Tone-Ro-'ws and the Tonal System of the Future 39

The Musical Quarterly 22 (1936), S. 14-37. Mit freundlicher Genehmigung von G. Schir-
mer, lnc., and Associated Music Publishers, Irre., Nc"W York.
SCHOENBERG'S TONE-ROWS
AND THE TONAL SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE
By RICHARD S. HILL 1
If modern music were stripped to its barest essentials, its most
salient characteristic would undoubtedly be found in its preoccupa-
tion with new systems of tones. Ir is the one element that runs
through all its various manifestations. It is the central core of mod-
ern music. 2 Arguments about the relative importance of romanti-
cism, neo-classicism, pro gram music, rhythmic structure, "mean-
ing", apply to an periods and all fashions. The interest composers
are exhibiting in unexploited systems of tones is specific to the
twentieth century.
Primarily, it is a composer's problem. No one, not even the most
advanced of the composers, is so weary of the diatonic system that
he can no longer obtain an emotional thrill from a Mozart quintet.
But, when it comes to composing new works in that system, the
ambitious and fastidious creator finds that the functions and typical
relations of its tones have become stereotyped. So much so, in fact,
that they are intuitively perceived when barely implied, with the sad
result that he is being continually haunted by familiar memories.
Of the many systems substituted, only one-the twelve-tone-
seems to contain within itself potentialities for future development
into a rich and varied functionally organized system. Manifestly
still crude, it has nevertheless passed through enough stages to give
us a clue to its evolution. Ir is therefore of sufficient interest to war-
rant an attempt at formulating the past and future stages of the pro-
1 Read November 3, 1935, before the Greater New York Chapter of the
American Musicological Society.
2 Guido Adler, Handbuch der Musikgeschichte, 2ter Teil, Berlin 1930,
cess, and at certain factors-mostly temporary reactions
against certain of the system-that have cluttered
1 •
ane ltS progress.
The chief contribution towards the organization of the twelve-
tone system is that Schoenbergian concept-part abstract
theorf and part pure inspiration-the "row": a semi-arbitrary ar-
rangement of the twelve chromatic tones into a horizontal motival
structure, in its various combinations and positions,
every note of Schoenberg's later compositions may be d~rived.
more comprehensive definition will oe given on p. 51.)
In the discussion, certain adverse criticisms will oe directed at his
use of the row, and it seems desiraole to state definitely at the start
that these criticisms are not intended to be transferred to the com-
positions. Schoenberg is quite capable of composing music with-
out, or in the row. Since our present aim is Wo limited to
cover other more xsthetic facets of Schoenberg's art, we have no
Wi5h to have our remarks interpreted inference as a general con-
demnation of his compositions.
A short time ago, ~ book 3 Joseph Yasser brought together
much material on musical systems, and laid stress on a number oi
concepts that will prove useful here. Chief among these is the dis-
tinction the regular tones of any musical system and the
auxiliary tones, used for decoration and variation. Many of the pen-
tat~nic scales found throughou! the world have, as regular t~nes,
c, d, e, g, a, and, in addition, occasionally use the auxiliary tones,
fand b. The lauer Occur as rapid melodic decorations; the
former are the backbone of the melody. Such scales Yasser denotes
in mathematical symbols as 5+2 systems.
Although no definite instance can be cited, Yasser maintains that
it was by the fusion of the five regular and two auxiliary tones
that the seven-tone diatonic scale was produced. Further proof,
although desirable, will probably not be forthcoming, sin~e the
social state of most cultures using the pentatonic scale precludes a
written musical notation.
the fusion appears so eminently logical that justifi-

p.999. A of Evoh."ing New York 1932.

