What are the principal characteristics of the musical repertory often described as

'expressionist'? Illustrate your answer by reference to works by at least two

composers.

The purpose of this essay is to identify the distinctive and commonly-occurring characteristics

found in expressionist music. I regard these characteristics as artistic choices made by

composers to evoke particular emotions and remain in-keeping with a newly emerging genre

in the musical world. I will discuss these choices at length, all within the context of musical

repertory. Focus will lie with the works of composers Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and

Alban Berg. I will begin by exploring some definitions of expressionist music, and suggest

how principle characteristics might stem from these.

The history of twentieth- century music ultimately comes down to the rejection of previous

style (some rejections being more violent that others). Composers wanted to negate previous

currents by doing the opposite, or taking previous techniques to such an extreme that they

break. There are implicit rules associated with expressionism in accordance with its negation

of traditional musical means. The most important being the avoidance of consonance.

Expressionism communicates as a kind of psychogram: A documentary; unstylised records of

the souls activity (Einstein, 1926). This branching term can be taken to include: intervallic

sequences, rhythmic development, thematic work and repetition, among other things which

leads to a compositional technique based on extremes: extremes of dynamics, texture,

expression, and free atonality. This, in turn, means any harmonious element of art is banished

to produce a torn quality. (Adorno 2009: 275-276)

Expressionism in music includes most of Schoenbergs post-tonal, pre-12-note output- his 'free

atonal' period (cerca 1908 to 1921) but the term is often used more broadly to include other

music from the same period with shared characteristics. The realm of expressionist content, as
a whole, encompasses all the art forms: literature, music, architecture, painting, and cinema

and is that of the unconscious. Real emotion is the focus of expressionism where composers

attempt to produce works which are a true representation of the world with all its emotions,

ugly truths and negatives. (Mitchell 1995: 207-211)

It was Schoenberg who really made the breakthrough into atonality, a characteristic strongly

associated with the expressionist genre. Expressionist music aimed to depart from the

formalities of Western classical tradition: tonality; harmonic structure; and prominent tonal

centre, to produce atonal music. One of the first examples of atonality in Schoenbergs

collection can be heard in his Second String Quartet of 19078, where the four movements

become notably more progressive and emancipated from the conventions of traditional

Romantic form (Fanning: 2017).

The writing in the third slow movement is expressionist at a gestural level, in its extended

range, angular contours and chromatic freedom; yet this movement is strictly constructed using

five thematic cells, themselves all focussed on notes of the E minor triad. Here is an early

example of the symbiosis of anarchy and control The anguished tone of this quartet is

generally assumed to reflect Schoenbergs state of mind following his wifes elopement with

the painter Richard Gerstl Much expressionistic music can be shown to have arisen in

response to overwhelming personal crises (Fanning: 2017).

Weberns 5 Geistliche Lieder, Op.15 may also be characterised as expressionist due to the

clear negation of a tonal centre among other things. These pieces are set to secular text

depicting the events of Christs crucifixion. Below are the opening three bars of his first lieder.

There is a clear avoidance of functional tonality or harmony with a lack of key signature: The

music feels totally unsettled and uncomfortable. This is fitting as the text outlines Marys

struggle as she watches her son endure such cruelty. The voice of Christ is used: "O Mother,
cease your weeping! These torments are small, But the kingdom of heaven is mine." The

atonality conveys a complimentary sombre mood.

Example 1 Weberns Geistliche Lieder, No. I, b.1-3

Berg, in his 1925 opera Wozzeck also employs atonality, characterising the piece as

Expressionist. Berg utilizes atonality to convey the emotions and thoughts of the characters on

stage and expresses madness, which exemplifies Wozzeck who is constantly humiliated by his

captain and rendered insane by his unfortunate social situation, with atonal music throughout.

