governed

y

permutations

of the

butterfly

otive;

hese

re outlined

y

the

extreme

otes

of

this

melody,

fter ach

of which

t

changes

direction

see

Example

7a).

This

is an

important igure,

s it ntroduces

ot

only

the note-value

hat s

used in

the canons

of the

third

trophe

quaver

triplets,

he ast

step

n

a

progressive

cceleration

f

motion

that

began

with

minims

n the

introduction,ncreased o crotchetsn the firsttrophe ndquavers n

the

second),

but

also the forms

he

butterfly

ill

take

(original

nd

8

Theouter

hords

reverticalized

nversions

f

the

motive;

he

econd s

an

expanded

nver-

sion:

major

hird

nd a

perfect

ourth.


11/22

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY:

'PIERROT LUNAIRE' REVISITED

11

retrograde

nversion)

nd the

sort

of

convoluted

verlapping

f there

that

s

going

to be used

for

he

rest

f this

trophe

s well.

The

steady

increase

n motion

throughout

he

song

s of course

picturesque,

s

is

the

ncreasing

se of butterflies

hat

have

ost

their

orrect

rientation:

the rate at whichnightfalls eems to acceleratetowards he end of

dusk,

nd confusion

omes

with

darkness.

The

first anon to

use the

new

note

values

s

played

by

the

piano

in

bars 19-21

(see

Example

7b).

From

the

beginning

of

the

piece

the

canons have

been

getting

teadily

more difficult

o

distinguish;

t s

in

bar 19

that his

progression

owards

bscurity

eaches

ts climax.

Here

only

the chromatic

escent

will

be discerned:

he darkness

as

finally

made the

outline f

thebutterflies

hat ause

it nvisible.

o

start

with,

the fact

hatboth voices

are

played

by

the

piano

and

n

the

same

range

greatly

hampers

one's

ability

to

distinguish

he

two voices

or

to

perceive

heir inear

relationship

o

each

other.

The

hands

begin

at the

same

time,

both

playing

chromatically

escending

eries

of broken

thirds,lternately ising ndfalling,lternatelymajorandminor: hus

in

each voice

a dense

series

of

butterflies

verlaps

with

their nverted

retrogrades.

ach hand

s the

mitation

f

the other

t

the distance

f

one

triplet uaver.

The

phrasing

einforces

hisdouble-vision

iew

of

things:

oth voices

are

phrased

n three-note

roups

beginning

with

the

first

ote,

as

if the

parts

were

synchronized.

he left

hand has

a

slight

dge,

perhaps,

s it

begins

with

an

upright

nd

forward-moving

motive t the tonic

evel;

this

s

imitated

irectly

y

the

right

and

at

the dominant.

The canon

lasts for

one

bar

and

one

crotchet,

he hands

ending

together,

s

they

egan,

after

he

first hree

notes

n bar

20,

and for

he

rest f this

bar

the

piano

is treated

ery

much

as

the other

wo

instru-

mentswere towards he endofthe econd-stropheanon nbar 15:the

motion ubsides

pasmodically

s

small

groups

of

notes

alternate

with

rests.

This

fragmentation

erves

wo

purposes.

Most

immediately

t

s

thebreakdown

nd

tailing-off

f

the canon

n

bar

19,

but

n

separating

out thetwo constituents

f that

anon

-

the

butterfly

nd

ts

retrograde

inversion and

stating

hem

one

after

he

other

with

no

overlapping,

t

also ntroduces

he

material f

the

next

anon,

which

s

again

played

y

the

piano

in

two voices

and

is a version

of what

was

heard

n bar 19

without

he

overlapping

f

motives

Example

7c).

The hands

do

not

start

ogether

his ime

the

nterval

etween

entries

s extended

o

a

crotchet and

thedux

begins

once

again

at the

onic evel.

The climax

f

confusion nd

obscurity

as

reached

n bar

19;

now

Schoenberg

egins

to put on the brakes.Nighthas fallen; t remainsonlyforthe sun's

meniscus o slide

silently

rom

he

horizon.

