Matthew James, DMA student, saxophone

James Riggs, Major Professor

January 15, 2006
AnalysisofQuartett,Op.22,mvt.I,
for Violin, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone and Piano by Anton Webern
The five-measure introduction to the first movement of Anton Weberns Quartett, Op. 22
(1930) contains elements which, projected across the entire movement, provide it with a deep
level of organization. The use of a tone row which emphasizes the tritone, trichordal
segmentation, canon, generating motives, and the integration of rhythm, color and articulation
are all established in the introduction, and play out in remarkable fashion over the span of the
movement.
The importance of the tritone to this movement is immediately apparent when comparing
first and last notes of the tone row in any of its forms, as shown in the tone row matrix, Figure 1.
Within the movement, Webern creates elided row statements in m. 10 (where the G in saxophone
elides I1 and I7), m. 22 (where the C in violin and piano elide RI0-P0 and R0-I0), and m. 32
(where the G - this time in violin - again elides I1 and I7). The elision of rows results in closed
statements that begin and end on the same note. In addition, there are five instances where
adjacent rows share beginning/ending tones. These occur in mm. 5-6, 11-12, 27-28, 33-34, and
37b.

In all, fifteen row forms are used. No row is used more than once in each of the major

sections of the movement.

Figure1
Tone Row Matrix for Op. 22
C#
E
F
D
D#
B
Bb
A
G#
F#
C
G

A#
C#
D
B
C
G#
G
F#
F
Eb
A
E

A
C
C#
A#
B
G
F#
F
E
D
G#
Eb

C
Eb
E
C#
D
Bb
A
G#
G
F
B
F#

B
D
Eb
C
C#
A
G#
G
F#
E
Bb
F

D#
F#
G
E
F
C#
C
B
Bb
G#
D
A

E
G
G#
F
F#
D
C#
C
B
A
Eb
Bb

F
G#
A
F#
G
Eb
D
C#
C
Bb
E
B

F#
A
Bb
G
G#
E
D#
D
C#
B
F
C

G#
B
C
A
Bb
F#
F
E
D#
C#
G
D

D
F
F#
Eb
E
C
B
Bb
A
G
C#
G#

G
Bb
B
Ab
A
F
E
Eb
D
C
F#
C#

TheF#Ctritoneisalsousedinthismovementtocreatestructurethroughinvariance.
Webernbasestheentiretwovoicecanon(discussedbelow)onpairedrowsthatsharetheF#and
Cunderinversion.Figure2showsthat,insixofthepairedrows,F#andCrepresentthefourth
andninthnotesoftherow,creatingapalindromicsenseofunisons.Intheeightremainingrow
forms,F#andCoccupyotherpositionsinthepairedrows.
Figure2
InvarianceUnderInversionBetweenAllRowsUsedbyCanonicVoices
P1
I11

C#
B

A#
D

A
Eb

C
C

B
C#

D#
A

E
G#

F
G

F#
F#

G#
E

D
Bb

G
F

I5
P7

F
G

G#
E

A
Eb

F#`
F#

G
F

Eb
A

D
Bb

C#
B

C
C

Bb
D

E
G#

B
C#

R1
RI11

G
F

D
Bb

G#
E

F#
F#

F
G

E
G#

Eb
A

B
C#

C
C

A
Eb

A#
D

C#
B

RI0
R0

F#
F#

B
C#

F
G

G
F

G#
E

A
Eb

Bb
D

D
Bb

C#
B

E
G#

Eb
A

C
C

P0
I0

C
C

A
Eb

G#
E

B
C#

Bb
D

D
Bb

Eb
A

E
G#

F
G

G
F

C#
B

F#
F#

P10
I2

Bb
D

G
F

F#
F#

A
Eb

G#
E

C
C

C#
B

D
Bb

D#
A

F
G

B
C#

E
G#

3
I1
P11

C#
B

E
G#

F
G

D
Bb

D#
A

B
C#

Bb
D

A
Eb

G#
E

F#
F#

C
C

G
F

The introduction foreshadows the significance that the invariant tones will have in the
movement. In m. 4, both P1 and I11 converge to share the clarinets F#, interrupting the pattern
of imitation between the two voices (see Example 1). This is one of only three instances in the
movement where voices converge upon a unison. In the second instance after the introduction,
the two canonic rows converge on the C in violin, m. 10. Finally, at the climax of the movement
in m. 22, the C in violin represents an elision between RI0 and P0, and the C in the right hand of
the piano represents an elision between R0 and I0. The Cs in m. 22 represent the highest and
lowest notes of the movement, lending additional impact to that climactic measure.
Example1
ConvergenceUponF#inIntroduction,m.4

