Adam Shanley
https://www.cglib.org/anton-webe
In this paper I will show how the evolution of Anton Webern’s orchestration and composition style from his early atonal works through to his mature works is made possible largely through his inclusion of the guitar in Op. 18 which, in this light, becomes more of a pivotal work than previously considered and displays the composer moving towards the full realization of his aesthetic. Webernʼs musical style evolves towards pointillist orchestration that features wide leaps, mixed rhythms and sharp attacks up to his early 12-tone works through to Op. 16. His use of guitar in Op. 18 and 19 is not only necessary to the development of his already emerging style, but it also enables Webern to take his style the next logical step by furthering the extremes of range and texture. The pointillist composition style that Webern develops through his early works, as well as a desire to connect his music to folk traditions as inspired by Gustav Mahler, leads him to the guitar, which in turn set him on the path to his mature composition style. The scoring in Op. 17 is considerably lighter and the ensemble considerably less active than in the Op. 18 songs. In addition, the soprano is not required to navigate quite as many large leaps between registers in Op. 17 when compared to Op. 18. I argue that the addition of guitar, in both the Op. 18 songs of 1925 as well as the more fully scored Op. 19 from the following year, Webern finds himself liberated in terms of range and spacing. The guitar aids in supporting increasingly disjunct melodic lines traversed by the voice as well as the Eb clarinet that is used both as an extension and in support of the vocal line allowing for increased melodic abstraction. The guitar’s ability to perform music that is based principally on consistency of interval content rather than on specific, tonal, voice leading rules is advantageous to Webern. It is possible to play uniquely voiced chords that would be difficult, or impossible on any other instrument. Its folk characteristics were perhaps the impetus behind his selection of the guitar, but it also serves as the means to another end in that it provides the composer with an instrument that can support an ensemble not simply from a harmonic standpoint but also that of melodic support in the form of negotiating large leaps and extremes of range. Kathryn Bailey asserts that Webern’s Opp. 17-19 stand as his “pre-serial” work and most agree that the Op. 20 trio marks the beginning of Webern’s fully realized serial compositions.
Anton Webernʼs Guitar as a Model for the Orchestration of His Late Works
