Pousseur and Clements - Stravinsky by Way of Webern I

Stravinsky by Way of Webern: The Consistency of a Syntax Author(s): Henri Pousseur and Marcelle Clements Source: Perspectives of New
Music, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring - Summer, 1972), pp. 13-51 Published by: Perspectives of New Music Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832330 . Accessed: 06/12/2013 04:21
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STRAVINSKY BY WAY OF WEBERN The Consistency of a Syntax

HENRI POUSSEUR
"I hope that you are completelywell again? That mustbe, formusic needs you too much." (Debussy to Stravinsky, 8/18/1913)
I
TO MY knowledge, nothing to this day that has been said about Igor Stravinsky's harmony has been anythingbut very simplistic, very partial, if not very negative. Even Pierre Boulez, in his Stravinsky demeure (without a doubt one of the most importanttexts about the Sacre and its author, at least with respect to certain fragmentary aspects, rhythm,melodic development-especially in the first Introduction), does nothingmore than bringthe incontestable originalityof this harmony back to traditional,if not to academic, notions, which of course can only rob it of its richness and its novelty. Boulez had already expressed his opinion on this subject on several occasions. He had spoken, as early as in 1949 (in Trajectoires), of "temporary solutions" lacking the "coherent constitution of a language," and of solutions "which would become more and more schematic, arbitrary,stereotyped, until they are no longer solutions, but only tics," and even (citing the automatic use of the third,diminishedor augmented octaves, displaced bass major-minor lines), "of a diet ... of avoided notes, of bad disposition, of defective cadences" (p. 249).1 And in 1951 (in Moment de Bach) he had been almost more severe, assertingthat "the failure of Stravinsky resided in the inconsequence-or the inconsistency-of his vocabulary" and that "having exhausted a certain number of expedients designed to palliate tonal collapse, he found himself resourceless, and no syntax had emerged" (p. 12). In that same year,however,Boulez was completing his article on the Sacre which would not appear until 1953, and in which he took
to Releves d'Apprenti,Seuil, Paris,1966. refer 1The page numbers
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a position which was not as bluntlydestructive.In it, he recognizes, for example (as he would once more in 1957 in "Tendances de la musique recente," p. 224), the usefulness of "simple and easily malleable" materials for attempting to compose "a rhythmicexperiment . . . in a much more acute manner" (p. 78). In fact, he goes even further;the necessities of his formaland rhythmicanalysis lead him to describe, with a great deal of precision, an entire series of pitch structures;in passing, he praises several among them for their "chromatic sensitivity" (pp. 90 and 93). But most of the time he reduces as much as possible what he bringsto some "complexities graftedon the existing organization," which he criticizes for their "timidity or failure," as compared with "experiments made in Vienna during the same period" (p. 77). They are only "powerful attractions around certain poles, these poles being the most classic that are: namely, the tonic, the dominant, the subdominant"; and again, "unresolved appogiaturas," "passing chords" (later-p. 102-he will even speak of "embroidery on the embroidered chord"), "superimpositions of severalmodalities on the same polar note," and the "disposition of several kinds of chords in compartmentalized layers" (p. 77); these last points, as we will see later, are not so trivial, but, however, our analyst does not feel that they deserve to be considered as a "syntax" or as the "coherent constitution of a language." Boulez also remarks on the "very primitivelydiatonic" character of the "great themes of the work" (not only to condemn it, in fact, since he defends-p. 141its melodic originality and connects the pretonal archaism and antiWagnerianismof its author to his abilityfor rhythmicexperimentation), insistingon the fact that some of these themes are in fact based on "defective five-tonemodes"! (My italics emphasize that curious proscriptivenotion which measures that venerable and so universal,so fundamentalpentatonic organization in termsof heptatonism-or would it be dodecaphonism-as if thiswas an absolute necessity!)2 He does also mention "a frequent play on the major-minor" (havingnothingbut contempt forthe "parallelism in thirdsor sixths in which either the top or the bottom note is raised a semi-tone"), as well as the opposition, in the entirescore, of "a certain horizontal diatonicism with a vertical chromaticism, without excluding the
2ConstantinBralldoou, La metabolepentatonique,Melangesd'histoireet d'esthbtique I, Paris,1954.
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STRAVINSKY BY WAY OF WEBERN
opposite disposition." All of this does not seem to deserve the qualification of originality,and especially not that of legitimacy. With respect to the "polymodality" of the Danse de la terreor of the ambiguity which, in the Introduction of the second part, separates the "polar notes" from the other notes, "which thus take on a character of alteration and transition" (this refers,I suppose, to that extraordinarysuperimposition of a steady D-minor harmony with alternating C# and Dt chords, also minor-we will return to this, Ex. 65), he will recognize that "we are as faras can be from polytonal gratuitousness" and that "very fortunately, the Sacre is free from these absurdities" (p. 140). This, however, still occasions no mention otherthan that of "contrapuntal attempts... [which are] extremelyweak" and even of "a great decline in level." (As compared to what? Doesn't Klee's work, which Boulez appreciates so much, represent "a great decline in level" fromthe point of view of the en ronde-bosse style of paintingstill practiced in the academies?) It is only too clear that there is more here than a negative a which does priori,an irrationalrefusalto consider as valid anything not conformto criteriaof validitywhich one has put forthto one's self as indisputable. Boulez also has, at least during this period, a difficultyin graspingStravinsky'sacquisitions in theirspecificities, and therefore in gaining insight into their prospective usefulness. On the one hand, he refersus to a tonal language defined in scholastic terms (and in which there has not been a profound enough analysis of the articulations and theirpoetic meaning, and therefore their psycho-socio-culturalmeaning). On the other hand, we are dealing with a post-dodecaphonic serial method whose position (although applied "to all dimensions": this deals especially with rhythmand other unused parameters) still mainly follows, especially on the harmonic level, the edicts (if not the anathemas) of the Viennese School, as transmittedby Leibowitz (even if there is an opposition, a reparation of certain injustices,one cannot help but be struckby the verysimilartone and contentof the invective). Caught between these two possibilities, which are generally considered to be irreconcilable (the acknowledgment of Debussy is at the very differentlevel of the large form, whereas his harmonic development appears to still lend itself to being conceived of in mostly traditional terms,which allows us to value it as well as to minimize its influence),Boulez is obviously still lacking conceptual 15-
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means, theoretical tools which would permit him to write less arto define Stravinsky'sharmonic structuresin an adequate bitrarily, manner, and thus to discover the extremelyacute, extremelymodern coherence and syntactical originalityin their constructivepower. We will have to wait for the transcendingof the prejudices and the exclusions of Viennese atonality, for the transcending of a definition of the new order of sound which is too simplistically antithetical and oppositional (to tradition); we will have to wait for the search for (if not the discovery of) a much more general harmonic system which will allow us to integratethe chromatic harmony of the Viennese as well as the more consonant harmonies of our history, including all the attempts of preserial music, and to open the way to envisioningthe integrationof extra-European harmonies, as well as the opening up (now partially reclosing) of possibilities which are new by virtue of their very material (nontempered scales, relationships of "harmonic" containing primary factorsgreaterthan 5; micro-intervals: all thingswhose exploration does to my knowledge absolutely require the aid of simple consonances); we will have to wait for that syntheticstage, well begun today by a whole group of composers3 and more generally performers (for we know of the importance of experimentation in new musical practices such as collective improvisation), in order to understand the extraordinarily premonitory character of Stravinsky's entire work, the extremelyadvanced stage of his research even when it dealt with "historic" materials and with their distortion or deviation (when is this not the case?). We will then be in a position to receive the innumerableand irreplaceable lessons which this work continues to hold for us today. I am well aware that Boulez, even today unfortunately,has a tendency to label all this with "antique dealer's mentality"4 but I then must ask-must oppose-a question. As early as in Trajectoires (preceding the following admission: "one can explain the material aspect of a score, one is powerless toward the poetic of which it is the key," and following a declaration of preferenceof Boris to Tristan),he expressed the followingparadox (my punctuation): "By comparison with Schoenberg, Stravinsky,although he uses a vocabulary devoid of usefulness (!), a morphology denuded
3CelestinDeliege, "L'invention musicale aujourd'hui," Syntheses,No. 276, Brussels, June 1969. 4VH101, No. 4, Paris,Winter 70/71, p. 7.