EvenwhenrowsdonotconvergeinunisonuponF#orC,Webernplacesthesenotesin
closeproximitytotheirinvariantcounterparts.Thenotesarefoundindifferentvoices,butare
ofteninthesameoctave,oftenseparatedbyasixteenthnote,butneverseparatedbymorethan

4
aneighthnote.OnefindsadjacentF#soradjacentCsinmm.3,7,17,22,25,29,3233,35,
36,38and39.
AlsoimportantisthesettingoftheF#Ctritoneinsuccessionasamotive.BothF#and
CareadjacenttonesinrowsI1andI7,andeachtimetheyareused(mm.10,13,21,32,and35
36),Webernsetsthetritoneoffasarhythmicallyexposedmotive.Webernsuseofthesefive
tritonemotivesispalindromic:inallbutm.21thetritoneusesrhythmicmotivea(seeExample
5).Additionally,inallbutm.21hepresentsthetritonemotiveinthethird,noncanonicvoiceof
theensemble(describedbelow).Noneofthesetritonemotivesareheardinthepiano.Example
2showsthetritoneasitappearsinm.32.
Example2
TritoneMotiveinm.32

Asestablishedintheintroduction,aprimeformoftheseriesisalwaysheardwithan
invertedform,resultinginanindexnumberthatisalways0.Asaresult,thereareonlyseven
differentpitchclassdyadsbetweencanonicrowsinthemovement,asshowninFigure3.These
dyadsresultinonlyfourdifferentintervalclasses(0,2,4and6).However,sincethetwo

5
canonicrowsarealwaysslightlyrhythmicallydisplaced(exceptfortheunisonsinmm.4and
10),thesedyadsarenotheardassimultaneities.Rather,dyadsbasedonoddnumberedinterval
classesareheardsimultaneously.
Figure3
SevenDifferentPitchclassDyadsBetweenCanonicRows

Interval
Class

1
B
C#

2
E
G#

3
F
G

4
D
Bb

5
Eb
A

6
F#
F#

7
C
C

Theintroductionisbasedupontrichordalsegmentationoftherow.Figure4showsthe
substructureoftherow,consistingofadjacenttrichordsbelongingtothreedifferentsetclasses.
Figure5showstheinstrumentsassignedtoeachtrichordoftheintroduction.Example3shows
thetrichordalorganizationoftheintroduction.

Figure4
TrichordalAnalysisofOp.22ToneRowP1

Figure5
TrichordalInstrumentationofIntroduction

Example3
TrichordalOrganizationoftheIntroduction

Withonlyafewexceptionsthroughoutthemovement,Webernmaintainsthetechnique
ofassigningeachdyadandtrichordtoadifferentvoice,asestablishedintheintroduction.
However,theorderofvoiceentriesfromtheintroductionisnotfollowedintherestofthe
movement.Oneexceptionisfoundinmm.615,wherethenoncanonicvoice(discussedbelow)

7
givesfullstatementsofI1andI7,andisfoundentirelyinthesaxophone.Anotherexceptionis
m.28,whereindividualtonesofI5andP7momentarilycrossbetweentheleftandrighthandsof
thepiano.
Whiletheintroductionusestrichordalsegmentation,bothdyadicandtrichordalmotives
areemployedthroughoutthemovement.Thecanonicvoicesfeaturedyadicorganizationinmm.
611,and2833,whichrepresentthefirstmeasuresofeachAsection.
Astudyofthehexachordalqualitiesoftherow,illustratedinFigure6,revealstwoself
complementaryhexachords.Additionally,Figure7illustratesthatthehexachordsare
combinatorialunderinversion.
Figure6
HexachordalAnalysisofToneRowP1

Figure7
CominatorialityBetweenP1andI4

TheintroductionimmediatelyrevealsWebernspreferenceforscoringdisjunctleapsof
atleastamajor7thorminor9th,ratherthanusingconjunctminorseconds.Examplescanbe
foundinboththetenorsaxophoneandviolin,whoseinitialmotivesintheintroductioninclude
leapsofaminor9th.Thesedisjunctmotivesserveaunifyingroleinthemovement,andare

