Schonberg

and
Kandins ky
Contemporary Music Studies
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 SchOnberg
and

Kandinsky
An Historic Encounter

Edited by
Konrad Boehmer
Royal Conservatory, The Hague, The Netherlands

i~l\. Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group

NEW YORK AND LONDON

Copyright © 1997 OPA (Overseas Publishers Association)
Published Routledge

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
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Transferred to Digital Printing 2011

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Schonberg and Kandinsky: an historic encounter.-
(Contemporary music studies)
1. Schonberg, Arnold, 1874-1951- Congresses 2. Kandinsky,
Wassily, 1866-1944- Congresses 3. Art and music- Congresses
I. Boehmer, Konrad
700.9'22

ISBN 90-5702-046-7

Front and back cover illustrations:

Die glUckliche Hand, © A. Schonberg c/o Beeldrecht Amstelveen
Composition VI, 1912, © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amstelveen

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint
but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent.
 Contents

Introduction to the Series vii

Preface 1x
Introduction: The Schonberg-Kandinsky Symposium
by Frans Evers xi

The Construction of Painting with White Form by Wassily

Kandinsky
]. B. M. Janssen 1
Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material
in the Works of Kandinsky and Schonberg
Klaus Kropfinger 9
Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments
]elena Hahl-Koch 67
Kandinsky and Schonberg: The Problem of Internal Counterpoint
Bulat M. Galeyev 89
Where does "The Blue Rider" Gallop? Schonberg, Kandinsky
and Scriabin on the Synthesis of Art
Irina L. Vanechkina 95
Public Loneliness: Atonality and the Crisis of Subjectivity
in Schonberg's Opus 15
Albrecht Diimling 101
The Fool as Paradigm: Schonberg's Pierrot Lunaire and the
Modern Artist
Reinhold Brinkmann 139
Expressionism and Rationality
Konrad Boehmer 169
Schonberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth: Truth as a Central
Category in Expressionism
fob I]zerman 183

v
vi Contents
The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity: Some Aspects of Theoretic
Reflection in Schonberg and Kandinsky
Laurens van der Heijden 199
Notes on Contributors 215
Index 217
 Introduction to the Series

The rapid expansion and diversification of contemporary music is

explored in this international series of books for contemporary musicians.
Leading experts and practitioners present composition today in all
aspects-its techniques, aesthetics and technology, and its relationships
with other disciplines and currents of thought-as well as using the series
to communicate actual musical materials.
The series also features monographs on significant twentieth-century
composers not extensively documented in the existing literature.

Nigel Osborne

vii
 Preface

One of the main paradoxes of 20th-century art is that which opposes

invention and composition. Whether it be Italian Futurism, the 'automatic
writing' of French Surrealism, the international Dada-movement on the
eve of World War I, or Action Painting, Fluxus, Pop Art and Chance
Composition after World War II, they all put forward psychological,
aesthetic or ideological reasons to explain their rejection of the principle
of composition which most of them considered old-fashioned, or belonging
to the 'bourgeois' era. The emphasis most of these currents put on new
artistic material as such leads us to question to what extent modern art is
identical with its material, no longer able to develop its own narrative
structures and aesthetic norms. It might seem to a superficial observer
that the afore-mentioned avant-garde art forms are the main initiatives of
the fundamental transformation which all art has undergone in our
century. This selective view forgets that there have been other very
important currents of aesthetic renewal, which have had more differen-
tiated opinions concerning the relation between material innovation and
composition. It was their firm conviction that any artistic material is not
just a given fact but is the result of compositional processes. Thus any true
renewal of the artistic material should be motivated by new ideas about
language and form.
The historic encounter around 1911 between the composer Arnold
Schonberg and the painter Wassily Kandinsky occurred at a moment
when the first wild revolts against traditional art, Dada and Futurism,
had just manifested themselves. Independently of those - sometimes
spectacular - activities, both Schonberg and Kandinsky had already
come to the conclusion that the material and the compositional methods
they had relied on in the past were exhausted and did not satisfy the
development of their artistic ideas. Both artists had already submitted
their modes of production to a critical analysis which resulted in Schon-
berg's 'Theory of Harmony' and Kandinsky's 'Concerning the Spiritual in
Art', both of 1911 -indeed the two artists had already been putting their
self-criticism into practice for some time. In Schonberg's case this led to

ix
X Preface
breaking with tonality; Kandinsky effected the transition to 'abstract'
painting. Their mutual contact had not only considerable consequences
for the further development of the two artists themselves, but also a
profound impact on the evolution of music and painting in general.
When in January 1993 the Royal Conservatory in The Hague organised
a symposium on Schonberg and Kandinsky, it did so for practical and
artistic reasons. The symposium was part of a larger series of events
celebrating the inauguration of the new premises of the Institute of
Sonology and the Department of Sound and Image. As both institutions
deal with problems of 'synesthetic' phenomena in modern art and collab-
orate closely together, they decided to concentrate on the contact between
Schonberg and Kandinsky and the revolutionary consequences it had for
modern music and painting. The lecturers are specialists in their respec-
tive fields, but amongst a (fortunately) increasing number of Fellows
dealing with the work of the composer or the painter we chose those
who had a special affinity with both of them. It was not our purpose to
organise a 'synesthetic' symposium which could have led to a kind of
'symphonic poem'. What we intended, rather, was a survey on the specific
problems inherent to the work and experiments of both artists, to create a
better understanding for their common roots and motivations. Synesthet-
icism is not a simple mix between pictorial and musical elements,
although the modern culture industry (in its 'avant-garde' or 'trash'
manifestations) tries to suggest the persuasive power of such a superficial
approach. Though mixing up sound, image, rhythms and words seems to
be the formula of our present world, we were convinced that it should be
our task to choose a structural model from recent history to prove that real
artistic renewal lies not on the surface but in the essence.
My special thanks go to Frans Evers, who organised the entire gigantic
ante-show, and to my colleague Dick Raaijmakers who translated the idea
of Schonberg's music theatre Die gliickliche Hand into a fascinating new
piece: Die gliickliche Hand - Geoffnet (a de-composition of the historical
work, creating a dialectical opposition and synthesis of Schonberg's
'synesthetic' dreams). My thanks go to Henk Guittart, who realised a
marvellous project and performance of Schonberg's Pierrot Lunaire, and
to Frans de Ruiter, Director of the Royal Conservatory, who made it all
possible and delivered the necessary bottles of Spanish champagne. My
special thanks go to Mr Anton Scheuer who still keeps us busy, leading us
towards new adventures and new perspectives of artistic productivity.

Konrad Boehmer
 Introduction
The Schonberg-Kandinsky Symposium

In the second week of January 1993 The Hague was the setting of an
international symposium about the relationship between the composer
Arnold Schonberg and the visual artist Wassily Kandinsky. The sym-
posium was held to celebrate some newly formed alliances between a
number of different art institutes: the Municipal Museum of The Hague
(Haags Gemeentemuseum), the Royal Conservatory, the Institute of
Sonology, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Interfaculty of Image
and Sound.
A recurrent theme in the evolution of modern art is the interest of some
generations of artists in developing forms of art in which music, theatre,
the visual arts and language are brought together to create new inter-
mediary effects. The challenge to develop new approaches for multimedia
creativity has been accelerated by modern CD-ROM technology, but at
present there is a fundamental lack of knowledge of intermediary creative
effects caused by the different languages of over-specialised profes-
sionals. Unfortunately, Kandinsky's criticism of the 19th-century cultural
over-specialisation has not lost anything of its validity. In contrast, pro-
fessional differentiation is still the main stream of professional develop-
ment, and is especially manifest in scientific endeavor, which has become
even more specialistic than ever before. Despite some hopeful expecta-
tions aroused by the generalistic tendencies of information science and
cognitive science, we are still far from understanding complex intermedi-
ary relationships. Therefore it is important to be aware of the early
attempts of artists who wished to relate and combine different forms of
art.
A century and a half ago, Wagner introduced the concept of the
Gesamtkunstwerk in his attempt to create all-embracing perceptual effects,
which resulted in an unprecedented enhancement of experienced inten-
sity, based on a parallelism of music, movement, drama, choreography
and stage design. Reflecting on Wagner's concept, Kandinsky proposed
in 1911 an alternative approach based on composed juxtaposition and
opposition of expressive means. In his view, the 'Monumental Theatre'
should consist of contrasting Wagner's effect of doubling with an effect of

xi
xii Introduction
abstraction, a temporal isolation of the inner voice of the music, the
movement, the visual stage effects, and the text. 'Indeed, people thought:
two is greater than one, and sought to strengthen every effect by means of
repetition. As regards the inner effect, however, the reverse may be true,
and often one is greater than two. Mathematically, 1 + 1 = 2. Spiritually
1 -1 can = 2.' Kandinsky shared with Schonberg the need to show the
existence of an unconscious reality, or, as Schonberg called it when writ-
ing Die gliickliche Hand, an imagined 'extreme unreality'. Because of the
turmoil resulting from the First World War, Kandinsky was not able to
get his theatrical experiments staged and Schonberg had to wait many
years for his premiere, though he was disappointed by the result. Despite
the impossibility of realising and extending their experiments, it is still
exciting to study the thoughts and proposals of these geniuses, especially
when one considers the later genesis and rise of the 'open' art form in the
'50s and '60s.
The initial proposal to focus on the theme of interdisciplinarity in the
arts by organising a symposium on the relationship between Schonberg
and Kandinsky was made by Hans Locher, the present director of the
Haags Gemeentemuseum, together with the prominent Schonberg expert,
Henk Guittart, when they were discussing the possibility of performing
Schonberg's Pierrot Lunaire in front of Kandinsky's painting Bild mit
weisser Form in the Museum. At the same time the Conservatory was
planning one of the first Interfaculty projects, a new production of Schon-
berg's music theatre piece Die gliickliche Hand, on the occasion of the
opening of fifteen new studios which had been built by the Royal Con-
servatory to create new space for the Departments of Music Registration,
Sonology, and Image and Sound. The last ten years have witnessed a
substantial expansion, within the Conservatory, of the degree programs
and of the teaching facilities of music-related media. The first electronic
studio for composition students in the Royal Conservatory had already
been opened in 1966 by Dick Raaijmakers and Jan Boerman. At the
beginning of the eighties a new training course was added in the field
of sound technology: Music Registration. In 1986 the Institute of Sonology
was moved from the University of Utrecht to the Royal Conservatory. In
1989 the Royal Conservatory merged with the Royal Academy of Fine
Arts. Using this organisational concentration of different art disciplines I
developed a new program, offered by the newly formed Interfaculty of
Image and Sound, for students who wanted to study interdisciplinary art
forms. The Haags Gemeentemuseum played an important role in the
development of this program. In 1988, after years of research and discus-
sion, the music department of the Museum opened its first exhibition
 Introduction xiii

"Electric Music: Three Years of Acquisition of Electric Musical Instru-

ments", followed shortly after by" Anti Qua Musica", an exhibition about
the 'open' musical instrument, proposed and realised by Raaijmakers.
Since that time the Museum has owned the first (and probably the
world's most important) collection of electric musical instruments, includ-
ing Mauricio Kagel's Zwei-Mann-Orchester. Inspired by the history of the
electronic composition studio of the Royal Conservatory, with its cultiva-
tion of serial techniques, open forms and action-oriented attitude, in 1990
a communal project was launched: the Aula Lectures. The idea was to
offer new courses and formats (like the multidisciplinary course "The
Language of Image and Sound") in the Aula (Hall) of the Haags Gemeen-
temuseum, in which students from different arts courses could be
brought together: music students, fine art students, art history students,
musicology students and students from the new departments for media
arts.
With support of the Los Angeles-based Schonberg Institute a Sym-
posium program was developed, consisting of lectures, workshops and
performances. The papers which were presented in the Symposium are
printed in the present volume. They show different aspects of the spirit of
avant-garde which started in the period 1910-13, when Schonberg as well
as Kandinsky formulated their far-reaching views on the ways in which
music and painting should develop, and discussed their common interest
in new theatrical forms of presentation. As a preparation for the Sym-
posium, two workshops were organised in December 1992 for students
who were interested in the historical analysis of the performance practice
of Pierrot Lunaire and Die gliickliche Hand.
The Pierrot Lunaire workshop focussed on the analysis of a wide range
of historical presentation experiments: scenic, semi-scenic, concert, cine-
matic, etc. This workshop was given by Henk Guittart, Marianne Pous-
seur, Hans Jansen and Hans Locher, and culminated on the first day of
the Symposium in a performance of the piece in the Kandinsky Hall of the
Gemeentemuseum, where the music was played against the background
of the Bild mit weisser Form and surrounded by other paintings by Kan-
dinsky, which fostered a new encounter with the spirits of Schonberg and
Kandinsky such as had never been experienced before.
The workshop on Die gliickliche Hand, which had been prepared by a
collective of teachers of the Royal Conservatory directed by Raaijmakers,
concentrated on the dramatic central role of the light-crescendo, and on
Schonberg's early wish to present the work as a film, supported by the
use of an electric organ of the Aeolian Company, one of the first mechan-
ical player pianos. In 1924 and in 1930 the piece was performed in ways
xiv Introduction
Schonberg had not liked at all. His efforts to compose 'with all theatrical
means' had to result in an 'extreme unreality' - a result which, in his
lifetime, was never accomplished. In the few post-war performances,
often only the music was performed; or, when a theatrical performance
was staged, the essential Licht- und Sturmcrescendo was entirely neglected.
In the workshop it was found that Schonberg had taken great care in
composing the crescendo, which he based on a spiral development of the
color circle, starting with one cycle of the dark colors (reddish, brown,
dirty green, blue-grey, violet, dark red) and culminating in a second cycle
of bright colors (blood-red, orange, 'yelling' yellow, bright yellow). The
movement of light was paralleled by a shift of orchestral coloration from
string- to brass-instruments, combined with the increasing intensity of the
noises of a wind machine.
To do justice to the complexities of Schonberg's approach to theatre
('making music with the media of the stage') it was decided that the
performance would start with a prelude, consisting of a reconstruction of
the expressionistic and often rather emotional style of drama of the
early years of the 20th century, accompanied by music recorded by the
Columbia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Robert
Craft. After this prelude, the piece was 'opened': musical fragments and
scenic elements were recomposed, using electronic studio techniques:
computer and tape synthesis; slide-, video- and filmprojections; high
voltage lighting objects; prisms, open flames, etc. These elements were
linked together as much as possible, using morphing techniques, in which
one type of form or style was transformed into another form or style.
These changes were considered as 'crescendos', connecting the authentic
expressionist style of drama with the modern approach of object theatre,
linking the 'sound culture' of Robert Craft with the sound culture of
electronic composition as exemplified by Jan Boerman, and relating asyn-
chronous stage events with precise moments of synchronised movements
and rests. The applied method of opening the piece by a recomposition of
its elements created the possibility of integrating Kandinsky' s important
new insights into stage composition which he had published as an intro-
duction to the stage work Der gelbe Klang in the almanac Der blaue Reiter
(1912). Thus the piece which was presented during the Symposium in the
Schonberg Hall of the Royal Conservatory was finally called Die gliickliche
Hand- Geoffnet. In it, Kandinsky's principle of contrast, or juxtaposition,
was combined with an extension of Schonberg's principle of the light-
sound crescendo 'with all the media of the theatre'. Thanks to the
unconventional presentations of Pierrot Lunaire and Die gliickliche Hand -
Geoffnet during the symposium, a one-dimensional retrospective view on
 Introduction XV

Schonberg and Kandinsky was avoided. It was shown that, even today,
totally new and unexpected extrapolations can be made in which the
modernist spirit is revitalised.
The important role of new technologies in the contemporary exper-
iments in music theatre and multimedia was anticipated by Schonberg
and Kandinsky, since they both had stressed the necessity of using elec-
trical light-color compositions in their stage experiments. To honor the
early experimenters with electric light, a number of pioneers of light art
were invited to participate in the Symposium and to give demonstrations
of their early experiments with the electric media. On the opening night
these artists presented their historic contributions under the title "The
Academy of Light", an event sponsored by the Municipality of The
Hague. The name for this event was borrowed from Laszlo Moholy-
Nagy, who in 1946 proposed the formation of an Institute of Light where
artists could study light technology as an artistic tool. Christian Sidenius,
"Lumia" artist in the tradition of Thomas Wilfred, could not attend on
account of ill health. So a videotape with examples of "Lumia" light
projections was running while the audience took their seats in the Aula
of the Gemeentemuseum. The evening was opened by Christa van Santen
who presented the first Academy of Light Awards to Lev Theremin,
Elfriede Fischinger, Gustav Metzger, Bulat Galeyev and William Moritz.
96-year-old Lev Theremin then gave a speech about his work in elec-
tronic communication, sound synthesis and the projection of light-music.
Despite his weak voice, he was able to share this special blend of revol-
utionary enthusiasm and industrious sophistication, which is so typical of
the Russian pioneers, with the highly attentive audience. His performance
acquired a historical dimension when he mounted the stage to perform on
the Theremin. In 1921 he himself had invented this instrument - the
world's first completely electronic musical instrument- which has only
recently been added to the collection of the music department of the
Gemeentemuseum. Only since 1989 had Theremin, who generally was
believed to have died in Stalin's concentration camps, been allowed to
visit places outside the USSR. After the Bourges Festival in France, he
visited the centennial of Stanford University in the USA in 1991. Ther-
emin's performance at the Schonberg-Kandinsky Symposium was his last
public appearance. On the 3rd of November 1993 Lev Sergeyevich Ther-
emin died in Moscow aged 97. The music he had played on the Theremin
was identified by Konrad Boehmer as being the peace tune of the Kom-
somol, the youth organisation of the former Soviet Union.
After Theremin's performance, Bulat Galeyev, another prominent
example of Russian spiritual techno-syncretism, projected and discussed
xvi Introduction
video fragments of artistic and technological achievements made by the
members of his group "Prometheus", named after Skriabin's symphony
in which he introduced a light-organ, "Luce", into the symphony orches-
tra. In 1962 Galeyev had founded a studio of music-kinetic art in Kazan,
the capital of the Tatar Republic. "Prometheus" has been engaged in a
variety of large-scale public projects, including laser art concerts and 'son
et lumiere'; and All-Union Conferences on Light and Music were organ-
ised between 1967 and 1986. After Galeyev's introduction, Gustav
Metzger gave a spectacular performance of parts of his work in which
auto-destructive principles are used to create sound and light effects.
Metzger, who applied these effects in the concerts of different pop groups
like The Move, Cream and The Who in the 1960s in London, showed the
auto-creativity of auto-destruction. It is hard to communicate the feeling
of suspense engendered by his performance. The disappearance of a piece
of nylon, caused by the heat of the lamp of the slide-projector, created a
time-event in which, after a slow transformation of the structure, the
moment of flux - the very sudden change of material structure into
pure light - is astounding to watch.
The last demonstration of historic light experiments of "The Academy
of Light" was given by Elfriede Fischinger and William Moritz. The
instrument they played was the "Lumigraph", an apparatus built by
Oskar Fischinger in the years after he had concluded his career as a
film-maker and had embarked on the final stage of his life as a painter.
The screen of the instrument (borrowed from the Deutsches Filmmuseum
Frankfurt am Main) is made of an elastic material which allows the player
to form relief patterns by moving the fingers of both hands and by
pressing in the cloth. Lamps, mounted on the frame of the screen,
throw beams of light on the relief and make it possible to play a ballet
of lighted dots and shadow color-stripes, reacting freely to any type of
music which is played together with it. The "Lumigraph" offers the
possibility of a very sensitive and humorous application of the idea of
the light-organ. This instrument embodies the spirit of physical and
spiritual relativism which is so often lacking in purely mechanical
combinations of color and music, of 'son et lumiere'. Until now, the
importance of the pioneer work in film animation achieved by Oskar
Fischinger, in which musical movement, movement of color and form,
and choreographical movement are combined and united in an unpreced-
entedly elegant way, has been seriously underestimated.

