berg's sketches for 'wozzeck': a commentary and inventory...

Berg's Sketches for 'Wozzeck': A Commentary and Inventory

David Fanning

Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 112, No. 2. (1986 - 1987), pp. 280-322.

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Berg's Sketches for W o t ~ e c k :A Commentary and Inventory

DAVID FANNING

IN 1975 the Wozzeck sketches were examined and commented on by Ernst Hilmar, having been made available to him by the composer's widow.' Subsequently they were catalogued, along with all the manuscripts in the Berg legacy, by Rosemary Hilmar.* It might appear surprising, then, that neither George Perle3 nor Janet Schmal- feldt4 makes more than passing mention of them in their important recent studies. In a sense the omission is not unduly sinful - not surprisingly, the majority of the sketches show Berg at work on constructional features of the opera which are already well known, and there is no evidence of hitherto undiscovered esoteric planning. Yet the sketches still have a fascinating story to tell, which until now has been passed on only in garbled form.5 In particular, there are new insights to be gained into Berg's ideas on leitmotivic features and connections between scenes, many of them contained in one sketchbook to be examined in some detail below; instances of eventually rejected or modified ideas also throw new light on aspects of the compositional process; finally, the accepted view of the chronolo y of Berg's work on Wozzeck has to be challenged in several respects.F

All these observations would be impossible without a more

' Ernst Hilmar, W o u e c k von Alban Berg (Vienna, 1975). In connection with the sketches the two most important chapters are 'Die Komposition der Oper: Versuch einer Zeitfolge' (henceforth EHKom) and 'Bemerkungen zu den Kompositionsskizzen' (henceforth EHBem). With the exception of two pages in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, all known Wozzeck sketches are in the Musiksammlung of the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna. Sketches referred to by Ernst Hilmar (p. 103, n. 103) in the Collection Meyer, Paris, apparently do not exist. (I am grateful to Dr Peter Petersen, Hamburg, for this information.)

Katalog der Musikhandschn3en, Schriften und Studim Alban Bergs im Fond Alban Berg und der weiterm handrchriftlichen Quellen im Besitz der i)steneichischen Nationalbibliothek, i, ed. Rosemary Hilmar (Vienna, 1980), Alban Berg-Studien, ed. Franz Grasberger and Rudolf Stephan, i: Veroffentlichung der Alban Berg Stiftung; henceforth RHKat.

George Perle, The O p e r a of Alban Berg, i: Wozzeck (Berkeley, 1980). Janet Schmalfeldt, Berg's Wozzeck: Harmonic Language and Dramatic Design (New Haven, 1983). With respect to the identification and interpretation of musical contents it may seem that

the present study leaves little intact of EHBem or, especially, RHKat. However, it should be remembered that both studies were prepared in a relatively short space of time and as part of very much larger projects. Their pioneering elforts should not go unrecognized.

It may be recalled that the composition of Wozzeck extended over a period of more than seven years, from the earliest sketches in mid-1914 to the completion of the last scene in short score in October 1921. In so far as Berg's unpublished letters assist in dating the sketches, I am indebted to EHKom.

BERG'S SKETCHES FOR WOZZECK 28 1

complete and accurate inventory than has been available hitherto. This is presented in broad outline in Appendix 1, together with summaries of problems of identification, features of special interest, and evidence for dating. Appendix 2 is a detailed inventory, which aims to identify each sketch or fragment to the nearest bar and to indicate the content and state of completion in each case. Appendix 3 also shows for which parts of the work sketches exist, in how much detail, and, perhaps most significantly for insights into the compositional process, which parts were sketched more than once.'

CATALOGUING PROBLEMS AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF MATERIAL

Most major discrepancies between the present inventory and that of RHKat are outlined in Appendix 1. In one case, however, the problem is so complex that it demands separate discussion. This will also serve to illustrate in general terms the kind of difficulty encountered in working with the Wozzeck sketches, before more specifically musical issues are broached.

Item 17 in RHKat has the same library index number as Item 4 (F 21 Berg 13/III), the same indication of foliation, but a markedly different indication of contents. In fact the contents given under Item 4 are substantially correct and those under Item 17 quite wrong. The latter refer instead to what may, in most essentials, be found in Item 6 (F 21 Berg 28/XXXVII) on ff. 14 and 17, the one remaining discrepancy being that the 'Harmoniestudien (Vorha l t e -~bun~en) 'are actually a sketch for the harmonic reduction of the opening of Schoenberg's op. 7 String Quartet which Berg made for his article 'Warum ist Schonbergs Musik so schwer ~ers tandl ich? '~ It is possible that these folios could have migrated to Item 6 from a previously self-contained Item 17 during the cataloguing process - both they and the intervening folios contain materials foreign to the rest of Item 6, which is Lulu material also catalogued as Item 79 - although the duplication of library index numbers for Items 4 and 17 is still unexplained. In any case 'Item 17' is now a phantom entry.

Although there is no mention under Item 6 of the materials from 'Item 17' that it in fact contains, it is said to include a sketch for Act 3, scene ii (the 'Invention on a N ~ t e ' ) , ~ supposedly on the reverse side of sketches for Lulu, which is not there. The mistake perhaps arises from a misinterpretation of the word 'Orgel' on f. 16", a possible abbrevia- tion for 'Orgelpunkt'; there is indeed a sketch including the word 'Lulu' on the recto. However, there does not appear to be any evidence

' Appendix 3 also shows that Act 1 , scene iv is the only large section of the work for which no sketch material is known, although it is probable that additional sketches also once existed for Act I , scene ii.

First published in Musikbfatter des Anbruch, 6 (1924), 329-41. Translated as 'Why is Schonberg's Music so Hard to Understand?' in Music Review, 13 (1952), 187-96.

In general such designations, and details of the formal outline of the opera as shown in Appendix 3, will follow those in Perle, The Operas of Alban Berg, i , 44-88.

282 DAVID FANNING

of a Wozzeck sketch here, and even allowing for the reference to 19-lined manuscript paper in Item 6 being a probable misprint, the format description (quarto) would be quite wrong. Since the sketches surrounding this one on ff. 14 and 17 (described under 'Item 17') are indeed in quarto format, it may be that the description of Item 6 in RHKat rests partly on misidentification (of material on f. 16) and partly on the format description of material now listed under 'Item 17'. Equally it may be that the indication of contents for Item 6 was taken over in error from Item 5 (also claimed in RHKat as a sketch for Act 3, scene ii with Lulu material present) and that this is in some way associated with the gap left by the transposition of the largely correct contents description for Item 6 to the ghost 'Item 17'.

In fact Item 5 does not contain a sketch for Act 3, scene ii. The relevant folio has descriptive analytical notes on the second move-ment of Mahler's Eighth Symphony, confusion probably having arisen as a result of the word 'Waldung' (the opening of Mahler's Faust setting) being read as 'Waldweg' (Act 3, scene ii of Wozzeck takes place on a 'Waldweg am Teich'). Such confusions can be unravelled with a little patience. More alarming though is the likelihood that further Wozzeck sketches lurk undetected elsewhere in the Berg legacy, which runs to thousands of pages.''

ITEM 1 + 3 IN VIENNA, OSTERREICHISCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK

However, careful examination of the known sketches already yields much new information, and some of the most interesting details are found in Items 1 and 3 in RHKat. Item 1 is a small volume in horizontal format, with pages numbered 2-40." I t contains sketches for the latter part of Act 2, scene iv leading into the opening of scene v. There follow more fragmentary sketches for the last three scenes of the opera. The sketches start roughly in the middle of Act 2, scene iv with what Berg elsewhere called the 'Todesahnung"* (Wozzeck's premonition of death). They are initially concerned with the overlap between the 314 Landler being played onstage and the 514 music of the Ostinato which eventually drowns it (see Example 1 ) . Although the orchestral parts are rather fragmentary, particularly as the sketch progresses, this does not necessarily imply an early stage of composition, since the whole point of the sketch is to combine passages which may have been worked out individually in some detail beforehand. This becomes clear on pp. 4 and 5, where two bars of the final version are omitted (bars 601-2), at precisely the point where the onstage music is not heard and the problem of synchronization does not apply.

l o As in Item 22 and (remarkably) Item 260 (see Appendix 1). Several sketches referred to in EHBem, including one shown in facsimile (ibid., 75) are no longer to he found among the catalogued Wozzeck materials.

" Few, if any, of the paginations in the Wozzeck sketches are the composer's own (see below, p. 287 and Appendix 1, Item 9).

See Item 18, F 21 Berg 13/VI, C 2.