The

material

f

this

final

canon,

ike ll those

ince

he

first

trophe,

s

sequential,

nd

tcarries n

until he end

of bar

23,

where

both

hands

stop

at

the same

time,

ach

having

allen

ome two

and one

half

ctaves.

These two voices

have

been

pushed

into the

background

ong

before

they

come to

their

arbitrary

nd,

however,

by

two

more

dramatic vents.

The

first f

these s

thebass

clarinet's

tatement

n

augmentation

f the

six notes

of this

subject,acting

as

a further

braking

motion.This

statement,

n

crotchets,

egins,

on the

tonic,

t

the

sametime s the

piano right

and's

comes,

nd

t s

striking

ecause

of both

the contrast

n timbre

ndthe

ong

note

values,

durations

hat

havenotbeen heardsincethefirst trophe.An evenmoreimportant

activity

ccurs in the

cello,

which

begins

a

long

process

of

slowing

down

halfway

hrough

bar 20

by

playing

chromatically

escending

figures,

irst

n

triplet

uavers,

then

in

quavers,

reaching

crotchets

halfway hrough

ar

22,

where

t at first

ppears

to be

answering

he


12/22

12

TEMPO

Example

:

Third

trophe

bass

clarinet's

ugmented

ubject

n thebar before.

However,

fter

he

first

hreenotes

-

a tonic

butterfly

the

cello

continues,

ot withthe

retrograde

nversion s

in

the

bass

clarinet,

ut with the

nightfall

motive,

n

a final

tatement

f the

first-strophe

anon

subject

minus

the tailmotive, ndplayedtremolo s in the secondstrophe, hough

not at

the

bridge).

This

prepares

he

way

for he

return f the

poem's

opening

ine.

The bass

clarinet,

aving

pened

the

way

for his

e-entry,

does

not

continue

n

sequence,

as the

piano

is

doing,

but

plays

nstead

two

additional

utterflies,

n

crotchets.

ll this

ctivity

nds at bar

24,

when

thecoda is

heard,

eproducing

he

events

f the ntroduction ut

in

notes

only

half as

long.

Although

he coda

balances the introduc-

tion,

he

two sections

being

of

equal length,

ecause

of

the

rhythmic

discrepancy

he musicof the

ntroduction

ills

nly

he first alfof the

coda.

The remainder

s

given

over

to

a

single

onic

butterfly

n

which

the

second

note

s

displaced

downwards

y

two

octaves.

L inyn retrogradeem inrtatio2

vwrtedetgradeutterfly

b)

p ,,

buter-fly

i

erteyretrogrpad

utterfy

permutati

butterly

inverted

inrd

rc

tr

de

A

-

--------

un BMW

4k

T)-O

..

... .

.. .... ..

m

..

y

inverted.. ....r..et..o....................

A

r: l -i

,

'

I

,

i "

I

I

l J :1

-

_.

i I t

...... ..... . ... .... .. ..

.

The

Sprechstimme

art

of 'Nacht'

is

permeated

with

the same two

motives that

preoccupy

he instruments

hroughout

he

song,

most

often

presenting

utterflieshat

are filled

n

chromatically

r semi-

chromatically.

his

part

never nters

nto

ny

anonic

relationships

nd

in

actual

fact s of

course,

n

spite

of its motivic

origin,

imply eye

music'

whose musical

relationship

ith heother

arts,

with he

excep-

tion of

the

sung

bar

10,

exists n

the

page only.

t

does

have one

impor-

tant

function,

which

if

it is

performed

houghtfully

hould

come

across: t stheonlypart o remember nd mark hebinary ivision f

the

poem.

The inevitable

dentity

f the ast two lines

of the second

strophe

with

the

first

wo

lines of

the

first

'Finstre,

schwarze

Riesenfalter

t6teten

der

Sonne

Glanz')

is remembered

n

the close

similarity

f

the

notated

voice

part

n these wo

places.