In the workshops of the Schonberg-Kandinsky Symposium, an amalga-

mation of the creative process of producing art, music and theatre, and of
 Introduction xvii
the intellectual process of analysis and historical reflection was attained. It
is regrettable that this volume can only offer the papers which were
presented at the Symposium. It is impossible to represent in a book the
special flavor of the social atmosphere which resulted from the inter-
national, inter-institutional and interdisciplinary meeting and exchange.
Happily, the texts by J. B. M. Janssen, Klaus Kropfinger, Jelena Hahl-
Koch, Bulat Galeyev, Irina L. Vanechkina, Albrecht Diimling, Reinhold
Brinkmann, Konrad Boehmer, Job IJzerman and Laurens van der Heijden
offer the reader an opportunity to appreciate the timbre of the inner
voices of the scholars who participated in the lecture program. This
volume, it is hoped, reflects the light directed by them on some important
aspects of the works of Arnold Schonberg and Wassily Kandinsky and
their historic artistic relationship.

Frans Evers
 The Construction of Painting with
White Form by Wassily Kandinsky
J. B. M. JANSSEN

Since 1975 Painting with White Form has been part of the collections of the
Haags Gemeentemuseum (Municipal Museum, The Hague). In that year,
it entered, together with the painting Ein Zentrum of 1922, the collections
of Modern Art as a long term loan, in exchange for two early paintings by
Piet Mondriaan, the painter that is represented in such an excellent way
here in The Hague.
Painting with White Form is a very strange painting. It has, to me at least,
a real haunting quality. The after-image of the painting remains in one's
thoughts in an ambiguous way: it appears as a purely dramatic abstrac-
tion and at the same time it figures as a quite normal representation. It
may be possible to compare the picture to a person that desperately wants
to behave in a normal way, without being able to conceal the fact that
although his actions make sense, none of these actions might be described
as conventional.
This quality of the image is somehow rooted in the persistent way it
wants to give all the properties it has at once to the onlooker. Firstly, there
is a movement of pulsating colors, tumbling forms and rude lines. This
movement spins around a very dense center. It loosens its tension some-
what and its energy gives way as it moves centrifugally towards the
borders of the image. There is also- and at the same time, it seems (I do
not know what version of the image I do want to give priority in describ-
ing the perception of the work, because everything seems to happen at
once), a rather strange image of hills and skies, of horizons and firma-
ments, of struggling and mutually opposing protagonists. Finally there is
the image that consists of all sorts of different techniques and styles,
forged to unity and bringing them together in one single image: we can
distinguish broad and bold brushstrokes, elegantly flowing painterly
areas, bristly passages, dashing paint, but also very conventional high-
lighting, next to aggressive scratching, neat and graphic drawing, sudden
blots and exploding areas, all this without any apparent system or order.
Now all or most of this occurs in any painting that has some basic
quality. But the strange difference is, that in Painting with White Form
2 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
everything seems to be happening all at once, in any case in such a
way that it seems very hard if a all, to distinguish between all the
levels of perception that I distinguished in my short enumeration. In the
literature on Painting with White Form, the different authors are somewhat
hampered in their description of the work by all this 'hard to
distinguish levels of perception'. Will Grohmann chops the work up
into three vertical areas, and he does so in complete agreement with
Kandinsky who stated that most of his paintings could be described in
three parts, like a triptych: the center with the tumbling forms, the right
with a very bold drawing and floating colors, and the left with a big,
leaning form.
In the footsteps of Grohmann, there are also authors that divide the
work into six areas. The three areas that were seen by Grohmann, each of
which on its turn could be divided into two: one above and one below.
This made visible a back and a front, a conventional 'near the frame' and
a 'further away' as in a normal landscape built up along the lines of
normal perspective. There is, however, also much to be said in favour of
splitting up the image into a indefinite number of loose fragments: all the
parts and details of the image are being kept separate in this way, and the
overlapping of elements finds a main cause in the crowding, due to the
stable and firm border that surrounds the image and binds everything
together. Because in the end it must be said that Painting with White Form
appears as a stable unity.
All these experiences make Painting with White Form to be a quite
chaotic painting, in any case more chaotic than most of the paintings to
be seen in the permanent collection on show in this museum. In the very
end it seems that chaos itself is the principle theme and object of this very
expressive work of art. Kandinsky himself stated in "Concerning the
Spiritual in Art" about this chaotic type of unity, that it was simply a
matter of construction. He writes: "The harmony of the new art demands
a more subtle construction ..., something that appeals less to the eye and
more to the soul. This 'concealed construction' may arise from an appa-
rantly fortuitous selection of forms on the canvas. Their external lack of
cohesion is their internal harmony."
Now it happens that the concepts of "chaos" and "construction" form
the central theme in most of the letters that Kandinsky and Schonberg
exchanged between January 1911 and early 1914. Kandinsky, in his first
letter, explains to Schonberg that the manner in which most artists try to
search for the 'new Harmony' by way of a geometrical strategy is not his
way of thinking. His own idea of construction is quite different. It is not
to be found by way of geometry, but only by anti-geometrical, anti-logical
 The Construction of Painting with White Form 3
means. The only possible way is the choice for discord: "Dissonanz statt
Consonanz" is the motto of the new art.
What I want to do now, is not to find out what the purpose of this
strategy of dissonance was exactly, and why Kandinsky preferred the one
over the other. What I want to know is the exact functioning of this aspect
of construction in view of Painting with White Form. In the center of the
image appear rather big and pointed forms, that hide behind one another.
The forms seem to swell out from the amount of different colors, with
which they are loaded. We can distinguish a blue/green form, a rose/
red/white form, a brown/white form, a ochre/ green form, and black and
dark blue, without any apparent system. They stand out against a poiso-
nous green hill, that marks off a background of dark bordeaux red, in
which a meandering line is to be seen, that "finishes" the image towards
the frame. This background, together with the flickering, meandering line
has something of an upcoming thunder-storm. Seen in this way, the forms
below might be read as a landscape.
In this case the image shows the representation of some reality. Groh-
mann makes clear that what we see here is the landscape around Murnau,
where Kandinsky and Gabriele Miinter owned a little house. Waston
Long instead sees a disguised reference to the "tumbling tower-motive"
that Kandinsky used frequently in the years between 1909 and 1914.
Further there is this remarkable "phasing" of the color-application: Peg
Weis relates this "phasing" to the theory of color-crystallization by Anton
Azbe, one of Kandinky's teachers. This theory favors the vibrating effect
caused by the application of different colors in layers next to each other.
Peg Weis also refers to the techniques of the woodcut, that Kandinsky
made his own and developed and was so fond of since 1906. This
technique forces the artist to give up any sense of perspective, to weigh
form and line as equal partners in the game of making, and to value
positive as well as negative form.
In Studie zur Berglandschaft mit Dorf of 1908, one can see why Ringbom
was the first to acknowledge the importance of the series of landscapes
that Kandinsky made around Murnau between 1908 and 1913. In this and
other landscapes he adapted the possibilities of the woodcut in convert-
ing an image to the medium of painting. In the adaption from one
technique to the other, he transformed his own painting into a very
individual style. In two studies, one in watercolor and the other in oil
(which is shown here), Kandinsky developed the imagery of this central
part of Painting with White Form.
If one looks at Study for Painting with White Form from Detroit, it is
possible to read the image in terms of simple representation. One can
4 SchO"nberg and Kandinsky

Figure 1 Kandinsky, Painting with White Form

© W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

clearly distinguish the hills of the near distance, the sky above, the rain-
bow, or perhaps better, a waterfall breaking halfway in its course on some
obstacle, a house with a chimney, and pointed trees behind the house.
What is excluded from this ordinary reading are the flame-like elements
in the foreground. Also missing is a reading of the circle-segments in
front of the house. Both of these elements will play an important role in
the further transformations of Painting with White Form before it will take
its definite form. The main difference with ordinary representation is the
crowding of the flattened, single-colored elements and the resulting den-
sity of the forms that make up the image. Further, one has to get used to
some remarkable features in the picture: the strange, unreliable elonga-
tion of for example the hillside to the left, the geometrization of natural
features and the spattered skies above.
 The Construction of Painting with White Form 5
When one searches through the work of Kandinsky produced between
1910 and 1914, one finds several examples of such distortions. There is the
Romantische Landschaft of 1911 where the elongated hills are initially to be
seen as a first instance of the geometrization of natural features and the
flattening of forms through the single-coloring of shapes.
To the left of the center of Painting with White Form, the image shows a
strangely floating, a morphous, white shape. It is highlighted and the
color is tightly fitting into the jacket of its contour. Thus the form appears
as a volume, something that cannot be said of most of the other forms in
Painting with White Form. More than likely this is the form that is alluded
to in the title. It is floating in the air, statically and quietly. Judging from
the white areas in the middle of the yellow form, it seems to have been
released by the yellow form, or for that matter, emanated from this form.
In connection to this observation it should be noted that Kandinsky
describes the color white, in "Concerning the Spiritual in Art", as harmo-
nious and quiet, full of expectations for the future. In the same context,
yellow, in contrast to blue, could be conceived of as warm color, with
bodily, excentric movement towards the spectator. An admixture of blue,
as is the case in our painting, introduces a sickly and unreal quality to the
yellow. All this can be read into the painting.
But one can also interpret Painting with White Form as a quite realistic
image, a representation the way Rose-Carol Washton Long conceives of
the painting. She deduces from photographs of spiritistic apparitions,
published by the Russian scientist A. Aksakov, that the white form,
together with the yellow form, must be interpreted as an apparition of a
ghost that dangerously hovers with his raised arm towards the landscape
in the center. The only problem I have with this interpretation, is that it
takes a line of argument in which the image must be conceived of as a
normal case of representation. And it was exactly this sort of outward
appearance that Kandinsky wanted to get rid of, in the name of the higher
goal of expression of the inner need, the "Innere Notwendigkeit" that
stood at the core of his art.
A more grave objection to Washton Long's interpretation is that already
in the first studies for our painting, Kandinsky conceived of the white form
as distinct, static and as having volume and mass. This cannot be said of
the yellow form, that is linked up with all the other flat or broken forms
that fill the picture. The distinctness, as well as the static, floating massive-
ness of the white form, links it to the black form in the famous analysis of
Dame in Moskau of 1912 in the collection of the Lenbachhaus in Munich,
resulting in the special device that Ringbom calls "parallel action". The
figuration in this image is contrasting with abstract forms and colors that
6 Schonberg and Kandinsky
stand presumably for thoughts and emotions. Ringbom links the blue
colour around the lady, according to theosophical belief, to the 'health
aura' which is strengthened by the sun. A nasty black shape is trying to
eclipse the sun on the horizon. It seems the black spot is going to threaten
the lady badly. Next to the lady is a rose-red emanation, indicating to
Ringbom the presence of love and goodwill. It seems that Kandinsky in
this picture expressly contrasted the thoughtforms with the physical forms
by way of experiment, to find out about the possibilities of this device.
In Painting with White Form, as in other paintings from the same time,
Kandinsky is using independent forms to introduce spiritual content at
the expense of representational form. The coloring of the form is of
considerable importance. In a text published under the title "Mein Wer-
degang", written in mid 1913 as an introduction for a show in Cologne,
Kandinsky recalls the extremely hot summer of 1911, with all its physical
stress. The intense light in Munich influenced him heavily: "Plotzlich kam
mir die Natur WeifS vor. Das WeifS (das grofSe Schweigen-voll Moglich-
keiten) zeigte sich an allen Stellen und verbreitete sich sichtbar. An dieses
Gefiihl habe ich mich spater erinnert, als ich eine besondere Rolle und
Pflege des WeifS auf meinen Bildern beobachtete. Seitdem weifS ich,
welche ungeahnten Moglichkeiten diese Urfarbe in sich birgt." One is
tempted to conclude that in Painting with White Form as well, the white
form has the possibility to color a situation with its immanent 'Haupt-
klang' as Kandinsky calls it.
To the right, there is an equally prominent form visible, flat and blue/
black, toothed along the upper side as if it was a comet, shooting out of a
bordeaux-red sky into the pale green area that provides the border
between the central area and the area to the right. This shape is aggressive
and introduces movement in the painting and acts therefore in complete
contrast to the white form.
The conception of the blue-black form was not intended from the start
as a contrast to the white form. In the Detroit oil sketch for our painting it
is lacking completely. In a further study in pen and ink from a private
collection in New York, we can see the form in statu nascendi, as trees
and architectural forms, being drawn in one color. They tend to collude
somehow. This collusion becomes evident in the last study, a watercolor
in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Here we can
see the fusion of forms that do not have any relationship beforehand.
Outside this center the image is less hectic and crowded. To the right
there is a waving line that acts as the horizon for a landscape made up of
red, violet, orange ochre, yellow and finally a dirty white. On top of this
plane there is superimposed a rude drawing, that accompanies a set of
 The Construction of Painting with White Form 7

colormarkings in red/brown, green, orange/red, yellow and white.

Above all, it is the white plane that anchors this part of the image and
that brings breadth in line and color.
In the first study for Painting with White Form this side of the painting
was not foreseen. It only pops up in the second drawing in pen and ink.
This may account for the difference in style of this part of the painting in
comparison to the central and the left part. Especially the confusing mass
of short lines and floating colors, in such discordance to the rest of the
painting, is remarkable.
It is a very good example of how Kandinsky uses free floating colors as
a means to attain the goal of eliminating materialistic representation.
Kandinsky chose this strategy in accordance with anthroposophic theory
which stated that only in the material world, color binds itself to objects
and to forms. Washton Long interprets the lines and colors as horses,
engaged in battle. Rudenstine relates the configuration to the limp towers
that acted so centrally in Kandinsky' s art that he chose to use the image as
the cover illustration for "Uber das Geistige in der Kunst". In Painting
with White Form the image is disintegrating completely and ends up as a
confusing mass of straight and curved lines and blots of yellow, ochre
and blue. In this way Kandinsky transforms the original motive into a
strictly formal structure, as described by himself in a text about the
painting Kleine Freuden of 1913, now in the collection of the Guggenheim
Museum in New York. Here he describes the city on top of the mountain
as "ein Durcheinander von Linien und Farben" of the plane below.
In the air above the disintegrated city there hovers a swarm of sharp,
short strokes and blots. Judging from Kleine Freuden, this swarm might be
interpreted as an explosion of light and energy, emanating from the edge
of the picture, as is so often the case in Kandinsky' s work from these
years. Comparison to the pen/ink study learns that the source for this
instant, might have been the testing of the pen with which the study was
going to be made.
To the left of our painting, there is more calm and tranquillity than
everywhere else. The forms are big and easy to read, it seems. The yellow
form dominates, together with a darkly green/blue background. Halfway
through the yellow form we can distinguish a green cloud, sprouting
from the backbone of the yellow and marked off from the background by
a piping of white paint. From this green cloud, there explodes towards
the upper edge of the painting, a fan of ochre. To the right of this fan, a
notched, grey form is visible, which appears like the slim sister of the
black comet in the center. From the green cloud, there appear three white
lines, hanging down towards the left edge of the painting where they
8 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
meet some lost lines and color blots that introduce a primitive form of
perspective in the painting, a "before" and a "behind" that creates the
illusion of space. All these elements belonged in the beginning of the
development of the painting to one, undivided image of a landscape.
Therefore we have here a perfect example of the disintegrating force of
the division of elements and motives. This division might have been
caused by two peculiarities. In the first place, the decision to transform
the lower part of what I call "the waterfall" into three lines, might have
been informed by the continuous presence of the three ochre lines in the
middle area of the painting. In the second place, the decision to transform
the "breaking water" of the waterfall into the independent green cloud
might have been informed by the enormous pains Kandinsky took in
designing the central motive for another painting that haunted him at
the time of the making of Painting with White Form. This is Painting with
White Border of 1913, also in the collection of the Guggenheim. Kandinsky
describes the white piping as "the accidental sound of an inner simmer-
ing". As a motive it is possible to trace it back to the image of St. George.
This same inner simmering recurs in Painting with White Form as the
contour of exactly the same form. With the pen and ink studies for
Painting with White Border in mind, one is easily inclined to conclude
that Kandinsky here changes completely his starting-point and trans-
forms the meaning of a form from -what I call "breaking water", but
what can certainly be not interpreted as a riding horseman - into the
central motive of his art.
This hypothesis is supported by what happens in the central lower part
of the image. Here the same forms occur, three in line with an ochre
piping, formalized into the tense curves that characterize the horse-rider.
The three curves get company in the form of the ochre stripes that might
be read as lances and in the white meandering border that might be read
as horses. The conclusion is tempting that as an image, Painting with White
Form works simultaneously on different levels of representational strat-
egy. As a construction, paintings like Painting with White Form are sort of
machines that are able to transform representations, themes and motives
in a continuous process of assimilation. The methods used in this process
of assimilation are abbreviation of forms and motives, extension of forms
and motives, resolution of forms and motives, fusion of forms and
motives and, finally, disintegration of forms and motives. The effect all
this has is the continuous mingling of form and content and the heavily
relying on the concepts of contingency and association in the formation of
the image.
 Latent Structural Power versus
•
the Dissolution of Artistic Material tn
the Works of Kandinsky and
Schonberg
KLAUS KROPFINGER
"Gegensatze und Widerspri.iche- das ist unsere Harmonie" 1 (Kandinsky 1911)