* 16
of all consequence (!), a syntax which is practically null (!), possesses, it seems to us, a poetic of an overwhelmingbeauty (!!)" (p. 251); and he continues, speaking of a "still unknown sensibility" (my italics), expressinghimselfin terms,among others, of the "elliptical conciseness" of the forms, comparable only to some works, especially to early works, of Webern. But tell us, Pierre Boulez, is such a total separation of form and content really possible? Can a novelty and a beauty which are so fascinatingbe based on such a radical inconsistency of writing?Might it not be more likely that the "uselessness," the "inconsequence," and the "nullity" which are attributed to Stravinsky'smorphology and syntax (a metaphoric distinction which it may in fact be useful to define) finallyapply to the description and especially to the appreciation brought to his work? How can one explain it other than that Stravinsky one fine day was able to assimilate so happily, to absorb so usefully into the arsenal of his compositional resources (nevertheless preserving so many of his earlier characteristics, even harmonic) methods selected precisely from the syntactical regions to which he was supposedly opposed, from which he was supposedly excluded? Is it merely, as you victoriously write with respect to "a conjunction" (p. 276), because, after he had "reflected," he "changed his mind"? Couldn't it be also that, or ratherbecause, an extraordinaryrelationshipwas revealed to him (without which one cannot see how it would be possible to have that "practical geodesism," of which you later declare that the two musicians constitute the referencepoints for you), because his own language (forgive me, I am going to attempt to prove that he had one) contained in its verynature, in its most fundamental principle (and that also, I will attempt to define, for you cannot have one without the other) potentials of absorption and development fecundated and exalted by contact with the work of the Viennese musician? Didn't the latter allow him to discover and to manifest the more general nature of his own discovery,and don't the fruitsof this encounter throw a brightretrospectivelighton the totality of his movement, on the material traces which it left, and on the direction of the whole which they finallydepict? In allowing him to realize all of his potential, didn't the author of Das A ugenlicht in some way show him a short cut, didn't he offerthe means of developing,of extending and generalizing a search which he himself,after a period of indispensable ascetism, had wished and already startedto enlarge? * 17
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Let us put an end to the polemics! Only solid arguments,carved from concrete proofs, can possess any persuasive value. Let us thereforego to work! I propose to submit Stravinsky's harmony, that is his treatment(horizontal as well as vertical) of intervalsand groups of intervals, to an examination which will be at least as careful as that with which rhythmic phenomena are treated in Stravinskydemeure. Let us turn firstand foremostto Agon, landmark work, in which Stravinsky takes and gives the measure of his past as well as of his future,and which, despite the seventy-five years of its author, vouches at once for such exuberant youthfulness, and for a most dazzling (a most sensitive) intelligence.5 II This score, which approaches the "Webernian domain" in a number of ways, contains one page which is almost a literalpastiche of it: I am speaking of the Pas-de-Deux which begins on p. 65 of the score and continues-through various stylistic"stages"-until p. 74. It announces the Four Duos and the Four Trios, which interweave in a most marvelousway with the verydifferent general Coda, itself a reprise of the Pas-de-Quatre which had served the work as a veritableouverture. If one examines the whole a bit closely, one is struckby the permanent presence,at least fromm. 417 on, of a typicallyWebernian figure,a group of intervalswhich can be presented in all sorts of dispositions (for example with a not-so-Webernian registration)but which neverthelessdenotes evidentfamiliarity. The "feminine" passage of p. 70 (Ex. 1) is based on it (presented in the tightestand
Ex. 1
thereforemost recognizable way, but also in various inversionsand transpositions),but it was already this group,in a largerdisposition, which we found as early as m. 417 (Ex. 2), and it is just this group
5Boosey and Hawkes,London, No. 18, 336.
* 18-
Ex. 2
which governs all of these thirteenpages, in all sorts of combinations, which we will closely examine. Before doing so, however, we must recall that this same group of intervalsplays an importantrole in the constitutionof Webern's set of Variations for orchestra, Op. 30. In order to conduct our inquest in as pertinent a manner as possible, it is useful to begin by examining that set, in its internalstructureas well as in certain uses of it which it permitsand which have been made of it (Ex. 3).