I

BERG'S SKETCHES FOR WOZZECK

Example 1

[589] * IZ 3 6 : 5 - 7 + 1 L5911 Wie vie1 Uhr?

was sitzcst du da r I I -I

k I I

I . , I ,

1 .I. L I 1

1 1 1 I I I

I

I

11 Uhr I , I I tI II

I rd

So? ich m i n t > es mu0 splter sein die p i t wird einem lang bei der K u m e i l

There follows the Melodrama with Chorale, in which the First Apprentice delivers his drunken sermon to the accompaniment of onstage music only. Having sketched the rhythm of the voice part against the top orchestral line, Berg backtracks a few bars to the beginning of the chorale bass line in the bombardon, which will occupy the lower half of pp. 6-11. I t is derived from a chord progression used earlier in the scene (bars 447-65).13 Above this line

l 3 The process of derivation may be seen at its clearest in Berlin, Item 2; since the derived pitches are more definitive in this version than in Vienna, Item 1 , i t may be that the former was merely a neat copy or aide-mimaire.

DAVID FANNING

Example 2

interesting things are happening. O n p. 6, together with the beginning of the chorale bass, Berg jumps ahead some 40 bars to notate the beginning of the arpeggiated retrograde of the chord progression (bar 643). Below this he tries out a chord progression for the link between the scene of Wozzeck's drowning to the D minor orchestral interlude, that is, from the Invention on a Six-Note Chord to the Invention on a Tonality (Act 3, scene iv, bars 319-20; see Example 2). O n the facing page 7 is a sketch for the Barracks Scene (Act 2, scenes iv-v) starting with the Snoring Chorus (which in the final version will be transposed down a tritone - here it appears a t the pitch level of the original statement in Act 1, scene ii) and going on into a more or less definitive version of Wozzeck's opening phrases.

I t seems probable that the three new fragments here and the continuing thread of the chorale line were part of a single conception. In the sketch for the link to the Invention on a Tonality Berg experiments with semitone auxiliaries to the D minor triad with added ninth. He tries out a respacing of the first chord from the progression underlying the Rhapsody sections of Act 1, scene ii (referred to on p. 30 of this sketchbook as a 'Natur' leitmotif), and of course this is the same progression used for the Snoring Chorus whose top line only is notated on the facing page. I t is possible that this line of thought was associated with the arpeggiation Db-Eb-Ab in the opening of the chorale.


Example 3

[Scene]IV

As well as sketching the progression from the Rhapsody chord to that of the Invention on a Tonality, to which the upper four notes relate as lower chromatic auxiliaries, Berg writes, then deletes, a chord with three upper auxiliaries, and this may be recognized as part of the chord he eventually chose for the Invention on a Six-Note Chord (see Example 3). The full significance of the fragment of retrograde chord progression now becomes apparent. Its first arpeggiation has one note in common with, and three chromatic auxiliaries to, the Rhapsody ('Natur') chord, and its second arpeggiation contains the three pitch classes of the deleted triad eventually incorporated into the Six-Note Chord. This gives an insight into the genesis of the chord chosen for Act 3, scene iv, as well as a significant detail of harmonic consistency, at least in the composer's mind, between four widely separated scenes. It also suggests a characteris- tically Bergian conceit to do with the reinterpretation of the 'Natur' chord in the later stages of the work. Not only is there a transposition to the tritonal opposite pole for the Snoring Chorus, but there is the suggestion that the chord for the Invention on a Six-Note Chord was conceived as being, as it were, on the far side of the D minor-plus-ninth chord (in that it contains upper rather than lower auxiliaries), a concept broadly in line with the characteristic inversion and retro-grading of material as balancing forces in the later stages of Berg's structures.

At the beginning of the sketchbook there are sporadic indications of bar numbers which correspond exactly to the final version. From p. 7, however, they are about ten short. This is because Berg subsequently expanded the passage where the Fool approaches Wozzeck and smells blood (bars 650-70). The beginnings of this expansion (via an opening-out of the last chord in the retrograde progression) are worked out on pp. 8-1 1, together with the continuing chorale line and the now fully notated version of the retrograde progression. There- after Berg cuts past the 15-bar quasi-reprise of the presumably already-composed Waltz (bars 670-84) to what he called the Orgy.14 Here (on pp. 12-14) he drafts a systematically accumulating ostinato, details of whose construction are given by Perle.I5

After p. 14 a number of the original pages appear to be missing. A break in the binding is visible here (see Figure 1 ) . 1 6 But when f. 2' of

l4 See EHBem, 33. l 5 The Operas o f Alban Berg, i, 171-3. The sketch throws no light on the discrepancy noted by

Schmalfeldt (Berg's Woeeeck, 252). Original sources are reproduced by kind permission of the Musiksammlung of the

Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna.

286 DAVID FANNING

Figure 1. F 21 Berg 1311, pp. 14-15

Item 3 in RHKat (F 21 Berg 13lVII) is placed alongside p. 14 of Item 1 it can be seen that the sketch continues from the exact bar where it broke off (see Figure 1, top page, and Figure 2, bottom page). Furthermore, sketches at the 'end' of Item 3 link smoothly with the pages after the 'break' in Item l.I7 Pagination in Item 1 is continuous " This assumes that the folio currently numbered 1 , recto and verso, should be the last in the

item.

BERG'S SKETCHES FOR WOZZECK 287

h

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.- ... X : -I!, ,+ : !.;. .

7 : ' -

_ i ? <?-, * .

7 -fb> ;-- -;-;.-. -5,*,-...-.-.--- 7.-f:,5: ;.:.:--,;

, _ .. , . ., :. t.7:. 4.,e,. , , y v. . I .__ < _ . .

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,.. , C i . : i , . . - ,....: ./''t; . , . J.,-/-'--,. ,. ,.! . /;/j:(i ;,

Figure 2. F 21 Berg 13/VII, ff. 1'-2'

over the break, but need not be taken as the composer's own, even disregarding this evidence. There are many places in the other sketchbooks where pages are manifestly not in their original order,I8 and in certain cases it is evident that page numbers have been added since 1975 when Ernst Hilmar examined the sketches.Ig In Item 1 EHBem refers to 'Seiten 1 bis 13',*~clearly meaning pages now

'* See Appendix, 1, Item 9. l9 Compare Item 18, f. 4", with the facsimile in Ernst Hilmar, Wozzcck von Alban Berg, 74. 20 EHBem, 33.

288 DAVID FANNING

numbered 2-14. Following these pages Hilmar then makes reference to sketches for the March from the op. 6 Orchestral Pieces, sketches which are now to be found elsewhere (in Item 2, F 21 Berg 13/11). I t seems that the original continuation of Item 1 became detached2' and now forms Item 3 (though the correct order is not as paginated or as indicated in RHKat), and that the op. 6 sketch was inserted in error at some point, only to be removed some time after 1975.

Assuming that f. 1 should be the last in Item 3, the contents of this item then begin with the conclusion of Act 2, scene iv, picking up exactly where Item 1 left off and leading into the following scene until the sketch peters out in rejected ideas. Then Berg shifts, possibly by association with one of these rejected ideas containing an F # major triad (on f. 5"), to Act 3, scene ii,22 noting down the leitmotifs to be used at the point of Marie's murder (where they represent her dying

This leads directly to fragmentary sketches for the next scene (the second Tavern Scene), in which Berg tries out various forms of the underlying rhythm. This then links smoothly with the continuation of Item 1 (see Figure 2, left-hand page, and Figure 1, right-hand page). Somewhat obscured by the draft of a letter, the sketch now continues with the Song Wozzeck addresses in this scene to Margret (bars 161-8). Above the continuation of this sketch on the next page, Berg notes down the definitive pitches for the Invention on a Six-Note Chord, the next scene of the opera, albeit in the form of a dyad followed by a tetrad rather than as a single entity. This presumably represents the next stage in his thoughts on this chord from that already discussed (see Example 3 above).

Before proceeding with this new scene, Berg doubles back to make a more detailed sketch for part of Act 2, scene iv, noting down fugal entries for the passage around bars 614-1 7, with, exceptionally for the Wozzeck sketches, indications for instrumentation. Underneath are two short rhythm sketches. It is difficult to say whether these are directly connected with the fugal sketch (perhaps as a study for the Marschtempo in bars 622-5) or with another idea sketched in the same book, such as the Drum-Major's music or the product of a stretto of the rhythm for Act 3, scene iii. They might equally be an indication that a theme from the 'William Tell' Overture, or perhaps more likely the Radetzky March, was considered for the Dance music in the Tavern Scenes, along with the Don Giovanni dances and Rosenkaualier Waltz which do make an appearance (bars 439-42, 603-4; see Example 4).

The following 12 pages are largely concerned with the possibilities of the now established Six-Note Chord, its application to various

'' This seems to have happened in Berg's lifetime, since there is a draft of a letter on pp. 14 and 15 which appears to be continuous over the break.

