Alban Berg: Music as Autobiography. Translated by Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch

396 Pages·2014·4.758 MB·English, German

by  Berg, Alban, Bernhardt-Kabisch, Ernest, Floros, Constantin

The central point of this book is the realization that the creative work of y
Alban Berg, which in recent years has moved to the forefront of schol- h
arly interest, is largely rooted in autobiography, so that therefore one p
a
can gain access to the music by studying the inner biography of its creator.
r
Accordingly, the first of the three parts of this volume outlines a char- g
acter portrait of this great composer. Part two considers the conditions o
i
relevant to a deeper understanding of Berg and of the Second Viennese b
School generally. In part three, then, Berg’s key works will be analyzed o
and semantically deciphered in terms of his inner biography. The study is t
u
based not only on the sources in print but also on the rich unpublished A
material. Alban Berg was incapable of composing without a program.

He needed an extra-musical stimulus. With him, personal experience s
a
was the indispensable condition of the creative process: the autobio-
c
graphic reference was all-important for composing.
i
s
u
“Arguably the best, most significant book about Alban Berg, because it
M
both provides new insights to musicological research about the impact
of the Schoenberg Circle and familiarizes interested music lovers with –
one of the most important composers of the 20th century.” (Professor
g
Dr. Rainer Bischof, Vice President of the Alban Berg Foundation, Vienna)
r
e
B
“Floros uses studies of the surviving sketches to illuminate his musi-

cal discussions in a way that goes further than any previous full-length n
study of this composer.” (Anthony Pople) a
b
Alban Berg
l
A
·

s
o
r
o
l Music as Autobiography
F

Constantin Floros is professor emeritus of musicology at the Univer- n
sity of Hamburg. Among his monographs are volumes on the origin i
t
of Gregorian neumes, about Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner, Johannes n
a Translated by Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch
Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven and György Ligeti.
t
s
n
Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch is professor emeritus of English and Compara-
o
tive Literature at Indiana University. He has translated several books by
C
Constantin Floros. CONSTANTIN FLOROS
www.peterlang.com ISBN 978-3-631-64597-0
264597_Floros_AK_A5HCk.indd 1 14.05.14 KW 20 02:20
The central point of this book is the realization that the creative work of y
Alban Berg, which in recent years has moved to the forefront of schol- h
arly interest, is largely rooted in autobiography, so that therefore one p
a
can gain access to the music by studying the inner biography of its creator.
r
Accordingly, the first of the three parts of this volume outlines a char- g
acter portrait of this great composer. Part two considers the conditions o
i
relevant to a deeper understanding of Berg and of the Second Viennese b
School generally. In part three, then, Berg’s key works will be analyzed o
and semantically deciphered in terms of his inner biography. The study is t
u
based not only on the sources in print but also on the rich unpublished A
material. Alban Berg was incapable of composing without a program.

He needed an extra-musical stimulus. With him, personal experience s
a
was the indispensable condition of the creative process: the autobio-
c
graphic reference was all-important for composing.
i
s
u
“Arguably the best, most significant book about Alban Berg, because it
M
both provides new insights to musicological research about the impact
of the Schoenberg Circle and familiarizes interested music lovers with –
one of the most important composers of the 20th century.” (Professor
g
Dr. Rainer Bischof, Vice President of the Alban Berg Foundation, Vienna)
r
e
B
“Floros uses studies of the surviving sketches to illuminate his musi-

cal discussions in a way that goes further than any previous full-length n
study of this composer.” (Anthony Pople) a
b
Alban Berg
l
A
·

s
o
r
o
l Music as Autobiography
F

Constantin Floros is professor emeritus of musicology at the Univer- n
sity of Hamburg. Among his monographs are volumes on the origin i
t
of Gregorian neumes, about Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner, Johannes n
a Translated by Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch
Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven and György Ligeti.
t
s
n
Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch is professor emeritus of English and Compara-
o
tive Literature at Indiana University. He has translated several books by
C
Constantin Floros.
www.peterlang.com
264597_Floros_AK_A5HCk.indd 1 14.05.14 KW 20 02:20
Alban Berg
For Ernest
Constantin Floros

Alban Berg

Music as Autobiography

Translated by Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at
http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Cover image: Alban Berg

Revised and expanded version of the German original edition:
“Alban Berg. Musik als Autobiographie” by Constantin Floros.
© by Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden, Germany.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Floros, Constantin, author.
[Alban Berg. English]
Alban Berg : music as autobiography / Constantin Floros ; translated by Ernest Bernhardt-
Kabisch. -- First edition.
pages cm
"Revised and expanded version of the German original edition: "Alban Berg. Musik als Au-
tobiographie" by Constantin Floros. Wiesbaden, Germany : Breitkopf & Härtel, c1992.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-631-64597-0 (alk. paper)
1. Berg, Alban, 1885-1935. 2. Composers--Austria--Biography. 3. Second Viennese school
(Group of composers) 4. Berg, Alban, 1885-1935--Criticism and interpretation. I. Bern-
hardt-Kabisch, Ernest, 1934- translator. II. Title.
ML410.B47F513 2014
780.92--dc23
[B]
2013039321

