Helmut Lachenmann's Concept of Rejection

Author(s): Elke Hockings

Source: Tempo, New Series, No. 193, German Issue (Jul., 1995), pp. 4-10+12-14
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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Elke Hockings
Helmut Lachenmann's Concept of Rejection

1. German-English-Modern is made palatable. On the European continent,

Lachenmann'smusic is more or less successfully
The eminent Germancomposer Helmut Lachen- merchandizedby means of a highly philosophic
mann enjoys an exalted reputationamong a small vernacular. This dialectic rhetoric has seldom
circle of Englishcontemporarymusic enthusiasts. been attractiveto English-speakingmusic enthus-
To the wider English music public, though, he is iasts. Against the music lovers' inclination for
little known.1 There are hardly any compre- loosely-linked literary metaphors, English
hensive accounts of Lachenmann in English.2 speaking academia in general appears to be
His consciously elusive compositional style plagued by a bad conscience. It strives for the
could even be introducedto the Englishaudience positivist's rhetoric, full of factual information
as 'old-guard avantgarde'3 without being and one-dimensionallogic (this understandingof
challenged at all. logic excludes the most stimulating logic of
The apparent confusion about Lachenmann's oppositions). There is a general resistance to
music in English-speakingcountriesis somewhat anything that is by definition ambiguous: for
surprising.His persistentlyunusualandchallenging example, the aesthetic experience.4
instrumentaltreatments - often associated with On the other hand, English music literature
modernism - can be only one reason for this is less filled with home-made philosophical
hesitantAnglo-Americanreception.Compositions speculations than its German counterpart. One
that explore unusual sounds are by no means would be hardpressed, for example, to find in an
uncommon in these parts of the world. The English article an argument that builds on such
problems might stem less from the disposition of monstrous universalities as 'art worthy of its
Lachenmann'smusic than from the way his music name is . . .:
l One onlyneedsto comparetheEnglishandGermanversion ... art worthy of its name should also always have a
of the Heritage of Musicserieseds. MichaelRaeburn,Alan futuristic, utopian character . . . (Walter Gieseler)5
Kendal,co-eds.FelixAprahamian, WilfriedMellers(Oxford:
OxfordUniversityPress,1989).Lachenmann, who did not ... artworthyof itsname. . . wantsto be morethanan
featureat all in the originalEnglishversion,was given due art work . . . (Rudolf Stephan)6
respectin its Germancounterpart.
... That means conclusively that every art work
2 is listedin Englishencyclopedias
AlthoughLachenmann as
worthyof itsnameaddssomethingnewto theuniverse
earlyas 1974,only threeof Lachenmann's articleshavebeen
... (Konrad Boehmer)7
translatedintoEnglishso far.Oneof these,'Die Sch6nheit und
die Sch6nt6ner. Zum Problemmusikalischer Asthetikheute', The gusto invoked by a phrase like this
appearedin Tempo 135 (December1980)as 'The"beautiful"
exhibits - if nothing else - the speaker's self-
in musictoday'.The thirdarticle,'On Structuralism', wasto
appearin the summerof 1994. Selectedstatementsby the confidence. As if he knew what art is! Does the
composerwereofferedin Englishtranslations in thecomposer
brochureHelmutLachenmann(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf,11980, 4 The authorcan ensurethe supportof an Englishopinion.
21986,31990).Variouspassagesby andon Lachenmann have See Christopher Fox, 'British Music at Darmstadt 1982-92',
appearedin Englishas programmenotes(e.g. Huddersfield Tempo186 (September 1993), p.25.
Contemporary MusicFestival1986,WarsawAutumn1979,
1981, 1988, 1991) or as record/CD notes. Three English
5
Kompositionim 20. Jahrhundert.Details - Zusammenhdnige
articlesby RobinFreeman,DavidSmeyersandJohnWarnaby (Celle: Moeck Verlag, 1975), p.3, trans. E.H. All translations
are held at Breitkopf& Hartelin Wiesbaden.Only David are by E.H.; original German omitted only to conserve space.
Smeyer'saccountwaspublished,in anAmerican 6 'Uber
journal,The Schwierigkeiten der Bewertung und der Analyse
Clarinet.A number of performance and CD review articles neuester Musik', Vom musikalischenDenken. Gesammelte
have appearedin Englishlanguagedaily newspapersand Vortrage,eds. Rainer Damm, Andreas Taub (Mainz: Schott's
music periodicals.Two of 23 recordingsare presently Sohne, 1984), p.350.
available, according to the Gramophone
ClassicalCatalogue(the 7 'Wider der
Opuscataloguestill does not list any). Strategie der Verinnerlichung(Zur kompositor-
ischen Methodik und Asthetik) (1990)', KonradBoehmer.Das
3 GeorgeBenjamin,programmebrochureMeltdown (South bi;se Ohr. Texte zur Musik 1961-1991, ed. Burkhardt Soll
BankCentre,London18-25 July1993),n.p. (Cologne: DuMont, 1993), p.225.

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valuable attempt to tell justify the method of
excluding what is supposedly not worthy?
Generalizationsin the vein of German versus
English or dialectical versus positivistic do not
help to clarify what may be seen more as
disjoining tendencies rather than as opposing
facts. Making a case for the differences between
GermanandEnglishwaysof verbalcommunication
in music-writingsemphasizesthe need to under-
stand the German attributes in Lachenmann's
language, and to separate German modernist
rhetoric from Lachenmann'sindividualconcepts.
Only then can one start understanding these
concepts as complex, fascinating and even at
times paradoxicalexpressionsof a creative mind.
It would exceed the scope of this article to
investigate comprehensively all of the apparent
distinctions, but a few thoughts about some
underlying German values might be helpful.
Many German texts on contemporarymusic lose
their rhetorical energy when translated into
English. In their original German version, they
gathered their main momentum out of a battle
with an abstractenemy: society. This version of
German idealism has infiltrated all strands of
social communication. It has to be said that
lingering German guilt about fascism and the
two World Wars, the resistanceto overpowering
state intervention in personal matters, the urge
for salient individuality in a tightly controlled
infrastructure, and the opposition to over-
consumption in one of the richest countries of
this world, are issues not shared to the same
existential degree by Anglo-Americans.
