“CONTEXTUALITY”
One strategy might be to observe a single motivic entity operating in Schoenberg’s music both in a context where it has differentiated degree functions and in one where it does not. A clue toward finding such a motive comes from a composition by Berg, a Kammerkonzert (“Chamber concerto”) for violin, piano, and thirteen wind instruments, which he composed in 1923–1925 and offered to Schoenberg as a belated fiftieth-birthday present. It opens with a five-bar motto in which Berg, using the German pitch-letter associations familiar from the famous BACH cipher (B♭–A–C–B), encoded Schoenberg’s name, Webern’s name, and his own name as musical themes played respectively by the piano, the violin, and a French horn from the accompanying band (Ex. 6-4):
ArnolD SCHönBErG = A–D–E♭–C–B–B♭–E–G;
Anton wEBErn = A–E–B♭–E;
AlBAn BErG = A–B♭–A–B♭–E–G
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 6 Inner Occurrences (Transcendentalism, III)." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2024. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-div1-006008.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 6 Inner Occurrences (Transcendentalism, III). In Oxford University Press, Music in the Early Twentieth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 12 Oct. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-div1-006008.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 6 Inner Occurrences (Transcendentalism, III)." In Music in the Early Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 12 Oct. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-div1-006008.xml