13/22

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY:

'PIERROT

LUNAIRE'

REVISITED

13

As

the

entire

motivic

ontent

f the

song

s

presented

n laconic form

in

the

first

hree

bars,

the

dramatic

form

of

the

whole

is

succinctly

hinted t n bar10, hat niquebar attheendofthefirsttrophewhich

is

sung

rather

han

spoken.

n this

bar

the

two

so-important

motives

are

played

t the

same

time;

these

same

two

shapes

unfold

imultane-

ouslythroughout

he

song.

have

argued

bove

that

handling

f

most

aspects

f

thecanons

the

teady

ecrease

n the

number

f

voices

and

the time between

entries,

he

hastening,

hortening,

onfusing

nd

hiding

are

aimed

at

a

steadily

ncreasing

bscurity,

he

aural

equiva-

lent

of

nightfall.

t the

same

time,

n other

respects,

he dramatic

progress

utlines

butterfly,

contour

hat

erves

s

a sort

of Ursatz

t

all

evels

of

the

piece.

The dramatic

hape

of

the

song

s

ABA,

with

ll

the

climaxes

n the

central ection:

he

dynamic

limax

s

in bar

16,

the

registral

limax

n

bar 18,thegreatestdensitys in bars 14-15, and thecontent s most

obscure

n bar 19.

These

heights

re

ike

the

apex

of

the

butterly

hape

drawn

n

Example

la and

portrayed

n the

butterfly

otive;

fter

his

things

ubside

until

the

end

is like

the

beginning,

hough

n several

ways,

all

of which

have

been

mentioned

bove,

the

end

falls little

short f

being

exactly

ike

the

beginning

note

values

are not

quite

as

long

(though

onger

than

n the

middle

section),

he

cello

plays

n

a

more

agitated

manner

than

t

did

at

the

beginning

but

not

quite

as

strangely

s

it

did

n the

middle

ection).

Thus

the

shape

of the whole

is

the

reverse

f

the

slightly

opsided

nsect

that

s

replicated

n the

motive:

he

structure

f

the

song

s

the

butterfly

n

retrograde.

The

rhythmic

ctivity

nd the

structure

f

the

canons

work

together

o createthis double picture.For themomentdisregarding

the

introduction

nd

coda,

the

notes

themselves

get progressively

shorter or

he whole

of

the

piece,

while

the canonic

partsplayed

n

these

rhythms

rop

from

four

to

three

to

two

and

their ntries

get

progressively

loser

together

n time

up

to

the climax

n bar

19,

after

which the

lost voices

return

ne

at

a

time,

and

the

entries

become

further

part

and

more

eisurely

gain.

n this

way

the

two

shapes

are

interlocked,

s of course

they

have

been

at various

other

evels

-

all

other evels

for

he whole

of the

song.

Why

did

Schoenberg

ubtitle

his

ngenious

iece

Passacaglia'?

The

passacaglia

s one of

the

oldest

of

the

traditional

orms

till

n

use,

and

one

of the

simplest;

he

expectations

aised

by

this

subtitle

re

thus

quite

definitend not

open

to much nterpretation,nd mostarenot

fulfilled

n

Nacht'.

There

should

be

a

ground,

robably

ppearing

irst

in

the

bass and

possibly

moving

round

to

various

other

voices

during

the

progress

of

the

movement,

nd

this

ground

should

be

repeated

continuously,

erhaps

with

diverse

igural

ariations

ut without

ny

alteration

f

ts

ength,

ts

ntervals

r

ts

key.

Historically

he

ground

s

usually

n

a

triple

metre

nd descends

hromatically,

n

ong

and essen-

tially egular

ote

values.

How

many

of

these

things

re

true

of

Schoenberg's

passacaglia?

The

piece

is

in a

triple

metre,

nd

the

first

nd

most

mportant

anon

subject

Lessem's

passacaglia

theme')

descends

chromatically

n

long

and

regular

note values.

It also

recurs

hroughout

he

piece,

n

varia-

tions

usingfiguration,

nd

always

at

the tonic evel. But it does not

recur

continuously.

