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Webern Demystified

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Webern Demystified Webern Demystified Tracks and clips Duration 1. Introduction 6:40 a. Webern, Anton (AW), Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5, Juilliard String Quartet, West Hill Radio Archive WHRA6040 recorded 8/1/1952.* b. Bach, Johann Sebastian, Passacaglia & Fugue in c, BWV 582, Andrea Marcon, Hänssler Classic 092.090 released 2007. c. AW, Passacaglia for Orchestra, Op. 1, Leopold Stokowski, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pristine Classical PASC372 recorded 3/16/1962, available as a paid download from pristineclassical.com. d. Piano. e. AW, op. cit. f. Brahms, Johannes, Symphony No. 4 in e, Op. 98, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra archive recorded 10/27/2012. g. Bach, Johann Sebastian, Cantata “Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich”, BWV 150, Masaako Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Bis Records BIS-CD-751 recorded June, 1995.† 2. The Passacaglia 31:54 a. Montesardo, Girolamo, Folia chiamata così da Spagnuoli, Silvia Rambaldi, Pite Perikli, Daniele Salvatore, youtube.com/watch?v=IX_tdok6a5s recorded 1/28/2012. b. Piano. c. Frescobaldi, Girolamo, Partite sopra passcagli, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Naïve OP30468 released 8/2/2010.* d. Foscarini, Giovanni Paolo, Li cincue libri chitarra spagnuolo, ciaconna, Private Musicke, Accent ACC 24273 recorded 1/12/2012.* e. Couperin, Louis, Chaconne, Alan Curtis, Archiv 0289 437 0842 5 released 9/1/1992.◊ f. Idid., but Passacaille.◊ g. Couperin, François, Les Nations, Jean-François Paillard, Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Musical Heritage Society MHS 1174/75 released 1971. h. Buxtehude, Dietrich, Passacaglia in d, BuxWV 161, Helmut Walcha, Archiv 0289 477 7210 1 ADD AGA released 1/1/1998.◊ i. Bach, Johann Sebastian, Andrea Marcon, op. cit. j. Brahms, Johannes, Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56a, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra Centennial Collection recorded 5/2/1997. k. Ibid. l. Haydn, Franz Joseph, Divertimento No. 1 in B♭, Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet, Columbia ML-5093 recorded 6/1/1953. m. Wagner, Richard, Tristan und Isolde, Vorspiel, Christian Thielemann, Deutsche Grammophon 289 453 485-2 released April, 1997. n. - p. Piano. q. Schoenberg, Arnold, String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10, Juilliard String Quartet, West Hill Radio Archive WHRA6040 recorded 6/12/1951.* r. Reger, Max, Introduction, Passacaglia & Fugue, Op. 96, Pierre Luboschutz, Genia Nemenoff, Naxos Classical Archives 9.80637 released 20000.† s. Berg, Alban, Wozzeck, Karl Böhm, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Deutsche Grammophon 138 991/2 recorded March, 1965. t. Copland, Aaron, Passacaglia for Piano, Leo Smit, Columbia M2-35901 recorded January 1978. u. Britten, Benjamin, String Quartet No. 2, Op. 36, Tokyo String Quartet, RCA 09026- 61387-2 recorded May, 1992. v. Ligeti, György, Passacaglia ungherese, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Naïve OP30468 released 8/2/2010.* w. Glass, Philip, Satyagraha, Christopher Keene, New York City Opera, Sony M3K 6972 released 1985. 3. Webern’s Passacaglia 16:22 a. AW, Three Poems, Christian Oelze, Eric Schneider, Deutsche Grammophon 457 641-2 recorded September 1994. b. AW, Im Sommerwind, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Columbia MS-7041 released 1967. c. Isaac, Heinrich, Missa Paschalis, graduale: Haec dies, Wilfried Rombach, Ensemble Officium, Christophorus CHR77356 recorded 3/15/2004.* d. AW, Four Lieder on Poems by Stefan George, Christian Oelze, Eric Schneider, Deutsche Grammophon 457 641-2 recorded September 1994. e. Piano. f. – t. AW, Leopold Stokowski, op. cit. 4. Webern 21:59 a. AW, Five Lieder from Der siebente Ring by Stefan George, Op. 3, Christian Oelze, Eric Schneider, Deutsche Grammophon 457 641-2 recorded September 1994. b. AW, Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5, Emerson Quartet, Deutsche Grammophon 457 641-2 recorded September 1994. c. Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il’yich, Symphony No. 5 in e, Op. 64, Christoph Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra, Ondine ODE 1076-5 recorded May 2005. d. Ibid. e. Bach, Johann Sebastian, Ein musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Hyperion CDA 66631/2 recorded 1/22/1992. f. AW, J. S. Bach’s Ricercar a 6 from Ein musikalisches Opfer, Pierre Boulez, Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 457 638-2 recorded May, 1994. g. AW, Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6, Pierre Boulez, London Symphony Orchestra, Sony SM3K 45845 recorded February, 1969. h. Copland, Aaron, Comments on Connotations for Orchestra, Winner Sound Studios recorded 1/6/1967. i. AW, Kinderstück, Krystian Zimmerman, Deutsche Grammophon 457 638-2 recorded December, 1995. j. Hauer, Josef Matthias, Études, Op. 22, Steffen Schleiermacher, MDG 613 1640-2 recorded 3/26/2010. k. AW, Concerto, Op. 24, Pierre Boulez, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Deutsche Grammophon 457 640-2 recorded October, 1992. l. AW, Franz Schubert’s Deutsche Tänze, D. 820, Anton