Anton Webern(1883 – 1945)

Who is the man behind the mask?

A PowerPoint presentation by:Jason Messinger

By Jason Messinger

“Doomed to a total failure in a deaf world of ignorance and indifference he inexorably kept on

cutting out his diamonds, his dazzling diamonds, the mines of which he had such a perfect knowledge.” –

Igor Stravinsky

Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern

(1883 – 1945)

There are a lot of questions you want

answered right?Let’s start with what works he has that makes

him a composer?

Passacaglia Op. 1Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen Op. 2Fünf Lieder Op. 3Fünf Lieder Op. 4Fünf Sätze Op. 5Sechs Stücke Op. 6Vier Stücke Op. 7Zwei Lieder Op. 8Sechs Bagatellen Op. 9Fünf Stücke Op. 10Drei kleine Stücke Op. 11Vier Lieder Op. 12

Works by Anton Webern

Vier Lieder Op. 13Sechs Lieder Op. 14Fünf geistliche Lieder Op. 15Fünf Kanons Op. 16Drei Volkstexte Op. 17Drei Lieder Op. 18Zwei Lieder Op. 19Streichtrio Op. 20Symphonie Op. 21Quartett Op. 22Drei Gesänge Op. 23Konzert Op. 24Drei Lieder Op. 25

Works Continued!

Das Augenlicht Op. 26Variationen Op. 27Streichquartett Op. 28Kantate Nr. 1 Op. 29Variationen Op. 30Kantate Nr. 2 Op. 31

Works Continued! (Again…)

So you think that's a lot of works?Let’s review and see just how long these songs would

last all together!!!

Passacaglia Op. 1Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen Op. 2Fünf Lieder Op. 3Fünf Lieder Op. 4Fünf Sätze Op. 5Sechs Stücke Op. 6Vier Stücke Op. 7Zwei Lieder Op. 8Sechs Bagatellen Op. 9Fünf Stücke Op. 10Drei kleine Stücke Op. 11Vier Lieder Op. 12

Works by Anton Webern

74’18 Minutes Just for this

Section!

Vier Lieder Op. 13Sechs Lieder Op. 14Fünf geistliche Lieder Op. 15Fünf Kanons Op. 16Drei Volkstexte Op. 17Drei Lieder Op. 18Zwei Lieder Op. 19Streichtrio Op. 20Symphonie Op. 21Quartett Op. 22Drei Gesänge Op. 23Konzert Op. 24Drei Lieder Op. 25

Works Continued!

75’20 MinutesFor this section!

Das Augenlicht Op. 26Variationen Op. 27Streichquartett Op. 28Kantate Nr. 1 Op. 29Variationen Op. 30Kantate Nr. 2 Op. 31

Works Continued! (Again…)

About 45 Minutes For this section!

How long does all of Webern's music last?

Roughly3 hours and15 minutes!

So what makes his music good?

Let’s take a look into Webern’s techniques!

Music involves the presentation of ideas that can be expressed in no other way.

Music operates according to rules of order based on natural law rather than taste.

Great art does what is necessary, not arbitrary.

Evolution in art is necessary.History – and thus musical idioms and

practices – can move only forward, not backward!

Webern's beliefs in music!

Webern argued in a series of lectures published posthumously as The Path to the New Music.Webern argued that twelve-tone music was the

inevitable result of music’s evolution because it combined the most advanced approaches to pitch (using all twelve chromatic notes), musical space (integrating the melodic and harmonic dimensions), and the presentation of musical ideas (combining Classical forms with polyphonic procedures and unity with variety, deriving every element from the thematic material).

Webern's belief with the 12 tone scale!

Webern regarded each step along the way from tonality to atonality to twelve-tone music as an act of discovery, not invention.This gave him, and Schoenberg, total

confidence in their own work, despite the incomprehension and opposition they encountered from performers and listeners.

Webern's view on History! (musical)

His 4th of his 5 Pieces for Orchestra Op. 10, scored for clarinet, trumpet, trombone, mandolin, celesta, harp, drum, violin, and viola, takes only 19 seconds to play.

His music achieves the utmost subtilization of expressive means.

He extended the principle of nonrepetition of notes to tone colors with the twelve-tone method.

Typically, each 12 tone row is divided into symmetric sections of 2, 4, or 6 members, which enter mutually into intricate but invariably logical canonic imitations.

