Anton Webern, or "Overdramatic Romantic teenager becomes overdramatic Pointillist"

Anton Webern (1883-1945) is best known for writing twelve-tone serial music, as inspired by his teacher Arnold Schoenberg. Some say Webern charged by the note, as most of his pieces are incredibly short. The Two Pieces were written in 1899, before Webern met Schoenberg. They are lyrical, tonal, and full of outward emotion. Webern, a musicologist as well as a composer, saw his music as descendent from that of Gustav Mahler. The Two Pieces were written with a Romantic vocabulary, and are reminiscent of Mahler’s lieder. Incidentally, these pieces are the first evidence of Webern’s compositions; he wrote them for himself and his mother, a cellist and a pianist, respectively. When I first came across these pieces, I didn't believe that they were composed by the same Webern I studied in my 20th century harmony and history classes and whose music I found unpalatable. It turns out that they were indeed written by our friend Anton, when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, and sound beautiful to most who enjoy the cello and piano. Webern never titled these pieces, and they were given the name Two Pieces after his death. Their practical, specific title makes sense in the context of Webern's oeuvre; some of his most salient pieces have titles such like Symphony and Piano Variations. Short and to the point.

The Drei Kleine Stücke (Three Little Pieces) are atonal, pointillist, and incredibly brief. Altogether, they consist of thirty-two measures of music. The outer movements are incredibly slow and frequently call for false harmonics and sul ponticello playing (bowing at the bridge) to create varied sound effects. These outer movements are also incredibly soft; they are rarely notated at a louder dynamic than piano. In contrast, the second movement is incredibly loud and fast. These pieces combine a non-diatonic pitch vocabulary with highly complicated rhythms. I urge you to listen to these pieces with an open mind and open ears. They don't sound like the music most of us grew up with, but they can be fascinating.

Check out my Spotify playlist featuring Webern, Schoenberg, and Alban Berg (another composer with strong associations with the Second Viennese School and 12-tone composition). The playlist includes Webern's Two Pieces and Drei Kleine Stücke, as well as his Symphony. Also: Piano Suite and Verklärte Nacht by Arnold Schoenberg. The former is 12-tone, and the latter is tonal. Finally, Alban Berg's Violin Concerto and the opening of his 12-tone opera, Lulu.