ISBN 978-3-631-64597-0 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-04684-7 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-04684-7
© for the English edition: Peter Lang GmbH
© for all other languages: Breitkopf & Härtel KG, Wiesbaden
Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Frankfurt am Main 2014
All rights reserved.
PL Academic Research is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH.

Peter Lang – Frankfurt am Main ∙ Bern ∙ Bruxelles ∙ New York ∙
Oxford ∙ Warszawa ∙ Wien

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any
utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to
prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions,
translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in
electronic retrieval systems.

www.peterlang.com
Table of Contents
Foreword ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1 Part One: Personality Aspects ........................................................................................... 3
1.1 Principles............................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Creativity ............................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Asthma ................................................................................................................................ 10
1.4 The “Godforsaken” City .................................................................................................. 17
1.5 Composing in the Country ............................................................................................... 24
1.6 The Insidiousness of Success ........................................................................................... 27
1.7 Humanity ............................................................................................................................ 29
1.8 Longing for Happiness or Deliverance through Art .................................................... 32
1.9 Fidelity ................................................................................................................................. 35
1.10 From Goethe to Wedekind .............................................................................................. 37
1.11 Irony and Skepticism ......................................................................................................... 45
1.12 Image of Woman ............................................................................................................... 48
1.13 Love of Nature ................................................................................................................... 51
1.14 Religiosity ............................................................................................................................ 55
1.15 Faith, Love and Hope ....................................................................................................... 58
1.16 Commitment to Radical Modernism and German Music ............................................ 61
2 Part Two: Theoretical Presuppositions .......................................................................... 65
2.1 Questions Regarding the Psychology of Creation ........................................................ 65
2.1.1 Inspiration as Gift from On High ................................................................................... 65
2.1.2 Experience as Condition of Creation ............................................................................. 67
2.2 Inward and Outward Nature............................................................................................ 69
2.3 From Overt to Covert Program Music ........................................................................... 72
2.3.1 Schönberg and Program Music........................................................................................ 72
2.3.2 Berg and Program Music .................................................................................................. 76
2.4 Fate and Superstition ........................................................................................................ 78
2.5 Numerology ........................................................................................................................ 81
2.5.1 Preliminaries ....................................................................................................................... 81
2.5.2 Schönberg’s Number: The Ominous 13 ........................................................................ 82
2.5.3 Berg’s Number: The Fateful 23 ....................................................................................... 84
2.5.4 Berg and Numbers ............................................................................................................ 86
2.6 Tone Ciphers ...................................................................................................................... 88
2.7 Magic Music ....................................................................................................................... 93
2.7.1 Doctor Faustus as Point of Departure ............................................................................... 93
2.7.2 Mirror Magic ...................................................................................................................... 94
2.7.3 Magic Squares ..................................................................................................................... 98
2.8 Symmetry and Palindrome ............................................................................................. 100
2.8.1 The Idea of the Retrograde in Schönberg .................................................................... 100
V
2.8.2 Parallelisms and Mirror-Symmetric Structures in Berg .............................................. 102
2.9 Tonality, Atonality and Dodecaphony: Transvaluation of All Values .................... 106
2.9.1 The Atonal Cosmos as Counter-Universe ................................................................... 106
2.9.2 Embracing Complexity ................................................................................................... 108
2.9.3 Berg’s Specialty: Tonal Elements in Dodecaphony .................................................... 110
2.9.4 Transvaluation of the Tritone ........................................................................................ 112
2.9.5 The Tonal as Symbolizing the Abnormal and Trivial ................................................. 114
3 Part Three: Life and Work ............................................................................................. 117
3.1 Helene and Alban: “The Story of a Great Love” ........................................................ 117
3.2 The String Quartet for Helene ....................................................................................... 127
3.2.1 The Autobiographical Background ............................................................................... 127
3.2.2 Genesis of the Work: From Tonality to Free Atonality ............................................. 129
