Schoenberg's Program Notes and Musical Analyses by J. Daniel Jenkins;

Author:J. Daniel Jenkins;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OUP Premium
Published: 2016-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

6

On Compositions: 1923–1934

Five Piano Pieces, op. 23 (1920–23)

Serenade, op. 24 (1920–23)

6.1. Two Letters to Nicholas Slonimsky, June 3, 1937, and January 2, 19401

In 1936, Slonimsky wrote to Schoenberg and explained that he was writing a detailed history of modern music to be called Music since 1900.2 Slonimsky was having difficulty dating all of Schoenberg’s compositions and finding information about his transition to twelve-tone serialism. Therefore, he asked Schoenberg to contribute some remarks. Schoenberg’s response, dated June 3, 1937, is quoted in full below. The second letter dates from the negotiations relating to Slonimsky’s proposed English-language translation of the Harmonielehre.3 In writing this letter, Schoenberg took the opportunity yet again to remind Slonimsky about the “first steps” of the twelve-tone method.

Dear Mr. Slonimsky:

I am too busy to write you an exact statement about the “Method of composing with twelve tones.” But perhaps a few dates may serve your purpose.

This method had many “first steps” (Vorversuche). The first step happened about December 1914 or at the beginning of 1915 when I sketched a symphony, the last part of which became later the Jakobsleiter, but which never has been continued. The Scherzo of this symphony was based on a theme consisting of the twelve tones. But this was only one of the themes. I was still far away from the idea to use such a basic theme as a unifying means for a whole work.

After that I was always occupied with the aim to base the structure of my music consciously on a unifying idea, which produced not only all the other ideas, but regulated also their accompaniment and the chords, respectively the “harmonies.” There are many attempts to achieve that. But very little of it was finished, respectively published.

As an example of such attempts I may mention the Piano Pieces, op. 23. Here I was arrived to a technique which I called (for myself) “composing with tones,” a very vague term, but it meant something to me. Namely: In contrast to the ordinary way of using a motive, I used it already almost in the manner of a “basic set of twelve tones”: I build other motives and themes from it and also accompaniments and other chords—but the theme did not consist of twelve tones. Another example of this kind of aim for unity is my Serenade. In this work you can find many examples of this kind. But the best one is the “Variationen,” the 3rd movement. The theme consists of a succession of 14 tones, but only 11 different ones, and these 14 tones are permanently used in the whole movement. With lesser strictness, still I use the tones of the first 2 measures in “Tanzscene.”

The 4th movement, “Sonett . . .” is a real “composition with twelve tones.” The technique is here relatively primitive because it was one of the first works written strictly in harmony with this method, though it was not the very first work. These were some movements of the Suite for Piano which I composed in the fall of 1921.

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