Serial Music, Serial Aesthetics: Compositional Theory in Post-War Europe M

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Cambridge University Press 0521619920 - Serial Music, Serial Aesthetics: Compositional Theory in Post-War Europe M. J. Grant Frontmatter More information

Serial music, serial aesthetics

Serial music was one of the most important aesthetic movements to emerge in post-war Europe, but its uncompromising music and modernist aesthetic have often been misunderstood. This book focuses on the controversial journal die Reihe, whose major contributors included Stockhausen, Eimert, Pousseur, Dieter Schnebel and G. M. Koenig, and discusses it in connection with many lesser-known sources in German musicology. It traces serialism’s debt to the theories of Klee and Mondrian, and its relationship to developments in concrete art, modern poetry, and the information aesthetics and semiotics of Max Bense and Umberto Eco. M. J. Grant sketches an aesthetic theory of serialism as experimental music, arguing that serial theory’s embrace of both rigorous intellectualism and aleatoric processes is not, as many have suggested, a paradox, but the key to serial thought and to its relevance for contemporary theory.

M. J. Grant specialises in the theory and aesthetics of new and experimental music.

Music in the Twentieth Century gener al edit or Arnold Whittall

This series offers a wide perspective on music and musical life in the twentieth century.

Recent titles The Music of John Cage James Pritchett The Music of Ruth Crawford Seeger Joseph Straus The Music of Conlon Nancarrow Kyle Gann The Stravinsky Legacy Jonathan Cross Experimental Music:Cage and Beyond Michael Nyman The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922–1936 Jennifer Doctor The Music of Harrison Birtwistle Robert Adlington Four Musical Minimalists:La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass Keith Potter Faure´ and French Musical Aesthetics Carlo Caballero The Music of To¯ru Takemitsu Peter Burt The Music and Thought of Michael Tippett:Modern Times and Metaphysics David Clarke Serial Music, Serial Aesthetics:Compositional Theory in Post-War Europe M. J. Grant

Serial music, serial aesthetics Compositional theory in post-war Europe

M.J.Grant

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011–4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa

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This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2001 First paperback edition 2005

Typeface Minion 10.5/13.5 pt. System LATEX 2ε [t b] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

Grant, M. J. (Morag Josephine), 1972– Serial music, serial aesthetics: compositional theory in post-war Europe / M. J. Grant. p. cm. – (Music in the 20th century) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 80458 2 hardback 1. Music – Europe – 20th century – Philosophy and aesthetics. 2. Serialism (Music) 3. Art and music – History – 20th century. 4. Music and language – History – 20th century. I. Music in the twentieth century. ML3877 .G73 2001 781.3'31 – dc21 2001035283

ISBN 0 521 80458 2 hardback ISBN 0 521 61992 0 paperback

Contents

Acknowledgements vii Note on the text viii

Introduction 1

PART I 1 European culture in the post-war years 11 2 The isolated tone: electronic and serial music, 1945–1954 39

PART II 3 Electronic music: ‘chaos or order’? 75 4 Webern and Debussy 103

PART III 5 Serial music as an aleatoric process 131 6 ‘Das Serielle’ 165

PART IV 7 Music and language 193 8 Serial theory, serial practice: wherefore, and why? 222

PART V Conclusion: Dorthin? 251

Bibliography 253 Index 268

Acknowledgements

The initial research for this study was funded by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. The research was further facilitated by the resources at many institutions, particularly the University of London Senate House, the British Library, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz, and the music department of the Deutsche Bibliothek. In addition, I am grateful to the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne, and particularly Petra Witting- Nothen,¨ for allowing me access to their archives. Michael Fend, who su- pervised my original dissertation at King’s College London, has supported this project since its inception, and his critical reading and rereading of initially half-baked notions has been enormously helpful; I also thank the other members of staff of the Music Department for all their help. My year at the Humboldt-Universitat¨ zu Berlin beneﬁted greatly from the assistance of Professor Hermann Danuser, and Professor Wolfgang Auhagen, who in- troduced me to the work of Max Bense. My special thanks go to Karlheinz Stockhausen, for his encouragement and his speedy and comprehensive re- sponses to my enquiries. I also thank Professor Helmut Kirchmeyer for valu- able information regarding Herbert Eimert. Preparation and publication of this version of the text has beneﬁted greatly from the editorial expertise of Penny Souster, and from Arnold Whittall’s many useful comments on the various drafts.

I gratefully acknowledge the permission given by various publishers for the reproductions of examples as follows:

Ex. 2.1 C 1953 by Universal Edition (London Ltd).

Exx. 4.1a, 4.2a, 4.3, 5.5, 6.1, 7.1 and 7.3 C Universal Edition, A. G.

Ex. 4.2b: C Stockhausen Verlag 2000.

Ex. 5.2: C Schwabe & Co. Verlag. My family and friends in Scotland have remained an invaluable source of support, and my friends and colleagues in Berlin, through participation at many formal and informal seminars in the last few years, have enabled me to expound these ideas at a crucial stage. All have tolerated my persistent and probably incessant conviction regarding the importance of serial aesthetics. This book is dedicated to all of them, mit herzlichem Dank.

Note on the text

Footnote references to die Reihe are abbreviated as dR followed by the volume number (Roman numerals) and the edition ((D) or (E) for German or English respectively). A full list of contents for the German edition is included in the Bibliography. Due to problems with the original translations, I have referred almost exclusively to the German text. Footnote citations include only the relevant author or editor and the date and page of the edition consulted. Where the original date of publication is signiﬁcant, this has been given in round brackets. Translations are my own, except where an English translation is cited in the bibliography. Other abbreviations employed are as follows:

AfM Archiv für Musikwissenschaft CMR Contemporary Music Review JMT Journal of Music Theory MGG Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart MQ Musical Quarterly MT Musical Times NZfM New Zeitschrift für Musik PNM Perspectives of New Music UE Universal Edition WDR Westdeutscher Rundfunk ZfM Zeitschrift für Musik