Ex. 3
To begin with,we remarkthat it is extremelyclose to the pure and simple chromatic scale: one only needs to invertthe temporal order of the two groups of three tones: 3-4-5 and 8-9-10, to find it. However, that simple "twist" already begins to introduce remarkable propertiesinto the scale. Let us begin by mentioningthe wellknown fact that because the two invertedgroups are at an equal distance from the center,the entire formis perfectlysymmetrical, that the second part of the set is an invertedretrograde of the first, and that the retrogrademovement of the entire set is constituted of the same succession of intervalsas its inversion.This symmetry extends further:the firstseven notes (and thereforethe last seven as well) have similar properties to that of the set: they are constituted of the assemblage, due to a common (pivoting) note, of two separate forms of our characteristicfour-tonegroup, which therefore is present four times (overlapping) in the set. This also means that the last seven notes are a pure and simple transposition (to the fourth degree) of the firstseven, with which they nevertheless 19-
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have two notes in common, the last two of one being the firsttwo of the other. It follows that the last two notes of the latter (and thereforeof the set) can again open up a new group of seven (which we will be able to interpretas the last seven of a serial formwhich started on the sixth note of the preceding form), and that this can be continued ad infinitum.It will not come back interlinking to its point of departure until it will have traveled, fourth by fourth, the twelve transpositions of the initial double figure of seven tones. In at least one of his Variations, Webern systematicallyuses this possibility of circular generation. But even in that instance, his treatmentis still almost exclusively characterized by a division of the set into three four-note segments (Ex. 4). As a result of the
Ex. 4
set's symmetricalstructure,two of these, one at each end, are isomorphic, one being an inverted retrogradeof the other, of course. We can immediately see that they themselves possess an internal symmetry,since they are constituted of two symmetricalmicrosegments:a semi-toneascending,then descending (or inversely)at a total distance of minor thirds.Therefore,one need only invertthe internal order of each of these two semi-tonesto obtain the retrograde inversion of a given segment (Ex. 5a), that is, a transposition of the symmetricalfour-notesegment; on the contrary,one need only invertthe total order without altering the internal order, to obtain its inversion(Ex. 5b), these two operations yieldinga simple retrograded movement (Ex. 5c). In other words, if one does not take the segments' internalorder into account (for example, if one uses them,as Webern does in another of his.Variations,in the form
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Ex. 5
* 20 ?
of four-notechords), the thirdis a simple transpositionof the first, this time to the fifthdegree (or to the opposite fourthof the one mentioned above), and their use as "pivoting chords" will allow another circulargeneration,also based on the cycle of fifths. The central segment is different: we are definitelydealing with a a chord, perfect major-minor figure for which the later Webern showed a greatpredilection (it is present, for example, in a slightly differentchronological disposition, in the set of the Second Cantata; Ex. 6). In fact, it not only contains two symmetricalperfect
Ex. 6
in common), chords, one major, the other minor (having the fifth but also two of those figuresin which the major and minor thirds go in contrary direction, therefore generating,when "added to themselves," a semi-tone (instead of a fifth) which is of course common to our two figures.This three-tonefigurewas favoredby Webern in all of his work; we already find it as the theme of a very early stringquartet which was published posthumously, as well as, for example, of the firstpiece of Op. 5; and the set of Op. 31 contains fiveexamples of it, whereas that of Op. 30 only contains four (as well, in fact, as that of Op. 24, which we will examine laterEx. 22-and in which they correspond to the divisionof the set into four segmentsof three notes). As a result of the system of circular generation already mentioned, Webern will thus be able to dispose of groups of majorminor chords at a distance of fifthsor fourths, and it will be particularlyremarkable in the firstsystem,for,as a result of the interpenetration of the serial formswhich will have up to seven notes in common ("pivots"), these chords will be separated from one anotherby only one note, as alien as possible, to be sure: for example, F between B and E major-minor, C between Ft and B major-minor, etc. (Ex. 7). It is clear that this possibility, carefullyexploited, is admittedly intended to employ the "natural" properties of intervals, to reintegratetheir consonant potentials as much as possible. There is certainlyno question of creatingpoles of weight (in which * 21 -
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Ex. 7
harmonic energy and "melodic" energy-depending upon registration-would converge6); the principle ofalles schwebt, of what may be called "bi-polarity" (for simple intervals), if not "multi-" or even "omnipolarity" (for groups of more than two tones) remains carefully preserved,7due, for example, to the fact that fifthsare avoided in the bass and more generallyall "fundamental" dispositions, and because the dispositions of "sixths" and of "fourths and sixths" are used in a privileged manner (Ex. 8). But once this is
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assured, it is evident that Webern had wished to be able to once which more manipulate harmonic characterizersand differentiators had too long been lacking, on the greatest scale, even if his use of all the non-polar consonant intervals (thirds, fourths,and sixths) early on showed a care to counterbalance and even to attenuate, on the lowest level, excessive chromatic neutralizations. In spite of its differences,this central group is not absolutely disparate from the group defined by the two exterior segments. If we consider (hors-temps) all of the intervalswhich constitute both of them, we discover that both contain two minor thirds,at a total distance of either a semi-toneor a major third.Webern'sregistration will emphasize this resemblance,thus bringingthe harmony of these two figures closer (and not necessarily in the dissonant sense; Ex. 9). If these groups of four notes can be visualized as
6Henri Pousseur, "L'Apotheose de Rameau, essai sur la question harmonique," in Musiques nouvelles,Vol. XXI, Nos. 24 of La Revue d'Esthetique,Paris, 1968; especially pp. 111-16. 7Henri Pousseur,"Anton Webern'sorganische Die Reihe, No. 2; Vienna, Chromatik," 1955.
? 22 ?
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Ex. 9
one could extend in the form quadrangles,or parallelograms UK (which ~~~~I of bi-dimensional networks),8 we see that the exploration takes place on different paths in the two groups (Ex. 10). This can also
5
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Ex. 10
be expressed by the following schematizations: semi-tone/third/ semi-tone or third/semi-tone/third, a symmetrywhich in fact can be obtained this only by disparity of exploration. We find this to an extremelyrefinedvariation,in the technique again, subjected work of Stravinsky. I do not know if he had analyzed Webern's Variations. If he did so, he could not help but have been struckby what he found there. Otherwise, the coincidence is all the more striking! III We have already observed the presence of the characteristicfournote group straddlingmm. 417-18. We will have no trouble (taking into consideration notes and groups of notes which are more or less repeated) pinpointingthe different formsand transpositionsof this group which organize the entire firstpart of the whole which we are considering, let us for now say up to m. 456. I will leave this task to the reader, advising him not to fail,of course, to look
8"L'Apotheose," p. 155.
* 23 *
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to differentinstrumentsfor the notes which make up the various figures(I will at any rate give a few examples along the way). I will particularlydeal with representativecases or facts on a high level. To begin with, various ways of assembling several figuresof this type. The firstappearance mentioned, mm. 417-18 (Ex. 2), presents itself as the overlapping of two figureswhich have two notes in common (ascending semi-tone Db-D), the two final notes of the second figurebeing the same (and in the same order: Cb-Bb) as the two initial notes of the first figure,by virtue of the possibility of permutation demonstrated in Ex. 5. This gives us a typical case of notes repeated within a short span (one of them changing octaves), the repetition being justified by the system of generation (which immediately evokes, abstractingthe number of notes employed, four instead of twelve,certain processes encountered in the Concerto, Op. 24, of Webern,especially the end of the thirdmovement). We will find other examples, in which the method of generation logicallyproduces various tolls of repetition;that is, different degrees of fixity (of stasis or dynamism). It is clear that the maximum degree (of stasis) will be obtained by the immediate and unvaried repetitions of certain notes or certain intervals,a method which Stravinskyvery frequentlyuses (in a "gratuitous" manner, but which is related to the logical system,by virtue of the other cases), in particular the measures which immediately follow (Ex. 11). The second figure is presented a second time, its firsttwo
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Ex. 11
notes being abundantly repeated (introducing a "Stravinskian" touch into this pastiche which would otherwise be almost too literal), and the two final notes are already presentin a thirdregister.The latter,if one adds the preceding note, second in the group, produces a figurewhich is typical of the Webern Concerto, whereas its firstpresentation, m. 418, was in a tighterposition, and its last * 24 ?
