Matthew James, DMA student, saxophone James Riggs, Major Professor January 15, 2006 Analysis of Quartett, Op. 22, mvt. I, for Violin, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone and Piano by Anton Webern The five-measure introduction to the first movement of Anton Webern’s Quartett, Op. 22 (1930) contains elements which, projected across the entire movement, provide it with a deep level of organization. The use of a tone row which emphasizes the tritone, trichordal segmentation, canon, generating motives, and the integration of rhythm, color and articulation are all established in the introduction, and play out in remarkable fashion over the span of the movement. The importance of the tritone to this movement is immediately apparent when comparing first and last notes of the tone row in any of its forms, as shown in the tone row matrix, Figure 1. Within the movement, Webern creates elided row statements in m. 10 (where the G in saxophone elides I1 and I7), m. 22 (where the C in violin and piano elide RI0-P0 and R0-I0), and m. 32 (where the G - this time in violin - again elides I1 and I7). The elision of rows results in closed statements that
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Matthew James, DMA student, saxophoneJames Riggs, Major Professor
January 15, 2006
Analysis of Quartett, Op. 22, mvt. I,
for Violin, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone and Piano by Anton Webern
The five-measure introduction to the first movement of Anton Webern’s Quartett, Op. 22
(1930) contains elements which, projected across the entire movement, provide it with a deep
level of organization. The use of a tone row which emphasizes the tritone, trichordal
segmentation, canon, generating motives, and the integration of rhythm, color and articulation
are all established in the introduction, and play out in remarkable fashion over the span of the
movement.
The importance of the tritone to this movement is immediately apparent when comparing
first and last notes of the tone row in any of its forms, as shown in the tone row matrix, Figure 1.
Within the movement, Webern creates elided row statements in m. 10 (where the G in saxophone
elides I1 and I7), m. 22 (where the C in violin and piano elide RI0-P0 and R0-I0), and m. 32
(where the G - this time in violin - again elides I1 and I7). The elision of rows results in closed
statements that begin and end on the same note. In addition, there are five instances where
adjacent rows share beginning/ending tones. These occur in mm. 5-6, 11-12, 27-28, 33-34, and
37b. In all, fifteen row forms are used. No row is used more than once in each of the major
sections of the movement.
Figure 1Tone Row Matrix for Op. 22
C# A# A C B D# E F F# G# D GE C# C Eb D F# G G# A B F BbF D C# E Eb G G# A Bb C F# BD B A# C# C E F F# G A Eb AbD# C B D C# F F# G G# Bb E AB G# G Bb A C# D Eb E F# C FBb G F# A G# C C# D D# F B EA F# F G# G B C C# D E Bb EbG# F E G F# Bb B C C# D# A DF# Eb D F E G# A Bb B C# G CC A G# B Bb D Eb E F G C# F#G E Eb F# F A Bb B C D G# C#
The F#-C tritone is also used in this movement to create structure through invariance.
Webern bases the entire two-voice canon (discussed below) on paired rows that share the F# and
C under inversion. Figure 2 shows that, in six of the paired rows, F# and C represent the fourth
and ninth notes of the row, creating a palindromic sense of unisons. In the eight remaining row
forms, F# and C occupy other positions in the paired rows.
Figure 2Invariance Under Inversion Between All Rows Used by Canonic Voices
P1 C# A# A C B D# E F F# G# D GI11 B D Eb C C# A G# G F# E Bb F
I5 F G# A F#` G Eb D C# C Bb E BP7 G E Eb F# F A Bb B C D G# C#
R1 G D G# F# F E Eb B C A A# C#RI11 F Bb E F# G G# A C# C Eb D B
RI0 F# B F G G# A Bb D C# E Eb CR0 F# C# G F E Eb D Bb B G# A C
P0 C A G# B Bb D Eb E F G C# F#I0 C Eb E C# D Bb A G# G F B F#
P10 Bb G F# A G# C C# D D# F B EI2 D F F# Eb E C B Bb A G C# G#
I1 C# E F D D# B Bb A G# F# C GP11 B G# G Bb A C# D Eb E F# C F
2
The introduction foreshadows the significance that the invariant tones will have in the
movement. In m. 4, both P1 and I11 converge to share the clarinet’s F#, interrupting the pattern
of imitation between the two voices (see Example 1). This is one of only three instances in the
movement where voices converge upon a unison. In the second instance after the introduction,
the two canonic rows converge on the C in violin, m. 10. Finally, at the climax of the movement
in m. 22, the C in violin represents an elision between RI0 and P0, and the C in the right hand of
the piano represents an elision between R0 and I0. The C’s in m. 22 represent the highest and
lowest notes of the movement, lending additional impact to that climactic measure.