On January 18, 1911 Kandinsky first wrote to Arnold Schonberg. The

impulse for his letter came from a concert the painter had attended on
January 2, 1911 accompanied by Franz Marc, Alexei Jawlensky, Marianne
Werefkin, and others, in which the program included performances of
Schonberg's String Quartets in D (op. 7), in F-sharp (op. 10) (1907 /08), five
songs from op. 2 and op. 6, and the Piano Pieces op. 11 (1909)? To the
composer, Kandinsky wrote:

"In your works, you have realized what I, albeit in uncertain form, have so greatly longed
for in music. The independent progress through their own destinies, the independent life
of the individual voices in your compositions, is exactly what I am trying to find in my
paintings. At the moment there is a great tendency in painting to discover the 'new'
harmony by constructive means, whereby the rhythmic is built on an almost geometric
form. My own instinct and striving can support these tendencies only half-way. Con-
struction is what has been so woefully lacking in the painting of recent times, and it is
good that it is now being sought. But I think differently about the type of construction. I
am certain that our own modern harmony is not to be found in the 'geometric' way, but
rather in the anti-geometric, anti-logical way. And this way is that of 'dissonances in
art['], in painting, therefore, just as much as in music. And 'today's' dissonance in
painting and music is merely the consonance of 'tomorrow' "3

Schonberg and Kandinsky apparently saw each other for the first time
on September 14, 1911;4 in reality, however, they had already met men-
tally, that is, on artistic grounds, at the beginning of the year. It is highly
significant that Kandinsky, after having heard Schonberg's astounding
new compositions, wrote a letter to the composer almost immediately in
which he reflected on fundamental aspects of the artistic process, not in
terms of music or painting, but of music and painting. His reaction
indicates the degree to which artistic evocation and reflection among
10 Schonberg and Kandinsky
artists at the threshold of abstraction, were no more than two sides of the
same coin. It also demonstrates in Kandinsky a readiness to grasp and
perceive the pivotal importance of the music of Schonberg, who at this
time and for decades to come would struggle for acceptance. Last but not
least, the painter's letter stands as an 'essay' in reception theory insofar as
it points to the importance of an artist's readiness for aesthetic and
intellectual communication and exchange. 5 Kandinsky's own reflections
are matched by those of friends such as Franz Marc, who - no less
impressed by Schonberg than Kandinsky- wrote on January 14 of the
same year to August Macke:

"Can you imagine a music in which tonality (that is, the adherence to any key) is
completely suspended? I was constantly reminded of Kandinsky's large composition,
which also permits no trace of tonality ... and also of Kandinsky's 'jumping spots' in
hearing this music, which allows each tone sounded to stand on its own (a kind of white
canvas between the spots of color!) Schonberg proceeds from the principle that the
concepts of consonance and dissonance do not exist at all. A so-called dissonance is
only a more remote consonance - an idea which now occupies me constantly while
painting . ... "6

II

The idea of dissonance being nothing more than 'remote consonance' was
prefigured by a poster for the January concert in which short excerpts
from the chapter on 'Parallel Octaves and Fifths' in Schonberg's Theory of
Harmony were presented graphically? These theoretical excerpts, which
were appropriated by the concert promoter to render something like a
catchy headline, were soon taken up as watchwords for the avant-garde
of painters in the ambit of Kandinsky. He immediately reacted by obtain-
ing, translating, and publishing the text as part of the catalogue of an
exhibition of Russian artists organized by Vladimir Aleksejeff Izdebskij at
Odessa, Kiev, and St. Petersburg in 1910-1911.8 And, it is precisely this
interpretation of dissonance that played an important role in Kandinsky' s
own treatise On the Spititual in Art, which appeared in 1911. Here he
refers explicitly to the excerpt from Schonberg's Theory of Harmony.

"The Viennese composer Arnold Schonberg, with his total renunciation of accepted
beauty, regarding as sacred every means that serves the purpose of self-expression, goes
his lonely way unrecognized, even today, by all but a few enthusiasts. This 'publicity
seeker', 'charlatan', and 'bungler' says in his Theory of Harmony. 'Every chord, every
progression is possible. And yet I feel already today that even here there are certain
conditions that govern whether I choose this or that dissonance'. "9
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 11

Both artists confessed that their writings at this stage of development

were merely first steps. As Kandinsky puts it:

'The characteristics of our harmony today make it self-evident that in our own time it is
less possible than ever to establish a ready-made theory, to construct set procedures of
pictorial harmonization. " 10

Kandinsky's remarks resonate in those of Schonberg, who emphasized at

the end of his Theory of Harmony that:

"However much I may theorize in this book -for the most part, in order to refute false
theory -, I am compelled to expand narrow and confining conceptions to include the
facts ... But not to set up new eternal laws . ... " 11

He goes on to write:

"Hence, I can just as well abstain from giving an aesthetic evaluation of these new
harmonies . .... " 12

In concluding, Schonberg indicates 'tone-color melodies' as the ultimate

achievement of this development:

"Tone-color melodies! How acute the senses that would be able to perceive them! How
high the development of spirit that could find pleasure in such subtle things! In such a
domain, who dares ask for theory!" 13

III

The shared reluctance of the two artists to theorize definitively - a

reluctance absolutely in keeping with artistic development in their milieu
- corresponds with the particular way in which they dealt with the
aesthetic problems of music and painting. They focused on investigations
and reflections Kandinsky describes as the "weighing-up of the inner
value of one's material." 14
In musicology today, there seems to exist a certain - if not a strong -
tendency to refrain from use of the term 'material' in the sense that it is
introduced and elaborated by Theodor W. Adorno. 15 Clearly we must be
aware of the problems inherent in the stringency of historical tendencies
according to Adorno's conception, and in his understanding of 'dialectics'
in material, which could be directed - as Ernst Krenek perceived - against
aristic 'freedom'. These problems would erupt into an epistolary dispute
between Adorno and Krenek during the autumn of 1932. 16 However, we
12 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
should not forget the foreshadowing of a possible shift in Adorno's
position when, some three decades later, he wrote in Vers une musique
informelle that "the material itself is changed by composition. From every
coherent one it steps forth fresh and as if new." 17 Neither is it clear to
what extent the next passage in Adorno's text, where he writes that "The
secret of composition is the strength which transforms the material in a
process of proceeding adequacy .... " 18 in fact refers to the question of the
reduction of 'free will' that so preoccupied Krenek. In Adorno's Philoso-
phy of New Music itself, however, it is precisely the dialectics of 'material'
that opens the way to a more adequate understanding of the relation
between historicity and creative freedom. It seems that even in Adorno's
conception, the stringency of material was, finally, relative to the histor-
ical configuration. 19 And, it is the example of Schonberg's renunciation of
material that eventually undermines the rigidity of the idea.Z0 Given its
limitation, the essence of Adorno's understanding of 'material' is none-
theless valid, for while

"musical material has usually been conceived as an inventory of physical resources .. . ,

Adorno, in contrast, conceived of musical material as sedimented history. Following a
thought that he first presented in his early lecture The Idea of Natural History', he
described this sedimentation as occurring in such a way that the more the material
appears as nature, as second nature, the more intensively historical it is. As he wrote
[in his Philosophy of New Music], the elements of music 'bear historical necessity
within themselves the more perfectly, the less they are immediately readable as historical
characters ... '. ,-zl/22

Adorno's stringent definition of artistic material has its roots in Schon-

berg's free 'atonality'; but Kandinsky's aristic approach has its own
affinity to Adorno's notion of material in art. 23 This may be valid above
all because both artists' consciousness of material is rooted in a kind of
teleological thinking that heightened their sense of strictly progressive
traits in artistic material. For both of them, this became the powerful
impetus to 'materialize' the progression in the 'new' avant-garde work
of art.
According to Kandinsky " ... every art bears within it the seed of the
future and awakens the strings of the soul ... Art is the seer of the future
and is a leader .... This embarkation on an almost forgotten path of
prophetic revelations took place almost simultaneously in the various
other arts." 24 Schonberg stresses that "the laws native to the genius ... are
the laws of future generations." 25 This methodical striving to apply to the
artistic material a conception of progressive development, is of larger
importance for the understanding and interpretation of their artistic
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 13

theoretical texts. According to Panofsky, "what an artist has said about

his own works must always be interpreted in the light of the works
themselves;" 26 reflections on material - when driven to the point of its
practical application in a work of art- necessarily cover both aspects. It is
clear that the texts of Kandinsky' s On the Spiritual in Art and Schonberg's
Theory of Harmony, together with their letters and relevant statements, can
be understood as self-interpretative theoretical texts, supporting and
supplementing the artists' own writings concerning individual works; 27
but even more important, these 'texts' enlarge our understanding of each
of the artists' creative stature and oeuvre as a whole. 28
The interplay of reflection and practice in terms of artistic material may
also demonstrate that artistic intentions, encompassing the whole horizon
of the artist's mind, are relevant for the understanding of the art work.
The focus on the 'whole horizon' is especially important for Schonberg
and Kandinsky, who each charge their material with expression, rooted in
an 'internal necessity' that is the core of human existence, in order to pave
the way to the future? 9 This is an argument that opposes the rigid
concept of "intentional fallacy" according to which "the design or inten-
tion of the author is neither available nor desirable as a standard for
judging the success of a work of literary art" 30 - a hotly-debated para-
digm which in the meantime has been applied to the visual arts as well as
music. 31 It is clear that what artists consciously or unconsciously experi-
ence and intend does not 'contain' the work of art;32 but this does not
nullify the relevance of the artist's ideas, commentaries, and sketches as
means of approaching a process of analysis and understanding in which
the dialogue between written/ outlined texts and the work of art plays a
role.
Adorno has also applied his definition of artistic material to the ele-
ments of painting. In his Aesthetic Theory, he writes that

"Material ... is the stuff the artist controls and manipulates: words, colors, sounds ...
Material, then, is all . .. that he must make a decision about, and that includes forms as
well, for forms too can become materials . .. The state of the material largely also deter-
mines innovative expansion into unknown areas. The concept of material is for instance
crucial if we want to distinguish between a composer operating with sounds that belong
to tonality and its derivatives, and another composer who radically eliminates them. This
distinction is a material one. Along the same lines, representational versus abstract,
perspectival versus nonperspectival, and a host of other conceptual pairs are all distinc-
tions made at the level of materials."33

Adorno surmised that in this sense, the term 'material' might not
have entered the artist's mind earlier than the 1920s.34 However both
14 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
Schonberg's Theory of Harmony and Kandinsky' s On the Spiritual in Art
bear witness to the fact that the aspect of material, bearing historical and
consequently also mental or spiritual implications, had already arisen in
both their thinking and writing before this time. On the one hand, Schon-
berg writes that "The material of music is the tone." 35 This comes up in
the chapter on 'Consonance and Dissonance', that is, as regards the
necessity to prove the relativity of dissonance within the range of natural
laws governing overtones. On the other hand, he distinguishes between
"natural laws," which "admit no excTtion," and the "laws of art,"
which "consist mainly of exceptions."3 This rests on his more funda-
mental assertion that art, "in its most advanced state,37 ... is exclusively
concerned with the representation of inner nature." 38 The artist expresses
himself, "according to the laws of his nature." 39 The real artist, doing
"only what is necessary for him to do," 40 strives "toward the future," in
that he believes "in the new," which he thinks "is that Good and that
Beauty toward which we strive with our innermost being."41
Schonberg theorizes a historical development that deviates from the
laws which have been fixed as 'natural'; following this, he declares those
sounds and harmonic progressions - those dissonances - which up to
then had been considered 'ugly', 'exceptions' to be excluded, or 'pro-
blems' to be resolved, to be on the contrary fundamental and 'normal'.
This striving for the new, however, has as its corollary those elements of
material that become obsolete. Schonberg argues in terms of a double
strategy, whereby 'nature' and 'history' function, so to speak, like com-
municating channels. 42 He weighs the historically developed phenomena
of material in music against the final aim of his endeavors: their justifica-
tion 'in accord' with both nature and history. In a striking example of his
view of an historic development that brings about not only progress but
also the erosion of material, Schonberg presents the diminished seventh
chord:

"Wherever one wanted to express pain, excitement, anger, or some other stronger feeling
- there we find, almost exclusively, the dimished seventh chord. So it is in the music of
Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, etc. Even in Wagner's early works it plays the
same role. But soon the role was played out. This uncommon, restless, undependable
guest, here today, gone tomorrow, settled down, became a citizen, a retired philistine. The
chord had lost the appeal of novelty, hence, it had lost its sharpness, but also its luster. It
had nothing more to say to a new era. Thus, it fell from the higher sphere of art music to
the lower of music for entertainment. ... It became banal and effeminate. ... Other chords
took its place . .. These were the augmented triad, certain altered chords, and some
sonorities that, having already been introduced in the music of Mozart or Beethoven by
virtue of suspension or passing tones, appeared in that of Wagner as independent
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 15
chords . ... Yet, these too were soon worn out, soon lost their charm; and that explains why
so quickly after Wagner, whose harmonies seemed unbelievably bold to his contempor-
aries, new paths were sought: The diminished seventh chord provoked this movement,
which cannot stop before it has fulfilled the will of nature . .. so that we can then turn
away from the external model and more and more toward the internal, toward the one
within us. "43

The correspondence bf these passages with Adorno's arguments is

obvious. In Reaction and Progress Adorno emphasizes that

"As has often been noticed, the proportion of overtones, for example, which could be used
as the strongest element of tension in the diminished seventh chord, given the state of the
material during Beethoven's time, at a later state of the material becomes an innocent
consonance, and with Reger, it is devalued to the extent that it becomes an unqualified
means of modulation. "44

That the historical state of material also determines the artistic con-
sciousness of Kandinsky is demonstrated by many details in On the
Spiritual in Art. In accordance with the title, the "weighing-up of the
inner value of one's material" suggests an evaluation of the material's
historically developed and sedimented qualities. The 'inner sounding' of
colors and forms, their structural and latent relational values, are taken as
the measure of artistic quality and applied to the development of material
in painting - as occurs in the paintings of Delacroix, Cezanne, Monet,
Signac, Matisse, Hodler, Segantini, and Picasso,45 as well as those of of
Manet, Van Gogh, and Gauguin. 46 Kandinsky's scrutiny of artistic mate-
rial is demonstrated by his reflections on the qualities of pictorial material
in comparison with those of musical material. Musicians used sounds and
combinations of sounds in ways that painting up to that time could only
dream of. It was Kandinsky's main concern that painting might be able to
derive a language from its own pictorial means, comparable to that which
was possible for music:

"An artist who sees that the imitation of natural appearances, however artistic, is not for
him- the kind of creative artist who wants to, and has to, express his own inner world-
sees with envy how naturally and easily such goals can be attained in music, the least
material of the arts today. Understandably, he may turn toward it and try to find the
same means in his own art. Hence the current search for rhythm in painting, for
mathematical, abstract construction, the value placed today upon the repetition of color
tones, the way colors are set in motion, etc. "47

In a letter of December 18, 1911, published here for the first time,48
Schonberg writes to Kandinsky:
16 Schonberg and Kandinsky
"I have just read your book [On the Spiritual in the Art] .from cover to cover, and I will
read it once more. I find it pleasing to an extraordinary degree, because we agree on
nearly all of the main issues ... "49

We may assume that it was precisely Kandinsky's special focus on artistic

material that gained Schonberg's approval, in particular because Kan-
dinsky stressed the catalytic function of material in music in his notion
of weighing the inner value of one's material in painting.