two notes (Cb-Bb), in their firstappearance at the end of m. 417, formed another Webernian figure,abundant in the Variations for orchestra (major seventh and minor third in the same direction). What is heard from the violin in the next two measures (421-22) is again veryremarkable for its nuances of degree of repetition and dispositions of octaves (the final figurebeing another echo of the Concerto, Op. 24), as well as the veryrefinedcounterpointwhich this establishes with the two figuresplayed by the low strings:the violas define, fromthe two Cs of the cellos and in a new transposition, the two Webernian figures already mentioned: minor third and major seventh, in identical or contrary motion (Ex. 12). If
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these two figuresdo not, rightlyspeaking, have a note in common (pivot), they neverthelesspossess two of the same notes (the third C-Eb), one of which is in the same octave (the repeated C of the cellos) whereas the other changes octave because of the logic of the figures (the conditions of a "relativization" of the octave, or presence of chromatic degrees, are then perfectlyfulfilled). This third can be combined, in order to form our characteristicfigure, with another third,either lower (B-D, in fact establishingthe same relationship with the figuresof the violin), or higher (Ct-E). The violin's figurein m. 423 again uses the same possibility,employing, however, one of the notes common to the third (B) as pivoting note, while its other note (D) situated at each end of the group of * 25 -
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seven, changes octave. We note in passing that the last four notes form, with those of m. 424, what Messiaen calls his "Mode II" (Ex. 13), with which we will later concern ourselves. What follows
Ex. 13
contains analogous formations with, however, numerous nuances of variation, with respect to which one can only recommend a detailed examination. Let us also note the phenomenon of progressive verticalization in mm. 427-28, the vertical group of four notes having one note in common with each of the groups of four notes just played by the solo violin (respectively B and Bb, the latter being the only one in the same octave as the violin's). Because of these long holds, and because of the group articulated by the solo or tutti stringswith appogiaturas, the general climate in fact approaches that of the Symphony, Op. 21, more than that of any other work of Webern's. Aside fromthe "irregularities"to which we will come back later, there is nothing absolutely new, from the "serial" point of view, after the repeat sign. The viola part in mm. 452-56 again contains two groups of four tones with no notes in common, and whose total forms Messiaen's "Mode II" by virtue of the fact that the last two notes of the firstgroup make up an identical figurewith the firsttwo notes of the second (Ex. 14). Meanwhile, the part of the second violins is equally remarkable: four figuresof four notes ax. vv;reir.1
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* 26
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interlink each time with one pivoting note, and the result is extremelyclose to Webern's set. At firstsightone could even mistake and last notes are the them, if it weren't for the fact that the first same (D). Once the verificationis made, there is in fact an "extra" note in the center,the two isomorphic figuresof seven notes interlink not with two but with one pivoting note, and of course, the centralfigureis no longer a major-minorchord (but there is nothing to fear: the latter will soon come back in strength!),it is a group of fivenotes hiding an "augmented fifth"(two superimposed major thirds) as well as a minor seventh (E-G-A-C, two minor thirdsat a distance of a fourth; Ex. 15a). It is, of course, warmly recommended that the reader compare the various dispositions in the registers of our "characteristic group" (already of three notes), firstin this phrase but also in the entirepiece (Ex. 15b). An analogous structureis found as a base for the homophonic finale (of this firstpart) which begins at the end of m. 458. Here is that serial base, composed once more of four segments of four notes, linked with each other each time by one pivotingnote, but employing differentdispositions and retrogrades of dispositions employed in the preceding example, which results in a different total material. If the notes at each end are again the same, they "overflow" "upward" or "downward" (these "additional" notes are in fact filling "gaps" left at each end of the chromatic scale; Ex. 16a). In the text, this serial structureis employed on two occasions, firstin retrogrademovement, then in prime movement, in a perfect harmonic mirror,which, however, is contradicted by the dynamic structure (Ex. 16b). Here also it will be interestingto examine the various dispositions of the chords. Notice the F$ -G-A in the "upper voice" (violins I), which thus reproduce one of the characteristicthree-note figures (that which we had rather associated with Webern's Variations and which is also typical of his Quartet, Op. 28); if we add the B, it forms a tetrachord from which we will soon examine several variations. Let us now proceed to the "irregularities"of this firstsection which is played exclusively by stringinstruments;that is, the structures which do not bear a direct relationship to our initial fourtone figure. As we will see, they are all connected to the majorminor chord! Let us begin by examining the measures preceding m. 458 (Ex. 17). A serial structurewhich is identical to the one developed in 28 ?
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PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
the followingmeasures (itselfpreceded, in the second violins,cellos, and double basses, mm. 455-56, by an equally interestingstructure which connects it to the phrase of the first violins) is distributed mainly to the cellos (two notes are for the violas, two for the double basses, and the finalB, if one doesn't want to "go backwards," is the same as the B with which the following structure begins, the top note of the four-notechord; Ex. 18a). On this sequence are superimposed, in the violins partiallydoubled by the violas, three minor thirdsin greaterand greaterdisposition: C-Eb, E-G (major sixth), Gt-B (minor tenth). They forman equally well-known scale to which we will come back later (see Ex. 19), and which can be expressed as the overlapping of at least
-fL L
Ex. 19
two major-minorchords, respectivelyon C and E (the one on G$, disjointed at the two ends of the figure,remains purely potential). Since we know of the presence of this chord in Webern's set in our attempt to complete it from our two examples, we will have little trouble, by means of a few intervallicinversions,findingthe two complete formsburied under the structuralsurface (Ex. 18b). One should note the rather large number of octaves produced by this double structure which also integratethemselves (like the simple repetitions) into a system of various "legitimizations" concerning this interval. Let us go back, to m. 444. There, we will find,in the cellos and double basses, two figures which are nothing but major-minor chords at a distance of a tritone (D-Ab). The scale which they con-
t^ I
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r-
I v&-t^
Ex. 20
* 30 ?