40 Richard S. Hill
cation seems ample for accepting it at least tentatively. And, even if
we do not accept the process as a whole, the general principle of the
fusion of auxiliary and regular tones into a system of higher order
can be substantiated in other ways. The XLV01)[lcVOl (movable inner
tones) of the Greek tetrachord were fused to the i'::o-LwccS; (outer
fixed tones) when the diatonic genus finally became standard with
the Greeks. Also, Marius Schneider, in his >Geschichte der
Mehrstimmigkeit<, 4 although he gives a totally different description
of the transition from pentatonic to diatonic, says that the passing
tones of the pentatonic system take on a great motivating influence
in the six- and seven-tone scales-that is, change horn auxiliary to
regular degrees. Fusion of subsidiary and primary tones may pro?-
ably be accepted with reasonable safety as a general phenomenon m
the evolution of scales.
The diatonic scale remained a seven-tone system for more than a
millennium. Gradually, as musica Jicta and modulation of a mode
became accepted artistic devices, other tones had to be added to
take care of the irregular distribution of whole- and half-steps. At
first, they were no more auxiliary tones than are the twelve lüs oE
the Chinese tempered system, and indeed, for centuries, they
remained simply "transposing" tones. Somewhere around the
seventeenth century, in such irregular chords as the NeapoEtan
sixth, they came to be used one by one, not only as transposing
tones, but also as auxiliary tones. Nevertheless, it was ody in com-
paratively recent times that any and all of the black notes could be
introduced into the key of C without disrupting the tonality.
Once this scale of seven regular degrees and five frequently em-
ployed auxiliaries had come into common use, two things were
bound to happen. A music would be written using an twelve
degrees but maintaining the regular degrees as more fundamental
than the others and hence retaining at least a semblance of the
diatonic harmonie functions. And, secondly, the five auxiliary
degrees would firmly fuse on to the seven regular degrees to form.a
new scale of twelve equivalent tones to which the old harmomc
functions would not apply. The first type is to be found exemplified
4 Erster Teil, Berlin 1934.
Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 41
in the of Bart6k and Stravinsky; the second in those
ot the twelve-tone school.
Ir seems possible to stress too much the logic and natural-
ness or this The twelve-tone system is no arbitrary
freak. It has co me as the rational answer to music's "determined
search after increased plasticity and expressiveness", 5 and it will
stay because this stage of the growth of musical an will best suit the
men of future generations.
The new system is not simply a complication of the diatonic sys-
tem, and therefore does not inherit its typical functions any more
than the dia tonic system preserved the functions of the pentatonic.
However, some of its ~ost able critics, among them- Leonhard
Deutsch,6 have into error on this point. Deutsch tries to
prove that all possible combinations of the twelve tones may be re-
ferred back to altered diatonic chords, and that therefore the
twelve-tone system as such simply has no justification. Ir becomes
increasingly dear, after dose study of the later compositions of
Schoenberg and after attempting to hear the "inherent" diatonic
relations as analysed by Hugo Leichtentritt 7 and Deutsch,8 that
they fumble the answer. Schoenberg 9 hirns elf admits that his music
is somewhat harsher than it will eventually have to be, simply
because certain consonant combinations of tones cannot at present
be used. They too dearly suggest the old diatonic functions and
thus disrupt the stability of the twelve~tone system. He is convinc-
ed, however, that when the system comes of age and the average
5 Cecil Grey, A Survey of Contemporary Music, Oxford press 1924,
p.261.
6 Das Problem der Atonalität und des Zwölftonprinzips, in: Melos 6
(1927), pp. 108-118; also ibid.: Ganzheitsbetrachtung und Teleologie in der
Musikerziehung und Musiktheorie, in: Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft 12
(1930), pp. 418-429.
7 Schönberg and Tonality, in: Modern Music 5 (1928), No. 4, p. 3-10.
8 Zur Einführung in die Harmonik der zeitgenössischen Klavierliteratur,
in: Anbruch IX (1927), Heft 8-9, pp. 324-344.
9 Gesinnung oder Erkenntnis? 25 Jahre Neue Musik, in: Jahrbuch 1926
der Universal-Edition, pp. 21-30; esp. pp. 26-28.
 Richard s. Hill
42
ear has grown accustomed to the new system of relations, conso-
10
nances may safely be reintroduced. At present, as Kurt Westphal
has it, the twelve-tone system must stand without harmonie func-
tions. Ir has had no time to develop any of its own, and yet, if it is
to be a self-sufficient, integrated system, it cannot start out by bor-
rowing horn the past, but must in the cou:-se of time dev:lop them.
The diatonic scale, in its early incarnatlons, also had tew enough
harmonie functions, as an examination of most compositions down
to the fifteenth century will clearly show. Melodically, the modes
had their finals and reciting tones, but their harmonie organization
was practically non-existent. It took them centuries to grow into
the richly dowered system of the end of the nineteenth century; and
it will take years, opportunity, and much habituation before the
twelve-tone system can arrive at a similar state. Meanwhile, we have
an untrammeled constellation of twelve tones, rich only in its pos-
sibilities.
The system in its present state is by no means arecent develop-
ment. Desire Paque 11 claims to trace atonal composition back to
the beginning of the nineteenth century. His own first efforts were
three atonal sonatas composed ab out 1911. If tWO oE the mystic
chords of Scriabine could be considered as producing a twelve-tone
system, he also would fall in approximately the same period
(>Prometheus<, 1913). Herben Eimen,12 however, gives JeE Goly-
schefl (b. 1895, in the Ukraine) credit for composing in 1914 the
first unequivocal twelve-tone music, although liule of this was pub-
lished. (Riemann's >Lexikon< mentions only one published compo-
sition-a String Trio in five movements, 1925.) Almost at the same
time, Joseph Matthias Hauer began to formulate the twel~e t.ones
into what he calls Tropen, and ten years later started pubhshmg a
series of papers explaining them. 13 The 479,001,600 melo~i.c se.ries
into which the twelve tones can be arranged have been codlfled mto
10 Arnold Schönbergs Weg zur Zwölftöne-Musik, in: Die Musik XXI
(1929), pp. 491-499; cf. also his book: Die Moderne Musik, Leipzi~ 1928.
11 L'Atonalit<§, ou mode chromatique unique, in: La Revue muslCale 11
(1930), pp. 135-140.
12 Atonale Musiklehre, Leipzig 1924, p. 31.
13 Deutung des Melos, 1923: Vom Melos zur Pauke, 1925; Zwölf-
Tone-Rows and the Tonal oi the Future 43
is divided into two parts of six notes
and the notes within each half may be played in any order,
the group as a whole is considered as a structural unit. Sev-
associated in any given composition. In
melodie freedom is achieved only within relatively
UUUllU~. since all twel'le tones mus! be played before any
Basically, the fundamental characteristic oE all this
music eonsists in the persistence wirh which the composer keeps
the whole cluster of twel'le tones circling continuously.
Eimert writes "The basic structure oE atonal music is there-
fore not a succession of tones (a but a group of tones (a eom-
plex). " ten years later, Zofja Lissa,14 in one of !he best
papers on the comes to very much the same conclusion.
Following Erpf, she selects the term Klangzentrum, or nucleus of
tones, to describe the aggregate of twelve tones. These terms, "com-
1 " an d "Kl
plex _~Angzentrum, " b .ave·ln.herent m
. t b"ern someth·mg of the
idea of simultaneity-all twelve tones are to hover as a harmonie unit
in that unexplored part of the mind in which concepts, models, pat-
terns and the like wait to be used. any pan of the com-
plex may be extracted and used to form a chord, but such an excised
pan still has no independent existence. Ir exists solely as a pan,
only withdrawn from the whole, and has meaning
as it refers back to the whole. This in itself, has no specific
interior organization, and its pans cannot conceivably have any
independent functionallife, since, although any group or tones may
oecur together, mus! be immediately followed by all the rest.
Negation of scale, mode, and functional organization of the pans
is unquestionably areaction against the highly differemiated func-
lional organization of diatonic harmony. In uncritically accepting a
totally aggregation of tones (and perhaps thus
making a 'linue of a necessity), the exponents of twelve-tone music
have elevated the amorphous nature of the glomerate into a position
tontechnik, 1925. First issued by Schlesinger, they are now handled by
