Josiah Boornazian

February 6, 2013

In Anton Weberns Concerto for Nine Instruments, Op. 24, II, Webern bases all of the

melodic content for the entire movement on the intervals of a half-step and a minor third,

represented by the set class [014]. Webern reveals his characteristic obsession with rigidly

controlled and organized sounds on both a local level as well as between iterations of the set

class in its various guises. Almost every compositional decision Webern made, at least

melodically and harmonically, seems to reflect his obsession with creating an underlying,

unifying structure based on the intervals of the half-step and the minor third, represented by the

interval class sets <1,3> and <3,1>. Even though he was clearly using a very strict and narrow

conceptual tool for organizing this work- a simple three note motive comprising only the two

intervals just mentioned- Webern manages to create a wide variety of melodic and harmonic

colors through his use of transpositionally and/or inversionally related pitch-class sets, varied

orchestration, and rhythmic displacement. He thus demonstrates his skill at generating a wide

variety of different melodic and harmonic content from a very small initial melodic/harmonic

idea. Figure 1 below shows a condensed harmonic reduction (also, rhythmically simplified to

show each harmonic object as a whole note) of the first 9.5 measures of the movement,

highlighting the various pitch-class sets that appear in the piece. Note that every pitch-class set is

a member of the set class [014] and therefore they are all transpositionally and/or inversionally

related objects. Perhaps it is difficult to hear as a distinct harmonic object, but it is also notable

that the lowest sounding note in the texture (the lowest note played by the left hand of the piano)

displays the interval class set <3,1> in the first three dyads played by the piano.

In mm. 5, Webern employs one of his more interesting techniques of obscuring the

underlying unifying intervallic structure: he employs what one might term an anticipation-
suspension chain. The clarinet sounds an Eb on the downbeat of mm. 5 which interrupts the

pitch-class set [7,8,11], which is created by the horn sounding a B on beat 2 of mm. 4 and the

piano sounding a G and an Ab on the downbeat of mm. 5. This rogue Eb belongs to the pitch-

class set [0,3,4] created by the clarinet in mm. 5 and the left hand of the piano on beat 2 of mm.

5. The result is that the Eb played by the clarinet in mm. 5 on the downbeat behaves like an

anticipation or a suspension that is resolved in beat 2 of mm. 5 when the pitch-class set that the

Eb belongs to is completed by the left hand of the piano. Webern immediately repeats this

pattern of anticipation in the next measure, mm. 6. Here the flute sounds a D on the downbeat of

mm. 6 which is meant to be heard as completing the pitch-class set [1,2,5] created by the D in the

flute and the Db and F played by the piano on the following beat. The flute is a beat ahead of the

piano, and therefore behaves like an anticipation, or a deformed suspension. Also, there is an F#

on beat two of mm. 6 which belongs to and anticipates the pitch-class set [6,9,10] created by the

Bb and A in the piano on the downbeat of mm. 7. Furthermore, this exact same pattern occurs in

mm.8 where the oboe plays a B for 2 beats. This B does not belong to the same pitch-class set as

the notes sounding simultaneously in the piano on beat 1 of mm.8, rather this B anticipates by

one beat the Bb and D which appear in the left hand of the piano on beat 2 of mm. 8, creating the

pitch-class set [10,11,2] (a member of the familiar set class [014]) between the oboe and the left

hand of the piano. This rhythmic displacement of melodic and harmonic objects that are

functioning as members of set class [014] is firmly resolved in a few notable instances, for

example on the downbeat of mm. 10, the pitch-class set [4,5,8] clearly appears, with all three

notes articulated simultaneously on the same beat with the same duration. This is a moment of

relative rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic consonance, as there are few other occasions in the
movement where one clearly hears an object represented by the set class [014] articulated with

the exact same rhythm at the same time, on a strong beat.