Sound and Semantics: Topics in the Music of Arnold Schoenberg A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Jessica Narum IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Michael Cherlin and Sumanth Gopinath August 2013 © Jessica Narum 2013 Acknowledgements Thanks to Ms. Hella Mears as well as the Center for German and European Studies at the University of Minnesota for supporting graduate student research. I was honored to receive the Hella Mears Graduate Student Fellowship, which allowed me to continue my research through the summer of 2012. My thanks to the inspiring faculty at the University of Minnesota. For their incisive questions and helpful comments, I’d like to thank my committee members: Matthew Bribitzer-Stull, Michael Cherlin, Sumanth Gopinath, and Richard Leppert. As my advisers, Professors Cherlin and Gopinath read this work in its roughest stages; my writing and thinking about music have been greatly improved by their continuous help and encouragement. Thanks also to the administrative guidance from Stan Rothrock, Laura Krider, and especially Anne Barnes, whose help in the final weeks was instrumental in the completion of this process. To my faculty colleagues and students first at Concordia University, St. Paul, and presently at Concordia College, Moorhead: thank you for supporting and encouraging a new faculty member studying for comprehensive exams and writing her dissertation. Warmest thanks to my friends and colleagues from graduate school, with special thanks to the following: my in-person dissertation writing group, Florian Thalmann and Brian Schmidt; my email dissertation writing group, Joseph Matson and Kimberley Beck Seder; and my favorite non-music scholars, Dana Schumacher and Stacey Decker. Thanks also to the members of the Awesome Book Club and the Chicken Pluckers. i Jeremy Orosz and I started at the University of Minnesota at the same time, collaborated during classes and teaching assignments, and studied for comprehensive exams together. He read early drafts of several of my chapters, and they are better for it. Thanks to my Holter and Narum families for their love and encouragement. In particular, my parents, Valerie and Garfield Narum, have always supported me in any of my musical endeavors and this was no exception. Last, but certainly not least, none of this would have been possible without the support of my husband, Colin Holter. He worked some Finale wizardry on the more impressive musical examples in these pages and edited the audio tracks for the public portion of my defense; in addition, he offered sound and patient advice in all matters of research and writing, all while sharing a residence, an office, and a teaching assignment with me. I am grateful for his unwavering confidence and his patient understanding. ii This dissertation is dedicated to Colin Holter. iii Abstract Arnold Schoenberg's music consistently invites criticism and analysis, much of which has used the tools of pitch-class set theory to focus on issues of structure and coherence rather than considerations of musical meaning. Because these approaches emphasize Schoenberg's break with tonality they fail to recognize the continuity of this repertory with its cultural and historical precursors, and thus minimize the extent to which we perceive Schoenberg as influenced by or in dialogue with earlier composers. Furthermore, because of their focus on pitch content, they tend to neglect the expressive potential of this music. By approaching Schoenberg's music with the tools of musical topic theory, the connections between this music and its historical and cultural contexts can be demonstrated and issues of musical meaning can be explored. Part I: Historical Background explores the historical context necessary for the analysis of Schoenberg's music. Chapter 1 surveys the analytical trends applied to Schoenberg's music through their approach to musical meaning; Chapter 2 provides a literature review of topic theory, addresses critiques thereof, and explores issues pertaining to our understanding of new topics. Part II: Analytical Approaches demonstrates four different applications of topical analysis. Chapter 3 considers the intersection of topics and leitmotiv in Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande to demonstrate how the topics and structure of the various leitmotivs convey and create associations between characters and ideas in the drama. Chapter 4 compares the use of the pianto and the chorale topic in all periods of iv Schoenberg's career, arguing that their presence in the atonal and twelve-tone works is increasingly motivated by issues of program and text. Chapter 5 features an in-depth analysis of the second of the Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11, using the unfolding