Universal.
14 Geschichtliche Vorform der Zwölftontechnik, in: Acta Musicologica
VII (1935), p. 15-21.
44 Richard S. Hill
Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 45
of cardinal importance for their method-a position it cannot weIl
with the unvaried series of half-
sustain. As a passing stage, an over-compensation for the immediate
system, some substitute i5 necessary: Yasser
past, the acceptance is both understandable and n.ecessary. But the h"S ' 1· 1· .
-'" one calculatmg lllS nmeteen-tone supra-diatonic
undifferentiated aggregation should never be consldered more than system, in which the twelve regular degrees are redistributed and
a temporary and arbitrary convention.
• . 11
intervals
1 of differing sizes, but his system differs too
At least two reasons can be given for such astatement. drasncadY t 1e . for immediate adoption.
First, a composer, hampered by having to dodge the all too trite
of distribution is the only objection, it
leading-tone to tonic succession, might readily be .excused f?r behoves us to undertake an analysis of the concep! before giving up
wanting an untrammeled system, one without the restralllts of hablt-
of a In such an analysis, one significant fact soo~
uated tonal functions. But, on the whole, human beings are utterly
Pitch tones in a consecutive series, and therefore,
unable to perceive disorganization in sensible terms. They are i~­
. the tones of a given system, it has been customary to
stinctively antipathetic to continuums. Although the spectrum lS wnte the notes of a scale in an order based on their consecutive
graded in the most delicate fashion horn a carmine throug~ hun- pitches. But is a mode the same as ascale? In a are consecu-
dreds of shades of vermiHion into a reddish orange and then llltO an tive pitches the ones most related? In C major, does
orano-e
b
that becomes steadily more yellow, the average man sees the g possess a greater for a or for c? 1sn': the successio n d b c
rainbow as aseries of sharply demarcated bands of red, orange, yel-
meaningful than b, c, same not~s writt~n
low, etc. We instinctively organize the absolutely regular dicks of a
the latter is a better catalogue of the tones in-
dock into a rhythmical "tick-tock." And, instead of using the con-
but it tells us nothing about the functions and interrela-
tinuous o-lide of a siren in our music, we frown on too much por- tions of those tones; and just as clearly a mode exists solely be-
tamento~ and use only discrete pitches. In other words, our minds cause of the cross-relations of the functions of the tones. If this
are constantly organizing the world ab out us into perceptible units. is rrue, the . of consecutive steps is not an essential
We think in concepts,and our senses perceive organized structures. aspect ot a mode a concomitant of certain modes, since
The functions of the diatonic system may perhaps be bolstered by
the . of the different tones, which is an essen-
physical vibration ratios, but they might very weIl not have b~en. tial of an~ may be expressed by a non-consecutive listing of
The human mind, in the course of time and through the establIsh- the t.ones mvolved. In turn, this will produce aseries of intervals of
ment of habits, would have organized the tones and given them a vartmg sizes.
series of functions just as convincing as those we now possess. In In other the present manner of representing a mode is
fact, there are many reasons for supposing that the mind has already purely a convention. The practice probably derives horn medixval
played a far more important role in the formation of these functions
We might conceive of the medixval word modus as
than the average physicist would like to admit. At any rate, the two used to indicate a structure much like our scale; when the
forces-the physical and psychological-will doubtless form func- medixvalists wanted to indicate the functions of the tones of the
tional patterns completely characteristic of the twelve-tone system modes, they in addition to their scales, their "Psalm
if given sufficient time and opportunity. . .. tones" providing a table of basic melodic patterns.
Secondly, we not only object to lack of functlonal orgamzatlon WIe dropped the tables but the scales, attaching to- them a
per se, but insist upon some means other than absolute pitch by meanmg.
which to orient ourselves in the series of consecutive pitches. In the At present, the listing of the series-c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c-tells us ab-
past, the collocation of the whole- and half-steps with respect to the about the functional significance of those tones,
UVCUJ.U,,"
 Richard S. Hill
46
except that the repetition of the first and last notes may lead us to
judge c to be the most important tone in the aggregation. ~a~k in
1755, when the theory of major and minor scales was stlll tresh
enough to permit theorists a little show of originality, Joseph Riepel
printed a table of keys in his >Grundregeln zur Tonordnung insge-
mein<15 according to the following pattern: c, d, e, f, g, G, c-jump-
ing down an octave on the dominant, and then back to the tonic.
Riepel's scale is not complete, nor does it give all the normal
melodie functions of the C major scale, but, at least by the simple
order of the notes and the jump down to G, it does show that the
fifth note is the second most important one in the series. Ir would
orobably be impossible at present, considering the numerous and
~omplicated relations that have been established in the diatonic
major mode, to devise a single pattern revealing an these relations.
But it is not at all difficult to prepare one that reveals far more about
the structure of the major mode than does the ordinary scale. And,
if this were combined with its mirror inversion-for reasons that will
soon become c1ear-, still more information might be afforded. For
example:
Ex.i
Minor
4 [2J 1 2 I)]
i" 11
(The numbers above and between the notes indicate the number of
half-steps between them; unbracketed numbers denote descending
intervals, those in brackets ascending.)
From such aseries, one might readily deduce that certain melodie
progressions were basic. Thus, immediately before or after the four
C's stand the tones g, d, f, and b, which at once are the notes that
most frequently progress to c, and also, taken simultaneously, form
the dominant seventh chord. The first three notes of the "prime"
series give the tones of the tonic triad; and the first three notes of
the mirror give the tones of the subdominant. Examination of the
two series will reveal other relationships. In fact, although by no
15 Zweites Capitel, Von der Tonordnung, p. 131.
Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 47
of the infinite possibilities of the
the device is so much more meaningful than the ordi-
nary form of the scale that it seems to deserve a name; and, for
want of a it will be referred to hereafter as a "functional
mode."
111 it is just such a functional mode that Schoen-
berg's series could fumish for the twelve-tone system. In actual
practice, Schoenberg uses the row in such ways that no functional
relations are engendered; but it nevertheless has inherent within it
the capacity for organizing the twelve tones into a functional mode.
The scale would still remain a continuous sequence of half-steps,
but the mode could have intervals of practically any size within the
limits of the octave.
Schoenberg arrived at the idea of the row in no such
clear cut theoretical manner. How much influence Golyscheff,
Eimert, and Hauer had upon the ultimate formulation of the row is
still clouded contradictory claims. Schoenberg's first term for
the phenomenon, "Grundgestalt, " was borrowed ±rom Hauer, but
was soon in official discussions, and its meanings for the
two men were at no time identical. For Hauer, it meant Trove, and
various Tropen could be used during the course of a comp~sition.
The formulation and use of the Tropen came weH before Schoenberg
started writing formally organized atonal compositions. But it was
not until Hauer published his "ZwölJtontechnik" (see p. 39ff.) in
1925 that he gave definite examples of repetition of the same series
of tones throughout an extended section of a composition,
although he presumably made use of the practice somewhat earEer.
Eimert, in 1924, offers nothing so regular as Schoenberg's row,
repeated throughout a composition, but obviously the continuous
statement of all twelve notes before any one of them may be repeat-
ed necessarily results, when used contrapuntally, in a structure very
similar to the row. This applies also to the works of Golyscheff,
written ten years earlier.
The need for a more definite formulation of the principle was
in the and Schoenberg's deeper artistic insight made it
j.JV,'~LlJlC for hirn to mould the various pertinent elements into a
48 Richard S. Hill Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 49