22 See, for instance, bars 83, 86, 91K in that scene. 23 See 'Bergs "Wozzeck"-Vortrag von 1929' in Hans Redlich, Alban Berg: Versuch eincr Wurdigung

(Vienna, 1957), 324, translated as 'Berg's Lecture on "Wozzeck" (1929)' in Hans Redlich, Alban Berg: The Man and his Music (London, 1957), 280.


Example 4

images in the text of Act 3, scene iv (there are several abortive attempts at the passage accompanying the rising of the blood-red moon), and various modifications arising from the accommodation of leitmotivic reminiscences. This then leads into drafts for the vocal declamation in this scene.

There follows (on pp. 30-7) a list of leitmotifs headed 'Epilog'. Clearly Berg is proceeding to the Interlude following Act 3, scene iv and making a kind of inventory before deciding which themes he will combine in the middle section (bars 346-64). This list supplements the repertory of representational elements given by the composer and by Perle.24 For instance the accumulation of thirds leading up to the 12-note chord (as at Act 1, scene i, bars 1 3 6 7 and Act 3, scene iv, bars 361-4) is identified as 'der Sich aufrichtende', and among a cluster of musical ideas associated with Wozzeck 'der Gehetzte' is applied first to the theme in Act 2, scene ii (bar 272) heralding Wozzeck's entrance and then to his entrance theme first heard in Act 1, scene iii (bar 427),25 and 'der Emporte' to part of the opening theme of Act 2, scene iii (bars 368-9).26 Wozzeck's fugue subject in Act 2, scene ii, which also appears at the climax of the final D minor Interlude (and so, in a sense, of the whole work) is labelled 'Fatalistische' (see Figure 3).27 The association of the key of Eb minor with Wozzeck will be discussed under 'Modified and Rejected Ideas' below.

After the inventory of leitmotifs there are sketches for the climax of the D minor Interlude, marked 'Hohepunkt' (bars 364-6), and a rhythmic outline of the combination of leitmotifs immediately preceding it. This is followed by more leitmotifs, this time ones not featured in the Epilogue, and a fragment of the final scene of the opera. Finally there is a draft of the articulated orchestral glissando in Act 2, scene i, bars 139-40.

DATING VIENNA ITEM 1 + 3

Neither RHKat nor EHBem draws attention to the substantial portions of Act 3 material present in this sketchbook, and this

24 'Bergs "Wozzeck"-Vortrag' and Perle, The Operas ofAlban Berg, i , 93-1 17. 25 Number 10 in Perle's list (The Operas of Alban Berg, i , 106). 26 Not listed by Perle. Neither this nor the original 'Gehetzte' motif is, as Ernst Hilmar

suggests (EHBem, 34), a rejected idea. 27 Ernst Hilmar reads 'Das Fatalische' (EHBem, 34).

DAVID FANNING

-. .3. L -

Figure 3. F 2 1 Berg 13/1, p. 33

Figure 4. F 21 Berg 1311, p. 34


contributes to their implausible conclusions as to its dating. The fact that Berg is working on passages involving the combination of ideas, namely Landler and Ostinato in Act 2, scene iv and superimposed leitmotifs in Act 3, scenes ii and iv, strongly suggests that the composition is at an advanced stage. The appearance of exact bar numbers in Act 2, scene iv and of page numbers cross-referring to the Particell (RHKat Item 22, F 21 Berg 14) in the inventory of leitmotifs for Act 3, scene iv further suggests that the first eight scenes of the opera were already complete in short score (with the exception of refinements such as the precise nature of the orchestral glissando in Act 2, scene i, bars 139-40).

Circumstantial evidence supports this supposition. On 24 July 1919 Berg wrote to his pupil Gottfried Kassowitz that the first act and the second scene of the second act were finished and that he intended to complete Act 2 during that summer.28 We know that Berg was then interrupted by the need to copy parts for a performance of his op. 6 Orchestral Pieces in Dresden and by jobs for Schoenberg's Verein fur musikalische Pri~atauffuhrtm~en.~~ On 9 July 1920 he informed Kassowitz that he was about to set to work again on the completion of Act 2,30 and four weeks later he was able to report that he had composed three scenes and that he might manage two more before the end of the summer, which would then leave four scenes Ernst~ u t s t a n d i n ~ . ~ ' Hilmar suggests that the three completed scenes were the first, third and fifth of Act 2,32 and these may indeed be found in a fairly advanced state of completion in one sketchbook (Item 13, F 21 Berg 131x1). However, since this book contains only the latter portion of scene v, it may also be that Act 3, scene i, for which there are sketches in a separate book (Item 20, F 21 Berg 13/XIV), was the third completed scene, and that Act 2, scenes iv and v were the two he hoped to complete that year, leaving Act 3, 'scenes ii-v still to be composed. Item 1 + 3 would then represent the stage of composition immediately following.

In the event Berg's plans for the remainder of summer 1920 were interrupted by proofreading for the publication of his op. 3 String Quartet and op. 5 Clarinet Pieces, worries about the editing of the Anbruch journal, asthma attacks, still more work for Schoenberg's Verein, and his agreement to undertake a book on Schoenberg for the firm of Halbreither (the second such commission he accepted but never fulfilled).33 Completion of the composition had to wait until the summer of 1921. We know that Act 2, scene iv was still not entirely sorted out, because at this time Berg was informing himself on the

EHKom, 22-3 2g Ibid.,22. 30 Ibid.,23. 3' Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid.,2 4 5 .

292 DAVID FANNING

workings of the ac~ordion. '~ However, the sketches in Item 1 + 3 are not definitive at this point, so that no conclusions regarding dating can be drawn. By 17 August 1921, as Berg wrote to Webern, the second act was complete but the third only a quarter finished.35 This would appear to be almost exactly the stage of composition repre-sented by Item 3. Thus it seems probable that Item 1 + 3 dates from summer 1921 and certainly not earlier than summer 1920, that is from the last 15 months or so of the opera's seven-year period of gestation. A final piece of circumstantial evidence is that the 'Fatalistische' motif is almost certainly the one referred to in Berg's letter to Helene of 7 August 1918: 'I myself went uphill very slowly, rested frequently "according to instructions", and eventually, as I proceeded with heavy steps, there occurred to me . . . a long-sought idea for one of Woz- zeck's entrance^.'^^ As evidence for an earliest possible date this is consistent with the observations already made.

However, in RHKat Item 1 is dated May-June 1914, with the comment 'Diese Skizzen zahlen zu den friihesten Aufzeichnungen zur Oper' and an aberrant list of contents. In EHBem the description of the contents of the 'first sketchbook' is totally at variance with the material in Item 1 - in fact he refers to Item 1 as the 'second sketchbook'. This he dates to spring 1914 up to the break in the binding (between the present pages 14 and 15), then the rest to spring 1915 or 191 7, the two parts of the book being separated b sketches for the March from op. 6 which we know to date from 1914. &

What seems to have happened is that Ernst Hilmar was led to date the opening of Item 1 (his 'second sketchbook') to 1914 by the presence of the op. 6 sketch which should never have been there. (It may be also that he was misled by the similarity of the small oblong format to that of Item 2, his 'first sketchbook', which probably does date from 1914; see Appendix 1.) When Rosemary Hilmar came to compile her catalogue, the op. 6 sketch had somehow found its way to its possibly rightful place at the beginning of Item 2 (see Appendix 1). She then made her inventory partly from the obvious contents of each sketchbook, but partly also taking into account Ernst Hilmar's commentary, unaware that his 'first and second sketchbooks' were in the reverse order from her 'Items 1 and 2'. She also apparently took the dating from EHBem without demur.38

MODIFIED AND REJECTED IDEAS IN THE WOZZECK SKETCHES

Concluding the inventory of leitmotifs in Item 1 (on p. 34) is the apparent connection between Wozzeck and Eb minor. The

34 Alban Berg, Bride an scinc Frau (Munich, 1965), 461; translated as Lcttcrs to his W g e (London, 1971), 280.

35 'Der 11. Akt ist fertig, der 111. zu ein Viertel nur' (EHKom, 25-6). 36 Berg, Bride an seinc Frau, 376; Lctters to his W g c , 229. 37 EHBem, 33-4. 38 The incorrect dating of Item 1 is repeated in the catalogue of the Berg centenary exhibition,

Alban Bcrg: Katalog zur Ausstcllung (Vienna, 1985), 79.


Example 5

Example 6

Example 7

I

294 DAVIDFANNING

significance of Eb minor as a root-position triad with superimposed D has been noted by Perle and others,39 but the sketches as a whole suggest that it carried more weight in the composer's initial conception than might be suspected - the clarity of its tonal focus was reduced in the final version of the score.