The continuous reference to German history
and to the political world at large was able to fuel
German modernist music aesthetics. The global
issues that were meant to be present in human
behavioural issues were, at their core, middle-
classconventionalityand ignorance.Philosophical
and political criticism moved onto a highly
abstractlevel and became, inevitably, somewhat
diluted by focussing on the symptoms of human
behaviour rather than insisting on specific
assessments of concrete political and economic
realities. It has been said that a dose of sensual
provocation will alert a criticalmind to whatever
it is that might be wrong in this world.
Unfortunately, the enemy has never been less
abstractthan 'society'. The main regulatives of
this society, namely the market and the resulting
performance-pressure,have never been targeted
(who, after all, would like to saw off the branch
on which they are sitting?8) so the impact of
8 As
Jiirg Stenzl has rightly pointed out in respect to the
bourgeois model of the German new music industry,
'Tradition und Traditionsbruch', Die neue Musik und die
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Conceptof Rejection 5
HelmutLachenmann's
such protest has been very limited. Heinz-Klaus
Metzger even claims that modernism never
really existed.9
Not only were the objects of this criticism too
abstract.An aesthetic aim that bows exclusively
to the 'lord of specialized work'10 in that
it celebrates detail, the intensity of the extreme
and the effort to decipher multiplicity, cannot
care about anything else. This is a fact, not
a judgement. After all, the functions of music
are manifold! Those composers (including
Lachenmann) who wanted to combine social
criticism with a sophisticated structuralismhave
had to face the 20th-century dilemma: there is
not enough scope for an individual person - and
the aestheticexperience is foremost an individual
one - to engage in both aesthetic sophistication
and the solving of such global problems as, for
example, starvationin the ThirdWorld, ecological
disasteror Serbianmilitancy.Germanmodernism
has defensively ridden the horse of guilt a touch
too noisily, while underrating the individual's
decision-making ability.
At the same time, one should never under-
estimate the enormous creative power that has
resulted from this frustrationwith the undeni-
ably poor state of the world. Moreover, the
composerswho admittedto feelings of increasing
powerlessness have retained a personal integrity
that others, who appropriated various artistic
styles from the fashions of the day, have not.
In assessing theoretical writings of modernist
composers the task is to cut through this
honourable frustration,without minimizing the
global problems,while reflectingon inadequacies
of language.
Lachenmann'sverbal strategies are a heavily
intertwined conglomerateof social, aesthetic and
technical issues that can best be understoodwhen
read against the German contemporary music
Tradition. Sieben Kongressbeitraqeutideine atialytischeStudie,
desInstitutsfiir Neue MusikundMusikziehungt
Veroffentlichungen
Darmstadt
19, ed. ReinholdBrinkmann(Mainz: Schott's
Sohne,1978),particularly
pp.94-97.
9 'K6olnerManifest
1991', Blickzuriucktnachvort. einiBuch zur
paemoderne, eds. IngridRoschek,HeribertC. Ottersbach,
ManosTsangaris(Cologne:Thiirmchen,1992),pp.80-83.
l0 See 'flyingfromthe socialpressureto explaineverything
.. intoan ethosof work',Lachenmann in an interviewwith
Heinz-Klaus Metzger,'FragenundAntworten(1988)',Musik-
Konzepte 61/62. Helmut Lachenmann, eds. Heinz-Klaus
Metzger,RainerRiehn(Munich:editiontext + kritik,1988),
pp.118-119.
Similarly,MortonFeldman:'I knownobodyexceptInyself
who worksso intensely. . . But they (youngercomposers.
E.H.)do not understand theamountof workthatis necessary
to writea piece. . .', in '. . . wie eine Ausdiinnung
derMusik
durchTerpentin.MortonFeldmanund lannis Xenakisin
Gesprach',MusikTexte 52 (Jan.1994),pp.44-45.
6 HelmutLachenmann's
Conceptof Rejection
Helmut Lachenmann(photo:CharlotteOswald)
scene of the last 25 years. This backgroundcould
be outlined with the following key stages: Cage's
appearance in Darmstadt in 1958, the 'Art and
Politics' debate in the late 1960s/early 70s,
Lachenmann'sargumentwith FriedrichNeumann
about the achievements of serialism in 1971, the
revival of the aesthetic category of the beautiful
(in reaction to Peter Michael Braun, 1975/76),
thejoint appearanceof LachenmannandWolfgang
Rihm in Darmstadt 1982, the Henze-debate
about 'musica negativa' 1983, and the fall of the
Berlin Wall in 1989. Generally, Lachenmann's
aesthetic thoughts have been formulated against
the backgroundof a wider paradigmaticshift: the
problemsof employing the metaphorof structure
were fully abandoned for the problematic
metaphor of speech in the middle of the 1970s.
Anyone who familiarizes himself with
Lachenmann's verbal intentions is bound to
recognize the obvious change in his rhetoric,
from paradigmaticconviction to a more personal
view. His early writings continually interwove
social interpretations and personal accusations
with logical arguments. Increasingly, though,
Lachenmannhas admittedthat while his personal
aesthetic philosophy stimulates him, the issue of
music perception is finally 'left to the demons'.
From the programme notes to Tanzsuitemit
Deutschlandlied(1980) onwards, Lachenmann
increasingly stresses the personal nature of
his statements:
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Meanwhile, I find it more and more dull to formulate a
kind of programme about my work ... my trust in
language is receding. What happens in programme
notes like this one is a manifold hiding of composers.
The art consists of distinguishing the mask from the
face. I do not exclude myself, because I feel that
everything that we composers utter - in the silly
perception that the verbal medium is more coherent
than the aesthetic - is more or less the debris of sense
and feelings. We throw them behind us in odd
persecution mania in the hope of escaping control of
this perplexity for which no magazine is responsible.
(1980)11
This perplexity seems to have grown even
greater, because in 1988 Lachenmann gave this
surprisinganswerto a question from Heinz-Klaus
Metzger:
I am always turning around in circles, as you probably
have realized, when I think about the relationship
between material and intentions ... But nobody
should ask me, how this mechanism of disturbanceand
bringing to consciousnessreally functions and why this
process of disturbancethrough structuralreinterpreta-
tion appears to be not only mere resistance but an
expressive act. I believe in this mechanism, and the
older I become the more I fly from the horrible social
pressure to explain everything into a kind of ethos of
work. (1988)12
Despite the change in rhetoric, Lachenmann
has formulated most effectively an approach to
composition which relates to the structuralists'
concept of rejection 13with a specific consider-
ation of the 'aura'.14The following outline of
11programme brochure Donaueschinger 1980,
Musikta,qe
pp.22-23.