more compact unit. He did not achieve the complete answer in one
step.
From 1908 to 1914 he worked on the compositions in what Eimert
calls "impure atonality," and, in these, fugitive traces of diatonic influ-
ence can still be traced. He published no music after 1914 until1923.
During the war, he worked on the still unfinished >Jakobsleiter<, one
of his enormous choral compositions. In 1920, feeling the need for
ment to the concep! of the "row" and wirh systematizing the undi-
notions into a formal technique.
From 1923 to Schoenberg a number of pieces,
except for minor deviations, are almost aB based on rows.
piece, written du ring the same period, was not
f-'ueW.OH'-U until1932. A list of these, giving copyright dates, publish-

some means of unifying an atonal composition-a means that would ers, and references to a selected bibliography of analytical papers,
replace the formal structure of keys in classical tonality-, he began ex- may prove of service. numbers conduding each entry rder to
perimenting with various motival fragments. The result of the experi- the numbered artides listed in footnote
ments is to be found in certain passages of the >Four Songs for Or-
17 A great many other exegetical papers exist, but the following should
chestra<, Op. 22, the >Five Piano Pieces<, Op. 23, and the >Serenade<,
suffice to orient any curious person in the field. None of them gives com-
Op.24. Even as early as the passacaglia, "Nacht," which opens the
analyses oE compositions, but usually do give the "rows" for the
second section of >Pierrot Lunaire< (1912), Schoenberg had attempted compositions which refer to them and some explanation of how the row is
to tie together the musical structure of an atonal composition by used in the specific piece. No articles of a ~urely a::sthetic nature are
means of the continuous repetition of a short motif By the time we included.
come to Op.23 and 24, we find hirn basing much of his counter- 1. GreissIe, Felix: Schönbergs Bläserquintett, in: Anbruch 7 (1925),
point-in the inner as weH as outer voices-on somewhat more ex- Heft 2, pp. 63-68.
tended motival structures. These are not "rows" since notes are 2. H,-a,-"",,~ Armand, Schön berg, in: Paris 1930, Annee 92,
used more than once in the course of a theme, more than one theme pp. 81-83, 245-247, 257-259.
3. Reich, Willi: Schönberg's New Männerchor, in: Modern Music IX
is used per piece, all twelve notes are not included in the themes,
NT. 2, pp. 62-66. (Should be used with care, since SOp-le oE the
and the motives are not omnipresent. But in other respects these
are incorrect.)
themes are treated exactly like rows, and, indeed, when we come to
4. Stein, Erwin: Schönbergs Bläserquintett, in: Pult und Taktstock 3
our more exact definition of the row (cf p. 51), it will be seen that (1926), Heft 5-6, pp. 103-107.
several elements of the device-particularly the contrapuntal inver- 5. Stein, Erwin: Neue Formprinzipien. Published twice, in: Von Neuer
sions-owe their existence chiefly to the experiments of this period. Marcan-Verlag, Köln 1925, pp. 59-77, and in: Amold Schön-
Schoenberg explains and justifies this process of unification in an berg zum fünfzigsten Geburtstage, constituting >Sonderheft der
excellent article, >Problems of Harmony<.16 That he still feels the Musikblätter des Anbruch< 6 pp. 286-303.
row has something motival ab out ir is shown by a statement made 6. Stein, Erwin: Neue Chöre von Schönberg, in: Anbruch 8
in a letter, written in English, received last May: "I think-besides- Heft 10, pp. 421-423.
that the analysis oE the use of the rows is of no greater importance 7. Stein, Erwin: Zu Schönbergs Neuer Suite Op. 29, in: Anbruch 9 (1927),
Heft 7, pp. 280-281.
than this recognition of the motivical structure-."
8. Stein, Erwin: Schönberg's new Structural Form, in: Modern Music vn
Thus, Schoenberg wrote atonal compositions in a somewhat free (1930), No. 4, pp. 3-10.
style before Golyscheff invented his "strict atonality," and he must 9. Kurt: Arnold Schönbergs Weg zur Zwölftöne-Musik, in: Die
be definitely credited with contributing the most important ele- Musik 21 (1929), Heft 7, pp. 491-499.
10. Theodor: Arnold Schönberg. Chöre Op. 27 und
16 In: Modem Music XI (1934), No. 4, pp. 167-187. 28, in: Anbruch 10 (1928), Heft 9-10, pp. 411-412.
50 Richard S. Hill Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 51

1923, Op. 23, Fünf Klavierstücke (only No. 5 based on row), Hansen; 5. doseT of a row will be neeessary before we ean proeeed
1924, Op. 24, Serenade, for cl., bass cl., mandoline, guitar, vl., vla., vlc., further vlith the
and bass voice (Nos. 3 and 4 based on rows), Hansen; 2, 5.
1925, Op. 25, Suite für Klavier (all pieces based on ehe same row), Univer- For each arranges the tvvel've tones in a particu-
sal-Edition; 5, 9. lar order. From the pattern, the "row," the entire compo~ition is
1925, Op. 26, Quintett, for flute, oboe, clar., hr., and bassoon, Un.-Ed.; the tones being presented in the order in whieh aopear
1,4,9. row-the or in the mirror-inversion thereof," ~r in
1926, Op. 27, Vier Stücke für Gemischten Chor, Univ.-Ed.; 6, 10. crab-inversions of both. The row reveals the relations between tones, and it
1926, Op. 28, Drei Satiren für Gemischten Chor ("Vielseitigkeit" and the is for the purpose of increasing the number and variety of these relations
little pieces in the "Anhang" are not based on a row), Univ.-Ed.; 6, 10. that the inversions are added.
1927, Op. 29, Suite, for small cl., cL, and bass cl., vl., vla., vlc., and piano,
Univ.-Ed.; 7. The row as sinee it is subjeeted
1927, Op. 30, m. Streichquartett, Univ.-Ed.; 2, 8. to eountless different eonfigurations, and sinee ir ean be
1928, Op. 31, Variationen, for orchestra, Univ.-Ed.; 2. formed into vertieal harmonie struetures. To add to the riehness of
1930, Op. 32, Von Heute auf Morgen, opera in one act, Edition B. Balan, his transposes any of these four rows to
Im Selbstverlag des Komponisten. any of the twelve ehromatie steps, and eombines any of the trans-
1929, Op. 33a, Klavierstück, Univ.-Ed. positions in the works through 31. Later, the
1932, Op. 33b, Klavierstück, New Music Quarterly (the music bears no
transpositions are used in a way suggesting to the
Opus number, but according to Schoenberg was intended to).
dominant or sub dominant, sinee these relations cannot oeeur
1930, Op. 34, Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene, for orchestra,
Heinrichshofen's Verlag. in a "funetionless" system, will be referred to here for the most
1930, Op. 35, Sechs Stücke für Männerchor (Nos. 4 and 6 not based on part as "the transposition up seven steps," or five steps," the
rows), Bote & Bock.; 3. "step" being a diatonic "half-step."
The rows oeeurring in the eompositions hom Op. 23 to 35
The works that have appeared sinee, such as the arrangement of
may be classified under three and in the - outline
the Handel Coneerto and the >Suite for String Orehestra< (Schirmer
!here are listed the eompositions in whieh eaeh type oeeurs. Some
1935), bear no opus numbers and are not based on a row. An
eompositions very eomplieated rows are given emder two
opera, >Moses und Aron<, based on a row, has been the offieial
heads.
"work in progress" for several years. Sehoenberg's delaying over it
for so long would seem to indieate, sinee he usually eompletes a
a. Simple series without any interior eomplieations.
work in short order, that the opera may perhaps sufter the same fate
Op. 23, No. 5; No. 4; Op. 28,- No. 1; Op. 30.
as >Die Jakobsleiter<. Thus the period und er eonsideration is
b. Rows divided into segments appearing as indep~ndant groups,
bounded on either end by a large unfinished work and aseries of fal-
in harmonie forms.
low years. Sehoenberg has given no sign of abandoning the row, but
25; 33a; 35, No.
the likelihood that the reeent period of silenee will be broken only
c. Rows whose intenrals are so arranged that the notes of different
by a work exemplifying a radieal development of the row teehnique
seetions are somehow allied.
ean hardly be doubted.
Pieces in whieh sections of the row have either the same series
For the sake of those readers who have managed to avoid all the of intervals (or !he same series . so that parallel series
hundred or more articles on this phase of Sehoenberg's work, some of notes may be found within the row itself, or -else identieal
52 Richard S. Hill ::'ci10(',nber~;"s Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 53

