Functions of Silence in the Twelve-tone Music of Anton Webern Kai Yin Lo Department of Music Research, McGill University, Montreal 2015 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts © Kai Yin Lo, 2015 Abstract Silence in Webern’s music has been noted and commented upon by music and cultural scholars alike, including Stephen Kern, Otto Deri, and David Metzer, who consider silence to have aesthetic significance in Webern’s works. The interaction between formal placement and expressive potential of these silences has however received little attention in the existing literature. Drawing upon prior studies on musical silence by Clifton (1976), Pearsall (2006), Margulis (2007), and Cooper (2011), as well as informed by Bailey’s (1991) analyses of Webern’s serial music based on Baroque and Classical formal archetypes, my thesis aims at examining how silences engage with their surrounding formal structure and various musical processes to create various expressive and dramatic effects. My thesis first examines Webern’s employment of silence from the formal-structural standpoint, and attempts to understand Webern’s decision in deploying silence at certain formal locations. Based on observations from my analyses of six of his twelve-tone instrumental works—Symphony Op. 21, Quartet Op. 22, Concerto Op. 24, Variations for Piano Op. 27, String Quartet Op. 28, and Variations for Orchestra Op. 30, I categorize these silences into three basic types—beginning, closing, and transitional silence. These three types of silence take on different structural functions, sometimes interrupting the ongoing musical processes before their closure. This disruptive nature of silence results in various expressive effects such as suspense and surprise. i Silence in Webern’s music often eludes clear categorization, resulting in situations that are ambiguous and more complex. These situations may involve more than one particular type of silence, a close succession of two or more silences of the same functional type, or an interpolation through the use of two framing silences. I will analyze each of these situations from myriad perspectives and by catering to different textural layers, unravelling those musical features that correspond, to certain degrees, to the three basic silence types. ii Résumé L'utilisation du silence dans la musique de Webern a fait l'objet de nombreuses études et commentaires par différents chercheurs appartenant au domaine de la musique ou de la culture tels que Stephen Kern, Otto Deri et David Metzer. Pour eux, les silences weberniens possèdent une signification en rapport au contenu esthétique de ses œuvres. Dans la plupart des discussions évoquant ce sujet, les explications données s'orientent soit vers une interprétation imagée, les silences étant associés à la mort, soit vers une interprétation contextualisée où la prévalence du silence dans l'œuvre de Webern est représentative de l'environnement artistique contemporain. Les fonctions formelles et expressives de ces silences dans l'œuvre de Webern ont été, jusqu'à présent, que vaguement étudiées. En m'appuyant sur les travaux de Clifton (1976), Pearsall (2006), Margulis (2007) et Cooper (2011) sur le silence musical, mais aussi sur les analyses effectuées par Bailey (1991) sur la musique sérielle de Webern et son interprétation formelle basée sur les modèles Baroque et Classique, ma thèse a pour but d'étudier l'interaction du silence avec la structure formelle et d'autres paramètres musicaux tels que le tempo, le rythme, la métrique, l'articulation et les dynamiques, dont résultent des qualités expressives et dramatiques variées. Ma thèse examine l'emploi par Webern du silence à partir d'un point de vue théorique et tente de découvrir les raisons qui se trouvent à l'origine de son utilisation du silence dans différentes locations formelles. En m'appuyant sur les différentes observations que j'ai pu effectuer à partir d'analyses de ses œuvres iii instrumentales dodécaphoniques—la Symphonie op. 21, le Quatuor op. 22, le Concerto op. 24, les Variations pour Piano op. 27, le Quatuor à cordes op. 28 et les Variations pour Orchestre op. 30, j'ai classé ces exemples de silence en trois catégories que j'ai nommé silence d'ouverture, de clôture et de transition. Situées dans leur location formelle particulière, ces trois catégories de silence endossent différentes fonctions structurelles, interrompant certains processus musicaux avant qu'ils aient pu atteindre leur aboutissement. Cette nature disruptive du silence entraine différents effets expressifs tels que le suspens et la surprise. Ces trois catégories sont ensuite utilisées comme cadre de référence pour expliquer les silences impliquant des situations plus complexes, telles que celles ou plusieurs interprétations deviennent possibles ou lorsque deux (voire plusieurs) silences se retrouvent en succession rapprochée. (traduit par Mylène Gioffredo) iv Contents Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework ................................................ vii INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 DEFINING MUSICAL SILENCE ................................................................ 4 DESCRIBING MUSICAL SILENCE .......................................................... 6 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Three Functional Types of Silence ............................... 20 TYPE 1: OPENING SILENCE .................................................................. 22 TYPE 2: CLOSING SILENCE .................................................................. 38 TYPE 3: TRANSITIONAL SILENCE ...................................................... 50 Chapter 3: Complexities and Ambiguities ...................................... 60 1. INTERSECTION OF TWO OR MORE FUNCTIONAL TYPES ........ 61 2. CLOSE SUCCESSION OF SEVERAL SILENCES OF THE SAME FUNCTIONAL TYPE ................................................................................ 81 3. SILENCE FRAMING AN INTERPOLATION .................................... 98 Chapter 4: Epilogue ........................................................................ 109 Selected Bibliography ..................................................................... 