12
'Fragenund Antworten',p.119-120.
13The label Verweigerungsmusiker(musicianof rejection)has
often accompaniedmusiciansaround1969 (andafter)who
composedand verbalizedin the vein of Lachenmann. The
authoris thinkinghere of NicolausA. Huber, Friedhelm
D6hl (around1970),HansUlrichLehmann,DieterSchnebel
(around1970) and Hans-JoachimHespos (with different
politicalmotivations),andmorerecentlyMathiasSpahlinger
andGerhardStabler.But the conceptof rejectionis the core
of any modernistthoughtgoingbackto the firsthalfof this
century.More specifically,ThomasMeyercoinedthe term
'Lachenmann-school' - to indicatethe familiarityof musical
textures(unusualinstrumental treatments,'qualified'silence)
- originallypublishedin a supplementof theTagesanzeiger(15.
Dec. 1989),partlyreprintedMusikTexte 32 (Dec. 1989),p.53.
Naturally,Lachenmann hastriedto demonstrate thathe is not
joining the 'exploitingtourism'of estrangedinstrumental
sounds.'Fragenund Antworten',p.133.
14The term 'aura'is supposedto describea phenomenon
which is less concretelyassociablewith certainstructural
paradigms thanthe term'meaning'.Contraryto the common
assumption, the term'aura'wasfirstmentionedby Adornoin
a letterto WalterBenjamin(Feb.1940):'The termaura...
not fullythoughtthrough. .' in Th. W. AdornoUberWalter
BenjaminFrankfurt am Main:Suhrkamp,1970),p.160. It is
true,though,thatthe term'aura'becamea crucialbackbone

his concept of rejection is not exhaustivebut aims
at specification. Otherwise, Lachenmann loses
against generalities; as Tristan Murail put it
recently: 'Every composer rejects, since every
composer has choices'.15
It is important, in what follows, to keep in
mind that, at least since 1982, Lachenmannhas
denounced the concept of rejection.16 He
repeatedly claims that this concept has been
widely misunderstood.
The term [rejection, E.H.] is unfortunately not my
inventionbutusedby me ... in relationto the termof
beautyandof rejectionof habits;andthenthe whole
rubbish started. I then had to dig myself permanently
out of all sorts of, even well meaning, interpretations
... (1992)17
Despite these denunciations, 'Je refuse le
refus',18 Lachenmann spoke in 1990 about the
'good old days of estrangement',19recalling the
stimulating spirit of resistance that has certainly
played a crucial part in his conceptualization.At
the same time as his denunciationof rejection one
can read, reassuringly,
The task of the composer finally implies the creation of
a context which cleanses it [the sound, E.H.] and which
gives it back its virginity under a new perspective. And
this means less: to make, but to avoid, to exclude the
self-evident, to invoke creative resistance. (1993)20
A 'Lachenmannconcept of rejection' cannot
be simply extracted from Lachenmann'swritten
words, nor can the silent consent of the composer
be assumed.This particularissue ratherunearths
of Benjamin's argument in Das Kunstwerkim Zeitalterseiner
technischenReproduzierbarkeit
(Frankfurtam Main: Suhrkamp,
1963), particularlyp.18. Lachenmannabsorbedthis term
throughGy6rgyLukacs'swritings.
15TristanMurail,pre-concerttalkto the concerton 25/07/
1993(Meltdown festival1993,London- SouthBankCentre. 21
18-25July 1993).
rejection 'Neue Musik zwischen Angebot und Verweigerung',
16 In the
open discussionswith Wolfgang Rihm at the Komponierenheute. Asthetische,soziolo,ische und paidagogische
Darmstadt summercourse1982,taperecording,InternationalesFragen.Sieben Beitraiqe,Ver6ffentlichung,en
MusikinstitutDarmstadt,No.810.
17 Lachenmannin an interview with Christine Mast,
HessischerRundfunkII (18 Feb.1992),14-pagemss.,heldat
Breitkopf,p.12.
18 Lachenmann in an interviewin Parisduringthe Festival
D'Automne a Paris(1 Oct. 1993,SalleOlivierMessiaen,Radio
France),reportedby Anne Rey in Le Mondeand by Clytus
Gottwald, 'Helmut Lachenmann', KomponistenderGegenwart,
eds. Hanns-Werner Heister, Walter Wolfgang Sparrer
(Munich: edition text + kritik, 4th subsequent delivery,
1994), n.p.
19
Sketchbook (rot;fest; gross)262 S., PaulSacherStiftung,n.p.
20
Lachenmann in an interview with Peter Szendy, 'Des
paradis 6phemeres. Entretien avec Helmut Lachenmann',
programme brochure FestivalD'Automnea Paris 1993. Helmut
Lachenmann,p.5; trans from Lachenmann's German trans-
lation, n.p.
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Conceptof Rejection 7
HelmutLachenmann's
representativeproblems. Firstly,the reception of
Lachenmann'smusicis alreadystronglyestablished
using 'well meaning interpretations'that do not
necessarily reflect Lachenmann's own ideas.
Secondly, his concepts have evidently undergone
a development in the last 30 years. The same
statement can mean different things at different
times. Thirdly, even the most dedicated disciple
of Lachenmann'smusic will have to admit that
there are a number of issues that are not
completely rational in Lachenmann'swritings.
Hence, to follow Lachenmann's theoretical
reflections requiresan awareness,not only of the
German attributes and modernist language, but
also of the irrationalities woven in the verbal
expressionsof a living composer who had set out
to, and succeeded in, writing original music.