IV

In his effort to investigate the material's "inner sound,"50 which causes a

"vibration from the soul,"51 Kandinsky went beyond his forerunner's
achievements to gauge his own subjective experiences with colors,
forms, and relations of colors and colored forms 52 - always keeping
his acute experience of music sharply in focus. Kandinsky's knowledge
of literature on the topic,53 as well as his efforts at introspection, are
pointed out in the artist's letter to Gabriele Munter of 1915, where he
writes

"First I will make different color tests: I will study the dark- deep blue, deep violet, deep
dirty green, etc. Often I see the colors before my eyes. Sometimes I imitate with my lips
the deep sounds of the trumpet - then I see various deep mixtures which the word is
incapable of conceiving and which the palette can only feebly reproduce."54

This statement sheds light on his earlier statements in On the Spiritual in

Art, in particular regarding synesthesia. 55 It shows that Kandinsky was
not only synesthetically gifted,56 but that he experimented with his given
capacities. Thus, his remarks on the evocation of movement, tension, and
time with colors like yellow and blue57 show that material in painting
includes a whole range of perceptual and spiritual valences. Experiences
like these may also have functioned as 'relays' between abstract and
objectively allusive pictorial elements, in that their psychological or
expressive impact is at once connected with abstract and still figurative
elements and shapes.
To train a focus on the issue of material in Kandinsky's On the Spiritual
in Art, we turn to the second part of the text, starting with 'Effects of
Color'. The following aspects are of principal importance:

1 Weighing of the expressive forces of colors: aside from the physical,

there is, above all, the psychological effect of colors;
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 17

2 Investigation of the potential structural qualities of colors,58 such as

contrasting configurations,59 and the eccentric and concentric motion of
colors;60
3 Weighing the 'inner content' of forms; 61
4 Weighing the relationships between color and form, 62 and the expres-
sive qualities of colored forms; 63
5 Investigation of the potential structural qualities of forms; 64
6 Investigation of the potential structural qualities of color plus form,
and of colored forms;
7 Investigation of the structural possibilities and 'laws' of composition in
painting. 65
Kandinsky emphasized pairs of contrasting colors, declaring yellow and
blue to represent the qualities of warm and cold, "as the most important
polar orposition among the spectral colors," 66 followed by black and
white, 6 red and green,68 orange and violet,69 while red - mediating
between extremes - is split in its warm and cold variants?0 It is well
known that Kandinsk~'s contrast of yellow and blue was related to.
Goethe's color theory, 1 especially his 'plus-minus' polarity. But Kan-
dinsk~ was also familiar with Philipp Otto Runge's reflections on
color. 2 In his research into the nature of expressive and structural qua-
lities of material, contrasts are of focal import, not least because they
require fine distinction and mediation. This is also the case for forms.
"Form itself ... has its own inner sound;" 73 the fact that there exists a
great variety of combinations of color and form as well as of relations
between different forms of color, allows for the elaboration of the "prin-
ciple of contrast" 74 as Kandinsky expressively formulated it.
Kandinsky's 'principle of contrast' was not merely an artistic one in the
sense of art for its own sake - a notion he explicitly rejected later on. This
is made clear by one of the pivotal passages in On the Spiritual in Art, in
which he relates art to its historical constellation:

"From what has just been said about the effects of color, and from the fact that we live in a
time full of questions and premonitions and omens- hence full of contradiction [consider
too the divisions of the triangle]- we can easily conclude that harmonization on the basis
of simple colors is precisely the least suitable for our own time. It is perhaps with envy, or
with a sad feeling of sympathy, that we listen to the works of Mozart. They create a
welcome pause amidst the storms of our inner life, a vision of consolation and hope, but
we hear them like sounds of another, vanished, and essentially unfamiliar age. Clashing
discords, loss of equilibrium, 'principles' overthrown, unexpected drumbeats, great ques-
tionings, apparently purposeless strivings, stress and longing (apparently torn apart),
chains and fetters broken (which had united many), opposites and contradictions- this is
our harmony."75
18 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
Artistic material, in Kandinsky's view, not only resonated with 'inner
vibration': This inner vibration itself reverberated with tensions and
clashes of highly disparate dimensions and origins in the external
world. This view is supported by his chapters II on 'Movement', III on
'Spiritual Turning Point', and IV on 'The Pyramid'. They characterize the
absurdities of life and the cultural context from which the urgency of
genuine art derives?6
In his Bauhaus lectures, Kandinsky clearly presented this interconnec-
tion between art and life. According to his conception, politics and econ-
omy on the one hand, and the spiritual realm on the other, are related to
each other like low and high tides. Thus:

"Art has two qualities:

1. reflection of the present time- i.e.: to gain knowledge of the present time by analysis
of art;
2. building up of the future - i.e.: to portend things to come
beyond our time That is the way one can
where do both directions come from? recognize past, present time
from the past and future by art. "77

It is this comprehensive sensitivity of the artist that also characterizes

Schonberg. In an aphorism of 1909, he had declared art to be the outcry of
those who experience, envisage, and tackle the fate of mankind as their
own:

"Art is despairing cry of those who experience the destiny of mankind as their own. Who
not do acquiesce to it, but who stand out against it. Who do not stupidly work the
machine's 'dark powers', but who throw themselves into the wheel[s] in order to conceive
the construction. Who do not avert their eyes in order to shield themselves against
emotions; but who open them wide, in order to tackle what must be tackled. Who,
however, often close their eyes in order to become aware of what the senses cannot convey,
in order to intuit what only delusively happens in the external world. And internally,
within them is the motion of the world; only the repercussion reaches outward: the work
of art."7B

The work of art, being the product of internal necessity- the innermost
impulse of artistic expression and articulation79 - and the refraction of
phenomena belonging to the internal and external worlds,80 is configured
and balanced by a 'sense of form' of which Schonberg is also conscious
throughout his Theory of Harmony. 81 In a way comparable to Kandinsky,82
Schonberg distinguishes the 'sense of form' historically. 83 It can be under-
stood as the notion that supersedes all observations, remarks, and reflec-
tions on the single musical element's valence of structural relationships.
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 19

These touch upon the "balanced relation of motives of harmony," 84 as

they encompass (among other phenomena) the "sense of quality for the
right harmonic progression,"85 "relations of balance between individual
chords and in chord progressions," 86 the choice of dissonances,87 the
"weighing of root progressions,"88 the "well-proportioned" close of a
composition, 89 the constructive valence of modulation,90 the structural
function of harmonic "regions,"91 the relationship of construction and
omament,92 the balanced, consistent placing of vagrant chords,93 the
relationship of theme and harmonics in "suspended tonality,"94 the
structural relationship of "chords with six or more tones," 95 the balancing
and coherence of "tone-color melodies."96 The stages in the progression
from the 'weighing- up ... of material' to the 'frontier of tonality' in
Schonberg's Theory of Harmony97 demonstrate that it was the emancipa-
tion of dissonance- the loosening of the boundaries of harmony, struc-
ture, and form - that enhanced the composer's sensitivity to the
evaluation and balancing of the elements of material in music, and
opened the way to new modes of configuration. The parallel with Kan-
dinsky's efforts in On the Spiritual in Art- this pleading for emancipation
of colors and forms - is apparent. 98

v
The problems of material were galvanized by one artist's sensitivity for
the art of the other. The other art functioned as a catalyst for each artist's
creative orientation, intensifying the challenges of new construction:

"This is why the concept of construction, stimulating the convergence of the arts, gains
importance the more directly artists are confronted with the pure material in which they
are working, unobstructed by the intermediary layer of an object or an idiom ... "99

Not by chance had Franz Marc - according to his letter to August Macke-
noticed in Schonberg's compositions tendencies parallel to those in Kan-
dinsky' s paintings. It is not clear which painting in particular Marc had in
mind, but in speaking explicitly of "Kandinsky's composition" he
may have referred to Composition II or Composition III - both painted in
1910,100 and both destroyed during World War II. Whereas Comroosition III
is today only known through a black and white reproduction, 01 we can
imagine Composition II in its final stage, not only through black and white
illustrations but also in a final study in the collection of the Guggenheim
Museum. 102 (Figs. 1 and 2) Angelica Rudenstine is correct in judging the
20 SchOnberg and Kandinsky

Figure 1 Composition II, sketch, 1909-10. Oil on canvas (97.5 x 131.2 em). Photo: Courtesy of the
Guggenheim Museum, New York. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

lA
.

Figure 2 Composition II, 1910. Oil on canvas (200 x 275 em). Destroyed.
© W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 21

two versions to be extremely close; only two obvious differences distin-

guish one from the other. In the final painting, the four figures huddled in
the lower left comer have become one amorphous shape, and the central
white vertical form extends all the way to the top edge of the canvas
rather than stopping short of it. 103
Was this the picture Marc had in mind when he spoke about Kandins-
ky's 'jumping spots'? The definitive answer to this question remains open
to discussion. Such matters of identification are secondary to the overall
impression Kandinsky's pictures made (and still make) on the spectator,
an impression that was (and is) so fundamental that Marc's description
ignores individual features in order to concentrate on purely structural
matters. Kandinsky himself had experienced such an impression when
'accidentally' confronted with one of his own pictures:
"Much later, after my arrival in Munich, I was enchanted on one occasion by an
unexpected spectacle that confronted me in my studio. It was the hour when dusk
draws in. I returned home with my painting box having finished a study, still dreamy
and absorbed in the work I had completed, and suddenly saw an indescribably beautiful
picture, pervaded by an inner glow. At first, I stopped short and then quickly approached
this mysterious picture, on which I could discern only forms and colors and whose
content was incomprehensible. At once, I discovered the key to the puzzle: it was a
picture I had painted, standing on its side against the wall. The next day, I tried to re-
create my impression of the picture from the previous evening by day tight. I only half
succeeded, however; even on its side, I constantly recognized objects, and the fine bloom of
dusk was missing. Now I could see clearly that objects harmed my pictures."104

The sudden experience of total abstraction - caused by a 'trompe-l'oeil'

effect not within but beyond nature - struck the artist like a bolt of
lightning. When Kandinsky and his friends heard a piece like Schonberg's
op. 11, nr. 1 in the concert of September 2, this fascination, now caused by
music, may have had a similar effect. 105 The experience of painting and
music indeed may have coincided.
The genuinely artistic repercussion of the Schonberg concert is Kan-
dinsky's painting Impression 3. (Fig. 3) For listeners of today, not only
accustomed to the works of Schonberg and his circle, but also familiar
with the development of modem music since 1950, a composition like op.
11, nr. 1 sounds 'classical'. The analysis of Schonberg's composition
makes clear106 that it consists of strongly contrasting zones of song form
and dissolution zones. But aside from these signs of formal dissociation,
there are powerful structural traits within these segments of form that
correspond to the impressions described by the painters. This is especially
significant for the dissolution zones structured by abruptly juxtaposed
sound gestures, the disruption underlined by dynamics, registral
22 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
placement, articulation, and- at least partially- by interruptive rests. 107
The result is a structure that can be described metaphorically as consist-
ing of splashes and spots - as in the testimony of Marc, which corre-
sponds with the structure of Kandinsky's paintings of that time} 08 but
especially Kandinsky' s Impression 3. 109
Impression 3 is an example of Kandinsky' s own distinction of the three
genres in his oeuvre- "Impression," "Improvisation," "Composition" -
though his categories are perhaps not in themselves sufficiently precise.
'Impressions' are those pictures that follow "the direct impression of
external nature." 110 But Impression 3 transgresses the painter's own defi-
nition. Only the event that inspired the picture and determined its exter-
nal frame, that is, Schonberg's concert of September 2, recalls external
nature. The true content is the impact of the expressive power of the
music, which evoked in the artist inner vibrations, and permeated and
transformed the relics of figural imagery through pictorial means that are
derived solely from structural forces. This view is supported by the
increasing degree of abstraction as we move from the artist's sketch to
the finished painting.111
By pictorial structure, I mean the evocation of strong tension that is
expressed in the relationship between two intersecting but differently
organized diagonals: Oval spots of color and black contours (auditory)
directed from the lower left corner toward the large black form (grand

Figure 3 Impression 3 (Concert), 1911. Oil on canvas (77.5 x 100 em). Photo: Courtesy of the
Sammlungen in der Stiidtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele Mi.inter-Stiftung.
© W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 23

piano) in the upper right comprise one diagonal; the other consists of a
broad yellow trapezoid extending from the lower right corner toward the
middle (where it intersects the diagonal beginning in the lower left
corner), together with the adjacent, smaller trapezoidal black shape of
the grand pianoY 2 The contrasting diagonals are accompanied by var-
iously shaped and colored forms in the upper left corner; but they are
balanced by two upright white 'columns' in the upper half of the picture.
Overlapping the black form on the right and a red form to the left, these
white verticals also 'rhythmize' the picture. They form a kind of 'structural
counterpoint', organizing and enhancing the impression of 'leaping spots'.
If we 'read' the structure of intersecting diagonals according to Kan-
dinsky's observations and remarks on colors, it becomes obvious that the
large yellow trapezoid releases the most active color; it stimulates and
permeates as it moves over the entire canvas. At the same time, it inten-
sifies the strength of "all other colors," which, against black "as the most
toneless color ... sound stronger and more precise." 113 Yellow in relation
to black here gains a special catalyzing function that enhances the infra-
structure of diagonals and color spots. It is clear that white, forming a
strong contrast to black114 and at the same time intensifying the effect of
yellow, plays its own role in this configuration.U5 But it is the contrast of
yellow and blue116 that guides the second diagonal, not least by the fact
that both colors function in "eccentric [and]/ or concentric motion." 117

VI

With this kind of analysis, I do not intend to propose any direct compar-
ison between individual works of painting and music. Such comparisons
- even limiting our focus to works by Kandinsky and Schonberg - are,
strictly speaking, not possibleY 8 They may at best be attempted for the
purpose of hypothetical discussion. Kandinsky's own oft-quoted dictum
"I do not want to paint music" 119 reinforces this point. The argument that
"music, painting, poetry, or texts are not related to one another harmo-
niously, but rather are characterized by the lack of such structural analo-
gies as a method of the mutual enlightenment of the arts would try to
find" does not resolve the problem, nor does the all-embracing notion of
"pure perception." 120 Here, the level of abstraction is too low- the focus
inadequate. The specific materials of an artistic medium, when reduced to
structural and configurative essentials, elicit states of aggregation that are
comparable with those of other media, and at the same time pose pro-
blems of structural configuration and compositional balance that suggest
24 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
correspondences. The erosion of elements, structures, and forms affects
the patterns that manifest themselves as the fundamental categories of
time and space in any artistic medium. The result is the mutual approx-
imation121 practiced by Kandinsky and Schonberg, but more importantly,
attested by their strong interest in a synthesis of the arts. 122
If we take as a point of departure not the comparison of works but
rather distinctions of artistic material, structure, and form, we can also try
to explain why Kandinsky in On the Spiritual in Art dealt much more
explicitly and extensively with fundamental aspects of structure and form
- especially with the phenomena of contrast and structure of contrasts -
than did Schonberg in his Theory of Harmony. In his reflections on com-
position, Schonberg was subject to the historically evolved and system-
atically ordained complex of harmony as well as its erosion through
compositional tendencies. He had to delve deeper into aspects of musical
material that were in a sense 'theoretically petrified', while Kandinsky, in
trying to purge his works of their figurative content, found it necessary to
tackle the whole spectrum of pictorial material in connection with object,
form, and structure. As we have seen, however, throughout his Theory of
Harmony, Schonberg was well aware of the structural qualities of material
and of balanced formal configurations. He clearly exceeded the range of
common reflections in his 'theories of harmony'. With Schonberg's new
compositional perspective and the erosion of tonality, hitherto inconcei-
vable or undervalued aspects of material came into focus. That Schonberg
was cognizant of additional problems pertaining to the material is indi-
cated by a passage in the last chapter of his Theory of Harmony.
"In a musical sound [Klang] three characteristics are recognized: its pitch, color [tim-
bre], and volume. Up to now it has been measured in only one of the three dimensions in
which it operates, the one we call 'pitch'. Attempts at measurement in the other
dimenions have scarcely been undertaken to date; organization of their results into a
system has not yet been attempted at all. The evaluation of tone color [Klangfarbe1 the
second dimension of tone is thus in a still much less cultivated, much less organized state
than is the aesthetic evaluation of these latter harmonies [i.e., chords with six and more
tones]. Nevertheless, we go right on boldly connecting the sounds with one another,
contrasting them with one another, simply by feeling; and it has never yet occurred to
anyone to require of a theory that it should determine laws by which one may do that sort
of thing. u123

While Kandinsky was 'envious' of the long-standing and highly devel-

oped laws of counterpoint and harmony in music, Schonberg may have
had a similar reaction when reading about the efforts to systematize
experiences of color and their relevance to problems of structure -matters
on which Kandinsky reflected in On the Spiritual in Art. Significantly
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 25
enough, his later concept for a music department at an American uni-
versity includes a proposal for the differentiation and description of
contrasts: It is not by chance that the notion of differentiation and descrip-
tion of contrasts pla:6s an important role in Schonberg's Fundamentals of
Musical Composition. 24
We must not forget that Schonberg's own activity as a painter- begin-
ning in 1907, four years before he became acquainted with Kandinsky and
his art - points to his striving for expanded, correlative, and collateral
means of artistic expression125 through color. His paintings as well as his
musical compositions testify to a desire to penetrate the internal necessity,
a longing for expression intensified to the extreme,126 a need to utter that
human outcry mentioned earlier. 127 It is exactly the "emotional complex
beneath the imprint of form" 128 in Schonberg's pictures that causes us to
hear his music according to the structural law of expressive volition,
beyond the range of patterns, as if torn by inner contrasts. This is especially
true of his 'visions'. With these, the usual pattern of presentation is broken.
Only the core of expression remains in the form of 'gazes' and 'gazing
colors'. These gazes also permeate Schonberg's Erwartung, interacting with
oscillating musical eruptions. In Die glackliche Hand, music and its contra-
puntal elements of light and color function to refract the inner tensions of-
and thus carry - the configurations of the stage. 129 One can say that light
and colors project the musical configurations into space, especially in the
III. Bild, where music is transformed into a new quality. The inverse
relation becomes apparent in Kandinsky's Der gelbe Klang. Here, music
transforms configurations of colors, light, and form into moving rictures:
Time, inherent in Kandinsky's paintings, unfolds with the music. 30 •
Schonberg's investigation of harmonic qualities challenges the whole
question of material in music. His Theory of Harmony is open not only to
the "emancipation of dissonances," 131 but also to a new calibration of the
motif and independent voices, 132 colors of sound,133 formal relations and
patterns. The erosion and dissolution of harmonics, theme, motive,
rhythm, meter, dynamics, continuosly shaped time, and formal patterns,
however, have their corollaries in painting. As seen in the suspension of
pictorial perspective, increasingly abstract configurations of colors and
shapes, the distortion of objects, their apparent disappearance, and their
abrupt reappearance as mere traces or residue of the figural image, the
drifting apart of lines, the loosening and finally the total suspension of
orthogonals, the weakening and eventually the release of gravity. 134 Sig-
nificant comparisons may be made, for example, between Schonberg's
song form and dissolution zone (op. 11/1), and Kandinsky's relics of the
figure and those pictorial zones he calls "inner boiling within a diffuse
26 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
form" - as in his description of Painting with White Border. 135 This lan-
guage suggests the melting heat of abstraction that has the power to
dissolve figures and patterns. And, as orthogonals and gravity lose their
basic pictorial function of orientation, so the 'gravitation of stringent
musical time' is decomposed. The telescopic character of continuously
flowing time is lost, and with it the traditional elements, relationships,
and structures of balanced succession.