I t may be significant that the above-mentioned labelling follows on from a brief notation of the Landler, which Berg labels 'Volk' and which has a strong Eb (major) element clashing with the G minor accompaniment - the 'Volk' is, of course, another agent in the oppression of Wozzeck. I t may also be recalled that Item 1 started with Wozzeck's premonition of death, at which point there are repeated E b minor triads with repeated Ds for the question 'Wieviel Uhr?' (Item 1, p. 2; see Example 1). In what we can probably take to be the first sketchbook for Wozzeck (Item 2, F 21 Berg 13/11), amid preliminary sketches for Act 2, scene ii, there is a rejected theme underneath which Berg notes 'Eb minor' followed by 'E b major and minor with superimposed D'.40 In an interesting plan for the structure of Act 2, scene i, Berg refers to Eb minor themes after the short introduction, with a further appearance at the Reprise where Wozzeck enters.41 Then in the sketchbook which probably follows this one there are drafts for this scene including a clear Eb minor opening to the Stretto (bar 141)42 - in both cases the E b minor tonality is less clear in the final version. Perhaps by association, he then goes on to sketch the section from Act 2, scene v underpinned by the Eb minor-plus-D chord (bars 798-804)) the point of the Drum-Major's triumph over Wozzeck after their Finally, in a sketch for the Waltz of Act 2, scene iv (bars 480-505)) Berg notes down where E minor (sic) and Eb major are to appear.44 All these instances point to an idea present from the earliest stages of composition and playing a more important role in Berg's conception than it was eventually accorded in the score.

In a draft for the overall structure of Act 3 (Item 11, F 21 Berg 13/XIII, f. 1) a faint sketch for the Polka of scene iii can be discerned (see Example 5).45 Rejected polka ideas go back to the earliest Wozzeck sketches,46 and the appearance of one here suggests that the eventual decision to fit the Polka to the basic rhythm of the scene was a comparatively late one.

There are other, more illuminating examples of rejected ideas in the sketches. It would appear, in fact, that all the earliest ideas for Wozzeck

39 Perle, The Operas of Alban Berg, i, 16%71. I have been unable to decipher Berg's designation here. It reads, 'W[ozzeck] Es moll der I ( ? ) g n ( ? ) i e r t e l (see Figure 4) .

Item 2, F 21 Berg 13/11, p. 90; also Item 7, F 21 Berg 7011, f. 9. Item 12, F 21 Berg 13/X, f. 4.

42 Item 13, F 21 Berg 13/XI, f. 3. 43 Item 13, f. 4". 44 Item 19, F 21 Berg l3/V, f. 1 . 45 Not shown in Ernst Hilmar's transcription (EHBem, 38).

Item 2, F 21 Berg 13/11, p. 55 - see Example 7 . 47 Item 2, pp. 5&5, 58.


were eventually rejected.47 These were principally chord progressions all consisting of three- to six-note chords containing a whole-tone or semitone adjacency (see Example 6). This harmonic characteristic may well have been a spin-off from the composition of Reigen, the second of the op. 6 Orchestral Pieces,48 and although the actual progressions notated here were abandoned, the sound quality of their spacing was to become important to the harmonic consistency of Act 1, scene ii, Act 2, scene i, Act 3, scene iv and the final D minor Interlude (see Examples 2 and 3 above). The other rejected ideas here are almost dance-like in implied character, again possibly showing the influence of Reigen (see Example 7). Indeed, although the first scene to be sketched in any detail is Act 2, scene ii (in which the Doctor baits the Captain before they jointly taunt Wozzeck), rather than one with obvious scope for dance-like themes, Berg actually starts sketching from the Waltz section (around bar 202).

Berg was constantly on the lookout for the possibility of retrogrades or inversions to provide a structural balancing force at the end of a scene or act. I t is well known that the central scene of the work (Wozzeck's accusation of Marie) is framed by a progression presented in retrograde as a transition to the next scene. In addition it can be observed from the sketches that Berg considered inverting the 'Emporte' motif to indicate the 'inversion' of Wozzeck's despair ('Wozzecks Verzweiflung umgekehrt') - presumably into determi-nation on vengeance (see Item 19, F 21 Berg 13/V, f. 3). In the end he settled on a rather incongruous octave doubling of the motif (bars 402-3)) which perhaps registers less curiously if we keep this dramatic conception in mind.

Similarly it can be seen that he experimented with retrogrades of the rhythm in Act 3, scene iii before abandoning the idea (Item 3 F 21 Berg 13/VII, f. 1'). Such rhythmic manipulations were to be of prime importance in the Chamber Concerto, which Berg began sketching immediately after completing the full score of Wozzeck.

There are undoubtedly further discoveries still to be made in the Wozzeck sketches, although even the closest examination will probably not yield more than a modest addition to our understanding of the work - sketches for a 12-note work such as Lulu naturally document the conscious processes of composition in more detail. Nevertheless an attempt at an accurate and reasonably comprehensive account does show several new aspects of the process whereby the 'unerhorte S t i m m ~ n ~ s ~ e h a l t ' ~ ~of Biichner's drama was objectified, focused, and kept within bounds. It is nothing less than Berg's masterpiece demands.

University of Manchester

For instance, the first five bars of this piece. 49 Letter to Webern of 19 July 1918 (quoted in EHKom, 21).

DAVID FANNING

APPENDIX 1

GENERAL INVENTORY

A. SKETCHES I N VIENNA, 6STERREICHISCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK

Item 1 F 21 Berg 1311

(a) pp. 2-14, 17 2/iv: 589-704 and plan to 736 (omitting 601-2, 621, 634-42, 671-84)

(b) p. 7 2/iv-v: 737-47 (c) pp. 15-16 3/iii: 159-68 (d) pp. 6, 16, 18-29 3/iv: fragments, esp. 235-84, 3 15-20 (e) pp. 30-7 Inventory of leitmotifs, esp. as used in

Interlude 31iv-v: 336-52, 364-6; also includes 3/i: 33-6

( f ) pp. 38-9 3/v: 375-81, 387-9 (€9 p. 4-0 2/i: 134-40

Identification Missing material between pages now numbered 14 and 15 now forms Vienna Item 3. Item 1 is called the 'second sketchbook' in EHBem. RHKat takes list of contents partly from description of 'first sketchbook' (= Item 2) in EHBem.

Contents Calculation of overlap between 514 Ostinato and 314 Landler in 2/iv; pitch and rhythm structures for conclusion to 2/iv (685-736); combination of leitmotifs in Interlude 3/iv-v. Pp. 6-7 reveal melodic and harmonic connections between 2/iv, 2/v, 3/iv and Interlude 3/iv-v, all associated with first chord of l/ii. Interesting labels for leitmotifs (including Wozzeck as 'der Gehetzte', 'der Emporte', 'der Sich aufrichtende', 'Fatalistische').

Date Probably summer 1920 or summer 1921. Sketches for combining passages or leitmotifs suggest late stage of composition; letters to Kassowitz, Schoenberg and Webern report work on these scenes at this time (EHKom, 23-6). EHBem, 33 dates the book partly to May-June 1914 (on the basis of conjunction with sketches for op. 6 now elsewhere in the legacy) and partly to spring 1915 or 1917. RHKat gives May-June 1914.

Item 2 F 21 Berg 13/11

(a) pp. 5-49 Sketches for op. 6, March (b) pp. 50-5, 58 Discarded thematic and harmonic ideas

for Wozzeck Cast list and voice ranges Character sketch of Captain Fragment of Doctor's and Captain's leit-motifs combined (2Iii: 170-1)


(0 pp. 60-1, 64-5, 69-71, 78, Discarded ideas for 2/ii 81, 89

(g) pp. 62-3, 66-8, 72-89 2/ii: 19 1-366 (h) pp. 90-4 11% 201-5, 212-69 (i) pp. 90, 94-6 Discarded ideas for 1/ii

Identification Item 2 comprises the 'first sketchbook' and part of the 'second' as mentioned in EHBem. RHKat takes list of contents partly from EHBem description of 'second sketchbook' (= Item 1). EHBem does not mention l/ii sketches and misleadingly refers to the appearance of the pitch-succession of Marie's lullaby planned as a Landler melody for 2/iv (presumably referring to the similarity between the 'Eia popeia' theme and a rejected theme on p. 65). It is possible that the op. 6 sketch is still misplaced here, since the Wozzeck sketches in this item show an independent stencilled pagination (beginning with 1 on p. 50). In connection with the draft for 2/ii EHBem, 33 states that Berg intended to introduce a pedal point after the third theme in the Fugue. However, it is clear that the duet between Wozzeck and the Captain was to intervene here just as it does in the final version (Item 2, p. 79).

Con tents Initial rejected ideas are either chordal, featuring whole-tone or semitone adjacencies which characterize harmony in l/ii, 2/i, 3/iv, or dance-like (first continuous sketch starts from Waltz section of 2/ii); possible influence of op. 6 in both instances. Captain's leitmotif possibly suggested by bars 8-9 (woodwind Hauptstimme) of op. 6 March. Draft on p. 79 shows conscious differentation between rhythmic character of themes in 2/ii (quavers for Captain, crotchets and minims for Doctor, eventually triplets for Wozzeck).