What

does

recur

continuously

incessantly,

ven

obsessively

is the

three-note

utterfly

otive,

utthese

recurrences

are dense

and varied

at different

evels,

using

a

variety

f

durations,

at alltonal

evels,

ccupying

very

onceivable

position

n the

bar,

nd


14/22

14

TEMPO

Example

:

Sketch

or

Nacht'

very

ften

verlapping

and re

ubject

o

permutation.

his

s not he

sortof

repetition

hat

occurs

n

a

passacaglia.

hesitate

o use

a

Schoenbergian

erm hat

asbeen

verusedothe

oint

f

nausea,

ut

this

s

developing

ariation.

n

many

ways

his

assacaglia

s a

parody,

subvertinghetechniquesf thetraditionalorm nddenyinghe

expectations

aised

y

he

itle.

Yet thinkhat

his s not

he

whole

tory.

hile

enying

he ule

f

the

form,

his

passacaglia ives

ts all

in

conforming

o

its

spirit.

Because

of

its

repetitiveness,

hich

ules ut

both

modulation

nd

metric

rregularity,

he

passacaglia

s

surely

hemost

ppressive

orm

of

Westernraditional

usic.

here s no

escape

fromts

constantly

reiterated

round

rfrom

he

key

nd hemetric

hythm

stablishedt

the

outset,

ust

as in

Giraud/Hartleben's

Nacht'

here

s no

escape

from

he

warm

f

black utterflies

r thefall f

night.

Nacht' s a

supremelyppressive

oem,

nd

Schoenberg

as

provided

t with

supremelyppressive

etting.

here s not moment romts tart o

itsfinish henwe arenotbesiegedythebutterfliesndtheir onse-

quence

n

a

variety

f

ingenious

ombinations,

nd

usually

n all

voices.For

such a

claustrophobic

iece

whatmore

fitting

llusion

couldbe

magined

han

passacaglia'?

For llof

Pierrot

unaire

am

aware

f

only

ne extant

ketch,

or

he

beginning

f

Nacht'.9

t

s

nteresting

nd

puzzling,

s t eems obear

no

relationship

hatevero the

ong

hat

ventually

merged.

offer

transcription

f t s

Example

.

t

?

Ir

IbIL

M

&r&n m

.I

il

,

,

,j.

t,.

.

I?

-

-W

I-

I

A

Il~r

I

......

ox.

'Der

Mondfleck'

'Der

Mondfleck'

no. 18),

the

song

which

amously

urns ound n

itself

halfway hrough

at

the exact moment Pierrot

notices

a white

fleck f

moonlight

n the

backof

his

coat),

ets he ext s a

binary

form.his tructuresas directresponseothemage fthis oem s

the

picturesque

motives

and their

machinations,

nd

the subtitle

passacaglia',

were to Nacht'.

9

This

ketchs held

n

theArnold

ch6nberg

enter,

ienna.


15/22

STRUCTURAL

MAGERY:

PIERROT

LUNAIRE'

REVISITED

15

Example

:

Opening igure

f Der

Mondfleck'

There

are four

ayers

f

activity

n

Der

Mondfleck',

ach

making

ts

own

distinctive

ontribution

o

the

eccentric

ehaviour

f

the

protago-

nist.

The

piano

plays

fugue

hroughout,

nd

the

Sprechstimme

oes

its

own

rather

ngular

way,

remaining

more

aloof

from

he

rest of

the

ensemblethanwas the case in 'Nacht'.

A

pair

of

woodwind

instru-

ments

clarinet

nd

piccolo)

play

in

canon,10

s

do

a

pair

of

strings

(violin

nd

cello);

both

of

these

canons

turn

ound

t the

centre

f

bar

10 and

play

n

retrograde

ntil

they

have

reached

the

point

at which

they

tarted.

But,

ust

as

Pierrot

s

presumably

ot

actually

walking

backwards

or

he second

halfof

the

song,

but

walking

orwards

hile

looking

back

over

his

shoulder,

he

piano

and

singer

arry

n

moving

in the

original

direction

while

the

other

four

nstruments

ook

back,

producing

structure

hich,

ike

he

character

imself,

n ts onfusion

progresses

n both directions

t once.