stitute together can again be defined as "Mode II" (of Messiaen), of which they thus give a new "analysis of combinatory potential" (Ex. 20). Our initial four-tone figure is thereforealso buried, to the profit of this other characteristicand related figure.The entire structureis grafted, or rathersuspended (by a common note), from the fifthwhich extends the two preceding figures:Bb-Eb. One will note this fifth(and others, as in m. 446) as an example of not-soWebernian vertical disposition: it is in fact devoid of any considerable polarizing power because of the context (the E-B fifthis in the lower octave); it establishes a color relationshipbetween this piece and others,in which there exists a more Stravinskianharmony. The following measures present analogous reasons for concern. A whole series of major-minor chords is superimposed on and grafted onto "melodic" figureswhich are perfectlyjustified by the firstfour-tonefigure(solo violin, m. 446, two solo violas, mm. 445-50; Ex. 21a). The firstones (formed by three major thirds: E-G#, G-B, Bv-D) are combined with the F of the solo violin and the Ct of the firstsolo viola (with which the firsttwo notes form yet another major-minorthird) to complete a "Mode II." The last one (Ft -D-Dt -B) seems more isolated (Ex. 21b). But if we consider that its final note connects it to the C of the second solo viola, to form,with the two following notes (A-G#), our initial figure,and if the last two notes are considered as an echo of the last two notes of the firstsolo viola, m. 450, which formed a similarfigurewith F# (already present in our major-minorchord) and especially with a long-held F, we once more obtain that mode in another of its transpositions(Ex. 21c). All of this work on the major-minor chords is prepared from the beginning of the piece, especially from m. 416, in which we find, in the solo violin and viola, two verydifferent presentations of the scale mentioned in Ex. 19. This figure,composed in fact of two augmented fifths, at a distance of a semi-tone(and fromwhich therefore, if the octaves are abstracted, there exist only four differenttranspositions,chromaticallycomplementaryby twos), contains three overlapping major-minorchords,while "Mode II," composed of two diminished seventh chords (and of which therefore only three differenttranspositions exist) contains four (there are actually twelve in the chromatic scale: one on each degree). We have already seen that the major-minorchord contained, in strength,either perfect chords or "Webernian" chords of minor 31 ?
Ex. 21
thirds+semi-tone.That is even truer of the six-note scale (which, curiously, Messiaen does not mention among his "Modes with limited transposition" and which we may therefore entitle either "Liszt Mode"-the Faust-Symphonie makes great use of it-or Hungarian" or "Mode I bis," since "Mode I" is nothingbut the scale in whole tones). In fact, it can really be divided (in three different ways) either in two complementaryperfectchords (one major and one minor), or in two symmetricalWebernian chords (that is, of contrarytones). It is this last possibilitywhich is employed in the set of the Webern Concerto, Op. 24 (Ex. 22),9 in which perfect chords are carefullyavoided.
Ex. 22
On the contrary, the two figuresfromAgon which we are considexhibit two opposite possibilities, one more consoering (Ex. 23) the other more nant, chromatic,one closer to the initial figure,the
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to
Ex. 23
other to the central figurein the set of Variations, Op. 30. They nevertheless do not complete each other to form the chromatic whole; having in common an augmented fifth(A-F-Db in two differentregistrations),they constitute "Mode III" of Messiaen (regular alternation of one tone and two semi-tones,a nine-note mode, which also has four transpositions).
9For a much more detailedanalysisof thisset and of some of Webern'suses of it, see Henri Pousseur,Musique, Semantique,Societe, to be publishedby tditions Casterman, Paris-Tournais.
* 33-
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
We still must analyze the very beginning of the piece, where still seems to be in the embryonicstage. The first "semieverything tone" (in fact a minor ninth), Bb-Cb, which will be repeated, held longer,formsour initial figurewith the notes Bb-D, exhibited later, by the cellos and the violas. The latter had first semi-vertically, a played C, fillingthe chromatic "gap" in this figure,and coupled to the D which had been isolated. This can probably be explained by recallingthe fundamentalC on which the preceding piece ended (and which is a sort of very relative "tonic" of the entire work). Let us recall that the chord built on this C was, from the lowest note up, C-B-C-G-C. Here, we have an example of the very careful establishes frompiece to piece, even interweavingwhich Stravinsky when they are in a different "style" and seem not to have much in common. To the vertical position of our four-tonefigure,two three-tone figures are partially superimposed, in the solo and first violins, whose internal order does not permitthem to be as simply assimilated to our initial figure (and which, together, form half a chromatic scale; Ex. 24). However, we recognize, hors-temps,the two
Ex. 24
Weberian figuresmentioned above: minor thirdand semi-tone,in the same direction or in contrary direction (without registration). As to the Eb of the double basses, if we associate it, as seems legitimate to do, with the five-notegroup of the beginning (including C), we obtain an ensemble of twelve tones which, expressed in the form of a set, shows the progressiveappearance, startingfromthe initial chromaticism,of other intervalsand groups of intervals(Ex. 25). Next come two "orthodox" figuresin the cellos, C-B (in the same registeras in the end of the precedingpiece)-D-Eb; F-Gb-A(in the solo violin)-Ab (in the double basses), which triggerthe entire development that we have already examined. Certainly, one should go back to it from higherup, tryto find out if the laying-out of the figural elements in the entire form * 34 -
T411-
Ir
'_
Ex. 25
corresponds to some-even overall-serialization, or if it has been obtained through more empirical kind of montage (but there is no incompatibility). In any case, one discovers a total phraseology based on articulatory types, degrees of repetition, etc. I therefore leave the task of furtherresearch to the reader, and presentlypropose to extend our investigationto the following (and preceding) pages. We are indeed still far from the end of our discoveries and our marvel. IV The following section, pp. 69 to 71, contains three parts, the third being a varied reprise of the first.We have already spoken of the second (Ex. 1), and a quick glance at the entireflute part suffices to show that they are made up of a verysimple development of our initial four-tonefigure(which begins with the held note of the horns terminatingthe firstpart: the D interlinkswith the CO of the firstand second flutes,the A with the Gt of the thirdflute). The two layers (in eighth and quarter notes) define two distinct chromatic hexachords (until m. 479),whose two extreme notes are neverthelessseparated by an octave, while the centralG is missing. We find it, however, in mm. 480-81, and especially in the chord repeated by the strings in accompaniment (while the C of this chord is gone from the higher hexachord, and the Bb and A are lower registrationsof it): a chord whose repetitioncannot but recall the second section of the Variations, Op. 30 of Weber, which indeed has a surprisingly Stravinskian appearance. The four notes of this chord, brought back into tight position (their dispositions in the registers could easily be Weber's), forma regulartetrachord, mentioned above (two tones separated by a semi-tone,or already again: two minor thirds now at a distance of one tone!). (See Ex. 26.) We will soon discover its originand will later see its importance. 35
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
ft
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Ex. 26
Is Jt
The firstand third sections, with their fourthsdistributed in a canon between the horns and the piano, may be a bit of an enigma for us at first. But ifwe follow each of the instrumentalparts,without being discouraged by the repetitionsof minor sevenths,we discover that we are dealing with our "initial figure" now expressed in slightly greater intervals(not consideringregistration;Ex. 27). or.IC ,ordA. \
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Ex. 27
We are dealing here with a veritable "transposition" in the scale by whole tones of what originallybelonged not so much to the chromatic scale as to "Mode II." Whereas in the formercase we were dealing with minor seconds and thirds,in the latter case they are major, in other words, they have been augmented by the same "added value": a semi-tone. However, the figures,superimposed in different instruments (at a distance of a fourth),as well as juxtawithin one posed part (at a distance of a minor third,taking the into consideration, as conformingto our Ex. 5), bepermutation to scales long by complementary whole tones (producing chromaticism or diatonicism, at least for a while). Similarly,the figures of the preceding section, derived from "Mode II" (including the * 36 ?
