Anton Webernâ•Žs Lied Settings of Poems by Karl Kraus

429 Pages·2015·3.56 MB·English

by  Jerry M. Cain

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2003
Anton Webern's Lied Settings of Poems by
Karl Kraus
Jerry M. Cain
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
ANTON WEBERN’S LIED SETTINGS
OF POEMS BY KARL KRAUS
By
JERRY M. CAIN
A Dissertation submitted to the
School of Music
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Awarded:
Summer Semester, 2003
Copyright © 2003
Jerry M. Cain
All Rights Reserved
The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Jerry M. Cain
defended on 14 April 2003.

Douglass Seaton
Professor Directing Dissertation

Jane Piper Clendinning
Outside Committee Member

Charles E. Brewer
Committee Member

Jeffery T. Kite-Powell
Committee Member
Approved:

Seth Beckman, Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies in Music
The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee
members.
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To my mother
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I take great pleasure in acknowledging the people and institutions that have
offered me assistance, both professional and personal, during the course of researching
and writing this dissertation. A generous award from the Presser Foundation funded my
research trip to Basel, Switzerland during August and September of 1997. I am grateful
to the late Paul Sacher for the opportunity to study and transcribe autograph manuscripts
held in the Anton Webern Collection of the Paul Sacher Stiftung, and I wish to thank the
staff of that institution for their courtesy and assistance, especially Felix Meyer, Johanna
Blask, Sabine Hänggi-Stampfli, Tina Kilvio Tüscher, and Christina Dreier. I also thank
Felix Meyer of the Paul Sacher Stiftung for permission to reproduce excerpts from my
transcriptions of Webern’s autograph sources. For permission to reproduce my own
condensed score arrangements of Anton Webern’s “Wiese im Park,” op. 13 no. 1, which
appear in Chapter 5, I am grateful to Universal Edition A.G.
To my dissertation director, Douglass Seaton, I offer my sincere gratitude for his
long-standing commitment to this project and for the warmth and humanity he has shown
to me throughout the process. I also thank my dissertation committee members, Charles
E. Brewer, Jane Piper Clendinning, and Jeffery T. Kite-Powell, for their invaluable
assistance, for the personal interest they have taken in my achievements, and for their
flexibility during the final stages of this project.
For translation assistance and many acts of friendship and kindness I am grateful
to Monika Hennemann. I also wish to thank Matthew and Sarah Ernst and their children,
Bobbie Faith and Morgan, for providing me a safe haven and a warm fire during the hard
Appalachian winter of 2003.
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Collectively, my family is the greatest blessing of my life, and I thank them all for
their unwavering advocacy and encouragement. I am especially grateful to my sister,
Aimee Cain, for her research assistance, steadfast friendship, and the pride in her eyes at
commencement. For countless acts of kindness through the years, as well as essential
last-minute computer assistance, I would like to express appreciation to my brother Joe
Cain, my sister Vicki Love, and my brother-in-law Russell Love. I am also thankful for
my brilliant and beautiful girls, Anna Lisa, Hailey, McKenzie, and Scarlett, for the
strength and inspiration they provide. My final and deepest thanks are offered to my
mother, Maxine Cain, to whom this study is dedicated, for her unconditional love and all
manner of support. In the words of Anton Webern, for whom the early loss of his mother
was the deepest tragedy, “Die Mutterliebe ist das Höchste; die Liebe der Mutter” (The
love of a mother is the highest form of love).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables ......................................................... viii
List of Musical Examples ................................................ ix
Abstract ............................................................. xiv
1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................1
2. SOCIAL CONTEXT OF KRAUS AND THE SCHOENBERG CIRCLE
Karl Kraus in the Viennese Milieu ...................................20
Kraus and the Second Viennese School Composers ......................32
Webern’s Reception of Die Fackel, 1905-1913 ..........................44
Webern’s Reception of Kraus’s Poetry, 1914-1924 ......................57
Webern’s Later Reception of Kraus, 1926-1936 .........................76
3. WEBERN’S COMPOSITIONAL PROCESS
Webern’s Compositional Process ....................................89
Notational Idiosyncracies ...................... ....................103
Locations and Types of Manuscripts for Webern’s Kraus Settings ..........110
4. WEBERN’S INCOMPLETE KRAUS SETTINGS
“Vallorbe,” M. 232 ..............................................113
“Vision des Erblindeten,” M. 236 ...................................162
“In tiefster Schuld vor einem Augenpaar,” M. 210 .. ....................193
“Flieder,” M. 246 ................................................214
“Mutig trägst du die Last,” M. 211 ..................................258
5. “WIESE IM PARK,” OP. 13 NO. 1
Manuscript Sources ..............................................279
Analysis of “Wiese im Park, Op. 13 No. 1 ........ ....................324
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6. CONCLUSION
Why Webern Set Kraus’s Poetry ....................................353
Webern’s Compositional Development as Evidenced in the Kraus Settings ..364
APPENDICES
Appendix A: “Vallorbe,” M. 232 ...................................387
Appendix B: Copyright Permission Letters ...........................392
BIBLIOGRAPHY .....................................................395
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .............................................413
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Kraus Poems Set by Webern ..................................61
Table 3.1 Autograph Manuscript Sources for
Webern’s Settings of Kraus Texts ............................111
Table 5.1 Manuscript Sources of Webern’s Settings of “Wiese im Park” .......280
Table 5.2 Sketches for Four Songs, Op. 13, Piano-Voice Reduction ..........323
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LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Ex. 1.1 “Wiese im Park, op. 13 no. 1, mm. 1-2 ..........................18
Ex. 3.1 “Flieder,” M. 246, PSS 103-0791, systems 2 and 3 .................99
Ex. 3.2 “Flieder,” M. 246, PSS 103-0793, example of linear composition ....100
Ex. 3.3 “Vision des Erblindeten,” M. 236, PSS 103-0781,
diplomatic transcription of the final page ......... ..............104
Ex. 3.4 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, PSS 103-0776, mm. 51-55,
atypical chromatic spellings ..................................107
Ex. 3.5 “Flieder,” M. 246, PSS 103-0791, continuity draft, page 1, system 1 ..109
Ex. 4.1 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, comparison of vocal lines ...................116
Ex. 4.2 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, PSS 101-0582, transcription .................118
Ex. 4.3 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, PSS 103-0779, mm. 18-21 (third system) .......125
Ex. 4.4 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, PSS 103-0775 & 0777, continuity draft,
mm. 17-22 ...............................................126
Ex. 4.5 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, continuity draft, comparison of
similar motives ............................................127
Ex. 4.6 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, vocal line of PSS 103-0777 mm. 1-2 and 6-7
with instrumental parts from PSS 103-0779 mm. 18-21. ...........128
Ex. 4.7 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, continuity draft, mm. 0-14, aggregate phrases ...135
Ex. 4.8 “Vallorbe,” M. 232, PSS 103-0779, mm. 0-5,
diplomatic transcription .....................................136
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