One

of

the

first

hings

ne

notices

s that

this

song

has

the

same

tonic

as 'Nacht'.

(This

'tonic'

is

not

a feature

hat

runs

through

he

whole cycle.)The motive hatbeginseach new sectionof the wood-

wind canon

and functions

s

the

ubject

f

the

piano's

fugue

begins

on

E and ends

on

E?

see

Example

9a);

it

appears

also

as an

answer,

egin-

ning

on

B

(the

conventional

dominant,

s

opposed

to

the

tritone,

which

played

hat

ole

n

Nacht').

It

s

tempting

o see

the

falling

emi-

tone of

thismotive

nd

the

one

in Nacht'

as

the

nversion/perversion

of

the

eading-note/tonic

elationship

f

tonal

music,

hough

n Der

Mondfleck'

he

two

tritones

f

the

subject

re

n

fact

esolved

n

quite

a

satisfactory

onal

manner

see

Example

9b).

b)

The

piano

plays

fugue

which

s

essentially

n three

voices,

hough

it

expands

to four

on

occasion.

It

is also

in three

ections,

ars

1-8,

8-15

and

15-19,

but,

hough

his

uggests

he

possibility

hat

he

piano

part

follows

he three-verse

tructure

f

the

poem,

this

s not

the case.

The secondstanzaofthe text egins nbar7,thethirdate n bar 12.

This

fugue

opens

in a rather

aring

way,

with

the

subject

tated

n

parallel

ugmented

riads,

ut

calms

down

quickly,

o

that

by

the

third

entry

he

only

remnant

f

this

nitial

udacity

s

the

first

ote,

which

s

doubled,

but now

at

the tritone.

Nevertheless,

ntil

ate

in the

fugue

the

first nd

astnotes

of

the

ubject

re

most

often

xpressed

s chords

or

dyads.

The

fugue

s

given

s

Example

10,

with

he

parts

disentangled

and written

n

separate

taves.

150

am

going

to call

the imitation

between

clarinet

and piccolo

a

canon,

for the sake

of con-

venience,

in

spite

of the fact that the

relationship

of the two instrumentsis very fluid. It

behaves

like

a

canon,

but

a canon

with

considerable

freedom.

On

his own

copy

of the

piece

Schoenberg

wrote

'fugue'

next

to

these

two

parts,

but I find

this

designation

-

a

not

uncom-

mon

situation

with

respect

to

Schoenberg's

remarks

about

his own

music

-

slightly

mislead-

ing.

It occurs

to me

to wonder

whether

this was

meant

to indicate

the

source

of these

two

parts,

which

duplicate

exactly,

t

twice

the

speed,

the first

wo

voices

of the

piano's

fugue.


16/22

16

TEMPO

Example

0:

No.18,

Der

Mondfleck',

iano

ugue

EXPOSITION

L...1..SUBJECTCOUNTERSUBJECTIOUNc ouTERSUBJECT

S CS

cs

2)

--continuat....

............ ......

s)

.....

csl

, s

_

ErCLL

..P

-k.

d

SDEVELOPMENT

Al

kpL,

in pet-s

1

Cs) j

I;i

~

t~cs

.....i.

n

S,,

......

ubjc-t

-...

)

CS

2 1

I

"

i .

'

to...

.

.

....

..

-

. .-

.

.

40.ri

ms.

- -

.

f;

,*

' " " .. - "

---A

(

iiciiis

I

o ne

=....7-7--

(C

S

1.

2)1

...1....._.2 ..

i"*


17/22

STRUCTURAL IMAGERY: PIERROT LUNAIRE

REVISITED 17

FINAL

DEVELOPMENT

(S

s

,

(S)

,

,

)

...

~

.r

_,

I

..

.........

illill

i~"

(s)::

.

I.

sl

...

