some thoughts on the teacher-student relationship between arnold schoenberg and alban berg

Some Thoughts on the Teacher-Student Relationship between Arnold Schoenberg and AlbanBergAuthor(s): Donald HarrisSource: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Spring - Summer, 1977), pp. 133-144Published by: Perspectives of New MusicStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832816 .

Accessed: 06/12/2014 16:21

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Perspectives of New Music is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Perspectivesof New Music.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Sat, 6 Dec 2014 16:21:24 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=pnm

http://www.jstor.org/stable/832816?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


SOME THOUGHTS ON THE

TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG AND ALBAN BERG

DONALD HARRIS

Teacher-student relationships' which become those of master to disciple were frequent in central European academic life. Thus the total commitment of Berg to Schoenberg's ideas, as well as the almost servile relationship which existed in non-musical matters, ought not to be considered as anything extraordinary. What Schoenberg expected of Berg or any other student, as will be shown in the following letters,2 was indeed far beyond what we today would expect of our students. What he was able to give to Berg was perhaps equally beyond what we today can give to our disciples, if indeed such a relationship can still be said to exist in the non-traditional fabric of twentieth-century American student life, in which respect or admiration for teachers hardly extends beyond the classroom, if at all, and almost never to matters unrelated to the subject being taught. Consequently, the rather subservient tone of Berg's letters to Schoenberg and many of the actions described therein, reveal more of a traditional European teacher-

1 The present essay is a slightly abridged version of a lecture given on September 12, 1974, at the University of Southern California on the occasion of the Arnold Schoenberg Centennial Celebration and the opening of the Arnold Schoenberg In- stitute. Preliminary remarks of a non-substantive nature have been eliminated. Nothing of direct bearing to the principal subject matter has, however, been omitted.

2 The author wishes to thank Mr. Laurence Lyon, who was responsible for the editing and English translation of Berg's letters used in this essay. Mr. Lyon's assistance, as well as his understanding of this particular period in Austrian history, have been invaluable. All letters, but the last, a Christmas greeting, have been taken from one three-month period (August, September, October 1911), a particularly active moment in Berg's relationship to Schoenberg.



134 PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

student relationship than any particular weakness in Berg's makeup. It is not the tone of the letters that is of importance, but how they in fact reveal the depth of Berg's appreciation of Schoenberg and the in- tensity of his devotion to Schoenberg's ideals as well as to his person.

To Schoenberg (Thursday, 1911)3 I have now received the conclusion of the Harmonielehre, as well as its beginning-the divine forward-and the dedication. This glorious book has now received its final sanctification. Before entering the sanctuary one kneels reverentially and crosses oneself in deepest hu- mility. The proper expression of composure, a heartfelt sigh from the believer's breast before the beginning of the divine service.

And it becomes ever more clear to me that this work has been written in service of the divinity the more often I read it, the more deeply I penetrate into it. That we poor mortals may partake of it is our supreme good fortune. For this we thank you, beloved Herr Schoenberg.

Berg had been asked by Schoenberg to prepare the index of the Harmonielehre prior to its publication by Universal Edition the following year. Here he was reading the preface for the first time. During these three months, however, there is a good deal of correspondence concerning the Harmonielehre, since Berg was also responsible for proofreading the galleys:

I have been overwhelmed by reading the Harmonielehre, so totally engrossed in it, that I would like to discuss each and every topic, but I think it is more important to save my time so that I can get on with the index. (These last two days things went comparatively slowly because the many-[wonderful!] examples and the insane heat wouldn't allow me to read attentively for more than 5-6 hours per day. But now things will, I hope, go more quickly.) I'll keep on up to the non- harmonic tones.

It was a task that required great patience, and Berg had as well the assignment of deciding just exactly what should figure in the index.