Webern, Frankfurt Funkorchester, Sony SM3K 45845 recorded 12/29/1932. m. Piano. n. AW, Cantata No. 2, Op. 31, Pierre Boulez, Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 457 639-2 recorded September, 1994. o. Isaac, Heinrich, Virgo prudentissima, John McCarthy, London Ambrosian Singes, Nonesuch HB-73016 released 1966. Many of these recordings are available as paid downloads: (*) prestoclassical.com, (†) eclassical.com, (◊) deutschegrammophon.com. Thanks, Comments, Bibliography This cd is dedicated to Edward T. Cone, 1917 – 2004. Prof. Cone made this possible. Not just through the obvious: catholic erudition, discerning taste, remarkable musicianship and the ability to transmit those things to a student; but also for giving me academic room when I needed it — which may have been the greatest encouragement that I ever received in my education. While working on this project, I thought of him every few minutes. The recording that exists of Berg’s Violin Concerto conducted by Webern had poor enough audio that I was reluctant to use it, but I simply had to illustrate his conducting career. The recording with the Wiener Singverein made by Parlophone in 1931 (Kalliope Österreichische Volksmusik 3314 — If you have it, I want it!) seems completely unavailable in any form and the Frankfurt Rundfunk recording of the Schubert Deutsche Tänze I could only find on youtube.com — very bad sound. Then Al Lesitsky said: The first Boulez set. Hunh? I didn’t know there were two. I should have just gone to him first. Teri Noel Towe pointed out the wonderful Alan Curtis recordings of Louis Couperin, much better than what I had. Elizabeth Warshawer and the Curtis Institute Library gave me access to the score of Webern’s Second Cantata, without which I could never have finished the last few minutes. The marvelous performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth with Andrey Boreyko and The Philadelphia Orchestra on March 21, 2013 solved a problem I had with klangfarbenmelodie; at least I had the grace to go backstage and thank them all. I suppose it’s not surprising that a composer of Copland’s caliber would give the best explanation of Schoenberg’s system; nor is it surprising that Seth Winner would have it. My review board, Stacy Dutton, Al Lesitsky and Stan Scordilis did real yeoman’s work on this and, let me tell you, it was not easy, not easy at all. I was worrying over a title because what I had was excessively pedantic, when a skiing friend, Terri Manning, pointed out that if ‘Webern Without Fear’ was too flippant, Webern Demystified might be just right. Bingo. Finally, Connie did not kill me when I repeatedly awoke in the middle of the night knowing that I’d never get it done, nor when I went around the house humming — off-key — twelve tone rows, and, furthermore, withstood endless requests of “Could I borrow your ears, please?” I’m really very lucky. Anton von Webern by Hans and Rosaleen Moldenhauer, Knopf, New York, 1979 is so readable that it might be a novel. It’s also exhaustive and was essential to this work. My copy of Friedrich Wildgans’s Anton Webern (translated by Edith Temple Roberts and Humphrey Searle, October House, New York, 1967) is inscribed to me on my twenty-first birthday by my mother. (Please don’t blame her for my musical taste.) I re-read it for this. It’s more a charming personal memoir than it is a biography, but was, nevertheless, essential. It has been almost forty years since I read The Structure of Atonal Music by Allen Forte (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1973), but his thoughts come out strongly in the discussion of the Passacaglia and of Webern’s music in general. And it has been more than forty years since E. T. Cone suggested that I read Heinrich Schenker, Harmony (translated by Elisabeth Mann Borgese, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1954), but it really did change the way that I viewed music more than any of my previous theoretical study had. John Blackburn Ltd., Leeds, has reprinted a famous text, The Path to the New Music by Webern as edited by Willi Reich in its translation by Leo Black for Theodore Presser, Bryn Mawr, 1963. I wish I could have attended those lectures in Vienna. The Dover reprint of the full score of the Passacaglia, Mineola, 2000, is now dog-eared, marked up and well-thumbed. That’s the fate of all scores in my possession, I fear. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stanley Sadie, ed., Oxford, 2000 was indispensable. I learned this yet again because I started the text at a ski lodge. I was certainly glad when I returned to my office in Philadelphia — but the skiing was great this year. I also had recourse to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Stanley Sadie, ed., MacMillan, 1992 and, of course, wikipedia.org and imslp.org. Lastly, one more bow to Prof. Cone. His article Webern’s Apprenticeship in The Musical Quarterly, Vol. LIII, No. 1 (1967) ratified what I already thought and clarified my thinking, just as he used to do in class. It was also a real pleasure because his prose style represents him so well “Finally a word about the translations… can one really write ‘aspires downward’?” What wonderful, sparkling wit: I suddenly was twenty-one again and in class.
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