and
Webern's Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9
(Sechs Bagatellen fur Streichquartett)Webern's Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9
Free to Read and Print at Scribd.com.
Author: Payman Akhlaghi (1999)
Graduate Paper Toward Degree of MA in Composition | UCLA, 1999, 28 Pages
Supervising Professor: David Lefkowitz
© Copyright: 1999, 2011, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved for the author.
(*) This academic paper includes background information and analysis mainly focused on Pierrort Lunaire (Arnold Schoenberg); a less extensive discussion of Six Bagatelles, Op. 9 (Anton Webern); and a certain conclusions on the nature of Modernism in 20th century classical music.
Excerpt from the Introduction:
"The primary thrust of this paper is an attempt in understanding the place of two quintessentially twentieth century compositions within our current discussion of Modernism and according to our present conclusions in the seminar for which the paper is being written. Yet, thereafter, it also tries to achieve a better understanding of Modernism itself, in the light of these two compositions. Here, something should be noted. Although at first this might seem to suggest a basically circular argument in nature, I believe it is far from being so. It should be rather considered a reflection of the dialectic relationship between the general definition of a class on one hand, and the particular species on the other. Indeed, this has been the methodology that was adopted from the outset by the seminar, and considering the illusive and controversial nature of the subject at hand, namely Modernism, it proved to have been a quite suitable approach.
***
For the purpose of our comparative discussion in regards to Modernism in the first half of the twentieth century, Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 (1912) and Anton Webern’s Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9 (1911-1913; pub. 1924) seem to be excellent candidates. To begin with, both of the pieces were composed within one year, both belong to two of the three pillars of the so-called Second Viennese School, and they were both composed during a period of close artistic contact between their respective composers. Furthermore, the sonic worlds of the two pieces manifest a sharp degree of departure from that of the music of the preceding periods. Listening to them, one can realize, without much hesitation, that they belong to our century; that they could not have been written in any earlier period; and that only our century, with all its extremes of tension and liberation could have justified their understanding, or even their existence in the first place.
Still, the two pieces could not have been more distant from each other. [...]"
Read or print the complete article for free.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Welcome to Pardess Rimonim's Comments Page!
Thanks for visiting my site. Please leave a note, and come back for latest posts. Best of wishes, Payman