Date Probably very early - many rejected musical ideas (including a version of Andres's song in l/ii), cast list not definitive. If contemporary with op. 6,. this is almost certainly the first Wozzeck sketchbook, and may be dated to shortly after the premiere of Biichner's play on 5 May 1914 (see EHKom, 20-1).

Item 3 F 21 Berg 13/VII

(a) ff. 1, 1' Rhythmic patterns for 3/iii (including 186-90)

(b) ff. 2, 2', 3, 3' 2/iv: 704-37 (c) ff. 3'-5' 2/v: 746-73 (d) ff. 6, 6' 3/ii: 103-8 (e) K 6'8' 3/iii: 122-2 1 1 (fragments only)

Identification Item 3 originally formed part of Item 1. Ff. 1, 1' belong at the end of the item. RHKat does not identify sketches for 2/iv and takes certain erroneous bar numbers from EHBem.

Contents Experiments with retrogrades of rhythm for 3/iii (later abandoned). 3/ii sketch concerned with medley of leitmotifs at the point of Marie's murder.

298 DAVID FANNING

Date Probably summer 1920 or summer 1921 (see Item 1). RHKat gives 1917 (taken from EHBem, 34, which suggests this as an earliest possible date on the evidence of the handwriting, although it must be contemporary with Item 1, for which EHBem gives 1914).

Item 4 F 21 Berg 131111

Discarded ideas for 2/ii, 2/iv, 3Iiii (many identical to those in Item 2). Drum-Maior's motif in definitive form on f. 1' (2/iv: 508-12). RHKat dates

d

these sketches to 1914 (perhaps because of similarity to contents of Item 2). For no apparent reason the 'Akkordverbindungen' on f. 2' are separately catalogued in RHKat as Item 269, and dated to 1910. In fact no very precise datinefor Item 4 seems ~ossible. A number of details on f. 1'. if not-added " subsequently, suggest 1920 as a possibility - the contents of the folio are preliminary, mainly rejected, thematic studies for 2/iv, drafted and composed that year, and the Waltz idea is given an accurate bar number for its appearance (later not taken up) in 2lii and the Drum-Major's leitmotif a page number cross-referring to the Particell of llv, all suggesting that the first six scenes of the opera at least had already been composed (see Appendix 1, Items 13, 14, 1 1, 8).

Item 5 F 21 Berg 28lXVI

Ff. 1-5': no Wo~reckmaterial present. F . 5' contains sketch of analysis of Mahler Symphony no. 8, second movement, mistaken for Worzeck 3lii in RHKat - 'Waldung'[, sie schwankt heran] misread as 'Waldweg' [am Teich]. Remaining contents largely sketches for Lulu (see RHKat Item 54).

Item 6 F 21 Berg 28lXXXVII

Entirely sketches for Lulu, except: (a) f. 14 Harmonic reduction of opening of Schoen-

berg's op. 7 String Quartet (for essay, 'Warum ist Schonbergs Musik so schwer vers tandlich?')

(b) ff. 14', 17 2/iv: 464-80 (c) f. 17' Possibly a discarded version of lliii:

41 7-24

Identification Gap in original (or earlier) pagination before appearance of Wozzeck materials confirms that pages listed above are not in their original location. Details given in RHKat may have been duplicated in error from Item 5. Roughly correct desciiption given under 'ghost' item 17 (see above: 'Cataloguing Problems and the Identification of Material').

Date Probably late (1921) in view of highly developed nature of sketch for 2liv and apparent notation of stave layout for Particell or vocal score on f. 17.



(a) f. 2 Plan for trilogy of operas, Wozzeck op. 7, Vincent op. 9, Wolfgang op. 11, to be interspersed with Chamber Concerto op. 8 and a cappella choruses op. 10

(b) f. 5' ?3/i: 63-4 (c) ff. 6, 6" ?Plan for 3/i (d) f. 8' l/v: 677-9, ?l/v: 705-7 (e) f. 9, 9', 10 Rejected fragments

Identification Ff. 9, 9", 10 probably belong with Item 4 (same format, also copies of material in Item 2). With the exception off. 2 these are all fragmentary sketches of little apparent significance and difficult to date.

Item 8 F 21 Berg 131x11

(a) f. 1 Form-scheme for Act 2, then more detailed plan for 2/iv

(b) f. 2 Discarded rhythm sketch ?for 3liii (c) ff. 2', 1' Very detailed plan for 2/iv

Contents Shows conscious concern to differentiate between transitions and to regulate relationship between orchestra and onstage music.

Date Probably 1920 - EHKom, 23 quotes letter to Kassowitz reporting on formal plan for 2/iv.

Item 9 F 21 Berg 701111

(a) ff. 1,2-5',7,7', 10, lov, 11 l/i: 1-161 (b) ff. lV, 12, 12' l/ii: 2 1 1-1 2, 286-95, 303-25 (c) f f . lv ,10 l/v: fragments and notes on dramatic

structure (d) K 8-9' l/v: 691-717 (e) f. 11' 2liii: 380

Identification/Contents l/i sketch is a more or less continuous vocal score draft, suggesting that the original order of pages (written on) was approximately as follows: lov, 10, 2', 3', 2, 1, 3, 7", 7, 11, 4, 4', 5, 5' (see Appendix 2).

Date Probably around July 1919 (see EHKom, 22).

Item 10 F 21 Berg 70111

(a) ff. 1-10' 11% 326-482 (omitting 362, 424-5, 473-5) (b) ff. 11, 1lV 3/i: 45-51

300 DAVID FANNING

Contents Material of 3/i related by dramatic subject-matter to that of l/iii (Marie and child). l/iii sketch makes two 'false starts' before continuous sketch.

Date Probably before summer 1919 - EHKom, 22 quotes letter to Kassowitz of 22 July 19 19 reporting completion of Act 1.

Item 11 F 21 Berg 13/XIII

(a) f. 1 Scenario for Act 3 (b) f. 1' Scenario for Act 2; sketch for rise of cur-

tain 3/i: 1-6; details of transitions in Act 2

Identification Act 3 scenario transcribed in EHBem, 38, omitting rejected Polka theme (see Example 5 above) and reading 'Chor' instead of 'Charakterstiick' [B la Debussy] apropos 3/v. EHBem, 36 states that the Act 2 scenario indicates a conclusion to the act with a massive climax broken off by the chorus 'Frau Wirtin' sung behind a closed curtain - in fact this was intended as a link between the third and fourth scenes.

ContentsIDate Act 2 scenario presumably predates that in Item 8 (probably 1920), as it mentions the rejected 'Frau Wirtin' chorus in 2/iv. Nevertheless it already shows Berg's conscious care to differentiate between introductions, between transitions, and between conclusions.

Item 12 F 21 Berg 13/X

(a) f. 1 2/iii: 400 (articulated orchestral glissando) (b) f. 1' Discarded chords (c) f. 2 l/i: gigue (65-9) in style of courante (d) f. 2' ?3/i: 33-5 (e) f. 3 Discarded leitmotifs (f) f. 4 Plan for 2/i and discarded sketch for

opening (6-8) Discarded waltz theme

Contents 2/i plan refers to Eb minor themes (tonality less clear in final version).

Date Probably from various dates (all torn pages and fragments); 2/i plan probably immediately precedes I tem 13 (August 1920).


(a) ff. 1, lV, 2', 3 2/i: 6-59, 139, 141-72 (for 140 see Items 1 and 16)

(b) ff. 2, 3' 2/iii: 364-82, 395-7 (c) ff. 4, 4' 2/v: 797-81 8


Contents ~b minor emphasized in 2/i and 2/v. 2/iii linked by subject-matter to 2/i (Wozzeck's entrance and exit).

Date This is possibly the sketch referred to in letter to Kassowitz of 9 August 1920 (EHKom, 23), or else part of it (see above: 'Dating Vienna.Item 1 + 3').

Item 14 F 21 Berg 13/IX

(a) ff. 1, lV, 3, 3', 4 2/i: 2-53, 93-123; also copyist's neat version of 8 1-4

(b) f. 2 3/v: 371-82

Identification F. 2 is in a different format and belongs with f. 4 of Item 16. F. 4' contains an extract from a pre-op. 1 Piano Sonata (see RHKat Items 260-1).

Date May follow on from Item 13 (i.e. after August 1920), since this is a more detailed sketch for 2/i. Located after Item 14 Ernst Hilmar found Item 11 (EHBem, 36), and these sketches may originally have belonged together.