Some interesting facts about his musical style.

Inversions and augmentations are inherent featuresMelodically and harmonically, the intervals of the major

seventh and minor ninth are stressed.Single motifs are brief, and stand out as individual

particles or lyric ejaculations. He first used the serial technique in his Drei gesitliche

Volkslieder (3 spiritual folksongs) 1924. The impact of Webern’s works on the general public and

on the critics was disconcerting, and upon occasion led to violent demonstrations.

The extraordinary skill and novelty of technique made Webern’s music endure beyond the fashions of the times.

Interesting facts continued

Now we have a general idea of Webern's

techniques!Let’s check out how he came about learning

everything by reviewing his life story!

Born in Vienna, Austria on December 3, 1883, as Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern.

Died on September 15, 1945 when an American soldier accidentally shot and killed him.

Anton Webern's Life Story!

Fun Fact:Webern Dropped

His middleNames and

The von in 1918 as Directed by the

Austrian Government’s Reforms after

WWI

First musical instruction was received by his mother who was an amateur pianist.

He played the cello in the orchestra while studying piano, cello, and theory with Edwin Komauer in Klagenfurt.

In 1902 he entered the University of Vienna, where he studied harmony with Graedener and counterpoint with Navratil.During this time, he also attended classes in

musicology with Guido Adler!He received his Ph.D. in 1906 with a dissertation

on Heinrich Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus II.

In 1904, he began private studies in composition with Arnold Schoenberg, whose ardent disciple he became!

Alban Berg also studied with Schoenberg and all together, they laid the foundations of the 2nd Viennese School of composition!

Their music was initially characterized by post-Romantic expanded tonality and later, following Schoenberg’s own evolution, a totally-chromatic expressionism without firm tonal centre (often referred to as atonality) and later still Schoenberg’s serial twelve-tone technique.

Malevolent opponents referred S.,B., and W. as a Vienna Trinity.Schoenberg – God the FatherBerg – God the SonWebern – Holy Ghost

The last appelation was supposed to describe the phantomlike substance of some of Webern’s works.

The 2nd Viennese School of Composition

From 1908 – 1914 he was active as a conductor in Vienna and in Germany.

In 1917 – 1918, he was the conductor at the Deutsches Theater in Prague.

In 1918, he settled in Mödling, near Vienna, where he taught composition privately.

He supervised the programs of the Verein für Musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Musical Performances) from 1918 – 1922. These performances were organized in Vienna by

Schoenberg with the intention of promoting modern music without being exposed to reactionary opposition.

Webern's life continued.

He was conductor of the Schubertbund from 1921-1922 and the Mödling Male Chorus from 1921 – 1926.

He led the Vienna Workers’ Symphony concerts and the Vienna Worker’s Chorus from 1922 – 1934.

From 1927 – 1938 he was a conductor on the Austrian Radio.He conducted guest engagements in Germany,

Switzerland, and Spain.From 1929, he made several visits to England,

where he was a guest conductor with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

For the most part, Webern devoted himself to composition, private teaching, and lecturing.

After Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Webern’s music was banned as a manifestation of “cultural Bolshevism” and “degenerate art.”

After Anschluss in 1938, his works could no longer be published.

He then simply taught a few private pupils and made piano arrangements of musical scores by others for Universal Edition.He was an editor and proofreader for Universal

Editon.

After his son was killed in an air bombardment of a train in Feb. 1945, he and his wife fled from Vienna to Mittersill, near Salzburg, to stay with his married daughters and grandchildren, where he believed he would be safer.

On September 15, 1945, during the Allied occupation of Austria, he was shot dead by an American Army soldier following the arrest of his son-in-law for black market activities. Despite the curfew in effect, Webern stepped outside the house to enjoy a cigar without disturbing his sleeping grandchildren. He was then shot by army cook Pfc. Raymond Norwood Bell.Pfc. Bell was overcome by remorse and died of alcoholism in

1955. Ironically, the war had officially ended by the time of Webern’s

assassination. (WWII)

Some personal facts about Webern

Now we know a good amount about Webern.Let’s put our new

knowledge and research together and analyze his piece, Wie bin ich Froh! No. 1 of Drei Lieder, Op. 25Follow this link to the

glogster about this pieceOr, listen to the music by

clicking on this speaker:

Or just go back to the wikispace

By Jason L. Messinger

The End!