VII

The new possibilities of material, structure, and artistic configuration con-

stituted an artistic and historical challenge that could drive artists crazy.
Kandinsky's reaction may be glimpsed in Reminiscences, where he writes

"A terrifying abyss of all kinds of questions, a wealth of responsibilities stretched before
me. And most important of all: What is to replace the missing object? The danger of
ornament revealed itself clearly to me, the dead semblance of stylized forms I found
merely repugnant. "136

Looking back in 1932. Anton Webern expressed a similar concern:

"The vanishing of tonality was overdue. This, of course, was a hot fight, inhibitions of the
most terrible kind were to overcome, an anxiety: Is this really possible?" 137

The 'abyss' that terrified Kandinsky, the impediments and uncertainties

of heart and brain that embarrassed Schonberg and his circle when they
finally overcame tonality, all of this had repercussions for the material,
but beyond that, they were to become part of the compositional task itself.
Kandinsky's "clashing discords, loss of equilibrium, principles' over-
thrown ... great questionings ... opposites, and contradictions ... " 138
stood for more than the reverberation in the artist's mind of the conflict
between external and internal world. They represented the situation and
conflict at the threshold of a new art. 'Chaos', so often invoked and
bemoaned by contemporary critics, had to be revealed, and, at the same
time, artistically mastered through the methodical structuring of con-
trasts, the generating and then mediating of tensions, as in Kandinsky' s
'harmony'.
The manifold nature of contrasts, however, caused problems other than
those facing the artist. For the spectator, it raised troubling questions:
How to find points of orientation? How to interpret the 'relics' of objects
in Kandinsky' s paintings? How to find corresponding structural traces in
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 27

a composition like Schonberg's Erwartung that can guide the listener

through a composition that seems to be totally a-thematic? And what is
the role of the text in Schonberg's compositions of free atonality? Kan-
dinsky felt like he was between Scylla and Charybdis: he was determined
to banish corporeal forms, which he felt 'blurred' his paintings; but in
making the break with the 'object', he drifted toward another great
danger: "The completely abstract, wholly emancipated use of color in
'geometrical' form (ornament)." 139 How to avoid the pitfall of mere
ornamental design? 140
Ornament was either incomprehensible or incapable of combining struc-
ture and artistic message in a stringent form. But if not ornament, what
could replace the object in painting? 141 The solution came from music:
Composition! Long before he came to realize his ultimate artistic inten-
tions, Kandinsky had ranked the idea of 'composition' ahead of all
others. 142 Now, to paint a composition meant to equal music, to create a
configuration of colors, lines, and forms of color that would be structurally
self-sustaining and incomparably expressive. 143 The world of objects, how-
ever, could not be made to disappear on command. Kandinsky had to
approach abstraction systematically, by eroding the layers of figural form.
It is his distinction among impression, 144 improvisation,145 and composi-
tion that can be understood as a categorization of the fundamental steps
along the path to the new goal of abstraction. At the same time, these
categories point to his increasing cognizance of material. Kandinsky's
explanations of composition proceed along the following lines:

"The expression of feelings that have been forming within me in a similar way [as in
'Improvisations'] (but over a very long period of time), which, after the first preliminary
sketches, I have slowly and almost pedantically examined and worked out. This kind of
picture I call a 'Composition'. Here, reason, the conscious, the deliberate, and the
purposeful play a preponderant role. Except that I always decide in favor offeeling rather
than calculation. "146

When Kandinsky describes the act of transforming 'the expression of

feeling' through 'reason, the conscious, the deliberate, and the purpose-
ful' explicitly for purposes of composition, we may understand it as a
kind of dialogue in the course of - and for the sake of - artistic creation, a
process of simultaneously weighing and controlling the forces at play in
the achievement of compositional balance. This comes close to Schon-
b~rg's position in his Theory of Harmony:

"Invention, but not calculation! One may compose by taking thought, but one must not
deliberately observe how one is thinking. "147
28 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
The importance of consciousness for composition lies in the fact that
Kandinsky's true aim was a "complex type of composition." 148 From this
point of view, it becomes clear that he first distinguished between "sim-
ple composition" -qua "melodic" 149 - and "complex composition" 150 at
the time of writing On the Spiritual in Art (that is, around 1909).151 In his
subsequent development of these concepts, however, "complex composi-
tion" - that is, "symphonic composition" - became more and more
synonymous with "[genuine] composition." 152 Kandinsky's ardent desire
for the structural, his tenacious engagement with the problems of struc-
ture in composition, is proven by the great number of sketches he
produced for this type of painting. His propensity for structural conden-
sation is evinced in the sketch for Composition VI, where he jots down only
structural outlines (Figs. 4, 5). Of equally great interest are drawings
where he weighs single forms and their mutual relations, as he does in
the sketches for Composition IV, where the figural shapes on the right
and the vertically oriented lines are balanced (Figs. 6, 7, 8). But the most
significant demonstration of his ability to temper creativity with critical
reflection is witnessed in the "more than thirty related studies" 153 for
Composition VII, among which the expanding color studies are exemplary.
Each of these color 'studies' is a highly individual, structurally con-
densed, and intensified compositional configuration of its own. Because
of the enormous variety of elements, colors, forms and structures that

Figure 4 Composition VI, 1913. Oil on canvas (195 x 300 em). Photo: Courtesy of the Hermitage, St.
Petersburg. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 29

Figure 5 "Outlines of Composition VI", 1913. Mine de plomb et crayon gras (19 x 26.9 em). Photo:
Courtesy of the Collection du Musee National d'Art Modeme, Paris. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht
Amsterdam

Figure 6 Composition IV, 1911. Oil on canvas (159.5 x 250.5 em). Photo: Courtesy of the
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Di.isseldorf. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
30 Schonberg and Kandinsky

,,

Figure 7 First Drawing for "Composition IV", 1911. Black lead, Charcoal crayon, India ink (10.2 x 20
em). Photo: Courtesy of the Collections du Musee National d'Art Modeme, Paris.
© W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

Figure 8 Drawing for "Composition IV", 1911. Black lead, India ink (24.9 x 30.5 em). Photo:
Courtesy of the Collections du Musee National d'Art Modeme, Paris. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht
Amsterdam
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 31

make up the pictures, it is of course extremely difficult - and on this

occasion, for practical reasons, impossible - to discuss the salient features
of each individual study. Here, it will be more productive to focus on
global features, using particularly illustrative examples to demonstrate a
few points.
Kandinsky' s Sketch 1 (Fig. 9) - which was already in the possession of
Paul Klee as early as 1925154 - is perhaps the most astounding. Huge
waves of color and colored forms overflow the picture plane in an
enormous eruption, like 'magma' washing away the scarcely detectable
traces of human existence, and symbolizing fall and destruction in the
extreme. 155 Sketch 1 is determined by extremes of contrast among colors
bound to large forms, such as red and yellow, black and white; pairings of
intensive and calm colors such as red and green and of warm and cold
colors like red/yellow and blue/ green; and, contrasts among these large
forms and small, colored elements, ensembles of elements, and pure lines.
These relations are orchestrated in an enormous diagonal shape that
surges across the whole canvas ("Hiillkurve"), moving from the lower
left sector of the picture upwards to the right.
Despite its eruptive appearence, most of the painting's discrete forms
are clear and graphically distinct. Its apparently eschatological aura 156 the

Figure 9 Sketch 1 for " Composition VII", 1913. Oil on canvas (78 x 100 em). (Until 1992: Collection
Felix Klee, Bern. Present location unknown. Cf. Sotheby's: Sketch 1 for Composition VII, London
1992.) © W. Kandinsky c/ o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
32 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
fusion in this image of the "great destruction" and the "hymn of new
creation,"157 are demonstrated by a preparatory drawing158 (Fig. 10) on
which appear Russian annotations that have been deciphered and
recently published by Jelena Hahl. 159 In spite of a clear relation between
this drawing and Sketch 1, certain elements such as those at the left side
connected with the inscription "Fugue" are not otherwise found in Kan-
dinsky's works before Sketch 2. Another drawing160 (Fig. 11) that stands
between Sketch 1 and Sketch 2 brings to the fore a determinant but
'hidden' structural moment in the painting: the diagonal crossing of
huge layers of forms. This becomes more clearly visible in Sketch 2 (Fig.
14) and Sketch 3 (Fig. 15), and above all, in the painting's final version
(Fig. 17). The preparatory and analytical drawings exemplify what Kan-
dinsky says about 'hidden construction':

"This hidden construction can consist of forms apparently scattered at random upon the
canvas, which - again, apparently - have no relationship one to another the external
absence of any such relationship here constitutes its internal presence. What externally
has been loosened has internally been fused into a single unity. And this remains for both
elements - i.e., for both linear and painterly form . Precisely here lies the future theory of
harmony for painting [Harrnonielehre der Malerei]. " 161

Figure 10 Drawing for "Composition VII", 1913. India ink and pen (21.0 x 33.1 em). Photo: Courtesy
of the Sammlungen in der Stadtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele Miinter-Stiftung. ©
W. Kandinsky c/ o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 33

Figure 11 Drawing for "Composition VII", 1913. India ink, mounted on grey paper (21.0 x 33.0 em).
Photo: Courtesy of the Sammlungen in der Stiidtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele
Mtinter-Stiftung. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

Figure 12 Preparatory drawing for "Composition VII", 1913. Pencil (23.8 x 30.4 em). Photo:
Courtesy of the Sammlungen in der Stiidtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele Mtinter-
Stiftung. © W. Kandinsky c/ o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
34 Schonberg and Kandinsky

Figure 13 Preparatory drawing for " Composition VII", 1913. Pencil (11.8 x 17.3 em). Photo:
Courtesy of the Sammlungen in der Stiidtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele Mtinter-
Stiftung. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

Clearly connected with Sketch 1 are two more drawings in pencil (Figs. 12,
13). While the first one only signals characteristics of form/ 62 the other
one indicates connections between the main colors and shaped areas. 163 It
too belongs clearly to Sketch 1, as can be seen by the wedge-shaped yellow
area above the middle, or the curved black diagonal, which crosses the
picture at a subterranean level like a yawning chasm. 164
The visual manifestation of 'catastrophe' has significally changed in
Sketch 1 (Fig. 14): Warm colors like yellow and red have been reduced
and/ or modified in favour of green, blue, and mixed colors. Colored lines
and shapes in the lower left, but also certain 'windows' opening onto the
depth of space have given way to blurred color forms and white struc-
tures similar to those Kandinsky called on another occasion "inner boiling
(within a diffuse form)." 165 Here, the precision of individual forms has
been drastically reduced, the facture is different, and the structure has
begun to 'foam' as if from fermentation. Development- time! -suffuses
the canvas, its forms, and structures, affecting every pictorial element
down to its fundamental material quality. To a certain degree, the devel-
opment from Sketch 1 to Sketch 2 is characteristic of what Kandinsky has
called the step from the 'external impression' to the 'inner sound' in
connection with Composition VI. 166 A sign of this difference in approach
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 35

Figure 14 Sketch 2 for "Composition VII", 1913. Oil on canvas (100 x 140 em). Photo: Courtesy of the
Sammlungen in der Stiidtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele Miinter-Stiftung.
© W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

can be detected in the absence of the 'pictograph' of the reclining couple,

which is visible in the lower left corner of Sketch 1 as red and blue lines. In
further abbreviated form, this motif seems to recur in the final version.
With Sketch 3 (Fig. 15), the pendulum swings back toward more clear-
cut structures and forms. The 'boiling' of colors and forms is reduced but
not eliminated altogether. It is combined with purposeful intensification
of structural and formal stringency. The powerful left-right diagonal of
Sketch I is thus confirmed. This becomes increasingly evident if we take
into account an additional drawing in India ink (Fig. 16), an 'analytical
drawing' according to the artist's label:

"Roughest structure of Composition 7 (Analysis of the last sketch) November 1913. "167

When compared with Sketch 1, this sketch reveals the 'crystallization' of

'hidden construction' - and of the structure as a whole - in the final
version of Composition VII (Fig. 17), with a great accumulation of layers
intersecting, permeating, and superimposing themselves upon one
another. These layers crowd around and build up the center, at the
same time igniting a whirling diagonal tension toward the upper right
corner. One element of this concentric structure is a huge upright form
36 Sch6'nber~ and Kandinsky

Figure 15 Sketch 3 for "Composition VII", 1913. Oil on canvas (89.5 x 125 em). Photo: Courtesy of
the Sammlungen in der Stadtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele Miinter-Stiftung.
© W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

Figure 16 "Analytical drawing" for "Composition VII", 1913.1ndia ink, red crayon (21.0 x 27.5 em).
Photo: Courtesy of the Sammlungen in der Stadtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Gabriele
Miinter-Stiftung. © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 37

Figure 17 Composition VII, 1913. Oil on canvas (200 x 300 em). Photo: Courtesy of the Tretiakov
Gallery, Moscow.© W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

that is partially intersected by a rhomboid shape, which itself indicates

the overlapping of diagonals; but other diagonal layers directed toward
the left are also indicated. Gabriele Miinter' s four photographs of the
genesis of the final version - now available in toto - are especially
illuminating for studying this layered structure of intersecting wedge-
like shapes.168 These huge forms play against more concise forms in cool
colors and white forms that permeate and deepen the entire picture. The
vast scope of its view, its 'cosmic' character, is thus dramatically magni-
fied. At the same time, however, Kandinsky enriches the number of signs
that activate associations with the figurative world of painting. While the
early annotated drawing (see Fig. 10) shows Genesis (Entstehung) in the
lower left comer, boat/ ship (Boot/Schif[j to the right of Genesis, and abyss
(Abgrund) in the lower right comer, 69 in the final painting, Kandinsky
realizes a pictorial sign for the boat that is lacking in all three sketches. At
the same time as he resurrects this vestige of the figural, he alludes to the
cosmic by permitting a glimpse into a distant region between earth and
sky through an opening in the upper left comer.
These traces of the objective world indeed raise questions about the
meaning of such figurative details; but they are obviously of functional
importance to the composition. They must be studied with an eye to the
38 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
fact that the format of the final painting expands and extends the diag-
onals.170 Here, from a structural point of view, the diagonal in the upper
right corner has gained dominance over the composition, an effect that is
enhanced by the fact that it originates with the 'image' of the boat in the
lower left corner. The window onto a distant view in the upper left
corner, on the other hand, corresponds with the 'abyss' in the lower
right, an element already present in the preparatory drawing. Both details
strengthen the force of the somewhat obscured diagonal directed toward
the upper left corner. But what are we to make of their figural appear-
ance? What about their relation to the layering structure of the picture as
a whole?

VIII

Kandinsky's sketches testify to his highly developed sense for the equi-
ponderant control of structural and formal elements. As evidence of the
means of his pictorial practice, they validate his theoretical "weighing-up
of the inner value of one's material." His sensitivity to structural inter-
connections irradiates both nature and objective imagery. Not later than
1910 he had already stressed that:

"In painting, just as in all art, it is insufficient simply to render the appearance of nature,
its external reality, for it contains too much that is accidental. What is 'necessary' (just as
it is necessary that man should have a heart) is that beneath a greater or lesser degree of
'reality' should lie, apparent or concealed, a firm, permanent structure: the structure of
those parts that are independent, that relate to one another, and that united within the
picture, constitute the structure of the whole. "171

'Permanent structure', emphasized in Kandinsky's fifth Letter from Munich

(1910), is nothing but 'hidden construction', unifying figurative and
abstract painting within a wide historic horizon. It comprises exactly
those elements and layers of the picture that form a coherent substratum
underlying the phenomena of the 'objective' world. It is their configura-
tion which forms 'the whole'. All of Schonberg's creative thought and
theorizing seems to be based on this conviction, which is characteristic of
his all-embracing analytical and creative insights. In his Theory of Har-
mony, he has expressed his belief:

"... that in the harmony we ultramodernists create will ultimately be found the same
laws that obtained in the older harmony, only correspondingly broader, more generally
conceived. " 172
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 39

Schonberg's explicit remarks about permanent laws of harmony are

implicit in his statements on the 'inner nature of the idea and its move-
ment' with respect to choral music and also in his tentative analytical
remarks on the ultramodernist Aesthetic Evaluation of Chords with Six and
more Tones. Here, an encompassing concept of musical logic, of musical
idea, hovers between or behind the lines ("in the air") that in effect
prefigures his extensive later writing on this topic. 173 It is a vision of
historically constant structural logic that manifests itself as central to
composition just when it seems to have vanished, as in Kandinsky's
works of around 1910.
The latent structural power of small groups of tones that subliminally
organize the elements of his so-called athematic compositions can be
detected even in the eruptive gestures of Erwartung. 174 The difficulty in
discerning them lies in the fact that these aggregations of notes are
handled extremely freely in terms of their combination, operations of
transposition, inversion, and retrogression, the organization of registers,
and even the modification of intervals - all of these understood to be
'proto-procedures' of Schonberg's twelve-tone technique. These small
points of structural crystallization are more clearly recognizable in Schon-
berg's second early 'operatic' work Die glUckliche Hand. Combinations like
(major) third + (minor) second/(major) seventh, or (minor) second +
(minor) seventh/(minor) ninth form webs or networks of structural rela-
tions.175 However the notion of latent structural power becomes even
more discernable in some of the George Songs- not only in nr. 14}76 but
also- to a greater or lesser degree- in nrs. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11. Such veiled
structural relations as these compositions exhibit are not the product of
intuition. There exist sketches for nr. 14 of the George Songs, sketches
indicating that in fact, the composer consciously shaped the beginning
with great skill. 177
In his familiar theoretical contribution to the Blue Rider entitled The
Relationship to the Text, which we now know that Schonberg announced to
Kandinsky in a letter of January 15, 1912} 78 Schonberg reveals that when
setting texts to music he very often composed:

"... inspired by the sound of the first words of the text . .. straight through to the end
without troubling myself in the slightest about the continuation of the poetic events.''179

The probing sketches for the beginning of George Song nr. 14, how-
ever, make clear that he had first to find a decisive structural and
expressive idea that could give shape to the compositional whole ac-
cording to its generative musical powers. Here, again, then, the
40 Schonberg and Kandinsky
conception of hidden structural power becomes apparent - this time in
musical terms.
When compared with Kandinsky, the number of Schonberg's sketches
is- as far as the works before 1914 are concerned- limited. Very often
Schonberg composed from the beginning to the end at one stroke. 180
Obviously this is related to the fact that, according to his own account,
he often drafted whole works in his head. This 'mental-work', however,
occurred in stages. In his answer to a questionnaire prepared by Julius
Bahle (1931), Schonberg mentions three stages that precede the written
elaboration. That they are not represented by sketches may be because the
early creative stages resist becoming visible musical signs. The progres-
sion is described schematically by Schonberg as:

(I) the "unnameable mental image of sounding and moving space, of a

form with characteristic relationships, of moving masses whose
shape is unnameable and not amenable to comparison;"
(II) becomes "musical through-fantasizing along emotional lines;"
(III) and reaches the highly tentative stage of "a large or small number
of themes ... often proving unusable," while the "real themes ...
often appear only during a second working phase (if one may call it
that)."181