series between two transpositions or between a direct and is constructed from the first four notes of the prime, and this
crab form of the row. figure is by the remaining eight, he can repeat the
Op. 26; Op. 27, No.4 (two pentatonic sections + two exact figure by the eight notes of the transposition up
notes); Op. 28, No. 3; Op. 29; Op. 32; Op. 35, No. 1. 2 steps, and in so doing modulate to a new key, using the figure as
(2) Pieces in which the "row" is divided into two six-note a pivot in much the same way as formerly the dominant triad of
groups, the first of which in the prime contains the same C was used to prepare a modulation to G major.
notes as the second half of the mirror, but in a different order, Type c2 may be illustrated by the same set of rows. If the row is
the other halves being necessarily related similarly. considered as made of two independent halves, it will be found that
Op.27, No. 1-3; Op.28, No. 3; Op.29; Op.31; Op.32; those sections represented by italics all contain the same notes, usually
Op. 33b; Op. 34; Op. 35, No. 2, 3, 5. in a different order; the opposite halves oE these rows must
A B of necessity contain the remainder of the twelve notes. In
The first two types need no further explanation, but the two C D right down through all twenty-four transpositions of
more complicated rows given und er "c" call for the clarification of B A the prime and mirror, the same relation persists, schemat-
an illustration. For instance, the row of Op. 29, with a selected D C ically represented in the accompanying table. Such com-
number of transpositions, runs as follows (as before, the numbers A B interrelations are found but rarely, although the
above and between the letters indicate the number of half-steps be- etc. general principle of crossed similarities occurs in a11 rows
tween the notes; unbracketed numbers denote descending intervals, cited. Their purpose is to provide groups of notes which,
those in brackets ascending): when used simultaneously, give the same harmony and yet, when
"~,nH,"HY, arrange the same notes into different melodies.
[4J 1 [4J [4] 3 3 4 [1] 4 Since harmonically the transpositions are always the same, ir is clear
Prime: d~ g ft: atl: d
b c a g~
e f ctl: that are not intented primarily for functional modulation. Their
up 1 step: e gtl: b d~ c
(T
c~ a~ a f f~ d
0
sole purpose, apparently, is to produce permutations of the notes
up 2 steps: f a g~ c e c~ d b a~ ft: c;
up 3 steps: m atl: a c~ f dj:f c b g "gj:f e within the groups.
up 4 steps: a b aj:f d e cj:f c gj:f a On first examination of the scores, there seem to be millions of
" ways in which the rows can be stated and combined, but actually, if
Mirror: aj:f Ij:f öa dj:f ctl: e f a gj:f c the start of each composition from Op. 23 to 35 is analysed and
4 [1] 4 4 [3J [1J [4J [4] classified, practically all the main types occurring throughout the
compositions will have been found. There are, of course, further
Since the same series of melodie intervals begins and ends the row neat devices for combining special rows, and, when the transposi-
and each of its transpositions-that is, [4J, 1, [4J from left to right, tions come into a further seeming complication is produced;
and 4, 4 from right to left-somewhere in the crabs of the trans- but on the whole the outline of types is surprisingly com-
positions we must find the same order of notes as are used to begin prehensive. In a check on the whole of the Third String Quar-
the prime; and we find this order in the crab of the transposition up ret, 30, revealed that only ab out 2 per cent of the measures
2 steps. The same relation exists between any two series similarly could not be classified under these heads, and even the exceptions
paired throughout, and the reversed relation is to be found among were combinations of some of the simpler types - given
the mirror inversions. Such similarities present Schoenberg with below. The combinations occur too infrequently to make it neces-
one of his chief spring-boards for modulations. If some rhythmical sary to the list
 Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 55

A.
uses of a single row.
melodie statement of row, modified by
being given some definite rhythmic configuration: Op. 24,
No. 3; 18 28, No. 1 (canon); 19 Op. 29, IV.
b. Essentially the same as above, except that occasionally
two successive notes of the row are sounded simultane-
25, Gigue.
e. The single row is distributed between two or more parts
but most of the time each note appears temporally in its
correct serial order; overlapping of the tones produees
harmonies: Op. 26, 33 b.
2. The first row may be accompanied:
a. other rows running melodically in one part at a
time: Op. 25, Präludium, 20 Trio; Op. 31, IX Var.; Op.
32;
b. two or more rows set eontrapuntally in either a like
number of parts or else with each row passed baek and
forth between two instruments (cf Alc): Op. 27, No. 1
eanon); Op. 31, I Var.; Op. 35, No. 2;
e. or by a single row having the sueeessive notes distributed
among several parts, eaeh note, however, appearing in its
eorreet serial order (cf Arc): Op. 26, I, IV.
3. Melodie seetions of a row may be aeeompanied by other
melodie seetions of the same row: Op. 25, Gavotte, Musette;
27, No. 4; Op. 30, 1.
4. Two rows may be divided into seetions, and the seetions
eombined eontrapuntally: Op. 27, No. 3.

18 This perhaps should not be included, sinee the row on whieh it is

based eontains founeen tones, and, at that, omits b. Nevertheless, it is

treated like a row throughout the eomposition.
19 This could just as weIl be classified under A2b, sinee it is a four-part
canon with each voice entering in turn with the same row.
20 The last four TIotes of the accompanying row are shifted back, so

that the end of this opening is in three- instead of !Wo-part counter-

point.
 MENVETTO
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(From Schoenberg's >Suite for String Orchestra<, in the Composer's Autograph) c/

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58 Richard S. Hill Scll0E:nber>";; Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 59