2. The Development of Lachenmann'sConcept
of Rejection21
2.1 Provocation Against What?
Lachenmann'squestioningof social conditions
is undoubtedly reflected in the provocative pose
of his music. It reveals on the first encounter -
nextto an impressionof seriousnessanda somewhat
exotic ingenuity - a strong sense of alternative
thinking which is supported by his writings. He
has the courage to verbalize experiences that are
different from our everyday ones. This almost
reminds one of enlightened religious elements
and has been described - againstan undoubtedly
different representationby Lachenmannhimself
- as Catholic.22
Lachenmann's concept of rejection is most
audibly an attitude of general provocation. His
musical 'language'is, on the first encounter, that
of an 'enfant terrible' who provides an aesthetic
experience by means of an 'intense shock'.23
See Peter Becker's general discussion of the concept of
des Institutsfur Neue
Musik und MusikerziehungDarmstadt23, ed. Ekkehard Jost
(Mainz: Schott, 1983), pp.24-37.
22 Frank
Sielecki categorized Lachenmann as catholic in his
PhD, 'Das Politische in den Kompositionen von Helmut
Lachenmann und Nicolaus A. Huber', Rheinische Friedrich
Wilhelm Universitat Bonn, Germany, 1991, unpublished.
Sofia Gubaidulina referred to the music of Helmut
Lachenmannto illustrate her idea of music's spiritual quality,
'The Hand of Fate', Composerto Composer.Conversations About
Contemporary Music,ed. Andrew Ford (St. Leonards: Allen &
Unwin Pty Ltd, 1993), pp.124-125.
It might be noteworthy to point out that Lachenmanngrew
up in a clergyman's household. Lachenmann's own view is
expressed in the following statement, 'I am actually not a
marxist, rather religiously minded - and at the same time full
of doubts towards all' (1993), in the interview with Peter
Szendy, 'Des paradis ephemeres', programme brochure Les
FestivalD'Automnea Paris 1993, p.4.
8 s Conceptof Rejection
HelmutLachenmann
Regular sound-waves and an uninterruptedflow
of soundsare suppressed.His continuousscorings
of unusualinstrumentaltreatments,his expanded
recourse to silence and statics, immediately stir
the attention and create a suspensefulintensity of
unfulfilled expectations.
In the context of recent German discussions24
silence, equilibriumand quietness are celebrated
as the ultimate modernist's rejection. They are
used to refuse communication and to manifest
defiance against the industrious performance of
our century. Since Cage and Feldman,however,
silence was not only understood as disruptionor
confrontationbut also as an act of opening. The
use of silence has extended the spatialdimensions
within which the perception of musical motion
proceeds. But there are certainlymore aspectsto
silence and quietness. They demonstrate a
composer's personality which could probably
be described as self-critical. The modesty of
acousticalmeansconveys a suddenbewilderment.
At this point, hysterical and grotesque laughter
and depressive mania succumb to the admission
of a very personal responsibility. Various
religiouspracticeshave tried to reachthis point of
identification with one's own responsibilities.
Christians have emulated this striving, in their
call donanobispacem. It is this aspectof silence that
will retain an ethical value long after the effects
of the unexpected novelty and the provocation
have subsided.
When Lachenmannfirst mentioned the term
rejection in 1973, he would define the normal
tone as an objectof rejectionprimarilyto provoke.
Together with temA and Pressionfor cello, Air
exemplifiesin mycreativeprocessa consciousbreakin
mattersof course:anattemptandoffer
social-aesthetic
of beautynot by mere rejectionof the commonbut
alsothroughdisguisingtheconditionsof rulingbeauty:
assuppression of theunderlyingphysicalrequirements
andenergies,as suppression of the underlyingefforts;
23 Lachenmann,
'Luigi Nono oder der Riickblickauf die
serielle Musik (1969)', Melos 36/6 (June 1971), p.225.
24 For
(seenote21).
example,theBeckerlectureatDarmstadt
ClytusGottwald,'Tonund Laut.Abschiedvon Hegel',
ently demonstrate this misnomer (tonal suction,
Neuland. Ans'tze zur Musik der GegeinwartII, ed. Herbert
Henck (BergischGladbach:NeulandMusikverlagHerbert tension, pulse). Directed musical motion is
Henck, 1982), pp.97-109. indeed, to Lachenmann's discomfort, not confined
Gerhard Stabler, 'Silences. (Ver-)Schweigen', Schtebel 60
(Hofheim: Wolke 1990), pp.231-255, trans. into Engl.
(Gerhard Stabler), 'About Silence or What happens when
nothing happens?' Eonta 1/2 (1991), pp.68-81. The same
article modified as 'Stille. Schrei. Stille. Den Sacke-
schmeissern', Positionle 10 (1992), pp.24-26.
The issue of the last-mentioned periodical Positionet was
devoted to the issue of silence (with contributions by Walter
Zimmermann, Eric de Vischner, Wolfgang Gratzer, Gerold
W. Gruber). So are recent contributions by Mathias
Spahlinger, Heinz Holliger or Nikolaus A. Huber.
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if you like: the hidden work. (1973)25
Increasingly, Lachenmann's muted sounds
and extinguished noises have been joined by
tones. By 1988, he claimed
traditionally-produced
that he is,
.. . less happy to employ 'exterritorial'sound material.
Since the issue is not about new sounds but about new
listening, this has also to stand the test with the
'beautiful tone' of a cello string. (1988)26
The incorporation of normal tones and
flowing gestures have proven to be an addition to
the brand-name 'Lachenmann'. Far from neo-
romantic or 'Klangfarben'-composers, Lachen-
mann's primary palette of textures is still
arousingly elusive.
Beyond the experiments with instrumental
alternatives, Lachenmann's main object of
provocationhas been tonality as an incarnationof
humanignorance.In the vein of WalterBenjamin,
Lachenmann has led a complex argument that
connects a compositional technique (e.g. tradi-
tional tonality) with reception habits in the 'age
of technical reproduction'. Against an anonymous
enemy - the complacent mass - the participants
called for an 'Aesthetics of Resistance'.27 Tonality
was used as a euphemism not only for habitual
reception but also for concert hall music
representation, for an ignorant audience and for a
musicianship of mere virtuosity. The attack
against traditional tonality was moreover a
provocation against a multitude of implied
musical phenomena: such as, for example,
established genres, commercial dance rhythms,
orchestral hierarchy or formal schemata that
were associated, unquestioned, with bourgeois
music making.
