David Lewin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182088
- eISBN:
- 9780199850594
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182088.003.0015
- Subject:
- Music, Theory, Analysis, Composition
This chapter analyzes Arnold Schoenberg's poem, Opus 15, No. IX, which has a clear two-part form as narrative supported by the end-rhyme scheme. The end of the poem does not resolve the problem or ...
More
This chapter analyzes Arnold Schoenberg's poem, Opus 15, No. IX, which has a clear two-part form as narrative supported by the end-rhyme scheme. The end of the poem does not resolve the problem or indicate the outcome of the action to our satisfaction. More questions remain unanswered than answered; we do not know, for instance, the answer to the question posed in the text, “warden uns erdachte seligkeiten?” without delving further into the poem itself. Yet, let us note some broad aspects of Schoenberg's setting, viewed in light of the poetic analysis so far. First, one notes that Schoenberg composed four vocal phrases, one to go with each of the narrative sections of the poem. The large gestures of the melody in the vocal line are intimately related to basic intervallic structures exposed in the piano introduction and developed throughout the piece in both the small and the large. The symbolic function of the piano, through the song, can be taken as being both external and internal to the singer, in an inseparable bind.Less
This chapter analyzes Arnold Schoenberg's poem, Opus 15, No. IX, which has a clear two-part form as narrative supported by the end-rhyme scheme. The end of the poem does not resolve the problem or indicate the outcome of the action to our satisfaction. More questions remain unanswered than answered; we do not know, for instance, the answer to the question posed in the text, “warden uns erdachte seligkeiten?” without delving further into the poem itself. Yet, let us note some broad aspects of Schoenberg's setting, viewed in light of the poetic analysis so far. First, one notes that Schoenberg composed four vocal phrases, one to go with each of the narrative sections of the poem. The large gestures of the melody in the vocal line are intimately related to basic intervallic structures exposed in the piano introduction and developed throughout the piece in both the small and the large. The symbolic function of the piano, through the song, can be taken as being both external and internal to the singer, in an inseparable bind.
David Lewin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182088
- eISBN:
- 9780199850594
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182088.003.0016
- Subject:
- Music, Theory, Analysis, Composition
Arnold Schoenberg's poem, Opus 15, Number VII, is an exploration of an affective disorder and comes in two parts. The first three lines expose the affects involved: Angst and Hoffen wechselnd, ...
More
Arnold Schoenberg's poem, Opus 15, Number VII, is an exploration of an affective disorder and comes in two parts. The first three lines expose the affects involved: Angst and Hoffen wechselnd, ungestümes Sehnen. The last four lines catalogue the resulting symptoms: das ich…das mein…, and so on. The end-rhyme supports this articulation of the poem into 3 + 4 lines: a b b / c a c c. The broad outlines of Schoenberg's setting are very striking. The music articulates three, rather than two, large sections. The overloaded lines 4–7 have meiosized into two sections of music, each commensurate with the musical unit setting lines 1–3. In this reading, the “extra” line of text is not the fourth, but the seventh. The importance of this psychological state in the overall effect of the song is reflected by Schoenberg's setting of the piano part. The right hand can get along perfectly well without the helpful support of the left.Less
Arnold Schoenberg's poem, Opus 15, Number VII, is an exploration of an affective disorder and comes in two parts. The first three lines expose the affects involved: Angst and Hoffen wechselnd, ungestümes Sehnen. The last four lines catalogue the resulting symptoms: das ich…das mein…, and so on. The end-rhyme supports this articulation of the poem into 3 + 4 lines: a b b / c a c c. The broad outlines of Schoenberg's setting are very striking. The music articulates three, rather than two, large sections. The overloaded lines 4–7 have meiosized into two sections of music, each commensurate with the musical unit setting lines 1–3. In this reading, the “extra” line of text is not the fourth, but the seventh. The importance of this psychological state in the overall effect of the song is reflected by Schoenberg's setting of the piano part. The right hand can get along perfectly well without the helpful support of the left.