major-minorchords), were integratedto a space definable in terms of the "total chromatic". The latter,however, can have a harmonic appearance which varies a great deal according to its modes and speed of generation (for example, cycle of fourths,or addition of augmented fifthsor diminished sevenths,or cycles which more or less produce repetitions of sounds before engenderingall twelve). It will again be profoundly altered by the disposition of its components in the registers,a disposition which can be more or less tight, more or less heavy (as in Stravinsky?) or suspended (as in Webern!) and contains more or feweroctaves, not only "potential" but also real, perceptible, and effective.In our case, we will only note that the progression of fourthsis accomplished on a majorminor chord (Ex. 28). It follows that the two neighboringchords,
Ex. 28
within the region in which they interact,forma superimpositionof minor thirds and major seconds, a harmony which we will find again and of which Berg,for example, makes ratherfrequentuse in Wozzeck. Since the piano part of the thirdsection again takes up the horn of the firstsection (examine the difpart, permuted differently, ference in articulation!), the missingnotes are the same in both. It is precisely those notes (of which two are still present in the two other groups of missingnotes), which formthe chord of the strings, repeated all along the central section; we will soon see that this tetrachordalso contains other much more general implications. Finally, the third section ends with a little Coda, entirelybuilt on a triple counterpoint of our initial figure,once more derived from "Mode II" and in large position. Two parts, given to the * 37 -
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
and G#, still in horns, end respectively with the two notes F#t the position of a minor seventh. The flute,although it had not participated in the firstsection, is now superimposed on it in order to make a third formheard (Ex. 29).
Ex. 29
On this subject, let us not forgetthat this entirethree-partsection, itself the center of the Pas-de-Deux, is the only one in the entire work in which we can see, alternating,one dancer moving at a time, masculine horns-or feminine flutes (there are only two other solos: Sarabande-Step, masculine, and Bransle Gay, feminine, but they are separated). Should we see in this animus-anima allegory an image of the competition (Agon in Greek), in Stravinsky's musical conscience, of the two universeswhich were initially difficult to reconcile? The appearance of a last flute figure (which could almost be a direct quotation from the Webern Variations) in the last "masculine" section would then take on a veryparticular meaning, which would shine on the whole of the Pas-de-Deux and even of Agon. This brings us (m. 495) to the general Coda of the Pas-de-Deux, itselfcomposed of three parts, of which the thirdis not, however, as simple a variation of the first. We note in passing that the joining of this new part and the preceding one is partlyaccomplished with two common notes (in identical register),B and Bb (or their enharmonics). The same B in fact, had already linked the firsthorn part to that which preceded, and it is also present in the beginning of the Pas-de-Deux. The firstpart of the Coda develops almost entirelyfromthe figure of seven tones which was the determiningfactor in Op. 30, as we have already pointed out, and which up to this point appeared only episodically (Ex. 30). It is employed in a mirrorimage, coming and going,and the play of the repetitionsis veryremarkablethere. * 38 -
(41
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Ex. 30
We find it in three degrees: immediate repetitionwith no change of octave (Cb-Bb, the latter note neverthelessdoubled two octaves lower), a retrogradedrepetition,by virtueof the mirrorimage,with or without change of octave (with: C-A-Bb-B;without: G$t-G,as far apart fromone another as possible). The central part, doppio lento, is perhaps the most suave in its "Webernianism." Stravinskyconfessed to Craft the preference he had for it. If its harmony is obviously related to the later Webern (but, as we will see, "burgeoning" in a new way), it is of the earlier reminds us. works, of Op. 10 for example, that its instrumentation Thus, we may hear it in the symbolic perspectivedescribed above: animus and anima seem to have attained in it a point of veryhigh fusion! In this small section, we do in fact encounter several figures which are difficultto relate back to the serial system employed until the present (which does, however, account for the majority of elements); upon close examination, we see that we are still dealing with the tetrachord which had emancipated itself in the form of a repeated chord, mm. 471-83 (Ex. 31). Here, Stravinskyseems to thus discreetly indicate the manner of extending the pointille which is suggested by the relationship of the four-note figures issued from Webern's set (minor thirds at various distances and their harmonic variation). Let us not linger,let us follow this trace fromwhich we are sure we will be led to significant discoveries! We can rapidly skip over the Quasi stretto, for a brief glance suffices to show us that it is constituted of the group of seven notes mentioned in Ex. 30 (the firstnote, G, is at the bottom of p. 73), and that, up to a point, it is thereforea repriseof the beginningof the * 39 -
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
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* 40 ?
Coda. Beginningwith the G which ends m. 515, another transposition of the same structureagain unwinds itselfdownward. It winds up, after a repetition of the notes D and Ct, by a descent of an additional semi-tone, on the C with which the following section, Four Duos, begins. We then realize that, in fact, this Quasi stretto was also a transitiontoward the character of Four Duos. From the start, something new is revealed to us which will almost exclusively structurethe next two pieces (at any rate this one in its entirety), that is, everythingwhich precedes the reprise of the much more diatonic part, this sort of "modal" fanfarewith which the work had begun. We are dealing with a set of twelve tones, employed systematwith the set of ically, which contains only one minimal difference Webern's Op. 30: the firstthree tones (in other formsit is the last three: because of the symmetrical structure it does not produce new combinations) are found inverted in time (Ex. 32; cf. Exx. 3 and 4!). This inversion has several consequences of great interest. (t A C H)
Ex. 32 Ex. 32
fromthe last as to First, the firstfour-tonefigureis now different the order in which the notes are exhibited. The mode of exploration (see Ex. 10) has in a way been subjected not only to an inversion, which the structureof the group already allowed, but also to a 90? rotation (Ex. 33), and the two minor thirdsare now actualized, whereas one of the semi-tones (C-B) is relegated to a deeper
B1L
Ex. 33
1* 41 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
level, more hidden or "implied." But there is another consequence. In Webern's set, the tones 3 to 6 formeda complete segmentof the chromatic scale (C-B-B%-Db),whereas here, by virtue of the inversion, they compose the tetrachord of which we have already spoken, presented in such a way that the two minor thirdswhich it contains are very apparent, separated by a semi-tone in the contrarydirection (see commentaryto Ex. 10!). This tetrachord,as we may now assert, relates back to at least two scales which are familiarto us. It may come from "Mode II" where it alternates, depending on the degree on which one begins, with the more chromatic tetrachord ("Spanish" tetrachord) on Ex. 34a); but it can also belong to a diatonic scale, that is, heptatonic, to the major scale, for example (II-V or VI-II), or to some other ancient mode (such as the medieval "Dorian" composed of two of these tetrachordsdeveloped on both sides of the tonic; Ex. 34b). Finally, it can also be related to the chromatic whole, not only by virtue of the fact that consistent diatonic interweaving engenders it very progressivelyby veritable modulation of fifths (Ex. 34c), but also because three tetrachordsof this type at intervals of major thirds directly constitute it, as we have already seen in Ex. 27, and as Ex. 38 will once more demonstrate; we are in fact dealing with the division of two complementarywhole-tone scales into three two-note segments (Ex. 34c).
