The Early Works of Arnold Schoenberg, 1893

Thematic Relationships, Style, and Structure

The process of thematic transformation in Pelleas und Melisande is richer and more elaborate than in any of Schoenberg's, earlier works. Some of the most obvious, audible relationships (many noted in Berg's thematic table of 1920) can be summarized as follows (see exx. 7.1 and 7.2):

1. The first theme of the work, MELISANDE 1, is based on a three-note motive, x, which is common to several important themes. The first three notes of MELISANDE 2 are clearly heard as an inversion of x, and the rising

might be heard (although it is embedded in a longer rising line) as x in its original form. The motive appears prominently as the first chromatic element in the broadly diatonic F-major melody based on the GOLAUD motive (ex. 7.2a). It also forms a distinctive part of PELLEAS 1 and appears inverted across the first and second measures of PELLEAS

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Example 7.1
Pelleas und Melisande, principal themes.

2; in the latter spot, the inversion occupies the same metrical position with respect to the bar line as in MELISANDE 2. The programmatic import of these recurrences is clear: Melisande's chromatic motive x infiltrates the themes of the two men with whom she becomes involved, Golaud and Pelleas.

2. Another significant transformation on a larger scale involves the reworking of PELLEAS 2 into MELISANDE 4 (aligned in ex. 7.2b). Berg suggests further that MELISANDE 4 is a transformation of MELISANDE 2 (Berg 1920, "Thementafel," ex. 9).

3. Several elements of the themes of part I of Pelleas are reworked in the main LOVE theme of part III (ex 7.2c). Berg suggests that the first measure is a transformation of MELISANDE 1, although he is not specific

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Example 7.2
Pelleas und Melisande, transformations of themes.

about the transformation. His example (Berg 1920, "Thementafel" ex. 16) seems to imply that the rhythmic pattern of x and the rising stepwise contour are taken over as

in LOVE. This derivation seems less persuasive than others pointed out by Berg. More convincing is his suggestion that mm. 6–7 of LOVE represent a further transformation of PELLEAS 2 VIA MELISANDE 4 (shown in ex. 7.2c). In addition, the figure of m. 7 of LOVE derives directly from the similar figure in MELISANDE 3.

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Example 7.3
Pelleas und Melisande, MELISANDE 2 theme.

Though important, these (and similar) transformations form only a small part of what is most characteristic about the individual themes in Pelleas. A proper understanding of the Pelleas style must take account of the harmonic, formal, and rhythmic contexts. In his often-cited autobiographical essay, "My Evolution," Schoenberg suggested that in Pelleas "many of the melodies contain extratonal intervals that demand extravagant movement of the harmony" (Schoenberg 1975, 82). This statement (for "extratonal" we can probably read "non-diatonic") seems to imply that at least on the local level, harmonic motion is determined or motivated by thematic forces. In fact, the relationship between theme and harmony in Pelleas is really one of mutual interdependence. Not only do the chromatic melodies require unusual harmonic successions; the harmony and the very careful accompanimental voice-leading also tend to give definition to themes that taken by themselves would be almost unintelligible as tonal entities.^[2] What is striking in Pelleas is how this interdependence of theme, harmony, and voice-leading generates thematic structures that are highly chromatic on the detailed level, but are governed by conventional progressions or cadential structures on the higher level. This process can be seen by examining three themes of increasing length and complexity.

The two-measure theme of MELISANDE 2 (ex. 7.3) is based on an open-ended progression of dominant-seventh chords, moving from the E⁷ on the upbeat (spelled with

instead of

because of the downward resolution of the third), through the A⁷ on the subsequent downbeat, to the D⁷ (in second inversion) on the downbeat of m. 2. Although this kind of harmonic motion is not unusual in music after Wagner, or even by Wagner (for example, the chains of dominant sevenths at "O süsseste Wonne" in the Siegmund-Sieglinde duet in act I of Die Walküre), Schoenberg's voice-

[2] A sensitive, if brief, discussion of the interaction between the vertical and horizontal dimensions of Pelleas is Harvey 1975, 375–79, who treats the "forest" music at rehearsal no. 2.