B. Harmonie. runs the row thirteen and the chords

1. The single row may not appear, and the beginning may be in the instruments are formed from the notes not included
made entirely with seetions of the row in vertieal position: within any given sub-section of these repetitions of the row.
Op.29, In; Op. 30, IV; Op. 31, mVar., Finale; Op. 33a; Also V vn Var.
Op. 34; Op. 35, No. 5.
2. Seetions of two rows presented harmonieally at the same We are now in a to draw certain eonclusions based on
time: Op. 28, No. 3; Op. 31, Introduetion, VI Var. these tabulations. Earlier in this paper it was said that
row could easily used as a "funetional
C. Combinations of harmonie and eontrapuntal uses. did not so use it. Secondly, it was shown
1. The single row may be aeeompanied by ehords derived from that eonsidered the row as having
seetions of other rows played vertieally: Op. 23, No. 5; a motival signifieanee. Most of the uses listed as eontrapuntal eould
Op. 26, B; Op. 30, In; Op. 31, Thema, IVVar., VIIIVar., be . on either count-with the possible exeeption of Alc.
Op. 35, No. 3. those rows that are broken into three eonstant segments
2. Two contrapuntal rows aeeompanied by harmonie groupings (type b of the classifieation of rows)-see p. 51-are usually not open
of additional rows in other parts: Op. 27, No. 2; 21 Op. 31, to the to be raised in the paragraphs that follow im-
Var. II. sinee the four notes in each section almost always tend to
3. Parts of the row may appear melodieally, aecompanied by and even when given are eapable
ehords made from the remaining notes of the same row: of developing as mueh meaning as the first three notes of the
Op. 25, Intermezzo, Menuett; Op. 29, No. 1; Op. 35, No. 1. diatonie functional mode given on p. 46. One needs a
4. This type might be eonsidered as a variant of the one above, broader mind to bestow a sanetion on the harmonie distributions of
or as one of the pure harmonie types. The full row appears in a single row But when We come to sueh tortuous eombina-
eaeh measure, for the most part distributed in ehords. At the tions as rhose in measure 19 oi the third movement (Intermezzo) of
same time, groups of from two to four notes are extraeted the String 30, no sueh interpretation is possible:
and arranged melodieally in sueh a way that the melodie
EX.2
groups from suecessive measures fit together a further row.
This means that these melodie notes fulfill two functions at
the same time-they are part of the row completed within the
measure, and they are part of another row that flows along
melodieally through aseries of measures. Op. 23, No. 4 is
entirely eonstrueted on this prineiple-the part for the singer

21 This handling of the row starts at the end of the second measure. The

actual beginning is too much of a freak to warrant aseparate heading in the

table above. The four voices start in unison or the octave with the first four
notes of the row. On the nex! two beats, they diverge, each voice taking its
share of the fifth to eleventh notes of the row, and on the last beat they all This passage eould be "parsed" almost equally weH following four
come together again in unis on on the twelfth note of the row. different rows: the transposition of the prime 7 steps up, the trans-
 Richard S. Hill Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 61
60

position of the mirror 10 steps up, the transposition of the mirror 4

steps up, and the transposed crab of the mirror 10 steps up. The first
two of these are illustrated in the above example. The rows
are:
dbaj:j:eg c ctt f:!:} f g:!:} d:!:} a
Primeup 7
Mirrorup 10 aj:j:cj:j:d güf c b ftt g e a dtt