Item 15 F 21 Berg 13/VIII

(a) ff. 1, lV, 2 2Iiii: 383-402 (b) f. 2' 3/ii: 73-80 and fragments

Contents These scenes connected by dramatic subject-matter (Wozzeck's confronta- tion of Marie). F. 1 indicates that the voice line was the last to be decided.

Date Probably 1919 or 1920. May belong with Item 19 f. 3 - same format (16-lined paper unusual in Worreck sketches) and were found together by Ernst Hilmar (EHBem, 35-6). Contents of Item 19 appear to postdate those of Item 9 (probably July 1919); contents of Item 15 are similar to those of Item 13 (probably August 1920).

Item 16 F 21 Berg 13/IV

(a) ff. 1,2",3, 10, lov, 11' 2/iv: 455-504, 514-29, 538-60 (b) ff. lV, 2 Extract from piano duet arrangement of

Schoenberg's op. 9 Chamber Symphony (c) f. 4 3/v: 371-3 (d) f. 6 3/i: 61-7 (e) f. 6' 3/ii: 81-91 (f) 7'7,ff. 2/i: 109-30, 139-40, 164-6 (g) ff. 8, 8', 10" 3/iv: 284-315, 327-8 (h) f. 9 Plan for conclusion to 2/ii (i) f. 11 2Iiv-v: 737-48

7'3; probably 1921 (although f. +1Largely elaborations of materials in Item

302 DAVIDFANNING

Identification F. 4 and f. 9 in different format - probably mislocated. F. 4 belongs with Item 14, f. 2.

ContentsIDate

must predate p. 40 of Item 1).

Item 17 F 21 Berg 131111

Ghost entry. Index number same as Item 4; contents description roughly correct for Item 6 (see above: 'Cataloguing Problems and the Identification of Material').

Item 18 F 21 Berg 13/VI

(a) ff. 1, lV,2,4,4 ' ,5 ,5 ' 2/iv: 51 1-20, 560-642 (b) f. 3 l/v: 665-9 and later fragmerits (c) f. 3" Fair copy of l/iv: 635-55

ContentsIDate Elaboration of material in Items 1 + 3 and 16 - suggests 1921. Andres's song in 2/iv shows correction to words found in Witkowski edition of play (Leipzig, 1920) - see Peter Petersen, 'Buchner aus zweiter Hand: Neue Thesen uber Bergs Wozzeck-Libretto', Alban Berg Symposion Wicn 1980, ed. Rudolf Klein (Vienna, 1981), 80-3.

Item 19 F 2 1 Berg 13/V

(a) ff. 1, lV,2, 2" 2/iv: 41 1-49, 455-65, 48&505 (b) f. 3 2/iii-iv: 403-16 (c) ff. 3', 4, 4' l/i: 153, 162-200 and miscellaneous frag-

ments, 2/iii: 394 (d) ff. 5, 5" Discarded continuation of 2/iv Waltz

Date 2/iv material appears to predate Items 16 and 18; l/i material appears to follow on from Item 9. So probably 1919 or 1920 (see Appendix 1, Item 15).

Item 20 F 21 Berg 13/XIV

(a) ff. 1, lv, 2, 2' 3/i: 17-40, 52-63

Date Probably summer 1920 or summer 1921 (see above: 'Dating Vienna Item 1 + 3', p. 289).

Item 21 F 2 1 Berg 74/XV

(a) f. 1 2/i: 21 1-18

Identification/Contents The remainder of this item is largely taken up with lecture notes on Rondo

BERG'S SKETCHES FORWOZZECK 303

form (with examples from Beethoven Piano Sonatas op. 13 and op. 31 no. I).~O

Date This is a sketch for instrumentation and may even postdate completion of the Particell (October 192 1).


'p. 63' 2liv: 624-32

Identification This single page is interleaved in the Particell after p. 121. The handwriting and layout are the same as the sketch for 2liv: 606-8 reproduced in Ernst Hilmar, Wozreck von Alban Berg, 75 (present whereabouts uncertain).

ContentsIDate This is a more developed sketch than that in Item 1, and so probably dates from summer 192 1.

Subsequent Wozreck items in RHKat are fair copies, proofs and printed scores. Item 26 should have index number 28lVII (see Lulu Item 53, which also gives correct description of contents).


f. 9 3/iv: 320-7. The fourth of Berg's pre-op. 1 Piano Sonatas opens with the beginning of the Interlude 3liv-v - see facsimile in Alban Berg: Katalog zur Ausstellung (Vienna, 1985), 37.

B. SKETCHES IN BERLIN, STAATSBIBLIOTHEK PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ

Item 1 N. Mus. MS 68

3/iii: 209-15 (Wozzeck's exit from the Tavern). Notated in 214. Appears to postdate drafts for this scene in Vienna Item 1 + 3, so probably 1921.


2/iv: 447-65, 604-32. Plan for Chorale Variation. More definitive than Item 1; probably 192 1.


(a) Sketches for op. 6, March, similar to those at the beginning of Vienna Item 2, p. 5.

(b) Letter suggesting that the sketches dated from 1913-14.

50 I am grateful to Dr Douglas Jarman for the identification of this sketch.

DAVID FANNING

APPENDIX 2

DETAILED INVENTORY

KEY A1 Concept only (usually verbal) A2 Discarded idea A3 Leitmotif or thematic fragment B1 Rhythm (and contour) only - single line B2 Rhythm and contour only - more than one line B3 Rhythm and some melodic details C 1 Single melodic line C2 More than one melodic line C3 Nearly complete texture (voice line often contour only) D Complete texture (usually omitting details of instrument-

ation)

A. VIENNA, C)STERREICHISCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK

Item 1F 21 Berg 1311

589-97: C M 2 595: C2; 598-600: C2; 603-4: C2; 606-9: B2 604-14: C1-C2; 643: C1, C3; 737-47: C2-B1; 3/iv 319-20: C3 615-20: C2; 643-9: D; 650-64: A2; 665-8: B3 623: C1; 624-33: A2; 626-7: C1; 649-56: C3; 660-1: C3; 665-70: D-C3 685-96: C2; 697-700: A2; plan to 736 697-704: C1 (see Figure 1) 161-5: D (see Figure 1) ?159-60: C 1; 166-8: D; 3/iv 220: A3 614-17: D; ?622-5: B1 222: Al; 222-3: A3; 227: A3; ?230-5: A2; 237-8: A3; 241-3: A3; 249-51: A2; 262-7: A2; 275: A3; 27t3-84: A3; discarded ideas ?228-33: A2; 241-6: C1; 243-6: C2; 269-74: Al; all 12 transpositions of 3/iv chord 235-8: B3; discarded ideas 238-58: B3; ?267: A2; 3/iii 122-5: B1 258-73: B2; 277-84: B3 3 15-20: C 1 ;discarded scale and arpeggio ideas 'Epilog' - inventory of leitmotifs for Interlude 3/iv-v. l/i 4-5: A3; 136-8: A3 (twice); l/ii 201-4: A3; 212-16: A3; l/iii 363: A3; 453-4: C3; 486-7: A3; l/iv 656-8: A3; 2/i 55-6: A3 l/iii 427: A3; l/v 661-3: A3; 666: A3; 2/i 29-30: A3; 109, 112-14: Al; 2/i-ii 170-4: A3; 2/ii 313-14: A3; 2/ii 368-9: A3; 2/v 761-2: A3; 776-8: A3; 3/ii 86: A3 (see Figure 3) 2/iii 412-13 or 2/iv 443-4: A3; 3/iv 336-52: C1-B2; 364-6: C2 (see Figure 4)


36-7 l/i 12C-2: A3; 139: A3; l/iii 372: A3; 449-52: Al; l/v 715: A3; 2/i 43-6: A3; 84: A3; ?109: A3; 3/i 33-6: A3

38-9 3/v 375-81:C2;387-9:Cl 40 2/i 139-40: D

Item 2 F 21 Berg 13/11

Sketches for op. 6, March Discarded harmonic and thematic fragments Discarded harmonic and thematic fragments, ?l/ii 3 14: A2 Discarded harmonic and thematic fragments, 3/iii 122-5: A2 Cast list and voice ranges. Character sketch of Captain Discarded theme, 2/i 170-1: A3 Discarded themes for funeral march interlude 193-4: A2; 195-7: A2; 203-4: A2; 21 1-15: A2; 231: A2 191-4: B1; 192-201: B3-Bl Discarded ideas for 2/ii and 2/iv 191-204: B2; 196-7: C2 (p. 67 reproduced in Hilmar, Wozzeck, 73) 192-6: C2; 197-9: B3; discarded ideas Discarded ideas ?for 2/ii 204-25: B2 226-31 : B1; 232-7: C2; 238-43: B1 244-54: B2; 253-9: C 1; 255-8: B2; 262-7 1: C 1-B1 Discarded ideas; plan for 270-345: A1 287-90: C1; 291-2: C1; 293-6: C1; 346-66: Al; discarded sketch for military tattoo 272-5: B1; 276-7: A2; 277-9: C2; 282-3: B1; 287-9: C1 279-80: C2; 284-5: B1; 286-96: B3 296-8: B3; plan for 299-3 17: A 1; 3 17-18: A3; 326: A3 Plan for 329-66: Al; discarded Wozzeck themes 201-2: A3; ?203-5: A2; 212-22: A2; discarded idea containing Eb/D conjunction 212-69: A1 201-4: A2 (chords still not finalized); discarded ideas Discarded ideas (? for I/ii)