2

lS

S

~i'I

I

3

0#12

lb

A

---------

&A)

#

cuo

The

exposition

s

fairly

nremarkable,

xcept

or

ne

thing:

here

are

wonotes nbar

that

reempt

he

ntry

fthe

ubject

n

he hird

voice.

This s a

curious

xception

o what s

otherwise

ather

trict

fugal ractice.

he

adherenceo

fugal

echniquesoes

far

eyond

he

replication

f the

subject:

here re two

countersubjects,

oth

of

which reheard n allthree oices,nd nadditionheres nthefirst

voice

a

further

egment

in

bars

4-5)

which

s

played gain

by

the

leading

oice

n

the econd

ection

f the

ugue,

n

bars11-12.As

this

is

not

layed

tthe ame

ime s the

ubject,

have

alled his contin-

uation'

ather

han

nother

ountersubject.


18/22

18

TEMPO

The

second

section

begins

as

if t were

going

to

be

another

xposi-

tionbut

slips

n

to

development

with

he stretto

ntry

f

the

subject

n

the third

oice.

The

first

wo

voices

play

the same

music

as

before,

including

he

continuation

rom

ars

4-5,

but

the

third

oice

dispenses

withthecountersubjectsndbegins nstead stringf three ubjects,

all of which

re

elided.

The

second

of

these

s inverted

s well.

In

this

ectionof

the

fugue

the

subject

has

acquired

a second

rest,

between

ts ast

two

notes,

o

balance

that etween

ts

first wo."

In

the

following

ection

both

rests

have

been removed

and

the

first

note

greatly

hortened,

iving

he

subject

n

agitation

hat

t acked

before.

This section

pens

n bar

15 with

stretto

n

four

oices,

wo

of which

-

the

first

nd

third continue

with

the two

countersubjects.

he

fourth

ntry

s embellished

nd

lengthened,

s

is

a fifth

ntry

which

s

heard

n stretto

with

t

played

by

the voice

that

ntered

econd).

One

can see

these

digressions

in

bar

16)

as a

form f

distraction.

he

fugue

ends with

a

flurry

f

rapid

statements

f the

subject

n its new

fretful

form,n whichthe three entralnoteshavenowbecome triplets,hus

matching

hose

played

by

the

woodwind

parts

t

the

beginning

f

the

song.

Thus

the

fugue

becomes

increasingly

gitated

s

it

progresses,

moving

from

Exposition

o

Development,

ach

section

shorter

han

the one

before.

The normal

progress

s

first

uickened

by

stretto

nd

elision,

nd

then

by rhythmic

iminutions,

s

Pierrot

ecomes

more

distracted

nd

his

progress

ess

predictable.

The erratic

ature

f

Pierrot's

rogress

hrough

he

night

s

perhaps

seen most

clearly

n the woodwind

canon,

which

consists

f

the

first

two voices

of

the

piano

fugue

n

diminution,12

hough

he

correspon-

dence to

Pierrot's

agitation

is somewhat

anticipatory,

ince

the

growing

rritation f

clarinet

nd

piccolo

occurs

before

the

halfway

pointofthesong, husprecedinghemoment fPierrot's iscoveryf

the fleck

n

his coat.

Like

the

piano fugue

inevitably

this

ather

ree anon

starts

ver'

three imes:

on

four ccasions

both

voices

state

the

five-note

ubject,

the first hree

imes

at

the tonic

evel

answered

t

the

dominant,

he

fourth ime

with

both

voices

on

the tonic.

These

fresh

tarts

orre-

spond

to

bars

1,

8,

15 and

18

of

the

piano's

fugue:

s

in the

piano,

the

sections

become

progressively

horter

nd,

after

he

second

pair

of

entries,

he

entries

hemselves

et

closer

together

though

n this

ase

all

theseevents

ccur

n the

first

alfof

the

song

and are

subsequently

reversed).

he

fluid

tateof

the

mitation

n these

parts

an be

seen

in

Example

11,

where

mitated

material

s

bracketed,

with

arrows

ndi-

cating he orderof the voices. This irregularity,hichquickensand

becomes

exaggerated

s the

piece

approaches

the

centre,

eems,

in

spite

of

preceding

he

fact,

o

reflect

erfectly

ierrot's

tumbling

ait

as he walks

n

one

direction

while

facing

n the other.