Example 1Convergence Upon F# in Introduction, m. 4
Even when rows do not converge in unison upon F# or C, Webern places these notes in
close proximity to their invariant counterparts. The notes are found in different voices, but are
often in the same octave, often separated by a sixteenth note, but never separated by more than
an eighth note. One finds adjacent F#’s or adjacent C’s in mm. 3, 7, 17, 22, 25, 29, 32-33, 35,
36, 38 and 39.
3
Also important is the setting of the F#-C tritone in succession as a motive. Both F# and
C are adjacent tones in rows I1 and I7, and each time they are used (mm. 10, 13, 21, 32, and 35-
36), Webern sets the tritone off as a rhythmically exposed motive. Webern’s use of these five
tritone motives is palindromic: in all but m. 21 the tritone uses rhythmic motive a’ (see Example
5). Additionally, in all but m. 21 he presents the tritone motive in the third, non-canonic voice of
the ensemble (described below). None of these tritone motives are heard in the piano. Example
2 shows the tritone as it appears in m. 32.
Example 2Tritone Motive in m. 32
As established in the introduction, a prime form of the series is always heard with an
inverted form, resulting in an index number that is always 0. As a result, there are only seven
different pitch-class dyads between canonic rows in the movement, as shown in Figure 3. These
dyads result in only four different interval classes (0, 2, 4 and 6). However, since the two
canonic rows are always slightly rhythmically displaced (except for the unisons in mm. 4 and
10), these dyads are not heard as simultaneities. Rather, dyads based on odd-numbered interval
classes are heard simultaneously.
4
Figure 3Seven Different Pitch-class Dyads Between Canonic Rows
1 2 3 4 5 6 7B E F D Eb F# C
C# G# G Bb A F# CInterval Class 2 4 2 4 6 0 0
The introduction is based upon trichordal segmentation of the row. Figure 4 shows the
substructure of the row, consisting of adjacent trichords belonging to three different set classes.
Figure 5 shows the instruments assigned to each trichord of the introduction. Example 3 shows
the trichordal organization of the introduction.
Figure 4Trichordal Analysis of Op.22 Tone Row P1
Figure 5Trichordal Instrumentation of Introduction
5
Example 3Trichordal Organization of the Introduction
With only a few exceptions throughout the movement, Webern maintains the technique
of assigning each dyad and trichord to a different voice, as established in the introduction.
However, the order of voice entries from the introduction is not followed in the rest of the
movement. One exception is found in mm. 6-15, where the non-canonic voice (discussed below)
gives full statements of I1 and I7, and is found entirely in the saxophone. Another exception is
m. 28, where individual tones of I5 and P7 momentarily cross between the left and right hands of
the piano.
While the introduction uses trichordal segmentation, both dyadic and trichordal motives
are employed throughout the movement. The canonic voices feature dyadic organization in mm.
6-11, and 28-33, which represent the first measures of each A section.
6
A study of the hexachordal qualities of the row, illustrated in Figure 6, reveals two self-
complementary hexachords. Additionally, Figure 7 illustrates that the hexachords are
combinatorial under inversion.
Figure 6Hexachordal Analysis of Tone Row P1
Figure 7Cominatoriality Between P1 and I4
The introduction immediately reveals Webern’s preference for scoring disjunct leaps of
at least a major 7th or minor 9th, rather than using conjunct minor seconds. Examples can be
found in both the tenor saxophone and violin, whose initial motives in the introduction include
leaps of a minor 9th. These disjunct motives serve a unifying role in the movement, and are
found throughout. While an analysis of the row for Op. 22 reveals Webern’s preference for
interval class 1 between adjacent tones (see Figure 8), the minor second interval is used only
four times in the movement (mm. 4, 10, 25 and 38).
Figure 8Interval Class Analysis of Op.22 Tone Row P1
Row P1: C# A# A C B D# E F F# G# D GIC: 3 1 3 1 4 1 1 1 2 6 5
7
The overall form is a large-scale palindrome, with an ABA form flanked by an
introduction and coda. While the existence of two large repeated sections initially suggests
binary form, the presence of a fermata at m. 28, the contrasting dynamics and rhythmic nature of
mm. 16-27, and the landscape of the tone rows lead to this conclusion. Figure 9 indicates the