111 v Table of Examples Example 1.1 Op. 27, I, mm. 1–7. ...................................................................... 12 Example 1.2 Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37, I, mm. 1–16. .......... 16 Example 2.1 Op. 24, II, mm. 1–28, reduction. ................................................. 24 Example 2.2 Op. 30, mm. 1–20. ....................................................................... 29 Example 2.3 Op. 24, I, mm. 1–11, reading of a sentential structure based on Leibowitz (1948). ........................................................................ 36 Example 2.4 Op. 24, I, mm. 1–11, opening silence indicated. ......................... 37 Example 2.5 Op. 28, I, mm. 96–112. ................................................................ 41 Example 2.6 Op. 28, II, mm. 36–55.................................................................. 45 Example 2.7 Op. 27, II, mm. 10–22.................................................................. 48 Example 2.8 Op. 27, III, mm. 33–47. ............................................................... 53 Example 2.9 Op. 24, III, mm. 1–13, reduction. ................................................ 57 Example 3.1 Op. 21, II, Variation II, mm. 23–35. ............................................ 64 Example 3.2 Op. 21, II, Variation III, mm. 35–46. .......................................... 68 Example 3.3 Op. 24, I, mm. 63–69. .................................................................. 73 Example 3.4 Structural comparison between the opening (mm. 1–10) and closing theme (mm. 63–69) of Op. 24, I. .................................... 75 Example 3.5 Op. 27, I, mm. 19–41. .................................................................. 77 Example 3.6 Op. 22, I, mm. 37–41, reduction. ................................................. 86 Example 3.7 Op. 22, I, mm. 1–5. ...................................................................... 88 Example 3.8 Op. 24, I, mm. 1–11. .................................................................... 91 Example 3.9 Op. 24, I, mm. 1–11 ..................................................................... 92 Example 3.10 Op. 28, III, mm. 54–68. ............................................................... 95 Example 3.11 Op. 21, II, Variation III, mm. 35–43. ........................................ 102 Example 3.12 Op. 21, I, mm. 21–44. ................................................................ 105 Example 3.13 Op. 21 II, Variation IV, mm. 45–55. ......................................... 108 vi Table of Figures Figure 1.1 The three aspects of silence ............................................................... 5 Figure 1.2 Four categories of silence. ................................................................. 7 Figure 1.3 Symmetrical structure illustrated. .................................................... 15 Figure 2.1 A brief summary of the three types of silence. ................................ 21 Figure 2.2 Illustration of the placement of opening silence.............................. 22 Figure 2.3 Row table of Op. 24, II, mm. 1–22. ................................................. 27 Figure 2.4 Possible row forms capable of forming (014) trichords with the tenth pitch class C of the first row R9. ...................................................... 28 Figure 2.5 Row Table of Op. 30, mm. 1–20. .................................................... 31 Figure 2.6 Row table of Op. 24, I, mm. 1–11. .................................................. 38 Figure 2.7 Illustration of the placement of closing silence. .............................. 38 Figure 2.8 Row Table of Op. 28, I, mm. 96–112 .............................................. 42 Figure 2.9 Row Table of Op. 28, II, mm. 36–55 .............................................. 46 Figure 2.10 Row Table of Op. 27, II, mm. 10–22. ............................................ 49 Figure 2.11 Illustration of the placement of transitional silence. ...................... 50 Figure 2.12 Row Table of Op. 27, III, mm. 33–47. ........................................... 54 Figure 2.13 Row Table of Op. 24, III, mm. 1–13. ............................................. 59 Figure 3.1 Three typical cases where silence(s) invite(s) two possible interpretations. ................................................................................. 62 Figure 3.2 Row table of Op. 21, II, Variation II, mm. 23–35. .......................... 65 Figure 3.3 Row table of Op. 21, II, Variation III, mm. 35–46.......................... 69 Figure 3.4 Row structure of Op. 24 I, mm. 63–69. ........................................... 74 Figure 3.5 Row table of Op. 27, I, mm. 19–41 (middle section). ..................... 79 Figure 3.6 Two closing silences in close succession with functional differentiation. .................................................................................. 82 Figure 3.7 Row table for Op. 22, I (“X” indicates ............................................ 87 Figure 3.8 Row table Op. 24, I, mm. 1–10. ...................................................... 93 Figure 3.9 Row table of Op. 28, III, mm. 54–68. ............................................. 96 Figure 3.10 Two silences framing an interpolation. ........................................... 98 vii Figure 3.11 Comparison between interpolation and an overlap between closing and opening ideas. ............................................................................ 99 Figure 3.12 Row table of Op. 21, II, Variation III, mm. 35–44. ...................... 101 Figure 3.13 Row table Op. 21, I, mm. 21–44. ................................................. 104 Figure 3.14 Row table of Op. 21 II, Variation IV, mm. 45–55. ...................... 107 viii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Christoph Neidhöfer, for his guidance and insights on my research project. I am especially indebted to Justin Van Geest (William) for his careful editing and proofreading, whose numerous comments and suggestions are invaluable to both my thesis and my writing in general. I also wish to thank Universal Edition, Vienna, for their kind permission to reproduce excerpts from Webern's scores in this thesis and, last but not least, Mylène Gioffredo for her elegant translation of the abstract. ix