There were ups and downs in Berg's efforts to please Schoenberg. Schoenberg was as harsh a critic as he was a master teacher. Compli- ments must have been rare. Even with so stellar a student as Berg, they

3 Precise dating is often problematical in Berg's letters since he sometimes leaves out the month and the day, as this letter suggests. The context of each letter in relation to preceding and subsequent letters has led the author and translator to make their decision in each case.



SCHOENBERG AND BERG 135

rarely appear. Berg was quick to apologize for whatever error he would make; however, and when pardon came, it was like a rebirth. The fol-

lowing letter dates from August 21, a few weeks later:

To Schoenberg, Berghof [printed stationery], Monday

I have just returned from bringing Webern to the train, which you will have gathered from the postcard we wrote at the station. The past few days have been very fine. They stood under your aegis. But when your wonderful letter to me arrived, I felt almost a super- abundance of joy. Those were the first kind words from you, dear Herr Schoenberg, for more than two months. I feel myself reborn after your pardon, purified; and today, two days after receiving your letter, your anger seems far, far away to me. Yes, it seems as if I had never really experienced it myself, but only dreamed it. And perhaps the only thing about the matter which remains unfathomable to me is the inability of the human brain to interpret dreams. Even if Pro- fessor Freud has not succeeded in this, he is still right in saying that it is particularly characteristic of man to see unpleasantness and past sorrow as if through a veil, so that what is past soon appears in a gentler light and the eye just gazes steadily on into the future. To this extent, everything I have endured in these last months seems like a preparation and a necessary preliminary stage before the joy of im- mutable favor which still awaits me; and the fact that you yourself, Herr Schoenberg, believe that you will never again find it necessary to deprive me of that favor is the high point of your letter.

Because of all this, and since you know of my recent grief, you can imagine how joyously and hopefully we spent these days. We were enrapt for hours every day in playing from Mahler's complete sym- phonies, your Orchesterlieder and piano pieces. Only an hour before Webern's departure we were still sitting at the piano and playing (4 hands) your last piano piece; my wife sang songs from opus 2 and 6.4 Yet, hovering above all these days with their most marvelous storms on the lake and these nights in the moonlight was your tragic fate with its horrible suffering and the relentless sources of all possible human misery, terrifyingly exalted, painfully awesome like the forest fire which has been raging for three days on the mountain across the

4 Berg refers here to the Six Orchestral Songs, opus 8. The piano pieces, more than likely, refer to the Three Piano Pieces, opus 11, composed in 1909 and first performed and published in 1910. It seems doubtful that Berg would have had copies of the Six Little Piano Pieces, opus 19, even though they were composed, according to Rufer, early in 1911, for the most part. (Josef Rufer, The Works of Arnold Schoenberg. London, Faber and Faber, 1962.)




lake. And the fact that we love and esteem you-and it can never be an overestimation-and direct all our attention only toward under- estimating you as little as is possible for our natures, which are sub- ordinate to yours (as if glass could overestimate diamond)-the fact, then, that we are not empowered to assist you as royally as our love [would indicate], to remove all these obstacles from your path, that is the saddest thing about this matter and only strengthens my hope and desire that great aid will sometime come-I don't know whether from outside or above, let us say from God, like the sudden cloudburst that just now is descending to extinguish the forest fire.

But these are only glimpses into the future, which almost make me forget the present! How is the Harmonielehre coming? According to my calculations the final book form should already be available in proof and nothing would stand in the way of completing the index. I would have plenty of time for it in the next two or three weeks (i.e., I would only need one or two days!), while it would be more difficult during my first few days in Vienna (around 12 September) because I will be moving in and getting the new apartment ready. I am only asking when I will be receiving a copy of the Harmonielehre so that I may arrange my time-and either wait here a few more days so I can finish the index in peace or go back to Vienna a bit earlier so as to be done with the apartment when I can get to the job. I hope I have expressed myself clearly, and a card notifying me of when your Harmonielehre will be available to me would arrange my entire plans for the next two weeks. May I ask you, dear Herr Schoenberg, for such notification?