3.2.3 Tectonics ........................................................................................................................... 133
3.2.4 Semantics: Echoes of Schönberg’s George Lieder and Wagnerian Motifs ................ 138
3.3 March of an Asthmatic: The Third of the Orchesterstücke op. 6 ............................ 142
3.3.1 Genesis and Autobiographic Occasion ........................................................................ 142
3.3.2 Musico-Semantic Hints ................................................................................................... 145
3.4 Wozzeck as a Message for Humanity ............................................................................. 151
3.4.1 An “Opera of Social Compassion”? ............................................................................. 151
3.4.2 The Characterization of Three Figures in the Opera:
the Captain, the Doctor, and Wozzeck ........................................................................ 153
3.4.3 The “Epilogue” to the Opera as “Author’s Confession” .......................................... 154
3.4.4 Excursus: The Epilogue as “Invention on a Key” ...................................................... 158
3.4.5 Wozzeck as a Parable ........................................................................................................ 159
3.4.6 Some Thoughts about Music between the Two World Wars ................................... 161
3.5 Berg, Schönberg and Webern: Profiles of a Friendship ............................................. 163
3.6 The Chamber Concerto:
Homage to Schönberg, Mathilde and the Schönberg Circle .................................... 167
3.6.1 Genesis of the Work ....................................................................................................... 168
3.6.2 Three’s a Charm ............................................................................................................... 170
3.6.3 Tectonics and Number Symbolism: The Numbers Three and Five ....................... 171
3.6.4 Thema scherzoso con variationi: “Freundschaft.” – The Schönberg Circle ........... 174
3.6.5 Adagio – Mathilde ........................................................................................................... 177
3.6.6 Introduzione: “Thunderstorm” – Grief at Mathilde’s Death .................................... 186
3.6.7 Rondo Ritmico: the World as a Kaleidoscope ............................................................ 189
3.7 From Helene to Hanna:
The Two Versions of the Storm Lied Schließe mir die Augen beide ............................. 195
3.7.1 Genesis .............................................................................................................................. 195
3.7.2 Dodekaphonics: Fritz Heinrich Klein’s All-Interval Row and the Mutterakkord ... 198
3.7.3 Comparison of the Two Versions ................................................................................. 202
3.8 String Quartet for Hanna: the Lyric Suite ...................................................................... 204
3.8.1 The State of Reseach ....................................................................................................... 204
3.8.2 Autobiographic Background: Sources and Documents ............................................. 206
3.8.3 Genesis and Overall Conception ................................................................................... 209
VI
3.8.4 Berg’s Analysis of the Lyric Suite .................................................................................... 214
3.8.5 Allegro gioviale (giocoso): “Clinking of Cups” ........................................................... 218
3.8.6 Andante amoroso: Hanna with her Children and with Alban................................... 222
3.8.7 Allegro misterioso: The Confession .............................................................................. 227
3.8.8 Adagio appassionato: Ardor, Passion, Explosion and Transfiguration .................. 237
3.8.9 Presto delirando: Terror and Torment after the Parting ............................................ 242
3.9 Largo desolato: Sleep and Death – Liebestod ................................................................ 251
3.10 Aspects of Lulu ................................................................................................................ 261
3.10.1 Berg’s Reading of Wedekind’s Lulu Tragedy ........................................................... 261
3.10.2 Lulu’s Rise and Fall ..................................................................................................... 265
3.10.3 Characterization of Persons, Passions and Ideas .................................................... 269
3.10.4 Musical Shaping ........................................................................................................... 273
3.10.5 Parallel Situations and their Musical Treatment ...................................................... 278
3.10.6 Lulu’s Bond with Dr. Schön ...................................................................................... 281
3.10.7 The Catastrophe Rhythm and the Fatal Five .......................................................... 284
3.10.8 Persecution Mania ....................................................................................................... 286
3.10.9 Alwa = Alban? ............................................................................................................. 288
3.10.10 Music in Slow Motion .............................................................................................. 290
3.10.11 From the Spoken to the Sung Word ...................................................................... 292
3.11 The Violin Concerto: Requiem for Manon and Berg’s “Farewell” to the World .. 294
3.11.1 The Biographical Background: Manon Gropius and Alma Mahler .................... 294
3.11.2 A “Birthday Homage” for Alma: Willi Reich’s Hermeneutic “Paraphrase” ...... 296
3.11.3 In Berg’s Workshop .................................................................................................... 299
3.11.4 Reconciliation of Opposites: Dodecaphony and Tonal Thinking ........................ 304
3.11.5 Andante and Allegretto: Visions of a Winsome Girl ............................................. 307
3.11.6 Allegro and Adagio: Death and Transcendence ..................................................... 318

Afterword: Berg – a Janus Face ............................................................................................... 329
4 Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 331
4.1 Unpublished Aphorisms of the Young Berg ............................................................... 331
4.2 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 333
4.3 Notes ................................................................................................................................. 333
4.4 Selected Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 363
4.5 Index of names ................................................................................................................ 383
VII
Photograph 1: Alban Berg
(with kind permission of the Alban Berg Foundation Vienna)