Item 3 F 21 Berg 13/VII

186-90: B2; 618 version with upbeat not used Retrograde rhythms (not used); see Figure 2 704-12: C1 (two versions); see Figure 2 713-23: C1 724-37: C1 (two versions) 713-16: C1 746-51: B1 750-1: C l ; 751-60: B2-C1 761-73: B2 761: C1; discarded ideas Discarded ideas

DAVID FANNING

6 3/ii 103-7: C2 6' " 107-8: C2

3/iii Discarded rhythm 7 " 122-5: A3; 122-5: B2; discarded rhythms; 168-79: B1 7' " 122-5: A3; 144-52: B2-B1 8 " 130-6: B1; 193-211: A1 8" " 190-6: B1; 208-11: B1

Item 4 F 21 Berg 131111

Discarded ideas for 'Wirtshausscene' (2/iv or 3Iiii) -Ostinato, Waltz, Landler, Polka Discarded ideas for 2/ii and 2/iv; Drum-Major leitmotif in definitive form - 2/iv 508-12: A3 'Themen' (discarded ideas) 'Akkordverbindungen' (discarded) Blank 'W[ozzeck] Fugenthemen Strasse' (2lii - all ideas discarded) 'Strasse Zapfenstreich' (tattoo - ?for llii-iii or 2/ii, discarded); polka (?for 31iii - discarded)

Item 5 F 21 Berg 28/XVI

No Wozzeck sketches present (see Appendix 1)

Item 6 F 21 Berg 28/XXXVII


Remarks for Frankfurt performance of Chamber Concerto Plan for operatic trilogy (see Appendix 1) ?3/i 63-4: A2 ?Plan for 3/i 677-9: B1; discarded theme (?l/v 705-7: A2) Discarded sketches (f. 9 has Eb minor theme with superimposed D) Notes on Bach chorales and counterpoint Notes on Bach three-part inventions Miscellaneous analytical notes Sketch for chamber orchestra piece (unidentified)

Item 8 F 21 Berg 13/XII

2/iv: Al; 3/iii 144-6: B1; definitive formal layout for entire work (three acts, each of five scenes) Continuation of 2' (plan for 2/iv) Discarded rhythm sketch ?for 3/iii Detailed plan for 2/iv (reproduced in Hilmar, Wozzeck, 76)


Item 9 F 21 Berg 701111

58-64: C3; 65-77: C3; 65-108: B2-B1; 109-14: A1 286-95: C3-B2; notes on dramatic concept of l/v 42-57: D; 54-7: C1 1-19: D 78-109: C3-Bl 20-41: D 128-36: D 136-43: D-C3 144-53: D-B3 151-61: C3-422 Telegram dated 3 December 1919 129-35: B2-B3; 1364: B1 109-28: D-B3-C3 691-9: D 700-7: D 707-13: D 714-17: B2; 714-17: C3 and discarded rhythm 4-6: A3; 15: A3; 25-6: A3; 30-2: A3 672-4: A2; 700-1 : A3; 71 2-15: A3 Notes on French and English Suite dance movements (with characteristic rhythms from Bach Suites) 115-27: D 380: A1 303-25: C 1-D 21 1/12: D; 303-5: A2

Item 10 F 21 Berg 70111

326-34: C3; 326-33: C2 326-34: D 335-41: D 342-9: C3 350-61: C3 372-99: D ?410-13: A2; 394-5: A2 396-403: C3; 398-403: C2: 400-3: C2 404-16: C3-D 363-70: C3 369-71: C3 417-23: C3; 426-7: C3 428-33: C3 434-9: B3 440-6: BSC2 447-54: C2-B3 453-4: A2; 453-4: C3; 455-8: C2; 456-8: C3 459-67: C3 468-72: C3; 476-80: A2 481-2: A2 45-5 1: D; discarded fragments 45-51: BSB1

DAVID FANNING

Item 11 F 21 Berg 13/XIII

1 Scenario for Act 3 (cf. transcription in EHBem, 38) 1' Scenario for Act 2 (less detailed than Act 3 scenario);

sketch for rise of curtain 3/i 1-6: A2; plan for transitions in Act 2 (still provisional - mentions chorus 'Frau Wirtin' in 2Iiv)

Item 12 F 2 1 Berg 13/X

1 2/iii 400: C3 1' Discarded chords 2 Sketch for 9/16 courante (later became gigue, l / i 65-9:

B2); discarded 414 idea 2' F minor idea (?3/i 33-5: A2) 3 Leitmotifs for 'Kind' and 'Dirne' (discarded); discarded

theme (?2/i 6-10: A2) 3' Blank 4 Plan for 2/i and discarded sketch for opening (2/i 6-8: A2) 4' Waltz (discarded)


6-59: B2 43-5: B2; 50-9: C2-C 1 364-8: D; 367-71: C 1-Bl; 367-74: D; 372-5: C3 162-71: C3; 164-5: D; 170-2: D 139: C3; 141-61: C3 (planned stretto in Eb minor) (140 sketched in Items 16 and 1) 374-81: C3-B3; 381-2: B2; 395-7: B1 805-18: C3 797-805: C3

Item 14 F 21 Berg 13/IX

1 2/i 29-53: C 3 4 2 ; 50-53: C2 1' " 2-6: C2; 4-5: C2; 6-29: D-C3 2 3/v 371-82: C2 2' Blank 3 2/i 8 1 4 : D (fair copy); 109-12: B3; 109-23: B1-B2 3' " 106-8: C3; 107-9: B3 4 " 93-100: C3; 97-107: B3" 4' Sketch for pre-op. 1 Piano Sonata (see RHKat, Items

260-1)

Item 15 F 21 Berg 13/VIII

1 2/iii 383-9: C3 1' " 390-7: C3 2 " 397-402: C3-B2; 400-2: B1 2' 3/ii 73-80: D-B3; 100: A3; 103: A3; 103: A2; discarded frag-

ments


Item 16 F 21 Berg 13lIV

455-62: B2 Extract from piano duet arrangements of Schoenberg's op. 9 Chamber Symphony 460-70: B2; 471-80: Bl ('folgt Walzer') 51 1-13: A2; 513-29: C 2 4 3 ; 513-25: C2 Discarded waltz idea 371-3: C2 (part of missing page Item 14, f. 2) Blank 61-7: D C 2 81-91: B3 109-30: D-B3; 117-23: A2; 164-6: B1 139-40: C3 (and part of a letter) 284-96: C2 297-315: C2 Details of instruments (?original concept of part of 21iii); concept of part 2lii; discarded rhythm (?around 2/ii 297-300) Blank 538-50: C2-B3 and stage directions up to 559 546-60: C3; 3liv 327-8: D 737-48: D-C3 480-504: C3 Strips of manuscript with score layout indications (?for 2/iii)

Item 17 F 21 Berg 131111

Ghost entry - see above, 'Cataloguing Problems and the Identification of Material'.

Item 18 F 21 Berg 13lVI

51 1-13: A2; 513-20: C2; ?526-9: A2; 555-9: A2; discarded fragments 560-89: C3 589-98: A2; 599-4302: A1 ('Todesahnung + Landler 1') Blank 665-9: A3; 702-3: A3; 708: A3; 709: A3; discarded fragments 635-55: D (fair copy) 600-5: D 596-9: C3; 605-10: B3 (reproduced in Hilmar, Wozzeck, 74) 610-24: B3 62-2: B3

Item 19 F 21 Berg 13/V

1 2liv 480-505: C2; discarded fragments 1' 2liii-iv 411-15: A2; 416-21: C2; 429-47: C3-B3; discarded

themes

DAVID FANNING

447-9: A3; 45545: C3 421-9: D 402-3: A2; 403-16: C W 2 47-8: A3; 65: A3; 80: A3; 172-6: C2; 184-200: C1; 201 A3; discarded fragment 172-91: C2 394: C3 153: D (fair copy); 162-5: B3; 165-72: B3 Discarded fragments for continuation of 2/iv Waltz

Item 20 F 21 Berg 13/XIV

1 3/i 17-18: C1; 17-29: M I ; 19-29: C 3 4 1 1' " 26-35: C2-B1; 28-32: C2 2 " 33-40: C2; 38: C3; 38-40: C3; discarded theme 2' " 52-63: C3-B2

Item 21 F 21 Berg 74/XV


'63' 2/iv 624-32: C2 (see Appendix 1)


9 3/iv 320-7: D-C3 (as opening of pre-op. 1 Piano Sonata IV)

B. BERLIN. STAATSBIBLIOTHEK PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ


Quarto, 12-stave manuscript. 3/iii 209-15: C3. Sketch in full score, two systems (seven staves; five staves). Probably given to Friedrich Wildgans by Helene Berg in 1955 (see letter on adjoining sheet).