At

the

same

time

the

strings

re

playing

strict

anon

built

from

quite

different

aterial,

n which

the

mitation

s so

exact

that ven

at

the axis

n bar

10,

where

t turns

ound

on

itself,

oth

horizontal

nd

vertical

symmetries

re

maintained

without

a break:

the leader

becomes

the

follower

without

ripple

n

either

he canonic

mitation

or the

palindrome

this

s

not the

case

in the

woodwind;

there

the

piccolo

hasthree

xtra

notes

while

the clarinet

omesnds

the

first

alf

and

carries

on

as the

dux

in the

second

half);

see

Example

12.

The

11

Only

ne

entry,

he econd,

nbars

9-10,

doesnot

ake his

ew

form.

12

This statement

erhaps

ives

confusing

icture

f

the

relationship

etween

he

parts:

t

would

seem obvious

that he woodwind

canon,

which

repeats

n

retrograde,

ust

have

come

first,

nd

the

piano

fugue,

n

augmentation

f

theforward

ortion

f

t,

ater.


19/22

STRUCTURAL

MAGERY:

PIERROT LUNAIRE REVISITED 19

Example

1:

'Der

Mondfleck',

oodwind

anon

strings erfectlyepresent

ierrot's

rritation:

is

enragedrubbing

nd

scrubbing

'Wischt

und wischt

.. er

giftgeschwollen

eiter,

eibtund

reibt')

at the

spot

that

refuses

o

disappear

see

Example

13).

His

continual

gitation

s

portrayed

y

the constant

nervous

repetitions,

butalsobytherhythmf this anon,whichgrates gainst he written

metre.

Since the material s

clearly

n

2/4,

neither

art

fitswithin he

written ars of

three; nd,

since the

mitation

ccurs fter hree

eats,

the

maginary

arlines f the two voices

disagree

with each other

s

well.

Metrically

his

s an unsettled

and

unsettling

canon,

reflecting

the state

of Pierrot's

mind

s he

progresses

hrough

he

night

ubbing

at

the

spot

that

refuses o be eradicated.

0

~3

CSud

~ei

S)

n~

mtttlc

~"~"x`~"~x~"J

9__.

A

.

Ask

m

.

or.

..

..

.

.....

-

_

Nt

61 f 1 3

vg-~_.6

P

t..',

,

'.{,

7,i

7;

a,-,;

53

$

qF?

--olIw


20/22

20

TEMPO

There are

several

discrepancies

n the canons

of

Der

Mondfleck',

n

both

pitch

nd

rhythm,

ostly

n the

retrograde

alf of

the

piece.

As

no

sketch

or he

piece

survives

t

s

impossible

o

check

Schoenberg's

intentions.

owever,

n

1977,

when

the

Schoenberg

Archive

was

still

n

Los Angeles, Leonard Stein wrote to me describing choenberg's

conducting

core,

on which

most

of

the

discrepant

otes

had

been

corrected

n

pencil.

This

score

s not

n thecollection

t the

Schoenberg

Center

n

Vienna.

'Parodie'

Number 17

perhaps

comes

closer

than

any

of

the other

songs

to

expressing

he

very

essence

of

the

cycle.

n

it

two distinct

ypes

of

parody

re used:

canonic

mitation

nd

structural

mbiguity.

he

whole

of Pierrot unaire

s

parody,

and

musically

t

parodies

forms

the

passacaglia

nd

fugue

hatwe

have

ust

examined),

tyles

the

Valse

de

Chopin',the Serenade', hebarcarole) ndtechniques. ut n this ong

the dea

of

mockery

s at

the

surface

nd is

admitted:

ere

the

ntent

implicit

n

the

whole

cycle

becomes

the

avowed

subject

of one

of its

parts,

he

strategy

f one

of

its characters.

he

duenna

of

the

text

s

cruelly

mocked

by

the

moon:

she

s

duped

nto

thinking

hat

he

hears

Pierrot,

ithwhom

she

s

painfully

n

ove,

when

n fact

he

whisper

he

hears s

only

puff

f

wind,

s the

moon

plays

games

with

he

knitting

needles

tuck

ntoher

hair,

making

hem

winkle

ike

moonbeams.