If one investigates Lachenmann's attack
against tonality in his music, rather than in his
writings, one detects an aspect of tonality other
than the proclaimed listening convenience or
functional tutelage. Lachenmann's attack against
tonality has mainly been an attack on the
perception of directed musical motion.28Two of
his criticalcomments from 1969 and 1979 suffici-
25 'Die
gefihrdete Kommunikation Gedanken und Praktiken
eines Komponsiten(1973)',Musica28/3 (May-June1974),p.230.
26 'Fragen und Antworten', p. 120.
27Peter Weiss, Asthetik des WiderstandesI-III (Berlin:
Henschelverlag, 1983).
28 This appears to be one possible metaphor applied in
musical percption. An article on musical motion by the author
has been recently submitted for publication in Contemporary
Music Review.

+_;f
\'< ,.hi r d&
<u;
j.'
.4i -11
Figure1. Openingpageof Lachenmann's secondStringQuartet(1989) (reproduced
melody'(R. Toop)at the top. This deviceof rhythmicnets is the basisforalmostall of Lachenmann's
retainsthe 'structural
theendof thesixties.
to tonality (nor is tonal music, by the way, 'only'
a directed process). While in 1969 he still asked,
How do I free myself finally from the obviously
obsolete tonality, its mental models and forms of
communication - or in otherwords:how do I get to a
kind of musicbeyondthe laws of experienceof the
tonalconsciousnessandits aesthetictaboos?29
in 1979 he had to conclude,
Itdoesnotmatterhow muchone wantsto freeoneself
from tonality [directed motion, E.H.]. It always
catchesup on you. The problemis alsonot:How do I
escapefrom the tonalsuction?,also not: with which
tricksdo I adjustmyselfto it?: rather,the taskis to
understand thosetonaldeterminations of the material
togetherwiththecontinuallychangingwhole.(1979)30
If one reads 'musical motion' instead of
tonality, one has to agree with Lachenmannthat
the categories of tension and relaxation (disso-
nance/consonance, cadence) can be present in all
music. Yet he has failed to acknowledge that the
possibilities of tonal motion are not necessarily
exhausted by composing it as a directed process
of goal and solution, as some harmony theories
might want us to believe. Lachenmann,secondly,
29
'Luigi Nono oder der Riickblick auf die serielle Musik',
p.225.
30'Vier Grundbestimmungen des Musikh6rens (1979-80),
Neuland. Ansdtze zur Musik der Gegenwart I, ed. Herbert
Henck (Cologne: Musikverlag Herbert Henck, 1980), p.68.
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Conceptof Rejection 9
HelmutLachenmann's
7-)i
- Xi,z; a>; r 1
- IfIgI
? 1989by B.ritkopf&Hitel, Wiesbaden
withpermissionfrom Breitkopfl.Thispublishedscorestill
since
compositions
also missed the point that directed 'gestures and
movements' are not determinedby an increaseor
decrease of tonal tension alone, but by any
directed change of acoustic parameters(increase
or decreaseof volume, widening or narrowingof
the overtone band, acceleration or deceleration,
tendency to either pulsed or pulseless fields) and,
most importantly, by the abstracting levels of
human perception.31 Whatever metaphorical
terms are employed in explaining humanpercep-
tion, the mental switch between concentrationon
detailed gestures or orientation towards more
cohesive movements applies in the same way for
functional tonality as for post-tonal music. The
more information the perceiving mind receives,
the more it will abstract, but a direction it
will have.
Lachenmann'scompositionstry to suppressthe
direction of identifiablegesturesand movements.
The ratio of changing acoustical parameters is
31 This
phenomenonof humanperception,called'perceptual
streaming' hasbeena recentfocusof
and'streamsegregation',
musicpsychologyresearch(e.g. FredLehrdahl,S. McAdams
and A. Bregman).This mainly Americanresearchwas
accessibleandknownin Germanythroughtheworkby Helga
de la Motte-Haber.Her book on music psychologywas
publishedin 1985. Her paper in the Darmstadtspring
symposiumin 1992explicitlyquotedLehrdahl.De la Motte-
Haber, 'Uber die WahrnehmungmusikalischerFormen',
ForminderNeuenMusik.Veroffentlichungen Neue
desInstitutsfiir
MusikundMusikerziehung Darmstadt 33, ed. EkkehardJost
(Mainz:Schott,1992),pp.26-35,particularly p.32, 33.
10 HelmutLachenmann's
Conceptof Rejection
often either radically low, so that his gestures
appear totally isolated, or so high that fields of
manifold overlapped activities freeze into static
blocks.32 Lachenmann's resistance to motion/
tonalityhas maturedsince his outspokenoffensive
around 1970. Although he has continued to
equate 'gesture and the dialectic mechanism of
tension and relaxation' with tonal thinking,33
tonality has faded as the main object of his attacks,
both in his writings and in his compositions.
For the sake of consolation, I have decided from my
currentperspective to have no more conflict with tonal
means whatsoever. Hence, no more fear of contact,
because I simply tell myself I have been there ...
(1992)34
One can therefore not help noticing in
Lachenmann's later works an increased cohesive
gesticulation, which he had once damned as
absurd forms. In an introduction to his first string
quartet Gran Torso(1971-72, 76, 88), Lachenmann
admitted that since Klangschatten (1972) his
musical form has displayed an 'immediately
comprehensible, unequivocal gesture'.35 This
process has taken place since Accanto(1975-76,
82) both within his own musicalidiom and by the
incorporation of recognizable quotes.
Lachenmann's concept of rejection has
obviously lessened its provocative habitus, both
as regards the unusual treatment of instruments as
well as his milder attitude to tonality. His
provocation has formed, in any case, only the
startingpoint from which he 'pursueshis way to
the end'.36 By turning his provocation into
compositionally-shapedprocesses,Lachenmann's
works have succeeded beyond those of his many
followers.
2.2 Interference to what extent?
It is essential to demonstratethe point where
Lachenmann'sprovocative attitudefeeds into his
compositionalworks. The successof his composi-
tions has not rested on 'ritualizing the sad and
annoying social conditions'37 with squeaking
32 Lachenmann used other
metaphorical terms for what the Sep. 1990), p.414.
author calls static blocks: he compared the composer with an
'organ player manipulating whole pipe=sound families'
(blocks?). At a different place he called a composition 4) 'Vier Grundbestimmungen des Musikh6rens', p.67.
a 'polyphony of orders' (of blocks?), 'Vier Grundbestim- 41
mungen', p.73.