2/iv 447-65: Al; 604-32: Al. Plan for Chorale Variation derived from chord progression. Annotation: 'Manuskript Alban Bergs mit Beispielen zur 4. Szene des zweiten Akts der Oper "Wozzeck"'.


Sketch for op. 6, March (cf. Vienna Item 2, p. 5). Adjoining page contains draft of a letter to Doktor ? of 17 July 193 1, mentioning that the sketch must date from 17 or 18 years previously.


APPENDIX 3

SUMMARY OF THE SKETCHES

(See Key to Appendix 2, p. 304.)

Act 1, scene i (Suite)

Prelude

Pavane (30) 30-2 A3 9/10

Vla cadenza (51)

Gigue (65) 65 A3 1913'

D. bn cadenza (109) 109-14 A1 911

Gavotte ( 1 15)

Double I (127); Double I 1 (133)

Air (136) 136-8 A3 1/31 136-8 B1 917 139 A3 1/37

Reprise ( 153)

DAVID FANNING

Interlude (173)

Scene ii (Rhapsody and Hunting Song)

Rhapsody (20 1) 201 A3 1913'

201-2 A3 2/90 201-4 A2 2/94 201-4 A3 1/30

?203-5 A2 2/90

Hunting Song 1 (2 12)

Rhapsody (223)

Hunting Song 2 (249)

Rhapsody and Hunting Song 3 (257)

Interlude (3 11) ?314 A2 2/52

Scene iii (Military March and Cradle Song)

Military March (330)

Quasi Trio (346)

Introduction (363) 363 A3 1/30

Cradle Song 1 (372) 372 A3 1/36

Cradle Song 2 (388) 394-5 A2 1014


Coda and Transition (41 7) 4 1 7-24 A2 61 17'

Through-composed episode (427) 427 A3 1/33

Interlude (473) 476-80 A2 10110 481-2 A2 10/1OV 486-7 A3 1 I30

Scene iv (Passacaglia) (488) No sketches known, except:

Interlude (656) (=Quasi-rondo A) 656-8 A3 113 1 661-3 A3 1/32 665-9 A3 1813 666 A3 1/32

Scene v (Quasi-rondo)

DAVID FANNING

Act 2, scene i (Sonata)

Introduction (1)

Exposition a (7)

Transition (29) 29-30 A3 1/32

Exposition b (43) 43-6 A3 1/37 43-5 B2 13/lV

Transition (4)

5 5 6 A3 113 1

1st Reprise a (60)

Transition (81)

84 A3 1/37

1st Reprise b (90)

1st Reprise c (93)


Development (96)

109 A3 1/37 109 A1 1/32

112-14 A1 1/32

2nd Reprise a (1 28)

Interlude (stretto) (141)

2nd Reprise b (1 50)

2nd Reprise c ( 162)

97-107 B3 1414 106-8 C 3 1413'

107-9 B3 1413' 109-23 B 1-B2 1413 109-30 D-B3 1617

109-12 B3 1413

Scene ii (Fantasia and Fugue)

Invention a + b (171)

193-4 A2 216 1 195-7 A2 2/61

191-4 B1 2/62 191-7 B2 2/66

192-7 B3-B1 2/62 192-6 C2 2/68

196-7 C2 2/67

Waltz (202) 203-4 A2 2/61

21 1-15 A2 2/61

23 1 A2 216 1

204-13 B2 2/72

21 4-25 B2 2/73 226-31 B1 2/74

DAVID FANNING

Chorale c (272) 270-345 A1 2/79

276-7 A2 2/83 272-5 B1 2/83

282-3 B1 2/83 284-5 B1 2/84

277-9 C2 2/83 279-80 C2 2/84

Fugue a (286) 286-96 B3 2/85

287-9 C 1 2/82 287-90 C 1 2/80

291-2 C1 2/80

Fugue b (293)

296-8 B3 2/86 293-6 C1 2/80

Development a+b (298) 299-3 17 A 1 2186-7

Fugue c (3 13) 313-14 A3 1/33

Development a+ b+c (3 17) 31 7-18 A3 2/87 326 A3 2/87 329-66 A1 2188-9

Fugue c (341)

Coda (345) 346-66 A1 2/80

Interlude (=Largo A') (366)

Scene iii (Largo) (372)

Largo B (387)


Recapitulation (Largo A2a) (398) 400-2 Bl 1512

Largo A2b (402) 402-3 A2 1913

Interlude (=Scherzo I, i.e. Landler A') (412) 41 1-15 A2 1911' 412-736 A1 811, 2, 2'

412-13 A3 1/34

Landler B (430)

Landler A2 (439)

Scene iv (Scherzo) (443)

Transition (447) 447-9 A3 1912 447-65 A1 Berlin 2

Trio l a (456)

Trio Ib (465)

471-80 B1 1612'

Scherzo I1 (Waltz A) (481)

Waltz B (496)

Waltz D (514)

318 DAVID FANNING

Waltz E (529)

Waltz F (539)

Waltz G (546)

555-9 A2 1811 558-9 A2 16/10' (twice)

Trio I1 (Hunting Chorus) A' (560)

Trio I1 B (576)

Trio I1 A* (581)

Ostinato (589) 589-98 A2 1812

Scherzo I (Quasi-reprise of Landler A) (592)

Landler B (603)

604-32 A1 Berlin 2

Trio I (Chorale Variation) Melodrama (605) 605-10 B3 1814' 606-9 B2 115 61G24 B3 1815

624-32 C2 22/63 Appendix 1)

(see

Transition (634)


650-64 A2 118

665-8 B3 119

Scherzo I1 (Quasi-reprise of Waltz) (67 1)

(Waltz C+D) (685)

691-736 A1 1/13

697-700 A2 1113

Introduction (737)

Scene v (Idtroduction and Rondo marziale) (742)

Rondo marziale A' (76 1) 76 1-2 A3 1/32 761-73 B2 314' 761 C1 315

Rondo marziale A2 (768)

Rondo marziale B' (776) 776-8 A3 1/32

Rondo marziale (785)

Rondo marziale C' (789)

Rondo marziale B2 (800)

Rondo marziale A4 (805)

Act 3, scene i (Invention on a Theme)

1-6 A2 1111' (twice)

Theme (3)

DAVID FANNING

Variation 1 (10)

Variation 2 (1 7)

Variation 3 (19)

Variation 4 (26)

Variation 5 (33) ?33-5 A2 1212'

33-6 A3 1/37

Variation 6 (40)

Variation 7 (45) 45-51 B3-Bl 10111'

Fugue a (52)

Fugue b (57)

Stretto (62)

63-4 A2 715'

Codetta (71)

Scene ii (Invention on a Note)

A (73)


Interlude (1 09)

Scene iii (Invention on a Rhythm)

Polka (1 22) 122-5 A2 2/55

122-5 A3 317, 317'

Song 1 ( 145)

Polka (154)

Song 2 (168)

Stretto (186)

193-211 A1 318

Interlude (2 12)

122-5 B 1 1/25 122-5 B2 317

130-6 B1 318

144-6 Bl 811 144-52 B2-B1

168-79 B1 317

186-90 B2 311 190-6 B1 318"

208-1 1 B1 318'

317'

209-15 C3 Berlin 1

Scene iv (Invention on a Six-Note Chord)

Part 1 (220) 220 A3 1/16 222 A1 1/18

222-3 A3 1/19 227 A3 1/18 ?228-33 A2 112 1 ?230-5 A2 1/18

237-8 A3 1/19

241-3 A3 1/19

Part 2 (257)

262-7 A2 1/18 ?267 A2 1/24 26S74 A 1 1/21

235-8 B3 1/23

238-45 B3 1/24

258-69 B2 1/26

27&3 B2 1/27

DAVID FANNING

Part 3 (284)

Part 4 (302)

Interlude (Invention on a Tonality) (320) 320-7 D-C3 26019 327-8 D 161 10" 336-45 C 1-B2 1/34 337-45 C3 1/31 346-52 B2 1/35 364-6 C2 1/35

Scene v (Invention on a continuous quaver motion) (372) 371-3 C2 1614

371-82 C2 1412 375-81 C2 1/38 387-9 C 1 1/39

berg's sketches for 'wozzeck': a commentary and inventory...

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