Despite undeniable atonality and negation of the conventional major/minor tonality system,

there are motifs and recognisable pitches which direct the flow for modulations and harmony

in the opera. There are also distinguishable intervals intended to be representative of the

complex relationships between characters. For example: the dissonant tritone interval from B

to F epitomizes the permanent struggle of Wozzeck and Maries relationship. Then, the minor

third appears to represent the tender and vulnerable relationship between Marie and the child.
Therefore, we can see the opera has a consistency to its pitches despite disruption of atonality

which provides an aural aid in its representation of main characters and key moments in the

plot. Gradually, the repetition of these pitches establishes continuity and structure. (Wikipedia

contributors: 2017) In this piece, the avoidance of a tonal centre leads to angular writing and

the incorporation of awkward intervals. This is another principle characteristic of a great deal

of expressionist musical repertory.

Schoenbergs Pierre Lunaire is a fine example of repertory with disjunct, angular writing in

combination with eerie chromatic ascending and descending motion. With particular focus on

the seventh movement Der Kranke Mond, a listener can hear how Schoenberg illustrates the

elusive imagery of Albert Girauds poem using jagged phrases which are not always

appropriate for, or characteristic of, vocal/flute writing. The context of the poem is important

to the understanding of why Schoenberg writes in the way he does. The whole melodrama

Pierre Lunaire is a dramatic work which probes deeply into the human mind, exploring mental

states of insanity and incorporating nightmarish imagery. At its climatic point, Pierrot is

decapitated by the moon: an absurd zenith which gives us an essence of the exaggerated

characters and emotions featuring throughout the work.

In the seventh movement Der Kranke Mond (see example 2), the poet is depicting the moon

as mortally ill, perhaps even on its deathbed (auf des Himmels schwarzem Pfhl). As well as

some conjunct music in the first vocal phrase, there are frequent wide, angular leaps (like the

diminished octave between the last two notes or the augmented 9th in bar 13) which emphasise

the uncomfortable, deathly nature of the text. In measure 8, the voice begins the fourth phrase

in its upper register and gradually ascends to a dramatic climax on E5. This contrasts the

general descent heard in the three preceding lines which could be reflecting the dying moon.

The leaps then become progressively wide in the flute part. The flutes large-scale ascent from
D4 to B4, together with the upward drift of the fourth vocal phrase, could represent the poets

growing obsession with the moon. (Biringer 1985: 6)

This music shows that there is method to the madness in terms of expressionist composition,

whereby there is an agenda to convey particular emotions or depict particular moods or

characters. The angular writing and appropriate musical metaphors are offset by occasional

repeated notes (low C sharp on the flute in bars 15-16) and emphasised by sudden dynamic

extremes throughout. In bar 6 for example, the dynamic contrast on fiebernd (feverish)

dramatizes the text (word painting).

Example 2 Schoenbergs Pierre Lunaire, No. 7 Der Kranke Mond

Taking compositions to extremes is another expected trait of expressionist music. Extremes of

dynamics, ranges, performance techniques all contribute to the dramatic negation of the

previous classical norms in music. Der Kranke Mond exemplifies this with dynamics which

range from ppp to f. In addition, the reciter is directed (in some copies) to perform the piece

Sprechstimme, a style of dramatic vocalization intermediate between speech and song,

similar to that used in a recitative. This technique obviously results in a less smooth, harsher

timbre which contrasts the beautiful smooth lines desired by singers in earlier music.

Weberns five Geistliche Lieder, Op.15 also explore dynamic contrast for dramatic effect. In

his second lieder Morgenlied (see example 3), within the space of one bar (with an anacrusis)

he ranges from a forte to a piano in the Gesang (voice), and from a fortissimo to a pianissimo

in the Geige (violin). This is fitting with the text: Arise, beloved children and acts as a form

of word painting as arise is performed at its loudest and then the dynamic is diminished to

perhaps convey the delicate, small nature of the beloved children. The ranges of the

instruments are also reasonably stretched with the violin exploring a high tessitura and wide,

awkward intervals whilst the singer zigzags between lower and higher pitches within the range.

This is a very important characteristic of expressionist music, as expressionist composers aimed

to convey the truth with their works, and Webern, through his use of dynamics has done exactly

that by emphasising a meaningful and emotionally- ridden text.