Schonberg's comments regarding the setting of poems to music are also

relevant to his instrumental compositions: It is very often the primary
'musical need' that 'draws' Schonberg "to the words," 182 a fact that
corresponds with his discussion in The Relationship to the Text regarding
the inward correspondence of music and word, rooted in a basic musical
'sound' which permeates and determines the 'homogeneous composi-
tion'.183 It would seem that the fundamental abstractness of music con-
ceals the first steps of musical composition as "invisible sketches," 184
while in painting, what is conceptualized may become visible at an earlier
stage.
It is precisely the workings of the creative imagination, made visible in
sketches, that reveal the narrowing of painting toward music. Sketch 1 for
Composition VII may come close - in terms of painting - to what Schon-
berg calls the "expression of some basic fact concealed behind the
whole," which "could equally be represented in a different material: in
words, rhymes, sounds, but also in colors, forms, and marble."185 This,
however, was only possible according to the principles of abstraction,
which seeks to reveal the inner necessity as a striving toward the genuine
- the spiritual - expression of material in painting. In Kandinsky's case
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 41

this propensity is related to his particular make-up as an artist. He was a

synesthete possessed of an eidetic memory. 186 He wrote that, having been
saturated with external impressions, over the years, the:

"... capacity for engrossing myself in the inner life of art (and, therefore, of my soul as
well) increased to such an extent that I often passed by external events without noticing
them, something which could not have occured previously. " 187

It seems that Kandinsky's distinctions of 'impression', 'improvisation,'

and 'composition' stem directly from these two operations of his mind
setting in motion a dialectic relationship between the impressions he
absorbed from the external world, on the one hand, and his internal
pictorial imaginings, on the other. Here we have to remind ourselves
that the production of mimetic imagery is, to a considerable degree, due
to the mind's tendency to predetermine sensory perception:

"What we read into ... accidental shapes [of clouds or so] depends on our capacity to
recognize in them things or images we find stored in our minds. "188

In Kandinsky' s case, the mind operates the other way round: Instead of
'imagining' faces, animals, etc., when looking at clouds/ 89 he rather
increasingly projected onto the visual phenomena of the external world
abstract configurations of colors and forms that derived from his expand-
ing reservoir of non-figurative imagery. So, his three 'categories' of paint-
ing, as well as his 'sketches' and analytical drawings, stand as signs of a
'dialectic' process that demanded earlier and more extensive preparatory
and analytical work than was the case with Schonberg's musical compo-
sitions.
This view does not reduce artistic problems to psychoanalytical terms.
It is an approach to understanding Kandinsky' s creative reception of a
constellation of phenomena that was potentially open to his keen detec-
tion and response, 190 and which at the same time confronted him with
inherent and imminent problems. The latter are exemplified by the way in
which Kandinsky, in his striving for abstraction, became preoccupied
with the question of ornament. His path toward abstraction was paved
with milestones, so to speak, that had already been encountered and
passed by in the history of ornament. Focusing on the gre-eminence of
non-representational structural and formal relations/ he sought to
avoid the scorn leveled against mere formalism. Though he would pro-
blematize ornament/ 92 he nevertheless disagreed with the subordination
of ornament to 'naturalistic' art. To elevate the quality of abstract config-
uration according to the idea of inner necessity - which Theodor Vischer
42 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
had also pleaded for - Kandinsky had to accentuate the inner force of
abstract elements- as had Van de Velde 193 and Endell194 - at the expense
of the figurative image. He ruptured the filiation between naturalistic and
abstract form, 195 while at the same time preserving a thread of continuity
that linked the two -not unlike Lipps's perspective196 - in a process of
abstraction that led to the systematic detachment from reality.
The rift between figurative and genuinely abstract imagery is catalysed
in Kandinsky's research. The question of how to understand the residual
traces of objects in his paintin~s can be solved neither by 'reading' these
as 'hermetically' iconographic, 97 nor by ignoring their ~resence in favor
of an undialectical approach to abstract composition. 98 The problem
might be approached, however, in terms of Kandinsky's 'Great Realism,'

"That 'artistic' element which has here been reduced to a minimum [and which therefore]
must be recognized as the most powerfully affective abstract element. " 199

In this case, the traced figurative elements are not understandable as signs
of a strict iconographic meaning; rather they represent what can be called
'auratic iconography'. These 'fragments' signal the coming of Walter
Benjamin's 'aura', "the singular spectacle of remoteness, the nearer it
seems to be." 200 With the use of pictorial elements that are abstract in
nature, and which by their reverberation from within a project into a
remote and mysterious realm, things that seem to belong to the realm of
physical proximity or common significance, Iconographic content itself
becomes increasingly impenetrable.Z01 Rendering the beholder's soul sen-
sitive to the eschatological'scale', they 'tune' him according to the 'inner
sound' of abstract configurations and to contrasts, which - by fusing
subjective synesthetic qualities into structural relationshrs within a strin-
gent scale or matrix - become more readily legible.Z0 To 'read' these
pictures, finally, means to abandon iconographic decipherment and to
indulge in 'hidden construction', that is, to re-enact the whole range of
compositional techniques in Kandinsky' s paintings, the building of rela-
tionships among material elements, and the assignation of expressive
meaning.
Kandinsky's desire to purify material and construction of the
figural reference to objective reality, with its denotative and connotative
capacities, while at the same time guarding against the anathema of mere
ornamentalism, has a parallel in Schonberg's struggle against program
music, his desire to articulate the relationship of his music to the text,
and his opposition to ornament. Abandoning program music, he first
emphasized "the construction of extremely large forms." 203 But the
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 43
phenomenon of atonality demanded the increasing concentration of
compositional elements, which in effect would swallow up ornament.
Eventually the rigors of compositional structure led to extreme results:
very short pieces, and condensed expression through purely musical
means; 204 purification of expression focused on the core of music, 'inner
necessity' - which became the code word for a correspondence of all the
arts. Thus, in Schonberg's George Songs, music 'knows' its own integral
'inner sound' even in relation to the text. It becomes auratic in that, by
emphasizing remoteness, it expresses in its very structure what is beyond
the mere meaning of words but nevertheless palpably close to us.
Around these veiled structures the composition crystallizes. The versa-
tility of tone cells, as demonstrated by Erwartung and Die glackliche Hand,
prefigures the twelve-tone technique, as Kandinsky' s aggregated layers of
intersecting and permeating diagonals, of hovering and circulating net-
works of lines and colored forms would finally become structurally
ordered and decisive. Kandinsky was mentally prepared for contact
with the guiding principles of Surprematism and Constructivism. He
was ready to tackle the challenges of such catalytic artistic confrontation.
The same can be said for Schonberg. Metaphorically, one could say that
Kandinsky's paintings between 1910 and 1914 gained an increasingly
emblematic function for the artistic milieu in which he and Schonberg
moved. This is summed up by the notion of 'composition' consisting of
the three classic elements of an emblem: 'icon', 'motto', and 'epigram' 205
elaborated in the configuration 'construction' (icon), 'internal necessity'
(motto), and On the Spiritual in Art (epigram).
This pattern expresses the fact that Kandinsky' s fundamental aim is
construction - the artistically conclusive and evocative structural config-
uration, incited by internal necessity. Construction, however, carries
within itself the necessity of process - not only implying the element
of time, but in particular the historical time needed to realize construction
in its most perfect form, that is, through abstraction. Abstraction is
both deconstructive and constructive. Its power to erode the object also
engenders the lines of power that establish the new abstract pictorial order.
The result was conflict. Even before the erosion of figural form became
apparent, painting was increasingly fraught with great fluctuations of
tension and direction, opposing diagonals and excentric and concentric
forces, struggles between form and edge, and the densification of webs of
color, form, and line. These virtually overtook the surface of the painting.
The materials of abstraction, as it were, and the waning figurative elements
fought each other on the field of the canvas. This becomes strikingly
apparent with the Murnau paintings of after 1909, where the objects are
44 Schonberg and Kandinsky
attacked by oppositional -but also structurally supportive - diagonal and
swirling compositional forces. However, as the power lines of abstraction
gained superiority, and the relics of the objective world were engulfed by
abstraction, the more this confrontation between the material and the
figural was transmuted into a matter of purely structural relations. Here
'latent construction', already inherent in Kandinsky's earlier stages of
development, reached a new plateau: it gained an expressive power all
its own, and takes on a new structural identity. This is demonstrated above
all by the great Compositions V, VI, VII, but also by Compositions II, IV, and
a picture like Painting with the White Border, where the probing and at
the same time analytical sketches demonstrate that construction is the
concealed but nevertheless governing power.Z06
This transmutation of the conflicts between objective imagery and
material form into structural terms coincides with the emergence of
apocalyptic themes, a coincidence that calls for some discussion.Z07
What triggered notions of the apocalyptic in Kandinsky's thought? 208
His special emphasis on composition in painting, going far beyond
other painters' understanding of the word, cannot be overstressed. Rest-
ing his theoretical conceptions on the importance of composition, Kan-
dinsky must have found his own question "What is to replace the object
in painting?" especially urgent. We may therefore assume an interplay of
the internal and external factors that stimulated his creative imagination,
guided by his striving for composition in terms of pure, that is, spiritually
charged material in music, which caused - or at least evoked - the
apocalyptic, auratic 'tenor' of many of his paintings. This is especially
true of compositions dating from after 1910. Finally it was the inner,
spiritual quality of composition - symphonic composition - that informed
Kandinsky's wide-ranging and many-layered (if sporadic) interest in
theosophy, anthroposophy, 209 occultism, Sufism,210 and the work of Joa-
chim of Fiore.Z11 Kandinsky was inspired by the notion of an intrinsic
spirituality of art. To his dictum

"I do not want to paint music.

I do not want to paint states of mind. "212

he could have added:

"I do not want to paint religious or occult feelings and beliefs."

Kandinsky was convinced of the artwork's similitude to cosmic forces

and phenomena. Whether or not he was influenced prior to 1914 by
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 45

Steiner, his interest in the cosmos was persistant, as is demonstrated by

his later lectures at the Bauhaus, in which he commented on matters such
as the enormity of the dimensions of the universe. 213 In this regard, too,
Schonberg was close by. The last movement of his Second String Quartet,
transgressing the limitations of obsolete patterns, indeed dives into the
ethereal atmosphere of distant planets and strives toward the pinnacle of
artistic freedom, thus already marking the way to a new structural con-
figuration. This is the way toward- and beyond- Schonberg's Jakobsleiter,
where atonal elements coalesce structurally around abbreviated units of
musical'idea'. And it provides the validation for the foreboding construc-
tion of Erwartung and Die gliickliche Hand.
Both artists had a vision of what Kandinsky, following Fiore, called the
coming "spiritual time." 214 Not by chance was Kandinsky possessed of
his multi-band antenna for spiritual messages; not by chance was Schon-
berg intensely interested in Balzac's Seraphita or inclined to theosophical
ideas. Theirs was a spirituality of art, mediated by art, and enacted for the
sake of the human being. They exemplify not only what Panofsky
described as, the striving - in times of artistic revolution - for the
unknown entwined with a longing for spiritual legitimation: 215 both
artists also stand for art as an eminent creative event carrying a spiritual
message. In Kandinsky's words, which are as valid for Schonberg's com-
positions as for the painter's own works:

"Painting is like a thundering collision of different worlds that are destined in and
through conflict to create that new world called the work. Technically, every work of
art comes into being in the same way as the cosmos - by means of catastrophes, which
ultimately create out of the cacophony of the various instruments that symphony we call
the music of the spheres. The creation of the work of art is the creation of the world. "216

