Webern - Quartet Op.22

Question 1

What is ‘Point 1’ to be made about structure in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 1

It is based on a more conventional sonata form

Question 2

What is ‘Point 2’ to be made about structure in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 2

The exposition and development use the same forms of the 12-tone row, but they are presented slightly differently (this could equate to tonal structure in conventional sonata form)

Question 3

What is ‘Point 3’ to be made about structure in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 3

The Development explores other row forms

Question 4

What is ‘Point 4’ to be made about structure in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 4

The introduction and coda are exactly symmetrical mirror versions of each other - the same row forms but the coda uses retrogrades

Question 5

What is ‘Point 5’ to be made about structure in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 5

Webern uses repeats and slight ritenutos to help mark the changes from one section to another

Question 6

What is ‘Point 1’ to be made about harmony and tonality in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 6

The use of the row means that the music is maximally chromatic (i.e. if you choose even quite short passages they will contain all 12 notes of the chromatic scale)

Question 7

What is ‘Point 2’ to be made about harmony and tonality in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 7

The row eliminates the traditional hierarchy of scales and chords – no note sounds more or less important in the harmony than another

Question 8

What is ‘Point 3’ to be made about harmony and tonality in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 8

This lack of harmony means there is no sense of key or tonic. Although it begins and ends on the same note (Db/C#) neither this or anything else form a tonal centre

Question 9

What is ‘Point 4’ to be made about harmony and tonality in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 9

The harmony is very dissonant with lots of seconds, sevenths and tritones

Question 10

What is ‘Point 5’ to be made about harmony and tonality in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 10

However, the writing is sparse, with mostly only one or two notes at the same time with some three-note chords and the very occasional four-note one

Question 11

What is ‘Point 1’ to be made about melody and rhythm in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 11

Webern’s choice of note order in the row emphasises its chromatic nature, with no diatonic patterns emerging

Question 12

What is ‘Point 2’ to be made about melody and rhythm in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 12

There are many large and awkward leaps in the melody (e.g. the violin leaping down two octaves and a third at the beginning of the development before leaping back up a major seventh).

Question 13

What is ‘Point 3’ to be made about melody and rhythm in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 13

The melody is also highly fragmented, with single notes and pairs of notes separated by rests. The most notes played consecutively is three

Question 14

What is ‘Point 4’ to be made about melody and rhythm in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 14

In addition the melody rapidly switches from once instrument to another

Question 15

What is ‘Point 5’ to be made about melody and rhythm in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 15

Because of its serial construction the melody is highly repetitive (e.g. the saxophone melody in bar 6 is a transposition of the opening violin material) but these repetitions are not obvious tothe listener

Question 16

What is ‘Point 1’ to be made about texture and sonority in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 16

The texture is basically polyphonic with even the piano treated as two melodic lines –one in each hand.

Question 17

What is ‘Point 2’ to be made about texture and sonority in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 17

Webern makes extensive use of imitation. In particular, the opening, like much of the piece makes use of mirror canons –a staggered repetition of a prime form of the row with its inverse

Question 18

What is ‘Point 3’ to be made about texture and sonority in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 18

The texture is very sparse, made up of fragments that only overlap by one of two notes. The resulting texture is sometimes called pointillism (little ‘points’ of sound)

Question 19

What is ‘Point 4’ to be made about texture and sonority in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 19

The texture is very sparse, with mostly only one or two notes played at the same time with some three-note chords and the very occasional four-note one

Question 20

What is ‘Point 5’ to be made about texture and sonority in Webern’s Quartet?

Answer 20

The melody is fragmented across the ensemble, with each instrument only taking a couple of notes of the melody at a time. The result, in which the melody is subject to rapid changes of timbre, is called Klangfarbenmelodie..