Example 3 Weberns 5 Geistliche Lieder, No. II, b.1-3

Expressionist music can also feature interesting textural characteristics. 1909 was

Schoenbergs expressionist annus mirabilis, the highpoint being Erwartung. The story of this

one-act monodrama (is) that of a woman searching for her lover in a forest at night, finding his

dead body, and in the course of her dementia virtually confessing to his murder. The musical

language is quintessentially expressionist in its avoidance of repetition and denial of stability

in all parameters, including tempoMore immediately active elements are to be found in the

texture, which is polarized between paralysis and anxious hyperactivity (Fanning: 2017). I

think here, Fanning is referring to the bleak sparseness of moments of the piece, in contrast to

the crazy business of others. Initially the texture closely shadows the text in its flux between

relatively impressionist and expressionist styles; later it takes on more autonomous, form-

shaping power (Fanning: 2017).

Returning to Der Kranke Mond, we can see how another expressionist composer chooses to

use fewer musical forces for textural effect. There are only two parts used in this piece- flute

and voice, each with their independent lines of music, and both equally important. The

sparseness of the texture leaves the listener with a sense of eerie emptiness while the

interweaving lines add confusion as Schoenberg explores a multi-directional approach to

writing. Contrary to this textural choice, Schoenberg, in his Kammersymphonie explores

strikingly modernistic elements of texture. The word is extremely contrapuntal with a real

textural density which is new for this repertory. The ensemble is more like a small and rather

strident band, a mini orchestra which makes a harsh sound.

Non-conventional form is a principle characteristic in much expressionist repertory. In the

tenth edition of The Oxford Companion to Music, Percy Scholes defines musical form as "a

series of strategies designed to find a successful mean between the opposite extremes of

unrelieved repetition and unrelieved alteration. Expressionist music tends to stray from

conventional forms to deliver an ever-changing, unexpected, negation of repetition.

In his expressionist opera Wozzeck, Berg belies classic operatic forms such as the aria or

trio. Instead, each scene is given its own inner coherence by the use of forms more normally

associated with abstract instrumental music. The second scene of act 2 (during which the

Doctor and Captain taunt Wozzeck about Marie's infidelity), for instance, consists of a prelude

and triple fugue. The fourth scene of act 1, focusing on Wozzeck and the Doctor, is a

passacaglia. (Wikipedia contributors: 2017)

Expressionist repertory can also be lacking in a formal rhythmical structure. A rhythmical

structure gives a piece a measured regularity; without one, rhythms can appear confused and

the piece unsettled. Bergs 5 Altenberglieder, Op.4: No.1. Seele, wie bist du schoner negates

all rhythmical structures and shows no rhythmical or metrical consistency. The evasion of
regulation results in a very torn, dissonant language, and unexpected entrances from all parts.

The extract below shows the violin II part playing on the strong third beat on one bar and then

the weak fourth in the next, and the voice entering on the random sixth quaver of the bar. The

brass have entries on the second semiquaver of the bar to totally juxtapose the other rhythms.

The overall effect is fragmented and afflictive.

Expressionist German poet Gottfried Benn said the basic intention of expressionism is to

shatter reality, to go to the very roots of things ruthlessly until they are no longer individually

coloured or falsified or displaced in a changed or weakened form. I think, in order to achieve

this, composers of expressionist music had to abandon the previous norm and rely on new

characteristics to achieve the desired, truthful music. These techniques have become

predominant sources of inspiration for expressionist composers that also allow a degree of
flexibility as they the art to find its own characteristic shape and form. This music was

controversial in the sense that the principle traits present in the repertory were new to audiences

at the time, and their rejection of what went before, resulted in an immense diversity of

opinions. After hearing Bergs five Altenberglieder, Schoenberg wrote to Berg, "they bother

me." However, the keynote was struck by Kandinsky in 1909 with his famous dictum, Alles ist

erlaubt, (Today) Everything is permitted. This implies that times were changing in the

twentieth- century and that composers were permitted to take a controversial step in a new

direction.

Word count: 2240

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wozzeck#cite_note-9Wikipedia [access date: 17 May. 2017]