33 'Bedingungen des Materials. Stichworte zur Praxis der
Theoriebildung (1978)', Ferienkurse'78, DarmstddterBeitrdge 42 'Fragen und Antworten', p.120.
zur Neuen Musik17, ed. ErnstThomas (Mainz:Schott's S6hne,
1978), p.93.
34Lachenmann in the interview with Christine Mast, p.10.
35 Held as an introductory paper at a 'musica-viva' concert in
Munich, recorded 8 April 1984.
36
'Fragen und Antworten', p. 131.
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noises, but on an involvement with the mystery
of an aestheticexperience that even Lachenmann
will finally leave 'up to the demons'.38 Until
1988, he strove verbally to pinpoint the goal of
his compositional endeavour. The keywords in
understandinghave been 'structuralism'with the
inclusion of the 'aura'.
For Lachenmann, provocation against the
common always included interference with
familiar sound combinations. In his words, the
structuralist'sapproachexpresseditself with calls
for 'individuationof the meansin a work',39for a
'confrontationwith interconnections and neces-
sities of the musical material' (1979),40 for a
'detachment' of 'means out of their common
speech connection' (1982),41 for a 'structural
refraction of old relationships' (1988),42 for a
'sensitive, keenly heard handling of the musical
material' (1990).43While these underlying ideas
of de- and reconstruction stem from post-war
serialism (with reference to the German Beet-
hoven-Brahms-Schoenbergvariation tradition),
Lachenmann'sreflective language initially took
its impulse from the Weiss/Benjamin/Lukacs
tradition, and later shifted to the language of
post-structuralistphilosophy.
The artwork is meant to be a complex
organism of reshuffled and adjusted particles in
an ever-changingcontext. Lachenmannexpressed
his thorough sympathy with the premises of
serialism.This is why he has often been assigned
the role of defender of modernism.44
. . . the thought of the serial as a speculative process to
detach the consciously levelled modification of the
original material from the common, materialized
(verdinglichten)context, and additionallyto mediate the
abrupt,this has remained for me, and not only for me,
a valuable idea out of the serial lesson. Beyond the
mechanical-academic misuse, it is possibly the core
element of musical structuralismwhich is able to lead
our merely hearing ears to an alternativelistening, and
37 Hans Werne Henze, Die englischeKatze. Eit Arbeitstagebuch
1978-1982 (Frankfurt a. M.: S. Fischer, 1983), p.346.
3SLachenmannquotes here a phrase
by Luigi Nono, 'Musik
hat ihre Unschuld verloren', MusikundGesellschaft8-9 (Aug/
39'Bedingungen des Materials', p.97.
'Accanto. Einfiihrung zu einer Auffiihrung in Zurich am
23. November 1982', Musik-Kontzepte 61/62. HelmutLachen-
mann, p.63.
43 'Musik hat ihre Unschuld verloren', p.416.
44 For
example, within the Miinchner Biennale 1990 a
symposiumwas held under the title ModerneversusPostmoderne,
which thrived once again upon the polarization between
Helmut Lachenmann and Wolfgang Rihm, alias modernism
versus postmodernism.
12 HelmutLachenmann's
Conceptof Rejection
beyondthat, to a new way of feeling by takingthe
commonapart.It hasto be assumed,however,thatthe
expressivedeterminations whichare
('relationships'),
entailed in the sound material, are not blindly
overruled,ignored,raped.(1986)45
The fashionableterms de- and reconstruction
are easily translatable into the classic term
variation. Lachenmannhimself recognized this.
Thecompositional processwhichcausessuchpreliminary
andincidentalnegationcouldalmostbe describedin
thecategoriesof theclassicthematicdevelopment.On
the oppositeside, I have analyticallyillustratedthe
definitenegationandtransformation processesin the
firstmovementof Beethoven'sHarfenquartett andthe
fourthpiece out of Webernsop.10. (1988)46
The emphasis of this approach is not the
proclaimed de- and reconstruction but the
totality of its applied variation principles.
'Expressive reinterpretation through compre-
hensivevariation',naturallyleaves manyquestions
unansweredwhich cannot be taken up here. One
query might, however, be directed to the degree
of variation,as no composition is completely free
of variation, and therefore of 'individuationand
estrangement'. How much variation destroys
common associations,and up to which point is it
'mere stylisticimitation'?The subtletiesof various
degrees of estrangementwould be more effective
subjects of reflection than some extremist
deconstructivistslogans.
Lachenmannhasincreasinglyconceivedmusical
materialin termsof sound and actioncategories47
ratherthan physicalparameters.Attention should
be directed to his statement from 1988 about
'graded scales of qualitativejumps':
Alreadyin theforefrontof composing,I happenupona
for me incalculablementalconnectionof moreor less
complex categories.Includingtheir fragility,they
formmycompositional instruments. Thisrelatesto the
thinkingin parameters of thefifties,butwhichinitially
startedfrom quantitivegrading,and played, so to
speak,withpreviouslyinstalledregulators. Thegraded
scalesthat I create for myself consistratherout of
jumpsthatmakea pizzicatoto anarcoanda
qualitative
pianissimoto a fortissimo,andtheregulatorsandtheir
wayof functioningaredeterminedby myself.(1988)48
45 'Uber das Komponieren (1986)', MusikTexte16 (Oct, 1986),
p.12. Grundbestimmungen', p.72; also in 'Bedingungen des
46'Fragenund Antworten',pp.123-4. Materials', p.96; Lachenmann also uses the term 'existential
47'Siciliano - aspect' synonymously with 'aura' in 'Bedingungen des
Abbildungenund KommentarfragmenteMaterials', p.93.
61/62.Helmnut
(1983)',Musik-Konzepte Lachenmann,
pp.76-77. Confusingly, Lachenmann's term 'aesthetic apparatus'
The translation of Bewegutngskategorien into action not
movement categories is not perfectly correct, but expresses
better what the author believed Lachenmannwas meaning to
say. There is reason to assume that he is more concerned with
various ways of sound-production rather than with musical
motion as mentioned earlier in this article.
48
'Fragen und Antworten', p. 125.
