Schoenberg (1874 - 1951)
Serial composer
“Peripetie” was completed in 1912 as
part of a set of five orchestral pieces
“A sudden change of fortune”
“The Scream” by Edvard Munch
Expressionist artist
Painted between 1893 - 1910
TASK: Listen to Schoenberg’s
“Peripetie” an write 3 words
or sentences which compare
the painting and the music
e.g. they both sound exciting
and uplifting
EXTENSION: Make notes
about the music using your
workbook mind-map
Can you identify a structure?
The rules of Bounce!
1.Share your idea or answer clearly!
2.“Bounce” by choosing the next
person (Boy/Girl -new row)
3.ONE person talks at a time!
4.Always be ready and
alert!
Schoenberg (1874-1951)
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Born in Vienna, Austria
Founded the Second Viennese School: a
group of composers who wrote
Expressionist music
“Artist, writers and composers wanted to
express their emotions through their art
form as intensely as possible.
Taught Berg & Webern.
He started writing atonal music when his
wife left him for his friend who was an
artist.
Developed a technique known as serial
What are the features of Expressionism?
Atonal – Gives each semitone equal importance
Each piece expresses one, intense emotion.
Use the full ranges of instruments, exploring the
pitches available at the extremes.
Timbre is as important as melody
Extreme dynamics – Very dramatic when played
in a large ensemble.
Quite short pieces – It is difficult to write
extended pieces in this style, without key
relationships and recognisable themes in the
traditional sense to form a structural framework.
Structure: Key Questions 1. How many different sections
are there? 2. What form does the music use? 3. How are
the different sections different?
AOS2: Schoenberg: ‘Peripetie’ - Melody: Prime Order
12 pitches of a chromatic scale in a set order which Schoenberg
then uses to develop individual melodies or melodic ideas (motifs).
The row may be used in it’s original form, inverted, retrograde or
transposed, for example:
Schoenberg uses the prime row (original order) in a retrograde
form (backwards).
Prime:
Retrograde:
TASK: Compose your own melody using the retrograde of the
prime order. Remember you can match the pitches to any rhythm
you decide to use.
EXTENSION: Can you invert the prime row for a second melody?
AoS 2: Music in the 20th Century
Schoenberg: Peripetie
From Five Orchestral Pieces Op16 (1909, revised 1922)
Hexachords
What is a hexachord?
A hexachord is simply a set of 6 different notes
Schoenberg bases what can be described as the
harmony of this movement on hexachords, and
derives many of his melodic ideas from the notes
contained in the chords
Structure: Key Questions 1. What do all of these
hexachords have in common?
Semi tone -> Tone -> Semi Tone
-> Minor 3rd -> Semi Tone
Semi tone -> Tone -> Semi Tone
-> Minor 3rd -> Semi Tone
Semi tone -> Tone -> Semi Tone
-> Minor 3rd -> Semi Tone
Schoenberg uses a scale pattern to work out which 6
notes to use
The scale starts on a note and ascends using a pattern of intervals
between the notes
•From the first to the second note is the interval of a semitone, like
in a chromatic scale
•From the second to the third is the interval of a tone, and so on
•The complete pattern is, in this case, always Semitone – Tone –
Semitone – Tone + semitone – Semitone,
or S T S T+S S
Example 1
Bars 1-2; the notes of the opening phrase in clarinets 1-3, bass
clarinet and bassoons 1-3
The six notes of this chord are from this scale
pattern
Example 2
Bar 8 beat 2; horns 1-6
The six notes of this chord are from this scale pattern
Example 3
Bar 37; beat 3, horns 1-6
The six notes of this chord are from this scale pattern
You’ll notice that it is the same as example 2 – the
Db note 4 in ex3 is the same as the C# note 4 in
ex2. Schoenberg uses the same
hexachord with a different enharmonic spelling –
Db=C#, G#=Ab etc – in many occasions in this
piece.
Example 4
Bar 65 (penultimate bar), beat 2, Horns 2-6, divided double basses
The six notes of this chord are from this scale pattern
Homework: Due Weds 15th January
Listen to “Peripetie” by Schoenberg and make
notes in your yellow workbook structure grid.
Focus on texture & dynamics
Add any other details that you can identify
Email Mr Jose if you have any issues
Structure
In 5 sections
Broadly in Rondo form, though the returning
A sections are hardly recognisable.