all in the same direction, which our initial figure was based (1/2-l-1/2,
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Ex. 34
* 42 ?
In Four Duos, after a very simple exposition of three different forms,repeated or not, immediately or at a distance, retrograded or not (so that there are seven sets in all), the followingpiece, Four Trios (whose firsttwo notes, G-Bb, still belong to the preceding serial ensemble, as is emphasized by the dynamics) contains the quadruple entrances of a fugue, in which the principal parts, subject, etc., conformto this serial order,whereas some of the counterpoints employ all sorts of combinations of our "initial figure"; we have already found most of them in the firstpart of the Pas-deDeux (e. g., mm. 547-49, in the bass, the one which was described in Ex. 16a, transposed a minor thirdlower). And here is where the miracle occurs! Startingfromm. 549, the fourvoices move in a verypropelling counterpoint and then end up on the following notes: G for the firsttrumpet (retrogradedform having started on C), A for the trombones (invertedform on D), C for the strings(prime form on G), and for the second trumpet (a succession of overlapping figureswhich ends with the one beginning with Bb and A): the two notes Ft and G. Stravinskygives all these notes to the horns. A, G, and C are immediately superimposed. He adds an E to F$-G, taking advantage of the A which preceded them, realizing a new appearance of the diatonic tetrachord (which, as such, will soon pass to the foreground); this appearance "shows" all the more because it is "accompanied" (by the horns) in a similar manner, which is also diatonic (without poly-modality;Ex. 35). The definitelyestablished chord (A-E-G-C,
l, r, r
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.+
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minor thirds at a distance of a fourthfrom each other!) will be repeated in small rhythmicfiguresof unequal length but of practically equal speed, separated by rather long silence in which the low strings,pizzicato, again play two forms of our set (one will note their joining, around m. 558: G-Bb-C-Eb,a transposition of
* 43 *
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
our chord down a minor third). The final note of thispizzicato sequence is the low F which is added to the chord, presentlytaken up by the trumpets and doubled by the harp, the piano, and the other strings, pizzicato and forte (until now it had been piano). It is the departureof the reprise,the initialfanfarecan burst out once more, but although it contains no other differencethan this first chord and some notes in m. 564, we will now hear it in a completely new way. V What will in fact dominate this piece is its treatmentof diatonic figureswhich are for the most part directlybased on our "emancipated" tetrachord, or on more extensive scales which can be deduced from them. Melodically, however, these figureswill very frequentlyadopt a contour directly related to that of our "initial figure" (Ex. 36). In its most regular version it will thus take the followingform: tone (ascending), minor third,tone (descending).
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Ex. 36
We know that Stravinskyhad composed this fanfare (in a first version) several years before the rest ofAgon, and that he reworked it later to integrate it into the whole (1957). Had he meanwhile acquired a deeper familiaritywith Webern's Variations? Andre Souris (who died at the beginningof 1970, and with whom I spent * 44 ?
a last hour listeningto a rehearsal-conducted by Pierre Bartholomee-of Requiem Canticles!) had once told me that this figure came from a song (lullaby?) sung by Stravinsky'snurse. Truth or legend? A fabulous coincidence in any case. And we should not 'fail to note that a great number of the melodic figuresused by Stravinsky (for example the song of the shepherd in the Nightingale) rest on the same tetrachord or portions of it, especially the minor third (Symphonies d'instrumentsa vent, "ostinato" of Oedipus-Rex). In this definitive version, the fanfare appears as a play on all sorts of extensions and manipulations of the diatonic universe, which of course brings it closer, in varyingdegrees, to the chromatic universe and its differentmanifestations. Thus, one goes from almost purely heptatonic superimpositions (except one C$) of mm. 547-80, to the rough polymodal frictionsof mm. 590-95, or mm. 610-15. On the path which leads fromsome to the others, let us point out the charming and verycharacteristicpassage in mm. 570-73 (repeated, slightlyvaried, in mm. 583-85; Ex. 37). Should
WEPEx.
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l 37 t4
Ex. 37
this be tossed aside with the back of the hand, while speaking contemptuously of "displaced basses" or "bad dispositions" or "defective cadences"? The notion of "superimposition of several modalities" (Based on a single polar note? Which one?) and especially that of "disposition of different types of chords in compartmental to me to be much more acceptable, on the condilayers" appears tion that there is no pejorative connotation (we will be helped in this ifwe recognize that the compartmentalizationis farfrombeing absolute, that there are all kinds of connections). Indeed, we can see the role that is played here by the overlapping of tetrachords and other familiar and more or less divergingfigures (that dear
* 45 ?