This

mockery,

nd her

onfusion,

etermine

he

tructure

f

the

music.

The

piece

is

a series

of canons.

As

there

s

no

musical

form

more

oppressive

han

the

passacaglia,

o

there

s no

clearer

orm f

musical

mimicry

han anon.

But

the

moon's

mockery

f

the old woman

s

not

simple; t s cruelandtwisted,ndso isthemusical mitation.nall the

canons one

voice

is

moving

t odds

with

the

other(s)

in inversion

and

surely

hemost

brilliant

arody

f all

s that

he

Sprechstimme

akes

part

n

all the canons.

That

this

voice,

whose

pitches

re fixed

nly

on

the

page

but not

n

practice

nd

vary

wildly

rom

ne

performance

o

another,

hould

partake

of

canon,

a

technique

n

which

pitch

s

all-

important,

eems

to me

the

perfect

rony.

As

for he

structure,

his

s articulated

y

changes

n the

canon,

and

these

changes

are

carefully

manipulated

o

express

both the

ternary

and

the

binary

ivision.

t s

perhaps

most

succinct

o

give

the canonic

structure

f the

piece

in

table

form.

bars1-10 bars11-15 bars16-21 bars22-6 bars26-9

lines1-4 lines

-6

lines7-8

lines

-11

lines

12-13

vla,clar., oice;

voice,

vla,clar.;

vla

and

clar.;

vla

and

flute;

vla

and

clar.;

clar. nverted

clar.

nverted

clar.

nverted

flute

nverted

clar.

nverted

voice

and

picc.

voice

and

clar.

pno

rh,

icc.

nd

voice

Itwill e noticed

mmediately

hat

he

ast

ivision

snot

xactly

here

it

hould

e;

t

comes

ne

ine

oo

soon.

So

perhaps

ven

he

arefully

worked-out

arody

f

the

inary/ternary

orms

s tself

arodied.

nd

the

iano

or

hemost

art gnores

he

ounterpoint

ltogether,

learly

markinghe inaryivisionyplayinghe amematerialtthe egin-

ning,

entre

nd nd

ofthe

piece

The other

nstruments

nd he

oice

have canon

nthree oices

or

the

first alf f

the

iece

nd

double

anon

ntwo

pairs

fvoices

or

the econd

alf.

hus

he ame

ype

fcanon

s maintained

hroughout


21/22

STRUCTURAL IMAGERY:

'PIERROT

LUNAIRE REVISITED 21

each half

of the

piece,

but for

he ast two ines of

the first

alf

at

the

beginning

of the second

strophe,

t

bar

11)

the order

of entries s

changed

the

nstruments

re listed

n

the table

above

in the order

n

which

hey

nter),

nd after

hefirst wo inesof the

econdhalf

at

the

endof the secondstrophe,t bar22) the nstrumentsrepaireddiffer-

ently.

Also

at

this

point

the

piccolo

player

akes

up

the

flute

nd

plays

the

nverted oice for he

first nd

only

ime.)

The

three-part

anon

at the end

of

the

piece

(piano right

hand,

piccolo

and

Sprechstimme,

ars

27-9)

is

on

the same

material s the

three-part

anon at the

beginning.

In

'O

alter

Duft',

the

ast

song

in the

cycle,

he

poet

thinks

ondly

f

pleasures

oo

long neglected.

[...]

Ahappy ish or leasureshatlong ave corned,

O

ancient

cent romhe ime

f

fairies,

intoxicating

nce

gainmy

enses

[...]

Perhaps,

ven

n

1912,

nly

hree

years

fter

irst

reathing

he

ai

structural imagery pierrot lunaire revisited

Documents