Habilitationsschrift--Berlin--Freie Universität. / Bibliogr. p. 334-335.

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The study traces Arnold Schoenberg's spiritual journey as he moves from his oratorio Die Jakobsleiter, through his nonmusical drama Der biblische Weg to the opera Moses und Aron. These works span the years from approximately 1915 to 1933, the period which coincides not only with Schoenberg's religious shift from Lutheranism to Judaism but also with the appearance of his early dodecaphonic works. It is argued that the works of this period, the religious shift and his conception of twelve-tone serialism are all deeply and inextricably connected. This study, with support from Schoenberg's writings, postulates that twelve tone serialism, the technique with which the name of Schoenberg is associated, was not an inevitable solution to the chromatic saturation of musical composition at the end of the nineteenth century, but that it was shaped by the composer's spiritual needs and by the fact that he lived in Europe during one of the most turbulent periods of her history. The dissertation approaches the topic from the perspective of Schoenberg, the assimilated Jewish artist in late-Romantic Vienna, who moves through various stages of eclectic religious beliefs, arriving finally at an acceptance of the monotheistic concept of the Jewish God. Various correspondences emerge between Schoenberg's religion and his music: the artist/genius as prophet whose mission it is to elevate the people; the idea of progress and the artist's obligation to create new art; the God Idea and prayer as it relates to the musical Idea (the Gedanke) and ultimately the idea of One God, the Mosaic Law and the Twelve-tone Row. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

Arnold Schoenberg's Second String Quartet, Op.10, completed in 1908, is the last of his works in which a key signature is used, and is generally regarded as a transitional work leading towards his 'atonal' period. Each of the first three movements has a key signature, whereas the last movement has no key signature--a characteristic of his later atonal works. / This study traces how the harmonic language evolves over the four movements of the quartet. The present analysis of each movement shows the structural procedures, the nature of the polyphony and the compositional techniques employed, including those which result in the dissolution of tonality. These changes contribute to the significance of the quartet as a critical work within the transition from the tonal to atonal medium.

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This study describes the integration of harmonic idiom and tonal design in Schoenberg's First Quartet, op. 7. Two general questions are answered: whether the composition should be judged by common-practice-period norms, and whether a coherent tonal structure is truly discernible. Chapter 1 first surveys the existing literature. It then describes a prime motivator of foreground chromaticism in the quartet—the chromatic surrounding of tonic and dominant pitches—and discusses two features of large-scale pitch organization applicable to Schoenberg's first-period music that contravene common-practice-period norms: tonal structure consisting of a pattern of keys, and systematic use of dual or even multiple tonics in place of monotonality. Examples illustrate three types of graphic representation of tonal duality to be used in the study. The next four chapters describe tonal process within and across the four "movements" of the quartet (Schoenberg's Parts I through IV). Chapter 2, which studies Part I, reveals systematic avoidance of V-I function in the opening key, D, tonal rivalries between D and each of its two semitone-related keys, and the beginning of a large-scale chromatic surrounding of the key of D. Chapter 3, on Part II of the quartet, demonstrates continuation of the rivalry between tonics D and Dt> by their use as competing secondary tonics within the Scherzo, and the harmonic progression VII-I replacing V-I at a crucial structural point. Chapter 4, on Part III of the quartet, describes tonal duality as it occurs in the Adagio, the furthering of the tonal plot in a section that engages in a "plagal" system of tonality, and the beginning of a large chromatic surrounding of A. Chapter 5 shows that Part IV eschews a simple relationship between the A-major tonic of the Rondo and the D-major tonic of the Coda by allowing the infiltration of elements of the Db-major collection. Chapter 6 summarizes the evidence contradicting a monotonal understanding of the composition and reviews evidence that the demonstrated multi-tonal coherence is part of the musical reality of the work.

This thesis explores Arnold Schoenberg's use of meter in Das Buck der hangenden Garten, Opus 15. The thesis works from the premise that Schoenberg treats meter in a manner analogous to that usually associated with pitch material: meter is motivic in nature, and can be subjected to developmental techniques. The concepts of fluctuating meter and suspended meter are developed, and used to describe the music; these concepts are derived from an analogy with Schoenberg's own terms schwebende Tonalitat and aufgehobene Tonalitat (fluctuating and suspended tonality). Selected excerpts from the song cycle are analyzed. The analyses focus on issues of meter, although some pitch analysis is used to complement the discussion.

Schoenberg's monodrama Erwartung, op.17 (1909), appeared at the dawn of early Expressionism, a movement which profoundly affected the composer's early works. This movement dealt in part with the alienation and isolation of the self in what many artists considered a corrupt and degenerate society. The first part of this thesis examines the possible influences of the Expressionist and Symbolist traditions on Erwartung's text and, to a lesser extent, the early history of psychoanalysis, of which librettist Marie Pappenheim was certainly aware. The impact of the changes made by Schoenberg to Pappenheim's original text, as well as some of his elusive stage directions are given consideration. The composer and librettist created a text which effectively obscures the boundaries between the protagonist's conscious and unconscious thoughts, hence confusing the audience's perception of perception of reality and illusion. / Schoenberg parallels this dramatic disjunction in his music, as is discussed in the second part of the paper. Certain representational moments (for example, pitch cells and ostinati) are presented; the musical context of these moments is radically changed in subsequent appearances, preventing them from being audibly recognizable, and from retaining a stable meaning. This discussion refutes earlier analyses of Erwartung which stress so-called motivic and thematic connections. Several illustrative moments in Scene IV are highlighted. Although on a local level, certain musical connections exist, what remains most disturbing and thus most effective in Erwartung is how the separateness of these 'climactic' moments gives the work its disjunct and temporally unpredictable quality.