The first eonneets notes in melodie fragments, the seeond proceeds

more harmonieally, wirh the first six notes roughly in the first half
of the measure and the last six in the last half. Sehoenberg could not
possibly have hoped that a listen er would aceurately identify the
row in this measure. No more dun three notes of any row occur in
juxtaposition-and sinee juxtaposition of a melodie or harmonie
sort is eertainly neeessary to establish motival or modal signifi-
cance, it must be dear that Sehoenberg's idea oE the row does not
necessarily indude either signifieanee all of the time.
A further example may be quoted, from measures 172-175 of the
String Quartet, Op. 30, BI. Here the transpositions are seleeted on
the basis of their last two notes. The rows used are:
Mirrorup 9 a c ctt g e b att f
Primeup 6 ctt aÜ a dtt m b c f
Prime untransposed <7 e dtt a c ftt b
Mirrorup 3 "dj:j: fj:j: g c:!:} aj:j: e b
All sorts of practiees are packed into this one example-melodic seg-
ments played against harmonie aecompaniments; one note of a
ehord followed by a melodie segment in a different part, with the
row then bending back to fill in the rest of the notes of the first
chord; and, in the last statement of the third row (erab of the un-
transposed prime), a melodie segment in the bass aecompanied
three ehords. If these three ehords had occurred eonstantly with the
same notes associated, it might have been possible for the sets of
three notes to have become so dosely allied that "inversions" of the
chords would have acted as funetional units. As it happens, these
sets of tones occur no oftener than other sets or arrangements of the
same tones. Therefore, when we find the notes distributed in the
following orders (reading from the viola upwards): 8, 7, 9; 5, 6, 4;
ftt gtt d
w ....Jy
e g a
1
gj:j: ••••..l.'!f _ _ _ _ _
@
c:!:} gtt d
c a d gj:j:
and 2, 1, 3, we ean see that the motival significance of the
row has been completely destroyed.
Examples could be multiplied indefinitely, but, sinee most of
them would boil down to some similar types of random distribu-
tion of the row-notes, these two will suHice for present purposes.
They are by no means exceptional passages-horrible examples to
the uninitiated-but are strietly typical of by far the greater
part of Schoenberg's later eompositions. Obviously, such distribu-
tions of the row could not be sensorily pereeived and intelligently
grasped as motival structures however much practice the listener
may have had in hearing such music. What is more, successive tones
are related in so many different ways that it would be utterly impos-
sible for them ever to acquire functional eharacteristies. The signifi-
cance-even the importance-of the row as an abstract coneept is
62 Richard S. Hill
easy to appreeiate, but the utter disregard with whieh Sehoenberg
at times twists it ab out renders it totally meaningless as either a har-
monie or melodie strueture. Tones, after all, eanno! be arbitrarily
related. A natural melodie movement is aehieved only by obeying
fundamental psyehologieal laws-laws whieh, although unformu-
lated at present, are doubtless analogous to those of "pereeptual
motion" in re cent psyehological theories of vision-and Schoen-
berg, unconsciously or driven by the exigeneies of his system, is
constantly disregarding them. When Schoenberg sets the ear the
task of following such eomplicated patterns, the ear simply pays no
attention.
Ir is difficult to understand just wh at is happening. Sehoenberg's
own statements show that he is completely eonscious of the motival
signifieanee of the row, and yet he eontinually so disrupts it that he
might just as weH be writing pure atonal music. Apparently the
reason for this is that Schoenberg works in a manner eombining em-
piricism and unconfirmed hypotheses in about equal measures. An
able and ingenious theorist, he is nevertheless mi sIed by coneepts
pieked up from other people, and these coneepts have tended to
delay his instinctive advanee towards his goal. The whole advance is
further retarded by the fact that no one seems to have a very dear
idea of what the ultimate goal iso All the experimenters are eom-
pletely satisfied with temporary solutions of immediate problems,
and are forever prodaiming "basic laws" of twelve-tone eomposi-
tion, which in reality are no more than passing reactions.
Sehoenberg, for instance, has arrived, in one way or another, at
two interacting principles that together result in most of the types
of confusion described above. The first prineiple is that the row
must be used as a complete unit and that parts 0/ it cannot be re-
peated until all the other parts have been used. The second may be
formulated: no matter how obliquely stated, the row maintains its
validity. If in the same part any fragment of the row is to be fo1-
lowed by a fragment from another row, then, following the first
prineiple, the remainders of these two rows must be packed some-
how into the other parts. If, at the same time, an interesting and
natural counterpoint is attempted, the logie of the row is more
often than not eompletely destroyed by the dose limits within
Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 63
which the composer must work. sinee destruction of the logic
found neeessary, he 15 forced in self-defence to
VUHL'",,,_,, the seeond prineiple, and random statements oE the row
Such examples of strange logic are not hard to understand. It
must be remembered that music is in an early and un-
settled stage of that process of evolution described by Herbert
Spencer as the passing from the homogeneous to the heteroge-
neous. The same process up again in Spengler's eultural theo-
ries, and in !ate years ir has been found by Coghill to be abasie law
in the development of neurological patterns. We should therefore
?ot be surprised if our twelve-ton~ system, in evolving from a
homogeneous glomerate to a clearly defined system of heterogene-
ous 1S subjected to certain temporary retrogressions and
"_'~~"V","~.~' eonfusions.
.
messence, seems to 'oeh t _e crux orr tne
L
matter. Although
somewhere within the twelve-tone system pleasing and meaningful
eontrapuntal and harmonie relations lie hidden, the problem of
how to discover and extract them has not yet been solved. Sehoen-
berg's method of composing is at present too cluttered with false
assumptions to press through eeonomieally to the desired end.
Perhaps when future historians ex amine this period, will be
able to fit these assumptions into aseries of ;atural stao-es in the
evolution of the syste~, and the adjective "false" will h:ve to be
At any rate, if the proeess of development is to continue,
one of two things probably must happen. Either (1) aB the
paraphernalia and catch phrases of the row and atonality should be
consigned to the past, and the twelve-tone composers
should proceed on their empirieal seareh, trusting solely to their ear
and instinct for organization, or (2) they should concentrate upon
the of a mode or modes.
The first alternative would undoubtedly require a long quest, but
there is no reason why ultimate suecess should not await the com-
posers-partieularly if learn to forget that the twelve-tone sys-
tem is to be kept completely functionless. Alois Haba, in his article
in the eolleetion oE essays published as >Arnold Schönberg zum
64 Richard S. HilI
60. Geburtstag<,22 seems to be arguing for such areturn. Wirh re-
spect to the second alternative, it should be observed that most
music has been based on some sort of a mode. When the system i5
new and untried, a number of modes are likely to be in use. As the
potentialities of the system become more clear, effon 1S concen-
trated on a limired number. Twelve-tone composers following the
second alternative would at first manufacture their own rows or
functional modes-as they, in fact, are now doing. As time went on,
a body of these modes would come to be recognized as superior to
the rest. These in turn would probably be whittled down until
finally only a chief and a couple of subsidiary modes would be left.
But, to make even a start on the road, the loose conception of the
row would have to be abandoned, and in its place a functional mode
established. This would me an that the mode could not serve two
purposes at once-it could not define both the harmonie and the
contrapuntal texture at the same time. Once a system is weH estab-
lished, a row can be devised-such as the diatonic row on p. 46-us-
able, with discretion, for both purposes. But at present there 1S too
much opportunity for confusion. Instead, either the mode should
be used to establish the contrapuntallines (as in medixval times), or
aseries of "chords" or segments of the row should be devised, and
the notes of these segments continually associated with each other.
This latter method, however, does not seem as rich in possibilities
as the former, since it would require each note to appear function-
ally only once in each prime and mirror. Furthermore, the contra-
puntal use of the row is substantiated by the medixval usage. The
resulting "free polyphony" would not be bound by the harmonies
thus produced, although of course it would be necessary to have the
parts weave ab out in such a manner that they produced, on accented
beats, "acceptable twelve-ton consonances" -not necessarily thirds
and fifths. At first, the harmonies would have litde functional signi-
ficance, but gradually, as a selected set of rows was established and
typical progressions were thus discovered, the harmonies would
undoubtedly acquire a definite set of functions.
If the row were used as a mode, it would not be necessary to treat
22 Universal-Ed., 1934, p. 15.
Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 65
to be kept intact at all costs. Successive
dead intervals, would not need to be con-
structed on successive segments of the row. Ir should be perfectly
to repeat the same segment on the same nates or in se-
quences without having the rest of the notes occur in the other