Webern had been a house guest at Berg's summer home on the Ossiachersee. A charming postcard, to which Berg refers at the beginning of the above letter, states in Webern's hand:

A fine stay with Berg is over. We made music all day, yours and Mahler's. I'll write to you as soon as I get home.

In Berg's hand was appended: These were the most beautiful days of the summer; we spent them entirely in thinking of you, beloved Herr Schoenberg.

About this very time Schoenberg decided that he would live in Ber- lin. A teaching opportunity presented itself, and he left precipitously. Besides work on the Harmonielehre, Berg was asked, with Webern, to move Schoenberg's belongings. The following three quotations are from letters dated September 22, October 1, and October 2:




It goes without saying that I will take over the packing when it's time. It will be a sad task... (September 22)

If you should decide for this company (Blum and Popper, Vienna II, Rotensterngasse, movers), I would have a man come out right away to decide whether an 8m truck would suffice. I think it would. The little bit of excess wouldn't cost very much and certainly wouldn't require a second truck. (October 1)

Once again only a card, dear Herr Schoenberg. I've just now come- Monday afternoon-from packing with Webern. The books are almost done, and the desk too; we were able to leave most things in it. The packer has finally gotten on the job. We were forced to send you a telegram about your address registration form. (Webern's doing that right now.) We need it for the certificate. But the Inspector said it will be released immediately, as soon as you have paid the rent. Thus the telegram! In the desk I found the gas bill and the bill for the three gas meters (there is a charge for them too) and I'll have the gas shut off and collect the money (42K) as soon as the apartment is empty ... I am still hoping that everything will fit into an 8m truck. The man who gave us the cheap prices (from Blum and Popper) is no one else but the salesman from Rosen and Krauss [?]. Isn't that funny? He's the one who wanted 880 marks and now he's going to do it (if it fits into an 8m truck) for 400-500 marks. That's Vienna for you! Nevertheless, I do hope that the Fund will be successful here also. I am still hoping and will be proved right. I can't pack this afternoon since rent-days are here, but I will be there tomorrow (and today Webern will spend the afternoon packing the rest of the books). Anyway, there's not much for us to do anymore with respect to packing. Tomorrow morning we will finally send 8 pictures to Kandinsky; he already has the calendar.5 Should I send a song?

Your cards now seem so happy, that my sad mood is somewhat im- proved. At least I can be glad that you are going to have things so

5 Berg brings to mind the publication of the volume, Der Blaue Reiter (ed. Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Munich, Piper, 1912), in which some of Schoenberg's paintings were included as well as his essay, The Relationship to the Text (reprinted in English in Style and Idea, New York, Philosophical Library, 1950). Kandinsky replied in a letter to Schoenberg on November 16, 1911 that the paintings had been received (Rufer, op. cit.). Many were also exposed in the Blaue Reiter exhibition that same year.




nice now, especially the apartment. As for me... ? Many, many cordial regards from your very, very devoted Berg. (October 2)

During this same period, Berg was one of the sponsors of the so-called Schoenberg Fund. The following appeal, which has been widely cited by Schoenberg biographers, dates from the month of September:

Arnold Schoenberg's friends and pupils consider it their duty to bring his extremity to the notice of the public. Shame prevents him from doing so himself; that is why we take the initiative and cry for help over his head. Our mouths are opened by the thought of this artist coming to grief for lack of the common necessities of life. Catastrophe has overtaken him with unexpected speed, and help from a distant source would be too late. For at the time of writing these lines, Schoenberg is living, deprived of any means whatever, in a village near Munich. (The above call will be sent to patrons of the arts with a view to a monetary collection. You are requested to support the planned action by appending your signature. We urgently beg your early reply to: Alban Berg, Vienna XIII, Trauttmannsdorffgasse 27. )6

The fund-raising was not too successful, since the recipient had moved to Berlin. Presumably his material situation would improve due to the teaching position he had accepted, thus nullifying to some extent the necessity. Nonetheless, Berg and the other colleagues persevered, and on October 14 Berg was able to write:

I will once again take steps concerning the Fund. First I intend to write to Bahr7 asking when I can speak with him. For the whole business is now getting very lax, as Webern may have told you. Up till now the results are:

In the bank 1860 K Immediately available from Redlich 500

2360 At my place (approximately) 200 1912, Mautner & Redlich 1300

3860 (plus already paid to you 760) (Total result of the Fund project 4620)

6 Translation by Cornelius Cardew as published in Willi Reich, Alban Berg. Lon- don, Thames and Hudson, 1963.

7 Hermann Bahr (1863-1934), Austrian novelist, dramatist and critic, close friend of Schoenberg and Berg.




That's much less than I had imagined. I had expected at least twice as much. But something more must be achieved.

Added to proofreading, apartment-moving, and fund-raising came suddenly a fourth task. Also in September, Berg was asked whether or not he would teach some of the students Schoenberg had left behind.

For it is so glorious to be the educator, the vehicle, the fellow-com- batant for your ideas, your works, your artistic intentions-even though it be only in this Godforsaken city. Let my joy at this priestly office (as I'd almost like to call it) be your guarantee that I shall administer it with all the power that's in me. Within my very circum- scribed sphere of influence I shall perhaps succeed in doing something for the great holy cause which you are advocating out in the great world, surrounded by an ever-growing multitude of adherents. Or in giving you permanent assurance that there is even someone far away whose actions are just as they would be if he stood under the aegis of your very presence. All these thoughts give me the strength, ability, and almost the plea- surable duty of taking the advantage which befalls me from something as sad as your moving away and of really accepting your un- speakable kind invitation to take over your students-i.e., if they (the students) want me!

No matter how lofty these words may sound, there were still practical considerations which preoccupied Berg. He was not about to make decisions concerning Schoenberg's students without the master's per- mission.

You also wrote to me once that there were other potential paying students, a Frl. Rethi and a certain Winkler, neither of whom I know. Don't know addresses either. Should they get a separate lesson, and in what? Not harmony, I guess. It goes without saying that I'll teach K6niger, Linke, and Polnauer for free, if they want (but K6niger is leaving). Should I put Polnauer together with Frl. Steiner? She re- cently wrote me of her own accord that she wanted to take composi- tion from me. What can I ask? Polnauer thinks that Dr. Blau will also take part... ? Should I write to Dr. Ernst-Kraus? 8

8 Paul K6niger (brother-in-law of Webern), Dr. Josef Polnauer, and Karl Linke were all students of Schoenberg and Berg who went on to play important roles in the activities of the Schoenberg circle. They are well known to students, colleagues, and historians of Schoenberg. The other students mentioned seem to have been for- gotten, and the present writer has no information on them.




Please don't hold it against me, dear Herr Schoenberg, for asking you all this right now while you yourself are not yet settled. But I really can't let the thing slide, otherwise the few students that there are will be scattered and I surely would be very glad if I could earn a little bit-since, N.B., there seems to be nothing doing with piano reduc- tions. So please, Herr Schoenberg, don't consider my many questions as immodest or an imposition. If I possessed the good fortune, like Webern, to be able to speak with you, this would be all settled in two or three sentences. But the way it is I have to write a letter filled with questions and annoyances. Please pardon me for it.

I am so alone now... You can't believe how I felt the day before yesterday when I watched that gigantic moving van drive off across the Hietzinger Platz ...

Many, many cordial regards, dear good Herr Schoenberg. Always yours, Berg.

Please pardon, dear Herr Schoenberg, the sloppy form, but I still have other letters to write and the Harmonielehre to p. 240 also came

today.

As if these four activities were not enough, there came a fifth, during this same three-month period. In early August, Schoenberg was at- tacked by a supposedly deranged person.