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
"universe in expansion," so much more perceptible with suffiand ciently simple elements), as well as the major-minor,fifthsfourths-chords whose presence (as in the chord A-E-G-C!); figures we have seen in a differentcontext, in which other elements had been subjected to analogous treatments;figureswhich, even here, of "classical" (?) polarities,than, functionless as the reinforcement on the contrary, their distribution (distribution of the polarizing energy which had constituted them), the attenuation of their exclusive centralization,so as to always allow forthe possibility,without a necessarytransition, of the delectable surpriseof a jump from
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Ex. 38
* 46 ?
one pole-from one degree of polarity-to another; of creating,not only in abrupt succession, but even in superimposition,opposite poles, rival tensions, between which the harmonic matter is torn asunder and maintained in a state of perpetual alert. The separations preserved for a time, "compartmented layers," are thus the signs of a great formativevirtue,which all the better permita wellconstructed organization, for they can be transformed at any time, and there exists only one unifying principle,underlyingall of them. Should I also point out the astonishing mm. 586-89, in which the matter, even though still issued fromthe same elements, takes on a sort of acidic softness, polished by virtue of the numerous relationships of "diminished or augmented octaves" which constitute it, and of these major-minorstructuresmultiplied in the most refined way (Ex. 38)? Like it or not, this seems to me to be much closer to the spirit (and the matter!) of a Webern, than the latter was close to, for example, Schoenberg (except for a few works). A poetic of an "overwhelming beauty," yes, but due to a really veryrare science of writing. Let us recommend the detailed (and compared) examination of each of the horizontal parts,of each of the resulting verticalformavoices tions,and even of the oblique relationshipsbetween different and chords,and finally, of the extraordinarily well-controlledstructure, in which the most transparentgroups (octaves and major thirds),paradoxically are found especially in the treble,the tightest chromaticismespecially in the bass. Finally, should I mention the great chords which punctuate this piece, and whose echoes are found throughoutthe work, the major pillarsand landmarks?The one with which the work starts,to begin with, and which, at the beginningof the reprise,is replaced by the chord whose unforgettableappearance we have analyzed (Ex. 39):
Ex. 39
* 47 *
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
C, even though it is a melodic "pole," doubly contradicted by F its fundamental, and B, its leading tone, itself a tritone of F and thereforecontradictingit! A "heavy" yet expansive, dazzling harmony, a veritable tree of sound. A second form of it appears as early as m. 7 (or m. 567), which will again reappear in m. 19, and under which the battery of major thirdG-B in low octaves will be unfurled (Ex. 40). It is the cycle of fifths,principle of divergence,
k
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Ex. 40
expansive, which here rules the distribution,naturally assisted by octaves and, sometimes, major thirds (B). It will be yet another form of it, tighter,more curled upon itself,which will close the firstfanfareas well as its finalreprise (Ex. 41), while a more complex development will appear in the course of the piece and will
Ex. 41
propose, on this very solid base, an expansion which is already more considerable: it is to a harmony of Eb-Bb-F (with some octaves), brought by the counterpoint of our more or less diatonic figures, that is suddenly superimposed, imperturbable, the G-B third, which will bring forththe reappearance of the chord F-C-G (in a different disposition), and then the supplely balanced alternation of two fifths-linked by a common note, F, in a different to five,a pentatonic structure,the numoctave, thereforecarrying ber of different notes-still on the ostinato of a G-B third (Ex. 42). * 48 ?
-9_W_
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Ex. 42
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L I
For another application (particularly clear and developed because it is exclusive) of the principle of distributionwhich is put to work here, we must turn toward the Prelude (p. 28), which will reappear twice, slightlyvaried, under the title of Interlude (pp. 46 and 61). There we first find an ascending figure,abundantly repeated, which we could analyze as an "octave containing a dominant seventh" (inverted and, especially, broken), but it seems to me that it would be more in keeping with Stravinsky'ssyntax in general, and with that which we have just heard, to conceive it as the overlapping (deployed simultaneity) of two three-tonechords: C-F-C and D-G-B, the latter having the possibility of "resolving' itself on the former(though, of course, it does not do so) in the manner of medieval cadences (which so often give the impression of terminating"on the sub-dominant"), and which Stravinsky(who took his practical education wherever he could get it) did not fail to listen to with attention. The persistentrepetitionof this figure,within a closer and closer span, leads to a kind of franticascent of the trumpets,which finally end up on this G major chord, in the position of a 6 (see m. 131), played sf and staccato, but which is held much longer as harmonics of the double basses,piano, in the octave Meno mosso. below, and which will link up to the very contrasting of all first this in which which has just been During part, everything described occurs with a "sharpness," in the percussion, in the timthe pani and tom-toms,but also in certain "melodic" instruments, lowest voices produce a very different harmony-first of Bb, then of Eb minor. On the other hand, in the beginning of the Meno mosso a G major chord alternates with a D chord, either in its fundamental position (also major), or in the position of a seventh (without the third), while the harmony of Bb minor in the bass reappears again for a moment (to give a sort of menuet rhythm,or rather gavotte, the meter is deceptive). It thereforeseems that we * 49?
PERSPECTIVES
OF NEW MUSIC
are dealing with a whole based on the cycle of fifths (Eb-Bb-F-C-GD-A, a heptatonic group); here, the thirds,the means of confirmation and reinforcementin the classical cadence (in which they are part of the heptatonic whole), do not appear on the central "polar notes," but only, symmetricallyminor or major (and contraryto what they would be in tonality), at each end of this cycle, extendits exing the latter toward the exterior (Ex. 43) and reinforcing virtues. pansive
Ex. 43
Our impression is confirmed once more by the final "cadence" with the grand siecle is combined (startingat m. 140). A brief flirt with more and more medieval sonorities, in particular the interlinking of a G major (its fifthbeing itself preceded by CX) to an "empty" F (fifthand octave), end of m. 142, and of D-Ft on the final chord (with "maintained tension") C-B-C-G-C(a chord which, at its third reappearance, in fact precedes the beginningof Pas-deDeux). We should also point out the presence of our melodic figurein its diatonic form(s) in the Gailliarde (pp. 34-39). The entire canon between harp and mandolin (sometimes doubled again by one of the flutes)is abundantlywoven fromit (Ex. 44), and it appears in a
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Ex. 44
50?
remarkable manner in the little canons in augmentation of the piano (Ex. 45), mm. 166-67, 177-78, and 182-83 (let us also point out the parallel sixths in the second and thirdflutes,mm. 172-73).
--
r-... ..
-iF^-7
Ex. 45
As for the very "consonant" harmony (but so astonishingly orchestrated and even disposed!) which accompanies these counterpoints, I think that, aside from its intrinsic"beauty" (that is, its "poetic"), we will not have too much trouble justifying it as a "special case" of that which has just been presented. One can deduce it, ad libitum,fromthe major-minorstructures which are present as faras in Webern's set (elided, amply repeated, and registered according to a principle which has been logically established), and also the cycle of fifths and thirdsevoked an instantago (again as a of all case the cycles and networksalready spoken of, even typical the more chromatic ones), and from some perfect chords which detach themselves from it and which may particularlyattract our attention: the GI chord in the Prelude, for example, or its transposition a fourthlower (with a bass of Bb-e. g., m. 287-correspond"phrases" ing to the Eb in m. 131), which articulates the different of the Bransle Simple. -(First of two parts; translatedby Marcelle Clements)
* 51?

Pousseur and Clements - Stravinsky by Way of Webern I

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Pousseur and Clements - Stravinsky by Way of Webern I

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Stravinsky by Way of Webern: The Consistency of a Syntax Author(s): Henri Pousseur and Marcelle Clements Source: Perspectives of New

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