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leading and the intermediate harmonies it produces are distinctive. The vagrant sonorities actually sounded on the beats of the first full measure—an augmented

triad, a half-diminished seventh chord on C, and a C minor-seventh chord in third inversion—make no sense as a "progression"; they are really produced by the motion of the individual parts. After the initial E—A resolution, the bass line progresses by step around A:

. This line makes extraordinary but logical counterpoint with the melody. The large downward melodic leap of an augmented fifth,

, which alone would sound highly dissonant, is in fact prepared or rationalized by the

present in the bass underneath the

. Or it might be said that the melodic augmented fifth presents successively in the horizontal dimension what is also occurring simultaneously in the vertical dimension. This reciprocity between bass and melody continues in their exchange of C and

on beats three and four.

The theme-complex PELLEAS (ex. 7.4) shows on a larger scale how an extremely chromatic melody and bass line can generate or fill out a harmonic skeleton and a phrase structure that are relatively conventional. The nine-measure theme consists of two phrases, divided 5+4. The first phrase moves from I (E major, in mm. 1 and 3) to V (m. 5); the second returns to the tonic (m. 9). The asymmetry, characteristic of Schoenberg (and of the Brahms themes he admired), is caused by the extension of the first phrase, and the concomitant delay of the arrival on the dominant, from m. 4, where we would normally expect it, to m. 5. The theme begins "on the run," with a remarkable superimposition of subdominant and tonic triads. The first three beats of m. 1 project a kind of rapid IV—V—I cadence; but, as in MELISANDE 2, the chords are produced or carried along by the interaction of a primarily stepwise bass line (and inner parts) with a highly mobile melody. In mm. 1–3 the bass traces a descent from A to the tonic E, then leaps down a major third to C, which moves down to the dominant, B. In the second half of the phrase there is a complementary stepwise ascent back to the tonic, whose final arrival is delayed by the upper chromatic neighbor,

. This unusual final approach to E in mm. 8–9, from a half-step above, creates an important (and undoubtedly intentional) parallel to mm. 4–5, where the dominant is likewise reached from a half-step above and from a note sustained for an entire measure. The

resolution of mm. 8–9 has also been directly anticipated in the bass motion across the bar line of mm. 2–3: indeed, in both cases the tonic triad is preceded by the identical half-diminished seventh (

Schoenberg fills out the initial I–V progression of mm. 1–5 by means of harmonic motion toward, respectively, chords a major third above and below the tonic. The first gesture is toward iii or

, suggested by the V⁶ of iii in m. 2. Although the melodic

"resolves" by fifth to the

on the last beat of m. 2, the harmony and the bass line, which continues to descend, fail to support that resolution with a iii triad. Schoenberg returns instead to the tonic, on beat 2 of m. 3. The next move is to the lower major third, C major, on beats 3 and 4 of the measure. The

harmony of m. 4 serves as mediator between C and the true dominant, B, reached in

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Example 7.4
Pelleas und Melisande, PELLEAS theme.

m. 5. The chord might initially be heard as a German sixth within C; but the outer voices resolve outward by step to the dominant seventh of E. A deceptive resolution of the dominant leads to an A-minor or iv triad on the downbeat of m. 6, then to a series of vagrant harmonies connected by stepwise voice-leading in the accompanimental parts, and finally back to the tonic in m. 9.

The filling out of diatonic Stufen and a normal phrase structure with chromatic harmonies and voice-leading is carried still further in the main LOVE theme (ex. 7.5). Although this theme is twice as long as the PELLEAS complex just examined, it is likewise clearly rooted in E major, and the principal secondary key is likewise the dominant, B, which is reached at about the halfway point, the end of m. 8, and at the conclusion, in mm. 16–17. On the way to the first dominant is a clear subdominant (m. 6), which is itself prepared by a dominant seventh in mm. 5–6. The mid-

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Example 7.5
Pelleas und Melisande, LOVE theme.

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Example 7.6
Pelleas und Melisande, rewriting of mm. 5–7 of LOVE theme.

point harmonic articulation is to some extent obscured by the thematic structure: four phrases, of which the third (mm. 9-11) is an almost exact sequence (up a whole step) of the second (mm. 5-8) and the fourth is an extended variation of the two preceding. The form might be schematized as:

A (mm. 1-4)

B (5-8)

B sequence (9-11)

B varied (12-17)

This is a theme that seems literally to get carried away with itself. Although the harmonic design is essentially symmetrical or balanced, the thematic content is progressive, abandoning A after four measures for sequential and variation treatment of B. The phrase structure, too, begins to unravel: after an initially well-balanced 4+4 measures, we get 3+6.