The A section shows a return to particular
mood or orchestral sound rather than to a
theme.
Section A Overview: Bars 1 - 18
Begins very loud!
Clarinets and flutes state 2 hexachords – Bar 1 = C#-D-E-F-
G#-A in the clarinets and A-A#-B-C-E-G# in the flutes
Builds up to ff fanfare-like horn motif marked
Bassoon plays the clarinet hexachords from bar 1, the same
as the horn motif from bar 8 but transposed up 4
semitones.
Lots of hexachords are used throughout the piece.
You are not expected to analyse all of these chords but
you must be aware that they are used melodically and
harmonically throughout and it is worth knowing a few
examples.
Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18
Tempo and rhythm
Marked Sehr Rasch – Very quick.
Crotchet = 100-108bpm
Mainly made up of short triplet and sextuplet bursts.
After the demisemiquaver hexachord burst, the
tempo becomes slightly slower through the quiet horn
passage.
This leads to an expressive rubato clarinet line from
bar 10.
Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18
Instrumentation and texture
Tutti orchestra is used for the opening before
they get to rest for a while.
Brass dominates the texture until bar 8, where
the woodwind takes over (low bassoons, bass
clarinet ostinato and clarinet melody)
Instruments drop in and out in quick succession
with dovetailing, homophonic bursts.
Loud hexachord texture thins out to solo
clarinet line.
Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18
Pitch and Melody
No sense of key – atonal and build on
hexachords
Hear the full pitch range of all the instruments
Clarinet melody is expressive and gentle
Angular and dissonant, with leaps of a minor
th
th
9 and major 7 – intervals usually used to
accentuate dissonance and create tension.
Section A Overview: Bars 1 – 18
Dynamics
Begins loudly
Crescendos to fff until dying away after bar5 to pp.
Trumpets and trombones play muted.
Mutes are used for sound quality, rather than to
effect the dynamics, for which the mute was not
originally designed.
Section B Overview: Bars 18-34
Tempo, Rhythm and Dynamics
Tempo returns to original marking.
Short note durations give the illusion that the
tempo has increased more than it has.
Section begins quietly with an immediate
crescendo
Dynamics vary between instruments
Haupstimme and Nebenstimme are always
marked as f-fff.
Dramatic and frequent dynamic changes
Section B Overview: Bars 18-34
Instrumentation and texture
Full orchestra, but not all at once, except for
climatic points i.e. Bars 30-34
Even here, strings leave to woodwind and
percussion to provide much of the power.
Soft line written for violins and cello, which is
almost inaudible but adds to the texture and
timbre.
Texture = Very polyphonic and complex
Section B Overview: Bars 18-34
Pitch and melody
 Haupstimme snakes through most of the orchestra
 In 24-28 it bounces from one brass instrument to the next,
demonstrating the klangfarbenmelodie idea.
 The Nebenstimme appears in this section, for its only appearance in the
whole piece.
 Bar28(2) to Bar 31(1) = Trumpet 1
 Bar29 = flutes, piccolo and clarinet
Section A’: Bars 35-43
Marked by the string section rising from nothing
Followed by a flourish in the horns then a return
to the hexachord from bar 8.
Several instruments briefly disturb the horn
chord
Section is a brief rest from the turmoil of section
B
A menacing mood, rather than tranquil, giving
the impression of more fireworks to come.
Section C Overview: Bars 44-58
Bassoon take over the Haupstimme but immediately pass it
on to the solo cello.
Bassoon - Cello
Tempo = alternates between Ruhiger (calmer) and Heftig
(passionate)
Texture is much more sparse, focus is on overlapping
instruments – Delicate us of the orchestra until the fff in
bar53
Dynamics range from pp (bar 44/45) to fff (bar 53-55), with
individual instruments rising above others with individual
crescendos.
Section A’’ Overview: Bars 59-66
Pitch, Melody and Dynamics.
Material from the opening used and developed in this
section.
No voice is marked more important than the others
Bar 64 chord (see previous slide) is a giant hexachord in all of
the orchestra except Cor Anglais and Double Basses.
Basses play an unrelated tremolo chord (very high). This
sustains after the rest of the orchestra has finished to
conclude the piece.
Bar 50 = pp to Bar 64 = ff, immediately dying away to nothing
but tremolo basses and pp horns.