Anton Webern: The Path To Twelve-Tone Composition

ANTON WEBERN
THE PATH TO THE NEW MUSIC
Edited by Willi Reich
THEODORE PRESSER COMPANY

BRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA
in association with
UNIVERSAL EDITION
LONDON . WDEN . ZURICH . MAINZ
Cover design : Willi Bahner, Vienna
Original German Edition Copyright I960 by Universal Edition A.G., Wien.

English Edition ^ Copyright 1963 by Theodore Presser Co., Pennsylvania. All rights
strictly reserved in all countries. No part of this publication may be translated or
reproduced without the consent of the publishers.
THE PATH TO TWELVE-NOTE COMPOSITION
" " " "
Erwartung and Die GluckHche Hand," Berg's Wozzeck "), that's to
say, with something extra-musical. With the abandoning of tonality the most
important means of building up longer pieces was lost. For tonality was
supremely important in producing self-contained forms. As if the light had
been put out! that's how it seemed. (At least this is how it strikes us now).
At the time everything was in a state of flux uncertain, dark, very stimulating
and exciting, so that there wasn't time to notice the loss. Only when Schoen-
berg gave expression to the law were larger forms again possible.
Howdoes the row come to exist? It's not arbitrary, the result of chance;
it's arranged with certain points in mind. Here there are certain formal
considerations, for example one aims at as many different intervals as possible,
or certain correspondences within the row symmetry, analogy, groupings
(thrice four or four times three notes, for instance). Our Schoenberg's,
Berg's and myrows mostly came into existence when an idea occurred to us,
linked with an intuitive vision of the work as a whole; the idea was then sub-
jected to careful thought, just as one can follow the gradual emergence of
themes in Beethoven's sketchbooks. Inspiration, if you like.
Adherence is strict, often burdensome, but it's salvation! We couldn't do

a thing about the dissolution of tonality, and we didn't create the new law
ourselves it forced itself overwhelmingly on us. This compulsion, adherence,
is so powerful that one has to consider very carefully before finally committing
oneself to it for a prolonged period, almost as if taking the decision to marry;

a difficult moment! Trust your inspiration! There's no alternative!
So the row is there. At once re-casting, development starts. How is the

system now built up? Our inventive resourcefulness discovered the following
forms: cancrizan, inversion, inversion of the cancrizan. Four forms altogether.
There aren't any others. However much the theorists try.
Each of these four forms can be based on each of the twelve degrees of the
scale. Bearing these twelve transpositions in mind, each row can manifest
itself in 48 different ways.
Considerations of symmetry, regularity are now to the fore, as against the

emphasis formerly laid on the principal intervals dominant, subdominant,
mediant, etc. For this reason the middle of the octave the diminished fifth-
is now most important. For the rest, one works as before. The original form
and pitch of the row occupy a position akin to that of the " main key " in
"
earlier music; the recapitulation will naturally return to it. We end in the
same key!" This analogy with earlier formal construction is quite consciously
fostered; here we find the path that will lead us again to extended forms.
(26th February, 1932)
VIH
Linking up with my last remarks, I should like to say something today about
the purely practical application of the new technique. But first I'll answer a
54
"
question put to me by one of you: How is free invention possible when one
has to remember to adhere to the order of the series for the work?"
Strictly speaking, the answer might be this: "Couldn't one ask the same
question about the seven-note scale?" Here twelve notes are the basis, there
seven: our adherence to the row is indeed a particularly strict adherence, but
adherence of this kind has always existed; in the strict polyphonic forms such
as canon and fugue, which are tied to the chosen theme. J. S. Bach's
"
Art of
"
Fugue is based on a single theme. What else could this work be but the
answer to the question, " What can I do with these few notes?" There's
forever something different yet the same. Bach wanted to show all that could
be extracted from one single idea. Practically speaking, the details of twelve-
note music are different, but as a whole it's based on the same way of thinking.
" "
In this sense the Art of Fugue is equivalent to what we are writing in our
twelve-note composition. In Bach it's the seven notes of the old scale that are
the basis, here the chromatic scale. One invents on this new basis.
As an example, Schoenberg's Wind Quintet, Op. 26:
The row is E flat-G-A-B-D flat-C; B flat-D-E-F sharp-A flat-F. One can