NOTES

1. It is purely coincidental that the same passage from Kandinky's On the Spiritual in
Art, "Gegensatze und Widerspriiche- das ist unsere Harmonie" which I use as the
introductory quote, also appears in the text by Johannes Langner for the catalogue
Kandinsky in Milnchen (Miinchen 1982), p. 107-132. Though this coincidence is
accidental, it nevertheless has significance: Langner tries to unveil the figurative
relics in Kandinsky's paintings; I focus on the strength of non-figurative internal
structure[s] behind Kandinsky's abstraction which eventually absorb these fading
figurative elements.
I am greatly indebted to the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities
for supporting my research in every possible way, for making materials in the
Library and Resource Collections available to me, and especially for granting me
permission to publish two unedited letters written by Schonberg to Kandinsky.
46 Schonberg and Kandinsky
I want to thank also Nuria Nono-Schonberg and the Schonberg family for granting
me permission to publish the two letters by Schonberg.
Last, but not least I would like to thank Helga von Kiigelgen for having read my
paper with a critical eye, and Denise Bratton for sharpening its presentation in
English.
2 This concert is usually dated 1 January, 1911- see Stuckenschmidt SchOnberg. Leben-
Umwelt- Werk (Ziirich/Freiburg 1974), p. 131, Arnold Schoenberg- Wassily K11ndinsky.
Letters, Pictures and Documents, ed. Jelena Hahl-Koch, trans. John Crawford (London
and Boston) 1984, p. 173. However, Nuria Nono-Schonberg's book on Arnold
Schonberg introduces a document that clearly establishes another date. A concert
program announcing Schonberg's String Quartets op. 7 and op. 10, Five Songs (from
op. 2 and op. 6) and the Piano pieces op. 11, clearly indicates that this event took place
on January 2, 1911. It was the first concert in which these Schonberg compositions
were presented in Munich. A handwritten note by Schonberg dated "5. August
1934" and referring to this concert is also quoted in Marion Bauer's Twentieth
Century Music, p. 211, (Nuria Nono-Schbnberg (ed.): Arnold SchOnberg 1874-1951.
Lebensgeschichte in Beschreibungen [Klagenfurt 1992], p. 82).
3. Arnold Schoenberg - Wassily Kandinsky. Letters (see n. 2) p. 21.
4. Schonberg must have fulfilled his announcement of September 11 that he
would visit Kandinsky and Miinter "instead [of Wednesday, the 13th] Thursday
the 14th for certain". On September 18 Kandinsky writes: "Your visit gave us all
great pleasure." (See Arnold Schoenberg- Wassily Kandinsky. Letters [n. 2], p. 30 sq.)
On 23 September, Kandinsky expected a second visit from Schonberg (W. Kan-
dinsky - Franz Marc. Briefwechsel, ed. Klaus Lankheit, Miinchen/Ziirich 1983),
p. 60.
5. A symbol of this communication is the exchange of both artist's writings that came
out in 1911/12. The text of the slightly modified quotation from the fourth move-
ment of Schonberg's Second String Quartet, taken for his dedication to Kandinsky
should be read the following way: "Ich lOse mich auch in Tonen- endlich ... ", not
"Ich lose mich a us in Tonen", as transcribed in Arnold Schoenberg 1874-1951 (seen. 2,
p. 83).
6. August Macke- Franz Marc. Briefwechsel, ed. by Wolfgang Macke (Koln 1964), p.
40 sq. This translation follows: Arnold Schoenberg- Wassily K11ndinsky. Letters, Pictures
and Documents (see n. 2), p. 136.
7. The quotations on the poster (see Arnold Schoenberg- Wassily Kandinsky. Letters [note
2], p. 24) can be related to the text of the first edition of Schonberg's Harmonielehre
[HL, 1911] as follow:
"In einem Sinne soll man nie unzeitgemiHs sein- nach riickwarts." In this version-
slightly altered- only in Die Musik X/2 [1910/11], p. 101. In the Harmonielehre the
formulation is more sparkling with Schonbergian humour: "UnzeitgemaiS dar£ man
nur auf die Art sein, daiS man voraneilt, aber nicht, indem man nachhumpelt;" (HL
1911, p. 78- Engl. ed. [seen. 11], p. 67.)
"Dissonanzen sind nur graduell verschieden von den Konsonanzen; sie sind nichts
anderes als entfemter liegende Konsonanzen." (HL 1911, p. 76; Engl. ed. [seen. 11],
p. 66.)
"Wir sind [ja] heute schon so weit, zwischen Konsonanzen und Dissonanzen keinen
Unterschied mehr zu machen. Oder hochstens den, daiS wir Konsonanzen weniger
gem verwenden." (HL 1911, p. 81; Engl. ed. [see n. 11], p. 70.)
"Ich glaube, man wird in der Harmonie [Harmonik] von uns Allermodemsten
schlieiSlich [und endlich] dieselben Gesetze erkennen konnen, wie in der Harmonie
[Harmonik] der Alten. Nur entsprechend ausgeweitet, allgemeiner gefaiSt." (HL
1911, p. 82; English. ed. [seen. 11], p. 70- In his Theory of Harmony Schonberg writes
"Harmonik" instead of "Harmony".)
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 47
"Unsere Lehre fiihrt dahin, auch Hervorbringungen Jungerer, die das Ohr der
Aelteren verpont, als notwendige Ergebnisse der Schonheitsentwicklung anzusehen.
Niemals aber sollte man wunschen, Dinge zu schreiben, deren Verantwortung man
nur mit dem Einsatz einer vollen Personlichkeit zu ubernehmen vermag. Dinge, die
Kunstler fast widerwillig im Zwange ihrer Entwicklung geschrieben haben, aber
nicht aus dem hemmungsarmen Mutwillen formunsicherer Voraussetzungslosig-
keit." (Slightly different from: HL 1911, p. 82 sq. and the extract in Die Musik [p.
105]; Engl. ed. [seen. 11], p. 71.)
8. Arnold Schoenberg- Wassily Kandinsky. Letters [etc.], (s. n. 3), p. 210 [n. 2].
9. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, edited by Kenneth Lin~say and Peter Vergo,
Vol. I (London 1982), p. 149; German edition: Kandinsky: Uber das Geistige in der
Kunst, mit einer Einfiihrung von Max Bill (Bern-Bumplitz 511956), p. 49.
10. W. Kandinsky: Complete Writings Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 196.
11. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony, based on the third edition of 1922, translated
by Roy E. Carter (Berkeley I Los Angeles 1978), p. 11 sq.
12. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 417.
13. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 422.
14. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 177. This position of
Kandinsky never changed. So, in the scripts for his Bauhaus lectures in Dessau ("I.
sem. Sommer 1931) he emphasizes: "analysis = external and internal material, i.e.
synthesis in analysis body and soul substance and strength." Or: (I. Semester 1930-
8-9-30): "Material - inner strength = tensions - given facts, that stand outside I of
time (my experiences in Ravenna) I Changes of time or the given surrounding, or of
the basis of time- sociological or economic conditions -are the contributing external
forces". (Cf. Getty Center, Resource Collections, folders 850910-1 and 850910-7.)
(Unless otherwise noted or noticeable, this and all subsequent translations are my
own, polished by Denise Bratton.)
15. See, for example, Peter Cahn: "Zu einigen Aspekten des Materialdenkens in der
Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts", in Hindemith- Jahrbuch, 1980IIX (Mainz, London, New
York, Tokyo, 1982), p. 193-205. It is not possible here to focus on the development of
Adorno's ideas on "material" in music between 1929 ("On Twelve Tone technique")
and about 1956169 (Aesthetic Theory"). The term "material" as Adorno used it is
apparently almost totally excluded from the history of art. However, Brisch's
nuanced analysis of Kandinsky's paintings touches on aspects of material that
correspond with Adorno's sense of the term (d. Klaus Brisch: Wassily Kandinsky
(1866-1944). Untersuchungen zur Entstehung der gegenstandslosen Malerei an
seinem Werk von 1900-1921, Ph.D. (Bonn 1955), [unpublished typescript], p. 90 sqq.,
passim.
16. Cf. Theodor W. Adorno und Ernst Krenek: Briefwechsel, ed. Wolfgang Rogge (Frankfurt
am Main 1974), especially pp. 30-32 and 38 sq. Take into consideration, however, the
sentence: "These instructions that the material issues to the composer constitute
themselves as immanent reciprocity, and inasmuch as he obeys them, he alters
them." ["In immanenter Wechselwirkung konstituieren sich die Anweisungen, die
das Material an den Komponisten ergehen laBt, und die dieser verandert, indem er
sie befolgt."] (Th. W. Adorno: Philosophic der neuen Musik (Frankfurt am Main), 1958,
p. 38, and Gesammelte Schriften Vol. 12 (Frankfurt am Main 211990), p. 40; English
translation: The Philosophy of Modern Music, trans. Anne Mitchell and Wesley
Blomster, New York 1973, p. 36) See also "Ernst Krenek und Theodor W. Adorno.
Arbeitsprobleme des Komponisten. Gesprach tiber Musik und soziale Situation", in
Adorno: in Gesammelte Schriften Vol. 19, Musikalische Schriften Vol. 6 (Frankfurt am
Main 1984), p. 433-439. One of the strong arguments against Adorno's rigidly
applied term "material" is also made by Busoni's encompassing consciousness of
compositional material.
48 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
17. "1st aber das Material nichts Statisches, heiBt materialgerecht verfahren mehr als die
handwerkliche Bescheidung, die gegebene Moglichkeiten geschickt ausschopft, so
impliziert das auch, daB das Material seinerseits durch die Komposition vedindert
wird. Aus jeder gelungenen, in die es einging, tritt es als Neues frisch hervor." In
"Vers une musique informelle" (1961), in Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. 16 (Frankfurt am
Main 1978), p. 504 sq. See also Adorno's dictum: "I do not want to argue against the
subjective part in dialectics, but only its [the subjects] »autarchy« which exactly
would suspend dialectics." [" ... ich will nicht den subjektiven Anteil an Dialektik
bestreiten, sondern bloB dessen »Autarkie«, die gerade die Dialektik aufheben
muBte."] (Theodor W. Adorno und Ernst Krenek: Briefwechsel [see n. 16], p. 38.)
18. "Das Geheimnis der Komposition ist die Kraft, welche das Material im ProzeB
fortschreitender Adaquanz umformt." ("Vers une musique informelle" [seen. 17],
p. 505.)
19. This is exactly the point on which Dahlhaus focuses, in order to resolve the historical
petrification of a term grounded in historicity (Carl Dahlhaus: "Adornos Begriff des
musikalischen Materials", in Zur Terminologie der Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts, ed. H. H.
Eggebrecht [Stuttgart 1974], p. 9-21).
20. Cf. Philosophie der neuen Musik (see n. 16), p. 112 sqq.
21. Hullot Kentor is referring to Th. W. Adorno's "Die Idee der Naturgeschichte" in
Adorno: Gesammelte Schriften Vol. I, (Frankfurt am Main 1973), p. 345-365 which he
translated in Telos. A Quarterly Journal of Critical Thought, 60, Summer 1984, p. 111-
124.
22. Quotation from Robert Hullot-Kentor: "Popular Music and Adorno's 'The Aging of
New Music'", in Telos (seen. 21), 77 (Fall1988), p. 86 sq.; Th. W. Adorno: Philosophie
der neuen Musik (see n. 16), Vol. 12, p. 38 sq. English translation: The Philosophy of
Modern Music, [see n. 16] p. 32.
23. Adorno's recently published fragments on Beethoven show clearly that the teleolo-
gical implications are central to his understanding of what he declares to be the
"demands" of artistic material. As for Beethoven's realization of stringent composi-
tional processuality, Adorno says: "What has been called the obbligato style was
already evident in rudimentary form during the seventeenth century, and contains
within itself teleologically the demand of the totally organized, analogical to philo-
sophy: systematized composition." ("Das, was man den obligaten Stil genannt hat,
der rudimentar bereits im siebzehnten Jahrhundert sich abzeichnet, enthalt teleolo-
gisch in sich die Forderung ganzlich durchgebildeter, nach Analogie zur Philoso-
phie: systematischer Komposition". Theodor W. Adorno: Beethoven, Philosophie der
Musik. Fragmente und Texte, ed. Rolf Tiedemann, Suhrkamp [Frankfurt am Main
1993], p. 77.) Adorno's focus on teleological stringency- also as far as earlier epochs
are concerned - is emphasized when he says: If Berlioz wanted to outdo Beethoven,
then Berlioz probably was teleologically immanent in the latter. (Wenn Berlioz
Beethoven ubertrumpfen wollte, so war diesem wahrscheinlich Berlioz teleologisch
immanent. Ibid., p. 88.)
24. Kandinsky: "Whither the 'New' Art?", in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 100.
See also Kandinsky's statement in a manuscript that remains unpublished: Art is the
prophet of things to come .... Thus, art is a prophetic being, which, as an increas-
ingly independent body, serves the spirit through freedom. (Die Kunst ist der
Prophet des Kommenden .... So ist die Kunst ein prophetisches Wesen, welches als
selbstandiger Korper weiter wachst und durch Freiheit dem Geiste dient. Jelena
Hahl-Koch, Ivmdinsky (Munchen 1993), p. 151.)
25. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (see n. 11), p. 325. However, neither Kan-
dinsky nor Schonberg ever would have ventured to portend through art things to
come in the political, or social realms. Their artistic convictions indeed concerned the
spiritual world first and foremost, not that of material facts and events. This is stated
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 49
explicitly by Kandinsky. In response to Michael Sadler's question whether a certain
"non-representational picture ... demonstrated that he had already foreseen the
war", he said: "Not this war. I had no premonition of that. But I knew that a terrible
struggle was going on in the spiritual sphere, and that made me paint the picture."
(Francis Haskell: History and its Images [New Haven - London 1993], p. 425.) If we
take into account, however, that the tremendous tensions and upheavals of the
twentieth Century had not only material but also considerable spiritual dimensions,
and will even have consequences beyond our times, then Kandinsky's foresight was
- in a wider sense - absolutely stringent.
26. Erwin Panofsky: "Art as a Humanistic Discipline", in: Meaning in the Visual Arts,
Doubleday Anchor Books (New York 1955), p. 9.
27. Kandinsky's self-interpretative texts have been analyzed by Felix Thiirlemann: Kan-
dinsky iiber Kandinsky. Der Kiinstler als Interpret eigener Werke (Bern 1986), p. 25 sqq.,
37 sqq. and passim.
28. For the different kinds of texts, see Felix Thiirlemann (seen. 27), p. 29 sqq.
29. Kandinsky's "internal necessity" can be understood as a "subjective fixation [dic-
tum]" ("eine subjektive Setzung"). (Peter Anselm Riedl: Kandinsky, [Hamburg 1989],
p. 76.) Nonetheless, according to Kandinsky's own understanding of trans-subjective
validity (On the Spiritual and On the Question of Form) its intent is far from aesthetic
expurgation. The core of the dictum's meaning- that the truth-value of art originates
in the internal immediacy of artistic volition and is not induced externally - is not
limited to one's own art and the art of a particular epoch. The emphasis on the
"internal" necessarily points up certain spiritual implications, as can be seen from
Lessing's dictum: "Virtue has 'internal necessity', even if there would not be another
life." Gacob und Wilhelm Grimm: Deutsches Wiirterbuch, Vol. 13, Reprint [Miinchen
1984], col. 960.) The fact that "internal necessity" is freighted with many layered and
manifold meaning is its fortuity as well as its burden. The term's relativity comes to
the fore more clearly in the context of debates surrounding it. Werner Hofmann
stresses that "internal necessity" is also used by Hegel, Feuerbach and the "ration-
alist Burckhardt" (in "Kunst jenseits der geschlossenen Systeme", in Werner Hof-
mann: Gesammelte Aufsiitze [Frankfurt am Main 1979], p. 287). Felix Thiirlemann
interestingly connects "internal necessity" with Alois Riegl's idea of "artistic voli-
tion" (cf. Thiirlemann: Kandinsky iiber Kandinsky [see n. 27], p. 158 sqq., 213, note
145), as does David Morgan in "The Idea of Abstraction in German Theories of
Ornament from Kant to Kandinsky" (The Journal of Aesthetic and Art Criticism, 50
[1992], p. 239). Anneliese Sinn relates it to Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Bergson in
Kandinsky's Theory of Inner Necessity (Chicago 1966). Many other authors have com-
mented on the concept of "internal necessity"; cf. Kenneth Clement Eriksen Lindsay:
An Examination of the Fundamental Theories of Wassily Kandinsky, Ph.D. (University of
Wisconsin 1951) (unpublished), p. 56, n. 32; Sixten Ringbom: The Sounding Cosmo~. A
Study in the Spiritualism of Kandinsky and the Genesis of Abstract Art Painting (Abo
1970), p. 109 ff. especially p. 110, n. 2; Rose-Carol Waston Long: Kandinsky. The
Development of an Abstract Style (Oxford, 1980), p. 169, n. 43; Armin Zweite: "Kan-
dinsky zwischen Tradition und Innovation", in Kandinsky und Miinchen, Begegnungen
und Wandlungen1896-1914, ed. A. Zweite (Miinchen 1982), p. 172 sq.
30. This passage from an article entitled 'Intention' was quoted by the authors at the
beginning of their more extensive text "The Intentional Fallacy" [1946], reprinted in
On Literary Intention, Critical Essays selected and introduced by David Newton-de Molina
(Edinburgh, 1976), p. 1-13.
31. See Max Black: "Was stellen Bilder dar?", in: E. H. Gombrich I J. Hochberg I M.
Black: Kunst, Wahrnehmung, Wirklichkeit (Frankfurt am Main 1977), 152 f., n. 40, and
E. D. Hirsch: Validity in Interpretation (New Haven 1967), p. 11. See furthermore: S. H.
Olsen: "Authorial Intention", in The British Journal of Aesthetics, 13 (1973), p. 219-231;
50 Schonberg and Kandinsky
B. Lang: "The Intentional Fallacy Revisited", ibid., 14 (1974), p. 306-314; S. Davies:
"The Aesthetic Relevance of Authors' and Painters' Intentions", in: Journal of Aes-
thetic and Art Criticism, 41 (1982), p. 65-76 and finally: Felix Thiirlemann (seen. 27),
p. 24 sq. As for this problem in Musicology see Klaus Kropfinger: Beethoven - Im
Zeichen des Janus: Op. 130 ± 133. Op. 133 - Der wid~rwillig gefaBte EntschluB. Op.
134 - Der spat gefaBte EntschluB, in K. Kropfinger: Uber Musik im Bilde. Schriften
zu Analyse, Asthetik und Rezeption in Musik und Bildender Kunst, vol. 1, ed. by
Bodo Bischoff et al., Verlag Dohr. Koln 1995, p. 285.
32. Cf. Th. W. Adorno: "Kriterien der Neuen Musik", in Nervenpunkte der Neuen Musik
(Hamburg 1969),..P· 106; in Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. 16 (Frankfurt am Main), p. 195.
33. Th. W. Adorno: Asthetische Theorie in Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. 7 (Frankfurt am Main
1970), p. 222; English translation as Theodor Adorno: Aesthetic Theory. Translated by
C. Lenhardt (London/New York 1984), printed as paperback 1986, p. 213. Cf. the
review by Bob Hullot-Kentor: "Adorno's Aesthetic Theory: The Translation", in: Telos
(seen. 21), 65, Fall1985, p. 143-147 and the translator Christian Lenhardt's reply, p.
147-152.
34. This is a supposition advanced rather tentatively by Adorno. The English transla-
tion, however, changes the meaning of the original sentence "Der Materialbegriff
diirfte in den zwanziger Jahren bewuBt geworden sein ... " to a rather high degree:
"The concept of material took on a serious technical connotation in the 1920s." (d.
Aesthetic Theory [seen. 33], p. 222 (German ed.), p. 213 (English ed.). Already in 1920
Hermann Scherchen had written: "The real artist has to be a slave of his artistic
material. ... There are not many artists who have been as fascinated by the material
of their art as Schonberg." "Der echte Kiinstler muB Sklave seines Kunstmaterials
sein .... Wenig Kiinstler sind so von der Materie ihrer Kunst besessen gewesen wie
Arnold SchOnberg" (in Melos [1920], p. 9 sq.).
35. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 19 sq.
36. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 10 sq.
37. For Schonberg the only one which counts!
38. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 18.
39. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 325.
40. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 414.
41. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 239.
42. See also Schonberg's statement: "One must reflect that art has set its course not only
by the nature of tones but by the nature of man as well ... " (A. Schonberg: Theory of
Harmony [see n. 11], p. 68.
43. Arnold Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 238 sq.
44. Theodor W. Adorno: "Reaktion und Fortschritt", in: Th. W. Adorno und Ernst
Krenek: Briefwechsel (see n. 16), p. 175. ["Das gleiche Obertonverhaltnis etwa, das
im verminderten Septakkord - oft ist es bemerkt worden - gemessen am Stande
des Materials insgesamt zur Zeit Beethovens als starkstes Spannungsmoment
konnte eingesetzt werden, ist in einem spateren Stande des Materials harmlose
Konsonanz und bei Reger bereits zum selber unqualifizierten Modulationsmittel
entwertet."] In Adorno's Philosophy of Modern Music the weighing of the
diminished seventh chord correlates to that in "Reaktion und Fortschritt" (see n.
22), 12, p. 40 sq.
45. Cf. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual in Art, in Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen.
9), p. 149 sqq. The paragraphs dealing with Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso were the
first to be translated into English by Alfred Stieglitz in Camera Work, 39 (July 1912), p.
34 (see also G. Levin/M. Lorenz: Theme & Improvisation. Kandinsky and the American
Avant-Garde 1912-1950 [Boston, Toronto, London], 1992, p. 10).
46. See Kandinsky's "Letter from Munich" [V], [May-June 1910], in Complete Writings,
Vol. I [seen. 9], p. 79 sq. Brisch has emphasized Kandinsky's structural awareness as
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 51
witnessed in this letter, stimulating his rating of the historical development in
painting (d. Klaus Brisch: Wassily Kandinsky [see note 15], p. 118 sq., 123-135.) As
regards the importance of Kandinsky's nineteenth-century forerunners in the eman-
cipation of color and activating "physiological stimuli" see: Peter Anselm Riedl:
"Vom Orphismus zur Optical Art", in Eranos 1972, 41 (1974), p. 397-427. Gauguin
and van Gogh are only two among many who spoke about colors in terms of music;
d. Jean de Rotonchamp: Paul Gauguin. 1848-1903 (Paris 1906), p. 205; Vincent van
Gogh: Briefe an seinen Bruder (Berlin 1928), Vol. III, p. 201 (nr. 512), p. 239 (nr. 527), p.
424 (nr. 607). It is of note, too, that in his Bauhaus lecture at Dessau, Kandinsky