of the topics to create a narrative that accounts for the tonal and atonal elements in the piece. Chapter 6 provides a lexicon of the topics in Schoenberg's atonal music which includes descriptions of the musical signifier and the cultural signifieds, multiple examples of the topic, and both earlier and later instances of similar passages from Schoenberg's work. v Table of Contents Front Matter Acknowledgements i Dedication ii Abstract iii Table of Contents iv List of Tables v List of Figures vi Introduction 1 PART I: Historical Background 7 Chapter One: “This is My Fault:” Toward a Hermeneutics of Schoenberg’s Music 8 Musical Meaning and Topical Awareness in Schoenberg's Writings 13 Formalism 23 Intra-work Musical Meaning (ratio difficilis) 34 Conventionalized Musical Meaning (ratio facilis) 37 Conventionalized Meaning in Schoenberg's Music 38 Chapter Two: Overview of Topic Theory: Developments, Critiques, and New Directions 48 Recent Developments 65 Critiques 70 Identifying New Topics 73 PART II: Analytical Approaches 82 Chapter Three: Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande: A Topical and Leitmotivic Analysis 83 Individual Leitmotivs 87 Interaction and Influence of Leitmotivs 110 Response to Zemlinsky and the Implications of "Lost Innocence" 122 Chapter Four: 128 Topical Trajectories: Charting the Pianto and the Chorale Topic in Schoenberg's Music Piantos 133 Chorale Topic 160 Comparison 185 vi Chapter Five: A Topical Approach to the Tonal and Atonal Elements of Op. 11/2 189 Formal Overview 194 The A Section and Inversionally Symmetrical Structures 195 The B Section and the Topic of Being Overwhelmed 208 The Reprise, the Nocturne and a Narrative Overview 216 Chapter Six: 230 Light, Darkness, and Psychic States: The Topical Universe of Schoenberg's Atonal Music Celestial Light 234 Dark and Supernatural Topics: Ombra, Demonic, Uncanny 238 The Elemental Topic 243 The Step Motive 248 Flüchtiger 253 Dysphoric Marches 259 Traumatic Flooding 263 Parallel Thirds 266 Alto Declamation 269 Expressive Genres 272 Expressive Genre I: Psychic Fragmentation 273 Expressive Genre II: Enigmatic Gardens 276 Bibliography 282 vii List of Tables Table 3-1: Names and groupings of Pelleas leitmotivs in published analyses…………..89 Table 3-2: Comparison of structural elements and figurae of leitmotivs………………113 Table 4-1: Schoenberg’s Traditional Tonal Piantos………………………………........138 Table 4-2: Schoenberg’s Atonal Piantos…………………………………………….…139 Table 4-3: Comparison of piantos and chorales in Schoenberg’s music…………….…186 Table 5-1: Formal Segmentations of Op. 11, No. 2………………………………….…194 Table 5-2: Chart of formal subsections of mm. 29–54……………………………...….209 Table 6-1: Textual and Musical Instances of the Step Motive in Das Buch der hängenden Gärten …………………………………………………………………………………..250 Table 6-2: Additional Flüchtiger Passages in the Atonal Works………………………258 viii List of Figures Figure 1-1: Schoenberg's "definite horn theme," Example 331, Theory of Harmony ...... 17 Figure 1-2: Schoenberg’s Example 328, from Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony ............. 19 Figure 1-3: Schoenberg’s Example 329, from Wagner’s Tristan, Act II ......................... 19 Figure 2-1: Ratner's List of Types and Styles (Classic Music, 1980)………………...….50 Figure 2-2: Ratner's Ex. 2-25: Topics. Mozart, Prague Symphony, K. 504, 1786, first movement……………………………………………………………..……………....….51 Figure 2-3: Hatten's "rough hierarchy implied by Ratner's presentation"……………....55 Figure 3-1: "Golaud" ......................................................................................................... 91 Figure 3-2: "Pelleas" ......................................................................................................... 94 Figure 3-3: Tragic influence of "Golaud" on "Pelleas," rehearsal 48 ............................... 95 Figure 3-4: “Fate” (top staff) and “Wedding Bond” fragment (middle staff) .................. 97 Figure 3-5: Closing progression, related to "Fate" ........................................................... 98 Figure 3-6: "Melisande Lost" and "Melisande" ................................................................ 99 Figure 3-7: "Eros" ........................................................................................................... 103 Figure 3-8: Intervallic profile of "Jealousy," in semitones ............................................. 103 Figure 3-9: "Cortege" texture, rehearsal 59 .................................................................... 104 Figure 3-10: "Eros" Waltz, rehearsal 16 ......................................................................... 106 Figure 3-11: Transformation from "Eros" to "Ring" ...................................................... 107 Figure 3-12: "Lost Innocence"