8
foundthroughout.WhileananalysisoftherowforOp.22revealsWebernspreferencefor
intervalclass1betweenadjacenttones(seeFigure8),theminorsecondintervalisusedonly
fourtimesinthemovement(mm.4,10,25and38).
Figure8
IntervalClassAnalysisofOp.22ToneRowP1
Row P1:
IC:

C#

A#
3

A
1

C
3

B
1

D#
4

E
1

F
1

F#
1

G#
2

D
6

G
5

Theoverallformisalargescalepalindrome,withanABAformflankedbyan
introductionandcoda.Whiletheexistenceoftwolargerepeatedsectionsinitiallysuggests
binaryform,thepresenceofafermataatm.28,thecontrastingdynamicsandrhythmicnatureof
mm.1627,andthelandscapeofthetonerowsleadtothisconclusion.Figure9indicatesthe
formofmvt.I.
Figure9
FormofOp.22/i
Section
Measures
Rows

Introduction

Coda

1-5

6-15

28-37b

38-41

P1, I11

I1, P7, I5, I7, P1, I11

16-27
P10, I2, I1, P11, RI0, R0, P0, I0, R1,
RI11

I1, I5, P7, I7, P1, I11

RI11, R1

Theintroductionestablishestworows,P1andI11,thatareemployedinthecodain
retrograde,creatingamirrorimageofthenotesoftheintroduction.Also,P1andI11takeonthe
structuralroleofclosingouttheAsectionsofthemovement.Thisisdoneinsimilarfashion
eachtimeinmm.5(closeofintroduction),15and37b(closeofAsections),withfpclosing
trichordalmotivesbasedonrhythmicmotiveb(seeExample5).Theseclosingmotivesare
alwaysonpitches10,11and12ofP1andI11,althoughfoundinadifferentoctaveeachtime.

9
ThetonerowsandrhythmusedinthetwoAsectionsareidentical,exceptfor
instrumentationandcontour.ThefirstAsectionfeaturesthetenorsaxophoneasthethird,non
canonicvoice(discussedbelow),surroundedbythecanon.InthesecondAsection,thethird,
noncanonicvoiceappearsinviolin,clarinetandsaxophoneentirelyabovethecanon,foundhere
inthepiano.EachnoteofthesecondAsectionmovesinoppositecontourwhencomparedtoits
counterpartinthefirstAsection.
TheBsectionincludesapalindromearoundtheclimaxofthemovement,m.22.
Example3showsthepalindrome,whichfeaturesanescalationinthenumberofinstruments,
rhythmicactivity,anddynamics.RowsRI0/R0andI0/P0moveoutwardinbothdirectionsfrom
m.22.TheCsintheviolin(highestnoteofthemovement)andpiano(lowestnoteofthe
movement)serveastheaxisofthispalindrome,withtheouterendsatmm.2124.These
fortissimoCsrepresenttheloudestdynamicinthemovement.Rhythmisintegratedintothe
palindromeaswell:aconsistentstreamofeightsixteenthnotesmovesoutfromtheaxis,
culminatinginslurredmotivesinthepiano,saxophoneandclarinet.
Example3
UseofPalindromeinBSection,mm.2124

10

Thetwovoicecanonestablishedintheintroductioncontinuestotheendofthe
movement.Thetwoinvertedlinesareoffsetanduseduplicaterhythms,buttherestsbetween
imitativeentrancesarenotalwaysidentical.Therhythmicseparationbetweenduxandcomesis
usuallyasixteenthnote,butalternatesandcanbeaslongastwoeighthnotes.Asaresult,when
takingthisrhythmicinconsistencyintoconsideration,thisisnotastrictcanon.
Assetforthintheintroduction,thecanonsrolesofduxandcomesalternate,butno
consistentpatternplaysoutinthemovement.Figure10showsthepalindromicpattern
establishedintheintroduction,howeverthispatternisnotfoundelsewhere.Afterbeingshared
byclarinet,violinandpianointhefirstAsection,thecanonisfoundonlyinthepianoforthe
secondAsection.TheclimacticBsectioninvolveseachvoiceinpresentingthecanon.
Figure10
PalindromicPatternofCanonicEntrancesinIntroduction
Measure
Dux
Comes