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Once the awarenessof Lachenmann'sthinking
in complex acoustic('qualitativejumps that make
a pizzicatoto an arco . . .') ratherthan physically
measurableevents49has been acknowledged, his
article from 1983 on the 'Siciliano' from his
Tanzsuiteyields ample examples. For example, he
differentiatesbetween a 'distorted sound level',
'sounds which relate to blown tones but are
beaten, plucked or touched' and an 'effectively
toneless and hoarse tonelessness'. His treatment
of those unique categoriesin 'Siciliano',however,
employs traditional variation principles such as
'exposition..., combination..., separation....
addition ..., intensification and extension'.50
Lachenmann'sfascinationwith extreme sounds
and with varioustypes of naturaland manipulated
echoes has much in common with the thinking in
electronic studios of the 1950s and 60s. There is
reasonto believe that he conceived timbre, tone-
motion and echo very much in terms of
electronically produced music.51 Titles such as
EchoAndante,Klangschatten, Schattentanz,
Ausklang
have hinted at his preoccupation with various
echo phenomena.
As a more important extension to the
structuralist'sconcept, Lachenmannhas taken the
philosophically abstractconcept of 'aura'52into
account in his compositional manipulations.
I think, the decisive specificationof compositional
thinkingcan be extractedfromthe particular way of
reducingthetermof structure in favourof inclusionof
the 'aura',becausethroughthis procedurethe social
realityandthe existentialexperienceof the individual
49
Acoustic events out of a multiplicity of physical data were
already Karlheinz Stockhausen's starting point for further
construction ('Empfindungsqualitdten') in his Gesang der
Juinglinge(1955/56) and in his Kontakte(1959/60) as Christoph
Blumenr6der pointed out in 'Serielle Musik um 1960:
Stockhausens Kontakte', Analysen, Beitraie zu einer Problem-
geschichte des Komponierens.Festschrift fur Hans Heinrich
E,qebrechtzum 65. Geburtstag(Stuttgart:Franz Steiner Verlag,
1984). p.504.
5( 'Siciliano', pp.76-70. See Lachenmann'sdescription of the
process.
5l Lachenmann'sconcept of'musique concrete instrumentale'
is as complex a topic as his concept of 'rejection', and is
therefore not pursued here any further.
52 The term 'aura' is described by Lachenmann in 'Die vier
(first mentioned in 'Die Schonheit und die Schont6ner. Zum
Problem musikalischer Asthetik heute (1976), Neue Musik-
zeitung 26/1 (Feb-March 1977), pp.1-7) is sometimes used
synonymously with all 'aspects of the musical material' (see
'Uber das Komponieren', p.9) and sometimes synonymously
with the 'aura' only (see 'Musik als Abbild vom Menschen',
NZ/M 146 (Nov 1985), p.17).

appearnot only as a componentto hide from or to
reject but as an essential component of musical
information, however mirrored (1978)53
Lachenmann's increasing reference to the
'speech quality' (rather than 'auratic quality')
might have been the result of confrontationwith
semiotic theory. Foreign and native literatureon
semiotics appearedin publicationlists54from the
early 1970s onwards and spread among German
intellectuals. Lachenmann's struggle for credi-
bility in a commercially-orientedmusic industry
expresses itself as avoidance of unequivocality,
even if his theoretical writings apparently
disguise precisely this degree of imprecision.
The resulting 'speechless gesticulation' (Konrad
Boehmer55) of his music cannot rely on an
establishedsystem of communicationalsigns but
operates on other cognitive levels of game and
perceptual ambiguity/mobility. One of Lachen-
mann's achievements rests in the subtle shadings
that can be made out in this zone between the
definitely familiar and referential chaos.
Lachenmann'sattemptto restore credibility to
music's 'speech quality' through structuralinter-
ference occurs on at least two levels. He
disappointsexpectationsconjuredup by symbolic
signs and he avoids clearly articulatedform 'from
above' (Adorno). The first approach can be
loosely described;the second necessitatesanalysis
that cannot be done independently of the
composer. Lachenmannmanipulatesassociations
with, for example, tonal gestures (e.g. Mozart's
clarinet concerto in Acccanto),folk songs (e.g.
the nursery rhyme 'Hanschen klein' in Ein
Kinderspiel),dance rhythms (as for example a
siciliano in Tanzsuitemit Deutschlandlied), music-
ians' habits (e.g. the virtuoso), quotes in quotes
(e.g. the folk song 'Oh du lieber Augustin' that
Schoenberg used in his Second String Quartet is
used againin Lachenmann'sMouvement), orchestral
mannerisms(e.g. the unresolved romantic swell
53 'Bedingungen des Materials', p.97.
54 For example, Umberto Eco's
Einfiihrungin die Semiotikwas
translatedinto German in 1972; his OperaApertaas Das Offene
Kunstwerkin 1973; Jean Piaget's Der Strukturalismuswas
translated in 1973.
Hans-Georg Gadamer, Die AktualitdtdesSchonen.Kunstals
Spiel, Symbolund Fest (Stuttgart, 1977).
Adorno's Musik, Spracheund ihr Verhiltnisim gegenwirtigen
Komponierenwas published in 1978, GesammelteSchriften16
(Franfurt am Main: Suhrkamp), where he states on p.650:
'Music has to have a speech character', it is not enough just
being an 'acoustical kaleidoscope'.
Naom Chomsky. AspektederSyntax-Theorie(Frankfurtam
Main: Suhrkamp, 1983).
55 'Sprachlose Gestik als
Formproblem neuer Musik', Formin
derNeuen Musik, Veroffentlichungen des InstitutsfjurNeue Musik
und MusikerziehungDarmstadt33, ed. Ekkehard Jost (Mainz:
Schott, 1992), pp. 16-25.
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HelmutLachenmann's
Conceptof Rejection 13
gesture in Kontrakadenz) as well as certain musical
articulations such as arpeggio- and glissando
patterns, Bartok pizzicati (Gran Torso),or even
concrete sounds of children, as in Fassade.56
Lachenmann has seldom specified his
objectives more specifically. In the introduction
to the clarinetconcertoAccanto(1982), he lists the
destruction of the melody, harmony and the
beautiful tone. Beyond a provocative rejection,
he consciously works against 'a pulsing meter as
basis for every familiar tonal time determin-
ation'.57During the whole clarinet concerto, for
example, Mozart's concerto runs silently on a
tape. Only once does it break into the region of
acousticperception. Alreadyon an exposed level,
LachenmanndeconstructsMozart's masterwork,
the tonal language, the genre of a concerto, the
expectationson a virtuoso soloist and the capacity
of a clarinet.