From the very opening, the theme also projects tension or asymmetry in an apparent conflict between the notated

meter, supported by the bass and inner parts, and the tendency of the melody in mm. 1-3 toward

, or a duple division of the measure. The last measure of the first phrase, m. 4, seems to establish the

more firmly, but the metrical grid begins to dissolve again at the beginning of the B phrase, where Schoenberg extends the initial E of the

neighbor motion. By analogy to the rhythm of mm. 1 and 2, we might expect this figure to be contained within m. 5, leading to the high

on the downbeat of m. 6, as in ex. 7.6a. But the

arrives only on the second beat of m. 6. Schoenberg has

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thus "stretched" the notated

to an implied

, which is continued across mm. 6-7 (ex. 7.6b). This "melodic" meter by no means displaces the notated meter; it is in fact contradicted by the bass, which remains tied to the bar line and arrives on the dominant B on the downbeat of m. 8.

As suggested above, mm. 9-11 repeat the pattern of mm. 5-8 up a whole step, without the initial augmentation. The sequence seems about to continue with another leg in m. 12, but is broken by the appearance of the climactic half-diminished chord, B-D-F-A, which is sustained for two and a half beats, like the E of m. 5. This extension may be said to balance, or cancel out, the earlier one. It now brings the

of m. 14 onto the notated downbeat (cf. the

of m. 6 and

of m. 9). Bass and melody are at last fully aligned and move together toward the half-cadence.

As in the PELLEAS theme-complex, Schoenberg expands or fills out the basic diatonic framework of the LOVE theme by means of harmonic substitutions and extensions. The first of these comes in m. 3, with the abrupt move to the C⁷ chord. The relationship between this chord and the tonic, which, as we have seen, was central to Verklärte Nacht, is one Schoenberg exploits frequently in Pelleas und Melisande, where German sixths come to function almost as substitute dominants. Here, however, the chord moves neither to the real tonic nor to its own"tonic," F; it resolves to a half-diminished seventh on D, thence to a C-minor triad in first inversion. The result is that the first phrase, rather than concluding on the tonic, dominant, or another diatonic Stufe, ends on

vi.

The harmonic motion to this remote area has its corollary in the melodic avoidance of E in m. 3. Instead of ascending by step from

to E, the melody leaps up to

. This note then descends chromatically across mm. 3-4, through

and

The E that was avoided earlier appears at the start of the B phrase in m. 5, where the harmony also returns to the tonic region: the E is supported by an easily "readable"

of IV.

In one sense, the phrase's ultimate goal in the bass, the dominant B, is reached in m. 8 and is then embellished and extended by what follows. The sequence of mm. 9-12, up a whole step from mm. 6-8, can be heard to move in the bass from the B up to

, then back down stepwise (in m. 12) to the original point of departure, B. The B of m. 12 is harmonized not with a dominant seventh, but with the half-diminished seventh. The bass now continues to climb across mm. 13-14 up to the tonic E, which forms part of a final I-vi-V/V-V progression that concludes on the dominant seventh.

At a fundamental level, the three themes from Pelleas that we have examined in some detail all show traditional diatonic harmonies or progressions, as well as strong traces of conventional phrase structure. The basic skeleton supports a highly mobile melodic style and flexible, largely stepwise voice-leading. In Schoenberg's ability to expand or flesh out the skeleton by means of chromatic harmony and voice-leading,

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the thematic idiom or style of Pelleas goes far beyond that of Verklärte Nacht. The contrast can be seen most directly by comparing the LOVE theme of the symphonic poem with the somewhat similar theme 5 from the sextet (ex. 7.7). Both are slow, broad themes in E major that contrast with the more agitated passages preceding them. The Verklärte Nacht theme (incorporating 5a and 5b) is ten measures long, probably the longest individual theme in a work in which, as we have seen, themes tend to be quite brief. The first four measures of both themes show something of the "sentence" proportions and structure: 1+1+2. Both themes move, on the broadest span, between basic diatonic degrees, the tonic and dominant. But in the theme from Pelleas und Melisande the upper voice and the bass range much farther afield, and the span is filled in with denser chromatic harmonic motion and voice-leading.

Both themes show a certain metrical-rhythmic flexibility that overrides the notated bar lines. In Verklärte Nacht that flexibility is most apparent in 5b, where the basic unit is actually two beats long (a beat is a dotted quarter note) and begins not on the downbeat of m. 111, but on beat 2 (with a preceding upbeat). The metrical extension and displacement thus generated continue through m. 114 and are dispelled only with the return of 5a in m. 115. In the LOVE theme the metrical ambiguities begin right away and affect the entire theme up until the final cadence in mm. 16-17.