m. 1-2
P1
I11

m. 3
I11
P1

m. 3-4
I11
P1

m. 5
P1
I11

11
IneachAsection,athirdvoiceisaddedwhichdoesnotparticipateinthecanon.This
third,noncanonicvoicefirstappearsintherhythmicallycontrastingsaxophonepart,which
clearlypresentsI1andI7frommm.615.ThisisshowninExample4.Thescoringfor
saxophoneisunique,inthatitsgreaterrhythmicactivityseparatesthecoloroftheinstrument
fromitssurroundings.Thenoncanonicvoicereturnsinmm.2837a,butisthistimesharedby
theviolin,clarinetandsaxophone,againperformingI1andI7,andduplicatingtherhythmof
mm.615.TheBsectiondoesnotfeaturethethird,noncanonicvoice,providingfurther
justificationformm.1627asaseparatesection.
Example4
Third,NonCanonicVoiceinSaxophone,mm.615

Theappearancesofthethird,noncanonicvoiceintheAsectionsaredissimilarin
anotherregard.Whilethenoncanonicvoiceineachinstanceusesidenticalrows,themotionof
eachcanonicvoiceisinvertedwhencomparedtoitscounterpart.Theonlyexceptionsarethe
finalnotesofI1inm.32,andthefinalnotesofI7inmm.3536,whichduplicatethedirectionof
theircounterpartsinthefirstAsection.

12
Thethird,noncanonicvoiceisalsorhythmicallyunique.Verticallyseparatedfromthe
canonicvoices,itisgivenrhythmicindependenceinthestyleofahocket.Asstatedearlier,
Webernsetsthetritoneoffasarhythmicallyexposedmotive.TheF#ofthatintervalalways
occursonthedownbeatofameasure(mm.10,14,32and36a/b).
Theintroductionsetsforthfourdistinctgeneratingmotivesthatsupplymotivicmaterial
forallvoicesthroughoutthemovement.Thesearelabeledasmotivesa,b,candcinExample
5.Thesemotivesarenotconsistentlypairedwithdynamicmarkings,articulation,pitch,or
instrumentation.(Oneexceptionisthatthepianopartdoesnotusemotiveaanywhereinthe
movement.)
Thecanonusesnomorethanthreeoftheseshortmotivesinanyonestatementofatone
row.Inm.6,thethird,noncanonicvoicebeginswithaportionofmotivea,butaddstwonew
rhythms,aandc,closelyrelatedtomotivesaandcfromtheintroduction.Motiveareverses
theorderoftheeighthandsixteenthfrommotivea,andaugmentsthefinaleighthnoteintoa
quarternote.Motivecrepeatstherhythmofthedyadfoundinmotivec.

Example5
GeneratingMotivesfromIntroductionand
RelatedMotivesfromThirdNonCanonicVoice

13

TheBsectionisthemostrhythmicallyactive,withallfourinstrumentsusedinclose
proximityaroundmm.2223,basedonmotivesa,candc.Thisrhythmicenergyisintegrated
withpalindrome,dynamics,andextremerangetomakem.22aunique,climacticmomentinthe
movement.Thecombinationofalltheinstrumentscreatesanewcolorwhichcontrastswiththe
sparse,economicinstrumentationfoundelsewhereinthemovement.
WhileWeberndoesnotconsistentlytieinstrumentationtotheuseoftherowinaserial
manner,hedoesintegratetheuseofinstrumentationintotheformofthemovement.Inthe
similarintroductionandcoda,eachinstrumentisheardseparately,playingminimalmaterialwith
onlyperiodicoverlapping.Asdiscussedearlier,thefirstAsectionfeaturesanactivesaxophone
partasthenoncanonicvoice,surroundedbythecanon.Thisistheonlyinstancewherean
instrumentisfeaturedinsuchaway,andsuppliesthissectionwithacolornotrepeated
elsewhereinthemovement.ThesecondAsectionsharesthesamematerial,howevereachnon
canonicmotiveisspreadamongviolin,clarinetandsaxophone,withthecanonplacedsolelyin
thepiano.
Theintroductionalsoservestointroduceeachinstrumentoftheensemble.Allfour
instrumentsarecapableofawidespectrumoftonecolorsanddynamics.Inparticular,theviolin
partincludesconsistentalternationbetweenpizzicatoandarcothroughoutthemovement,along