In the article on his 'Siciliano' (1983),
Lachenmanntalks about resisting 'pitch order (in
a tonal or serial sense) by integratingunexpected
noise spectra of all kinds of definite-pitch-
instruments with indefinable pitches'.58 In
response to Heinz-KlausMetzger (1988), he also
mentionsmusicalcontradictionswhose exhibition
results in a compositional strategy, namely
between 'polyphonic order and sound', between
'musicians'habits and a new action repertoire',
between the 'varying treatments of the fifth
tuning of instruments,of tremolos, down and up-
bows'.59
Lachenmann's sophisticated confrontation
with expectations employs much more than a
quotation/variationtechnique in a familiarsense.
His hinting at the common is so elusive that it
demands intensive deciphering. At its best, the
aura is conjured up but not real. For example,
what could be heard as a tango gesture at the end
of Gran Torsocannot be identified in separate
hearing of those individual bars. Taken out of
context, the sounds that supposedly articulate
gesturesof tango rhythmshere can only be taken
as such if one has been left craving by the
suspense-inducing harshness and suppressed
motion of the previous 15 minutes. What follows
overwhelms with the same intensity by which a
piece of dry bread will appeara culinaryfeast for
the starving. This perceptive ambiguity forms a
crucial aspect of Lachenmann'scomposition.
56Some of those
examples are taken from Michael
Mairkelmann,'Helmut Lachenmannoder "Das neu zu
rechtfertigende Sch6ne",' NZfM 123/6 (Nov. 1985), pp.21-
25; and Lachenmann, 'Fragen und Antworten', pp.128.
57'Accanto'.
pp.70.
58 'Siciliano',
p.76.
59'Fragen und Antworten', p.124.
14 HelmutLachenmann's
Conceptof Rejection
The shift of emphasis in Lachenmann's
concept of rejection was strong: from a general
social critique manifested in a provocation
againstthe beautifultone and functionaltonality,
to the rejection of the associated'aura'by means
of an extended structuralism. The extreme
consequences of such an approach resulted,
finally, in the rejection of any personal expect-
ations of the composer Helmut Lachenmann,as
he demanded from himself,
... a kind of intensiveinner provocation,which
follows(him)into(his)sleep.Theissueis notto propel
world.Thisshould
structural
intoa newandinteresting
only be excitingbecauseit excitesus anddemandsan
alternativebehaviourof us. The excitementshould
take placewithinour self-discovery(1988)60
Following Lachenmann'sstatements through
the self-evident and the extreme has not solved
many questions for theoreticians.Admittedly, he
has outlined his internalconcerns, has defined his
emphasisat different stagesand has demonstrated
open questions. After attractionto and involve-
ment in Lachenmann'stheoreticalstatementsone
is likely to arrive, once again, at the question of
the importanceof a composer'sverbalexpressions
in relation to their music. Without demanding
rational validity, we are prepared to accept that
birds and religious notions have been intensely
inspiring for Olivier Messiaen. Just because
Lachenmann'sstatements appear to be rational
does not mean they have not stimulated him in
the same way as the birds did for the French
master.After all, it was Lachenmannhimself who
disclosed to Ulrich Mosch that his thoughts have
been 'the work accompanyingmentalgymnastics':
A stretching exercise for the triple flip of the
actual performance?
What is the actual performance of a musico-
logist interpreting the Lachenmann-sourcesand
verbalizing the experience of his music? How
successful will the musicologist's attempt be to
force the ambiguous into the unequivocal?
60 'Fragen und Antworten', 133.
p.
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Obviously, little analyticalwork has been done
on Lachenmann'smusic.61In the few examples
available, speculations appear in such awkward
language as 'inner and outer pedal points...(?)'
or 'moments of orgasm.. .(?)'62 Lachenmann
himself consciously avoids specifying technical
procedures. Like those of Pierre Boulez, Brian
Femeyhough and others the compositional
constructionsare complex to such a degree that
empiricalanalyticalresearchis bound to get lost.
What can be deduced are numericalorderingson
a very superficial scale.
One can bear a number of prejudicestowards
academia,but it gives the time and scope to linger
on contradictoryissues without having to solve
them short-sightedly. The analytical problems
with music like Lachenmann'scan indeed be
addressed if one allows what appears to be
contradictoryin the first instance to become the
crucialstimulus.If one is preparedto explore the
field of perceptual mobility between various
levels of abstraction and focus, one is able
to break out of both German generalizing
philosophy and Englishpositivist analysis.One is
not surprised to find in Brian Ferneyhough a
person who bridges those worlds:
... in my own works I attempt to ensure a style-
immanentdouble coding in and throughthe space
opened up by perceived dissonantialmobility of
relationshipbothfromthe objectiveandthesubjective
standpoints, multi-
the formerby meansof 'structural
tracking'63... the latter, subjective,viewpoint is,
meanwhile, manifest in the way the shadowy,
'Other'is allowedtheopportunity
rationally-repressed
to thrusta painfulwedgeintothemonadiccarapaceof
order...64
The subject analysisis another chapter in the
life of the present musicologist. As long as this
issue cannot be comprehensivelydiscussed- and
it can, unfortunately,not be done at this point -
the topic of Lachenmann'srejectionwill inevitably
remain fragmented.The fragments,nonetheless,
are telling.
61 The more substantialones,.
e.g. by Hans-Peter Jahn, Peter
B6ttinger, Robert Piencikowski and Lachenmann himself
appearedmostly in Musik-Konzepte 61/62. HelmutLachenmann.
62 Yuval Shaked, "'Wie ein Kifer auf dem Riicken
zappelnd".
zu Mouvement(- vor der Erstarrung-)(1982-84) von Helmut
Lachenmann', MusikTexte8 (Feb. 1985), pp.9-16.
63 See Lachenmann's 'polyphony of order'.
64 'Parallel Universes', Asthetik und
Komposition.Darmstddter
Beitragezur Neuen Musik 20, ed. Gianmario Borio, Ulrich
Mosch (Mainz: Schott, 1994), p.22.