parts. Ir would not be necessary to continue through the whole row
any more than it is necessary to play the entire scale at present. Re-
versals in direction would be common. At first, it would probably
be best to avoid unprepared leaps from one part of the row to
another within the course of a single phrase, si;ce they would tend
to establish new relations not induded within the pattern of the
row. The restrietion would be that ~ne could pro-
ceed from any note only to one of the four nates next to it in the
series-that is, to the note before and after it in the Drime and mir-
ror. For instance, a melody could be started on the first tone of the
diatonic row given above and proceed only as far as g, e. Since e may
either go to f in the prime or to d or g in the mirror, we might elect
to jump to the mirror and proceed with e, d, b, c, f If our melodie
desires so dictated, we might next jump to the f of the prime and
proceed in crab fashion wirh f, e, g. This would, of course, destroy
the last vestige of the motival nature of the row, and in its place sub-
stitute that of the functional mode. But after whv not-? Motives
are things that should vary with each piece; modes ~ust stay fairly
constant. iE the pro gram suggested above were adopted, the
functional modes would indeed soon be selected and established,
and the permissible progressions would then seem to be the only
natural and logical directions away horn any given tone.
There are rather more hypotheses in all this than should appear
in asound theoretical paper, and many of them would doubtless be
modified if put to the test of actual practice. Most of them, how-
ever, seem to be based on more fundamental and recurrent laws of
human nature than does the row in its present form. Nevertheless,
enters upon dangerous ground the moment it gets ahead of
practice. Two things only make it seem probable that practice may
here catch up with theory, and the "row" be turned into a func-
tional mode. The first of these is that Schoenberg is already loosen-
ing up his treatment of the row as a consecutive series. In the
66 Richard S. Hill
Chorus es for men, Op. 35, the handling oE sections of the row is
particularly free. In ,Das Gesetz<, Op. 35, No. 2, meas.29-31,
only the first tenor follows the consecutive row. The other three
voices sing three-note groups, derived from the row, but not ad.ding
up into one. The first and second three-note segments of the mlrror
are each used three tim es and the third and fourth sections
once. In other pieces, particularly ,Landsknechte<, No. 5, the tem-
porary revers als in direction are more frequent and extend further
rhan in any of the earlier compositions. This does not go as far as
the practices suggested above, but it dearly contributes to the
loosening of the bonds of the row.
The second advance seems even more fundamental. It was said
above that the transpositions in the works from Op. 25 to 31 do not
signifiy functional modulations. They are used solely to allocate
patterns to certain desired notes. The process described under C4
on p. 58f. is used frequently with a different transposition dictated
by each pair of melody notes. Another type is illustrated in Ex. 3 on
p.61. Obviously the transpositions are only selected as they afford
the interval, g-sharp to d, featured in the cello, and have no further
significance. The chosen interval, however, is treated in a mann er
quite consonant with general musical practice, and the final Iower-
ing of its last note brings about the desired dimax without giving
any hint of modulation.
During the same period, the transposed rows are used contrapun-
tally in all sorts of simultaneous combinations. In fact, simulta-
neous combinations of transpositions are the ruIe, rather than the
exception, in all the compositions of this period. The complications
in their use rise to a peak in the Orchestra Variations, Op. 31. The
first Variation has in its first two measures an untransposed prime in
two positions, a prime transposed up 3 steps, and two mirrors
transposed up 3 and 6 steps-all five running parallel.
The method is not without precedent during the mediceval pe-
riod, when each voice was commonly written in a different mode.
Indeed, one of the principal topics of Glareanus' ,Dodekachordon<
is how one may determine the mode of a composition when each
voice is in a different mode. Nevertheless, it is with a feeling of re-
lief that one comes to Op. 32, ,Von Heute auf Morgen<, and rinds
Tone-Rows and the Tonal System of the Future 67
are treated as functional modulations. The
was first put into practice facetiously in the cantate
28, No. 3, in order to ape dassical
mOaULl.tl,::ms; it was first seriously in Op. 32. No rows
are combined and throughout,
when a new transposition appears, all simultaneous rows are in the
new " ,,:vhat 1S more, arias, duets, and set numbers in general
begin and end in the same key, with a natural series of modulations
occurring during their course. Of the piano pieees of 33, the
second 1S in the "tonic" and the first has only the
fourth of its five pages in "supertonic" and "dominant" transposi-
tions. the >Begleitungsmusik für eine Lichtspielszene<, is
dassical in form. Starting in the tonic, it continues there for
three pages of the score, modulates to the dominant, and then
moves what in dassical times would have been called
the dominant, subdominant, and supertonic of the original key. The
fast middle section starts in the sub dominant, but modulates
all the possible twelve keys. before the dimax wirh its
rapid return to a slower tempo, the tonic enters once more and con-
tinues from measure 164 to the end (measure 219) wirh one
short section of nineteen measures in other keys.
We have now covered the various points of the survey, since
have been scattered widely over several fields, perhaps it would
be convenient to weave the chief themes into a postlude.
It was maintained that the twelve-tone system grew in natural
fashion the fusion of the seven regular and five auxiliary
tones of the diatonic scale, and was therefore the logical successor
to that system. The organization of this new constellation of tones,
raised various problems, due chiefly to two factors, one
inherent in the system and the other owing to its place in musical
his tory. Since the tones of the system are equally distributed and
present no external clues to show how the tones are to be grouped,
the old idea of a mode made up of consecutive but irregularly
spaced tones could not be used. In searching about for a solution, it
seemed that Schoenberg's row-nearly submerged, it is true, under
the collection of immature and transitory notions engendered by its
68 Richard S. Hill: Schoenberg's Tone-Rows
being the immediate successor of the somewhat decadent ~nd over-
functionalized diatonic system-held the kernel of an Idea. As
Schoenbero-b himself used the row, he destroyed. its functional and
motival significance by distributing the notes m too random and
complicated a fashion. Ir was felt that, if the row were treated other-
wise, i.e., as a functional mode-with all the liberties and restrictions
this would permit-, the treatment would aid immeasurably in the
process of either extracting the functions inhere~t in the tw~lve­
tone system or in at least endowing that system wlth an orgamzed
structure consonant with the requirements of the human mind.
The pro gram is suggested only tentatively, with the ful1 realiza-
tion that only practical experiments in composition can establish its
validity, and with the further realization that the speech of the
Archangel Gabriel, closing Schoenberg's poem, >Die Jakobsleiter<, 1S
here peculiarly apt: Ob rechts, ob links, ob vorwärts oder rückwärts,
bergauf oder bergab-man hat weiterzugehen, ohne Ztt fragen, was
vor oder hinter einem liegt. 23
23 "Whether to the fight, whether to the jeft, wh ether forwards or back-
wards, up hill or down dale-a man has to go ahead, without questioning
what lies before hirn or what behind."
Stimmen. ?v'Ionatsblätter für Musik. Heft 16 (1949): Zum 75. Geburtstag Arnold Schönbergs,
S.447-452.
SCHÖPFERISCHE SYNTHESE
Von JOSEF RUFER
"Der Glaube an die alleinseligmachende Technik müßte unter-
drückt, das Streben nach Wahrhaftigkeit gefördert werden. " Dieser
Satz findet sich in einer vor rund vierzig Jahren erschienenen Schrift
Schönbergs >Probleme des Kunstunterrichts<. Er müßte zu Beginn
und Ende jedes theoretischen Werkes stehen, das sich mit Komposi-
tionslehre befaßt. Denn er besagt implicite, daß die noch so voll-
kommene Beherrschung des komposi-tionstechnischen Handwerks
- so nötig sie ist - niemals ein Kunstwerk hervorbringen kann,
wenn die schöpferische Phantasie Im Anfang war die Musik-
das ist das einzige Dogma, das Schönberg, der Komponist, der Leh-
rer, der Theoretiker, anerkennt. Technische, theoretische und ästhe-
tische Faktoren an sich sind für ihn, wie für jeden schöpferischen
Künstler, nie eine gegebene Größe, sondern etwas von Werk zu
Werk Variables. deren Art und Verwendung ausschließlich
und für Werk immer wieder neu aus seiner besonderen Struk-
tur, wie sie Inhalt und Darstellung ergeben, abzuleiten sind. Der
Rang eines Kunstwerkes wird ja wesentlich davon bestimmt, ob es
- auch des Gesamtwerks eines Komponisten - eine solche
besondere, nur ihm eigene Struktur besitzt. Sonst würde man ja
beispielsweise mit der Analyse eines einzigen Werkes von Beetho-
yen mehr oder weniger schon alle übrigen kennen. Klischee und
Kunst aber schließen einander im Grunde aus.
Nichts wäre daher verkehrter, als bei einer Analyse Schönbero--
scher Musik von der technischen Seite auszugehen, etwa vom Pri~­
zip der Zwölftonreihe, das dieser Meister in den Werken der letzten
fünfundzwanzig Jahre entwickelt und angewendet hat. Denn es ist,
genau wie die Tonalität, die es abgelöst hat, nur ein Kunstmittel,
und zwar eines der Kunstmittel neben und mit den anderen, wie sie
während der letzten von den Meistern allmählich