14
withtheuseofamute.Additionally,thesaxophoneandclarinetarecapableofawidedynamic
range.Finally,Webernstreatmentofthepianoisunique:successiveentrancesoftheleftand
righthandsalmostalwayspresentnotesfromdifferenttonerows,treatingeachhandseparately,
ratherthanasasingleunit.Acrossthemovement,therelationshipbetweentheleftandright
handsisrhythmicallyclose,withentrancesofthetwohandsusuallynomorethananeighthnote
apart.
Asearlyasthefirsttwomeasures,onehearstheabilityofthewindinstrumentstoblend
withothermembersoftheensemble.Despitethepotentialforgreatcontrast,thisblendinglends
ahomogeneoussoundtothework.Webernelidesinstrumentalcolorsbyrhythmically
connectingoneinstrumentsmotiveswithnotesthatareverycloseinregistertoanother
instrument.Whiletheverticalcombinationofvoicesmaysomewhatobscureauralidentification
ofthetrichordalorganization,theoverlappingofvoicescombinescontrastingtimbresofthe
ensembletogeneratealinearrhythmicmomentum.Inmm.12,forexample,thesaxophone
completesitsmotiveonlyawholestepunderthebeginningoftheviolinsfigure,thereby
creatingarhythmicandcoloristicconnectionbetweenthefirsttwotrichordsofthemovement.
ThisisshowninExample6.Afewadditionalexamplesofthiseffectincludemm.9,13,16,
and17.

Example6
ElisionofSaxophoneandViolinColors,mm.12

15

Themajor7thandminor9thintervals,firstheardintheintroductionbutfoundthroughout,
createrapidchangesoftimbrewithinsinglevoices.Thesetimbrechangesareperiodically
emphasizedbythefpdynamic,creatingfurthercontrastinthespanofonlytwotothreenotes.
Bothrhythmandinstrumentalcolorarefurtherintegratedthroughtheuseofhocket.The
useofhockettechniquetolinkvoicesresultsinlonger,connectedpassages.Measures68,20
21,2223,2930and3536allfeaturedisplacedrestswhichservetolinkthemusictogetherfor
measuresatatime.Also,asnotedearlier,thenoncanonicvoiceineachAsectioncreatesa
hocketwiththecanon.
Anothercompositionalelementestablishedintheintroductionisthesharingofidentical
dynamicmarkingsbetweeneachpaireddyadortrichordbetweenthetwocanonicvoices.This
consistentsharingofdynamicmarkingscontinuesthroughoutthemovement,withtheexception
ofm.16.Thematcheddynamicsservetointertwinevoicesandfurtherthelinearmomentum
andelisionofinstrumentalcolorsdiscussedearlier.
Thefivedifferentdynamicmarkings,includingpp,p,f,ffandfp,arenotconsistentlytied
tostatementsoftherow.Noraretheyconsistentlytiedtoarticulationorrhythmicmotives.
However,Weberndoesmatchdynamicmarkingstothelargescalepalindromicform.The

16
introductionandfirstAsectionuseonlyp,ppandfp,asdothefinalAsectionandcoda.The
climacticBsectionaddsfandfftobuildintensity.
Asintroducedintheintroduction,everynoteofthemovementiswrittenwithaprecise
articulationmarking.Webernemployslegato,staccato,accentsandpizzicatomarkingsto
increasethevarietyofinstrumentalcolorsalreadyathisdisposal.Butarticulationisnot
consistentlypairedwithpitch,dynamics,orrhythmicmotives.Toillustrate,Example7shows
thevariousarticulationstylesassignedtomotiveb.
Example7
ArticulationMarkingsAssignedtoMotivebinmm.3,17and20

Articulationplaysaroleinconjoiningthecanonicvoicesintheintroductionand
throughoutthemovement.Theirarticulationmarkingsareidentical,exceptform.21,2527,39,
and4041.Also,eachpresentationofthenoncanonicvoiceusesidenticalarticulation,despite
thechangeininstrumentation.Finally,whencomparingtheAsections,thesecondAsection
beginsbyduplicatingthearticulationofthefirstAsection,butsoon(bym.31)ceasesthat
duplication.

17
Insummary,numerouscompositionalelementsaresetforthintheintroductiontomvt.I
ofWebernsOp.22whichgivethemovementahighdegreeoforganizationandcohesion.
Canon,emphasisontheF#Ctritoneandinvarianttones,hocket,palindrome,dyadicand
trichordalsegmentationandelisionofinstrumentalcolorsweresomeofthetechniques
uncoveredinthismovement.Theidentificationoftheseelementsprovidesfascinatinginsight
intotheintricateinnerworkingsofWebernscompositionaltechnique,andgivesfurtherimpetus
toexploreadditionalworksbythis20thcenturycomposer.