Yesterday evening I received the terrible news. But is it news? You must have sensed something for months and feared it? Isn't this in fact just the fulfillment of the lot of genius? No matter whether it is expressed negatively, in the incomprehension of thousands of know-it- alls or positively, in the hatred of a madman. I only know that this hatred, this hellish insanity, which is otherwise concealed, has this time materialized as a crime against your sacred person-for the exact details are still unknown to me-but I also know (with the higher knowledge of hope and expectation which cannot be deceived) that the world which now passes by your deeds with a 'shrug of the shoulders' will stop short at the crime of a devil, even though it be only to stop and think. And this rethinking, which intervenes to aid the lives of all great men, has now probably occurred in the case of the affliction which crashes down upon you now from all sides-or it will not be long in coming, for it is high time...

Nevertheless!! What do time and anything temporal mean for you, beloved Herr Schoenberg-yes, even the high time of suffering- since you are endowed with the deep, deep eternity of all pleasure?!




We mortals can only bow before your fate and not place too much weight on even our most fervent hopes; there must, however, be some decision from on high, some supreme will. And this probably is in order-even if it appears unfathomable to us...

And now I conclude this letter, or rather I interrupt it until perhaps (via Webern, who plans to visit soon), I learn more details to solve or deepen the riddle. Until then, my most profound regards, devotion, gratitude and awe.

Schoenberg wanted to bring suit. Berg was involved with the lawyers, gathering testimony and investigating the facts. It must have been a

messy affair, and innumerable hours were spent trying to reach a conclusion. Finally, on September 22, Berg tried-presumably with success-to dissuade Schoenberg from going through with this project:

Given my present understanding of the matter, I would have to ac- cept the position, which is extremely distressing to me, that your suit should not be pressed. Because-to say it in a word-it is almost im- possible to find justice here in Austria. That dog W.. .[illegible] knows how to twist things so, and how to appear to be a calm, peace- loving person; the witnesses at the first hearing were not perceptive enough to characterize your demeanor-which seems to me to have been as deliberate as possible (since I would have thrown the guy down the stairs), as unconditional self-defense rather than as another 'threat'-so that the judge and, it seems to me, Rosenfeldt himself have the impression that you reacted to W's revilement, called (!) him upstairs, and threatened him with the revolver. And these idiots have read your clear and overwhelming deposition, which reveals exactly the opposite.

I can visualize the incident so clearly to myself from it, and feel your just agitation and the impulse to achieve satisfaction just as strongly, and thus I am extremely distressed by the recognition that justice cannot be found in this case. I think it would not have been excessive if you had thrown the guy downstairs, because the right was strongly on your side, and your anger would have been so well justified. The gentlemen forget that even He upon whose cross they have you swear swung his scourge over the money-changers in 'Holy Wrath' and drove them from the temple. But they, Messrs. Rosenfeldt and friends, look like the mob that once screamed: 'Let him be crucified! Give us Barabas!'

And all this it is my responsibility to tell you, though your justice is my justice-I who have read your deposition, which seems to me incon-




trovertible. But even Webern and K6niger (before I went to Dr. Rosenfeldt's) 9 debated whether the suit shouldn't just be dropped- mainly because of the 'situation with the children.' Bahr as well was confirmed in this same preconceived opinion, if only because of the impossibility of obtaining any justice in Vienna. And wouldn't it be best, inasmuch as you're leaving Vienna anyway?! You might as well simply write it off and save yourself lots of unpleasantness and wasted time.

These are, of course, only my ideas, which I impart without being asked. But I know that you won't hold them against me even if they contradict your own. I am just writing this to you as if I were stand- ing before you and telling you my opinion, but I am ever ready to defer to your always better judgment. And I also know that whatever you do now will be the only right, the only possible course.

To this varied list of activities must be added two which do not appear in the letters which have been cited thus far. Berg was com- posing, and was completing the fifth of the Altenberglieder, the Passa- caglia; he was also beginning the piano reduction of the Gurrelieder, although this task was not really begun in earnest until January of 1912. He had been in consultation with Universal Edition, however, in preparation for the premiere performance of the Gurrelieder, which would take place in February 1913.