see at a glance that the row falls into two parts that are of parallel construction
as regards intervals, and the second of which lies a fourth lower, or a fifth
higher if you like, so that in a sense it's the dominant of the first part (" tonic ").
In bar 7 the cancrizan of the row occurs in the flute part. In the third move-
ment the row is at first divided between horn and bassoon; with a certain
regularity the horn picks out notes of the row for its melody. From bar 8
onward the notes are differently distributed among the individual instruments.
Here we find that pedal-like repetitions of the same note don't infringe the
basic law. (Naturally any note can also occur in whatever octave one pleases.)
** "
So this is the primeval plant we discussed recently! Ever different and
yet always the same! Wherever we cut into the piece the course of the row must
always be perceptible. This is how unity is ensured; something surely sticks
in the ear, even if one's unaware of it, and we've often found that a singer
involuntarily continues the row even when for some reason it's been interrupted
in the vocal part.
"
The twelve-note row
as a rule, not a
is, theme." But I can also work
without thematicism, that's to say much more freely, because of the unity that's
now been achieved in another way ; the row ensures unity. As we gradually
"
gave up tonality an idea occurred to us: We
don't want to repeat, there must
"
constantly be something new! Obviously this doesn't work, it destroys
comprehensibility. At least it's impossible to write long stretches of music in
that way. Only after the formulation of the law did it again become possible
to write longer pieces.
" "
what has been said before. But now
We want to sayin a quite new way
I can invent more freely; everything has a deeper unity. Only now is it possible
to compose in free fantasy, adhering to nothing except the row. To put it
55
quite paradoxically, only through these unprecedented fetters has complete
freedom become possible!
Here I can only stammer. Everything is still in a state of flux. The old
Netherlander were similarly unclear about the path they were following, and
"
in the end this development led to Schoenberg's Harmonielehre" ! Here
there's certainly some underlying rule of law, and it's our faith that a true work
of art can come about in this way. It's for a later period to discover the closer
unifying laws that are already present in the works themselves. When this
true conception of art is achieved, then there will no longer be any possible
distinction between science and inspired creation. The further one presses
forward, the greater becomes the identity of everything, and finally we have
the impression of being faced by a work not of man but of Nature. How does
a man keep the 48 forms in his head ? How is it that he takes now number seven,
then number forty-five, now a cancrizan, now an inversion? Naturally that's a
matter for reflection and consideration. I know how I invent a fresh idea,
and how it continues, and then I look for the right place to fit it in.
An example: the second movement of my Symphony (Op. 21, written in 1928).

The row is F-A flat-G-F sharp-B flat-A; E flat-E-C-C sharp-D-B. It's peculiar
in that the second half is the cancrizan of the first. This is a particularly inti-
mate unity. So here there are only 24 forms, since there are a corresponding
number of identical pairs. In the accompaniment to the theme the cancrizan
appears at the beginning. The first variation is hi the melody a transposition
of the row starting on C. The accompaniment is a double canon. Greater
unity is impossible. Even the Netherlander didn't manage it. In the fourth
variation there are constant mirrorings. This variation is itself the midpoint
of the whole movement, after which everything goes backwards. So the entire
movement is itself a double canon by retrograde motion!
Now I must say this: what you see here cancrizan, canon, etc. constantly
the same thing isn't to be regarded as a "tour de force"; that would be
ludicrous. I was to create as many connections as possible, and you must
allow that there are indeed many connections here!
Finally I must point out to you that this is so not only in music. We find an
analogy in language. I was delighted to find that such connections also often
occur in Shakespeare, in alliteration and assonance. He even turns a phrase
backwards. Karl Kraus' handling of language is also based on this; unity also
has to be created there, since it enhances comprehensibility.
And I leave you with an old Latin saying:
SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS
(2nd March, 1932)
56

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What is the 12-tone technique and how does it work?

What challenges did composers face when abandoning tonality?

ANTON WEBERN

THE PATH TO THE NEW MUSIC

Edited by Willi Reich

THEODORE PRESSER COMPANY

Original German Edition Copyright I960 by Universal Edition A.G., Wien.

Adherence is strict, often burdensome, but it's salvation! We couldn't do

oneself to it for a prolonged period, almost as if taking the decision to marry;

So the row is there. At once re-casting, development starts. How is the

Considerations of symmetry, regularity are now to the fore, as against the

(26th February, 1932)

As an example, Schoenberg's Wind Quintet, Op. 26:

The row is E flat-G-A-B-D flat-C; B flat-D-E-F sharp-A flat-F. One can

An example: the second movement of my Symphony (Op. 21, written in 1928).

And I leave you with an old Latin saying:

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