In all of these occupations, whether they be as lofty as teaching or as mundane as moving furniture from an apartment, Berg approached each task with reverence, with the same desire to please. They all came from Schoenberg, which was reason enough for their importance. Surely there can be few other cases in the history of Western music where a teacher has commanded more respect and devotion from a student, where a "life-style" has so permeated so many aspects of another's being. At Christmas of 1911 Berg summed up in two poetic and pensive paragraphs what must have been intense feelings kindled in part by the

9 The Dr. Rosenfeldt mentioned is evidently a lawyer engaged by Schoenberg to plead his case. The true reason for the entire incident seems to be unknown. It could have been the result of a hostile reaction to Schoenberg's music, or perhaps due to an anti-Semitic altercation, or even to something entirely banal and undramatic. Whatever the reason, future historians may be able to shed more light on an incident which is an obvious case of petite histoire in the life of Schoenberg where there has been little documentation heretofore. In any case, the present writer knows of no other reference in detail to this incident outside of the Berg-Schoenberg correspondence, and even the mysterious Mr. W seems to lack a properly identifiable name.




hectic activity of the preceding fall. These words of over sixty years ago could have provided comfort to Berg at any time in his life. They serve well to conclude these thoughts on his relationship to Schoenberg in the early years, and set the tone for its continuation into the future, when, better known as a composer and musical personality in his own right, he continued to look to Schoenberg for guidance and approval.

To Schoenberg (Christmas, 1911) Two things became apparent to me from reading this letter: comfort, and inspiration. Comfort, because I have once again learned that it is part of the essence of the great to suffer-yes, that there is no true artist without suffering. Inspiration, because the unexplain- able, unfathomable quality of the great man has here become self- evident, because the phenomena censured by the masses as 'contra- dictions' in every artist's soul are resolved by virtue of the fact that they, as Karl Kraus puts it so well, 'must meet again somewhere, on a higher plane, though it be where God dwells.' 10

We who have the good fortune to partake of your life require this comfort and this inspiration. For you, however, this letter and its inner significance can be nothing new. May it at least provide you with a few happy hours!

Very, very merry Christmas and happy holidays, my dear Herr Schoenberg, and the same to your dear wife and sweet children, with greatest respect and gratitude.

Yours, Alban and Helene Berg

Many other letters to Schoenberg were written all throughout Berg's life, almost always as touching and sentimental in substance. Even at the height of Berg's success, during those few short years before the Anschluss, when primarily due to the continued success of Wozzeck he enjoyed some real material security, their tone was one of respect, admiration, even adulation. In spite of the master-disciple relationship, and even with the passing of the years, can it be surprising that this attitude persisted? Alban Berg may well be one of the giants of twentieth-century music in his own right, yet this would never have been so had not Arnold Schoenberg provided not only the impetus but the raison d'etre. This was not a lesson that Berg was about to forget, nor

10 Both Berg and Schoenberg knew well the eminent essayist and critic-philoso- pher Karl Kraus (1874-1936). They were frequently in attendance at his lectures, and were of course avid readers of his publication, Die Fackel.




can it be one that history can ignore. Schoenberg the teacher and Schoenberg the composer seem therefore to have equal status. Alban Berg was but one consequence of their interaction, albeit one of the most important. There can scarcely exist other examples of similar documentation between teacher and student, both significant composers, whose interrelationships were so intricate. In this instance it is all the mnore remarkable since it is well illustrated by a correspondence span- ning a quarter-century which is only now becoming available to the general scholarly public. Its value as a scholarly document is self-evident; it is even more precious as a human document chronicling the aspira- tions and concerns of two men grappling as much with the mundane problems of everyday life as with those lofty artistic considerations about which so much has already been written. The two are hardly reconcilable, however, which makes seeing them side by side all the more instructive.



some thoughts on the teacher-student relationship between arnold schoenberg and alban berg

Documents