quotes Cezanne on color" ... There is only one way, able to represent all, to translate
all, the color"[" .... Es gibt nur einen Weg, der alles darstellen, alles iibersetzen lafSt,
die Farbe"). In his commentary, Zervos writes: "Une telle conception ne pouvait
aboutir qu'a la peinture pure." (1925, I. Semster); d. Getty Center, Resource Collec-
tions, Folder 850 910-1.
47. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 154; see also Kandinsky's
"On the Question of Form", in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 237, 239.
48. I want to thank the Schonberg family and the Getty Center, Resource Collections, for
permission to publish this and a second letter (seep. 62) which Schonberg wrote on
January 15, 1912 to Kandinsky (seep. 64). Joseph Henry Auner who also found these
two letters in the Getty Center Archives refers to one of them in his book: Schonberg's
Compositional and Aesthetic Transformations 1910-1913: The Genesis of Die Gliickliche
Hand, Ph. Dissertation, Chicago, Illinois, 1991, p. 124, note 79. The first of these two
letters however, was written on December 18, not December 28!
49. Seep. 63-64.
50. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 157, and passim.
51. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 157, and passim.
52. In On the Spiritual Kandinsky stresses the fact that "all these assertions [on colors]
are the results of empirical-spiritual experience and are not based upon any positive
science" (Complete Writings, Vol. I [seen. 9], p. 179).
53. In On the Spiritual Kandinsky explicitly mentions literary sources he knew.
54. "Erst will ich verschiedene Farbproben machen: ich will das Dunkle studieren - tief
blau, tief violett, tief schmutziggriin usw. Oft sehe ich diese Farben vor mir. Manch-
mal ahme ich mit Hilfe meiner Lippen tiefe Trompetentone nach - da sehe ich
verschiedene tiefe Mischungen, die das Wort nicht fassen kann und die Palette
nur schwach wiedergeben kann." (Johannes Eichner: Kandinsky und Gabriele Munter.
Von Ursprungen moderner Kunst, Miinchen 1957, p. 127 sq.)
55. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 156 sqq. One should
not forget Kandinsky's knowledge of contemporary literature on this very specific
aspect, as indicated by his reference in On the Spiritual to Freudenberg and Sabaneev
(p. 158, note) as well as to Zakharin-Unkovsky (p. 159, note) and Henri Rovel (p. 196,
note).
56. Kandinsky's notions on synesthesia have often been quoted with critical remarks.
Admittedly, he is mixing up metaphorical and physiological/psychological aspects
of synesthesia. There can be, however, no doubt that Kandinsky's synesthesia was
brain-based and not "mindbased". This is emphasized by Richard E. Cytowic's
recently published book Synesthesia. A Union of the Senses, (New York etc., 1989), p.
270 sq. In Wassily Kandinsky (see n. 15, p. 62, note 21) Klaus Brisch quotes Walter
Winkler (Psychologie der modernen Kunst, Tiibingen, 1949, p. 201-226) for whom
"Kandinsky is a synesthete par excellence and in addition he possesses an explicit
eidetic gift." ["K. ist ein Synasthetiker par excellence und dazu besitzt er eine
ausgesprochene eidetische Begabung.") Frans Evers, dean of the Interfaculty of
Image and Sound, Royal Conservatory, The Hague, to whom I wish to extend
special thanks for a discussion on this topic, is convinced that Kandinsky was not
52 Schonberg and Kandinsky
a one-hundred-percent synesthete. Usually, Kandinsky's remarks in Reminiscences,
and his experiences with Rembrandt and Wagner, are quoted; however, in her new
book, Jelena Hahl-Koch gives additional interesting information about Kandinsky's
synethetic sensibility, Kandinsky, (see n. 24), p. 87, 90, 156.
57. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (see note 9), p. 178 sqq. These observa-
tions are confirmed by Rudolf Arnheim with special reference to Kandinsky (Art and
Visual Perception. A Psychology of the Creative Eye. The New Version [Berkeley, Los
Angeles, London 1974], p. 369). Arnheim is sceptical, however, insofar as the
expressive qualities of colors and forms are concerned: "These characterizations
are so heavily overlaid with personal or cultural factors that they cannot claim
much general validity" (p. 371). This objection, however, does not automatically
exclude the aesthetic and analytical relevance of the qualities of material mentioned
by Kandinsky - and other artists. On the contrary, artistic experiences and evocation
are much more plausible and convincing as individual and culturally specific traits
than in form of common features.
58. The term "structure" was already stressed by Kandinsky in the last (fifth) of his
Letters from Munich in October /November 1910. Cf. Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n.
9), p. 80. See also the analysis by Brisch (Wassily Kandinsky [see n. 15], p. 119 sq.).
59. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 177 sqq.
60. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 179.
61. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 163, 165.
62. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 163.
63. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 163.
64. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 167.
65. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 166 sqq.
66. Kandins~y: Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 178 sqq.; German edition: Kan-
dinsky: Uber das Geistige in der Kunst (see n. 9), p. 87 sqq. See also: Clark V. Poling:
Kandinsky's Teaching at the Bauhaus. Colour Theory and analytical Drawing (New York
1986), p. 46.
67. Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 178 sq.
68. Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 184.
69. Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 184.
70. Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 187 sq.
71. Cf. Heinz Matile: Die Farbenlehre Philipp Otto Runges. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der
Kiinstlerfarbenlehre (Miinchen-Mittenwald 2/1979), 277 sq.; Clark V. Poling: Kandin-
sky's Teaching at the Bauhaus (seen. 66), p. 93.
72. See however the discussion of this point in H. Matile: Die Farbenlehre Philipp Otto
Runges (seen. 71), p. 369, n. 558a.
73. Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 163.
74. Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 201.
75. Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 193.
76. This aspect of context must not be forgotten. As Pike has written: "Meaning has its
locus not in individual bits and pieces of a total structure .... None of the bits and
pieces has meaning of and by itself. Meaning occurs only as a function of a total
behavorial event in a total social matrix." (K. L. Pike: Language in relation to a Unified
Theory of the Structure of Human Behaviour, prelim. ed., III [Glendale, Calif. 1960],
16, 5.) Cf. also: Reinhold Heller: "Kandinsky and Traditions Apocalyptic", in Art
Journal, 43/1 [Spring 1983], esp. p. 20 sq. and Yule F. Heibel: "They danced on
Volcanoes", in Art History, 12/3 [September 1989], p. 342-361. That Kandinsky was
deeply affected by political tensions and the threatening war is documented by new
material in Jelena Hahl-Koch's book (see Hahl-Koch [n. 24], p. 220 sqq.).
77. "Kunst hat 2 Eigenschaften: 1. abspiegeln der Gegenwart - also: durch I K[unst]-
analyse Gegenwart kennen lernen. I 2. aufbau der Zukunft - also: iiber unsre Zeit I
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 53
hinaus erraten des Kommenden. woher kommen beide richtlinien?) so kann man I
an K[unst] vergang [enheit], aus vergangenheit) Gegenw. [art] u. [nd] Zu-/kunft
erkennen." (Cf. Getty Center, Resource Collections, Folder 850 910-2.)
78. "Kunst ist der Notschrei jener, die an sich das Schicksal der Menschheit erleben. Die
nicht mit ihm sich abfinden, sondern sich mit ihm auseinandersetzen. Die nicht
stump£ den Motor »dunkle Machte« bedienen, sondern sich ins laufende Rad
stiirzen, urn die Konstruktion zu begreifen. Die nicht die Augen abwenden, urn
sich vor Emotionen zu behuten, sondern sie aufreiiSen, urn anzugehen, was ange-
gangen werden muB. Die aber oft die Augen schlieiSen, urn wahrzunehmen, was die
Sinne nicht vermitteln, urn innen zu schauen, was nur scheinbar auiSen vorgeht. Und
innen, in ihnen, ist die Bewegung der Welt; nach auiSen dringt nur der Widerhall:
das Kunstwerk." In: A. Schonberg: Schoepferische Konfessionen (Zurich 1964), p. 12.
The autograph is reproduced in Nuria Nono-Schonberg (ed.): Arnold SchOnberg 1874-
1951 (see n. 2), p. 71.
79. Cf. Reinhold Brinkmann: "Schonberg und das expressionistische Ausdrucksprin-
zip", in Bericht iiber den 1. Kongrefl der Internationalen SchOnberg-Gesellschaft (Wien
1978), p. 13-19.
80. Cf. Adorno's dictum: "The unresolved antagonisms of reality reappear in art in the
guise of immanent problems of artistic form. This, and not the deliberate insertion of
objective moments or social content, defines art's relation to society." Adorno:
Aesthetic Theory [seen. 33], p. 8. ("Die ungelosten Antagonismen der Realitat kehren
wieder in den Kunstwerken als die immanenten Probleme ihrer Form. Das, nicht der
EinschuiS gegenstandlicher Momente, definiert das Verhaltnis der Kunst zur
Gesellschaft." German ed. p. 16.)
81. Cf. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 127 sqq. and passim. Concerning
Schonberg's aspect of compositional "balance" see also Reinhold Brinkmann: Arnold
Schonberg: Drei Klavierstiicke op. 11. Studien zur friihen Atonalitiit bei Schonberg (Wies-
baden 1969), p. 11 sqq.
82. Cf. "On the Question of Form", in Wassily Kandinsky: Complete Writings (seen. 9),
p. 237,239.
83. Cf. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 127 sqq.
84. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 16.
85. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 14. (" ... ein gewisses Wertgefuhl fur
Harmoniefolgen" p. 8.)
86. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 16. (" ... die Gewichtsverhaltnisse der
Akkorde und Akkordfolgen zu prufen".)
87. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 70.
88. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 115 sqq.
89. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 127.
90. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 203.
91. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 150 sqq., 207 sqq.
92. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 340 sqq.
93. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 370.
94. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 384.
95. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 420.
96. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 421 sq.
97. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 238.
98. This aspect has already been mentioned by Werner Hofmann (cf. "Beziehungen
zwischen Malerei und Musik", in Catalogue of the exhibition Schonberg-Webern-Berg
[Wien 1969], p. 109/b).
99. Th. W. Adorno: Uber einige Relationen zwischen Musik und Malerei, in Gesammelte
Schriften, 16 (Frankfurt am Main 1978), p. 641. [Daher wird der Konstruktionsbegriff,
der die Konvergenz befordert, urn so machtiger, je direkter die Kunste dem nackten
54 Schonberg and Kandinsky
Material sich gegeni.iber befinden, mit dem sie arbeiten, ohne die Zwischenschicht
eines Gegenstandes oder eines Idioms .... ]
100. Composition II "during the Winter of 1909-10", Composition III September 15th. Hans
K. Roethel/Jean K. Benjamin: Werkverzeichnis der Olgemiilde, Vol. I, 1900-1915
(Mi.inchen 1982), no. 334, p. 314 and no. 359, p. 336. ..
101. See for example Roethel/Benjamin: Werkverzeichnis der Olgemiilde, Vol. I (see n.
100), no. 359, p. 336; further Klaus Brisch: Wassily Kandinsky (see n. 15), p. 238 sq.,
281.
102. Cf. Roethel/Benjamin: Werkverzeichnis der Olgemiilde, Vol. I (see n. 100), no. 326, p.
305 and plate p. 294. Angelica Zander Rudenstine: The Guggenheim Museum Collec-
tion. Paintings 1880-1945 (New York 1976), no. 82, p. 228-236.
103. Angelica Zander Rudenstine: The Guggenheim Museum Collection (seen. 102), p. 228 sq.
104. Wassily Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three pictures, in: Kandinsky: Complete Writings,
Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 369 sq.
105. Kandinsky's Impression 3 was accompanied in my lecture by a music example:
Schonberg's op. 11, no. 1 (see n. 2).
106. Cf. the analysis of Reinhold Brinkmann: Arnold Schonberg: Drei Klavierstiicke op. 11
(see n. 81), p. 70, 80-96.
107. Cf. especially bars 14-17, 39 sqq.; but also 34 sqq.
108. Clearly this is not only valid for op. 11/1 but, for example for op. 11/3 and the
relationship between the three pieces of op. 11 as well. Here, however, within a
completely different structural context. ..
109. Cf. Roethel/Benjamin: Werkverzeichnis der Olgemiilde, Vol. I (see n. 100), no. 375, p.
354.
110. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 218.
111. Cf. J. Hahl-Koch: Kandinsky (seen. 24), p. 152 sq.
112. It is important to observe that certain forms, like the large yellow but also the black
one, contribute to intersection of diagonals, in that they contain both directions.
Concerning the yellow form, it is important to take into account Kandinsky's quali-
fication of "yellow" in On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 178 sqq.
113. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual in Art, in Complete Writings Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 185.
114. "The second great contrast is the difference between white and black" (Kandinsky: On
the Spiritual in Art, in Complete Writings, Vol I [seen. 9], p. 189.
115. "Yellow tends toward light (i.e. white)'' (Kandinsky: On the Spiritual in Art, in
Complete Writings, Vol. I [seen. 9], p. 179.) See also Jelena Hahl-Koch's annotations
concerning Kandinsky's Impression 3, in Arnold Schonberg- Wassily Kandinsky. Briefe,
Bilde und Dokumente einer auflergewohnlichen Begegnung, ed. Jelena Hahl-Koch (Salz-
burg/Wien 1980), p. 42.
116. Cf. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual in Art, in Complete Writings, Vol. I [seen. 9], p. 179.
117. Cf. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual in Art, in Complete Writings, Vol. I [seen. 9], p. 178 sq.
118. This problem is also valid for the Dissertation of Stephen Solom Vise, 'Wassily
Kandinsky and Arnold Schoenberg. Parallelisms in Form and Meaning' (Washing-
ton University 1969). Vise presents interesting and important insights. His compar-
isons of musical composition and painting, however, focus too much on specific
features of individual works of art. Kandinsky puts a problem which reappears in
another, very special form with Mondrian's "affinity to jazz and jazz-dance" which
is rooted in the structure of this music as a whole (d. Karin v. Maur: "Mondrian und
die Musik im Stijl", in Vom Klang der Bilder. Die Musik in der Kunst des 20. Jahrhun-
derts, ed. Karin v. Maur [Mi.inchen 1985], p. 404).
119. Wassily Kandinsky: "Cologne lecture". "Kandinsky i.iber seine Entwicklung", in:
Kandinsky: Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 400; see also: Johannes Eichner:
Kandinsky und Gabriele Munter. Von Urspriingen moderner Kunst (Mi.inchen 1957), p.
108-116, esp. 116.
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 55
120. Thomas Zaunschirm: "The painter Arnold Schoenberg", in Arnold Schoenberg. Paint-
ings and Drawings (Klagenfurt 1991), p. 77 sqq.
121. Cf. Adorno: "In opposing each other the arts merge into one another." ("In ihrem
Gegensatz gehen die Kiinste ineinander iiber.") "The arts only converge where each
one is genuinely pursuing its immanent principle." ("Die Kiinste ~~nvergieren nur,
wo jede ihr immanentes Prinzip rein verfolgt." Th. W. Adorno: "Uber einige Rela-
tionen zwischen Musik und Malerei" (seen. 99), p. 629.)
122. It is noteworthy that the problems of "construction" become especially acute where
the relationship of the arts must become very specific, as in both artists' work for the
stage around 1910/12; but individual compositions, such as Schonberg's op. 16, no. 3
("Klange"- 1909) because of its coincidence of resting time and tone color, and on
the other hand a painting like Kandinsky's Improvisation with horses (1910), combin-
ing terms of painterly structure and musical characters - demonstrating at the same
time the painter's cooperation with Th. v. Hartmann- merit special attention. (As
for Kandinsky's painting, see his analytical drawing in Kandinsky. Oeuvres de Vassily
Kandinsky (1866-1944). Catalogue etabli par Christian Derouet et Jessica Boissel,
Paris 1984, no. 100, p. 102. The reading of the inscriptions has been rightly corrected
by Thiirlemann (see note 27, p. 118). Instead of "versch[ieden] f[arbiger] Flecken"
one could read perhaps also "verschl(eierte[r]) Flecken".
123. Arnold SchOnberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 421.
124. Arnold Schonberg: Fundamentals of Musical Composition, ed. Gerald Strang and
Leonard Stein (London 1967), passim.
125. Apart from his special personal crisis!
126. In 1938 SchOnberg declared: "I painted 'Gazes', which I have already painted else-
where. This is something which only I could have done, for it is out of my own
nature, and it is completely contrary to the nature of a real painter.... A painter ...
grasps with one look the whole person- I, only his soul." (Cf. "Painting influences.
Los Angeles 11 -II- 1938", in JASI, II/2 [1978], p. 237. See also: Klaus Kropfinger:
"SchOnberg und Kandinsky", in Arnold Schonberg, Publikation des Archivs der
Akademie der Kiinste zu Arnold Schonberg-Veranstaltungen innerhalb der Berliner
Festwochen (Berlin, 1974), p. 9-14.)
127. See page 18.
128. Wassily Kandinsky: "The Paintings of Schoenberg", in JASI (see note 126), p. 182.
129. Schonberg's Die gliickliche Hand is no confirmation that he was a synesthete. (See also
Cytowic: Synesthesia [n. 56], p. 271 sq.). For Joseph Henry Auner synesthesia never-
theless is a relevant point (cf. Joseph Henry Auner: Schoenberg's Compositional and
Aesthetic Transformations 1910-1913: The Genesis of Die Gliickliche Hand [seen. 48], p.
122 sqq.) Concerning the interlinking of the different media of expression, see
Schonberg's letter to Alma Mahler (October 7, 1910) presented in John Crawford:
"Die Gliickliche Hand: Further Notes", in JASI IV /1 (June 1980), p. 73. Furthermore:
Harald Krebs: "The 'Color Crescendo' from Die Gliickliche Hand: A Comparison of
Sketch and Final Version, in JASI XII/1 (1989), p. 61-67.
130. The question whether Schonberg's conception of the color crescendo was
influenced by Kandinsky's On the Spiritual has been newly discussed by Joseph
Auner (Schoenberg's Compositional and Aesthetic Transformations 1910-1913: The Genesis
of Die Gliickliche Hand [see n. 48], p. 122 sqq.). He convincingly confirms John
Crawford's suggestion that Schonberg was influenced by Kandinsky despite the
problem of the almost perfect coincidence of time (see note 129). Concerning aspects
of "color" in other compositions of Schonberg see Walter Frisch: "Schonberg and the
Poetry of Richard Dehmel'', JASI, IX/2 (November 1986), especially p. 163 sqq.
131. Schonberg didn't use the term "emancipation of the dissonance" earlier than 1925. It
is already inherent, however, in his Theory of Harmony ("Hence, the distinction
between them [consonance and dissonance] is only a matter of degree, not of
56 Schonberg and Kandinsky
kind .... the expressions 'consonance' and 'dissonance', which signify an antithesis,
are false." Cf. also Robert Falck: "Emancipation of the Dissonance", in JASI VI/1
[1982], p. 106-111).
132. Cf. Theory of Harmony (see n. 11), p. 202 sq. where Schonberg emphasizes the
"importance of thinking in independent voices" and the "driving power of the
motive" as "the only justification, the only Motor for the independent movement
of voices".
133. Cf. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 421 sq.
134. Given the process of this emancipation, the relevance of what Brisch called "Flachen-
korper" in Kandinsky's early landscapes and other paintings must also be taken in
account. "Flachenkorper" is a term taken from Fritz Schmalenbach, which signifies
the permeation of colored areas by a structure of differently directed layers (cf.
Brisch [seen. 15], p. 99 sqq., especially p. 126 sqq.).
135. Wassily Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three pictures, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see
n. 9), p. 391.
136. Wassily Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three pictures, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see
n. 9), p. 370.
137. Anton Webern: Der Weg zur Komposition in zwolf Tonen, Vortrage 1932, ed. W. Reich
(Wien 1960), p. 48.
138. Kandinsky: On the Spiritutal, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 193.
139. Kandinsky: On the spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 207.
140. Even Franz Marc saw Kandinsky's art of "Composition" temporarily in relation
to oriental carpets: "It is a pity that one can't hang Kandinsky's large composition ...
beside the Mohammedan carpets in the exposition park. ... In Germany we scarcely
have a decorative work, let alone a carpet, which we could hang close by. Let's try it
with Kandinsky's compositions - they will stand this dangerous test, and not
as carpets but as 'pictures'." (Franz Marc: Schriften, ed. Klaus Lankheit [Cologne
1978], p. 126 sq.) Very soon, however, Marc changed his view, emphasizing the
"purely pictorial" aim with no concern for "decorative effects" (see: David Morgan:
"The Idea of Abstraction in German Theories of Ornament from Kant to Kandinsky"
[see note 29], p. 241 sq., note 77 with relation to Claus Pese: Franz Marc. Leben und
Werke [Stuttgart 1989], 30 sq., 117). But Kandinsky himself was taken by surprise
when confronted with Eastern, or Persian art (see Kandinsky's "Letter from
Munich" in Complete Writings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p. 73 sqq.). See also: Kenneth
C. Lindsay: "Kandinsky and the Compositional Factor", in Art Journal 4311 [spring
1983], p. 14-18.
141. Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three Pictures, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 370.
142. C.f. Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three Pictures in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9),
p. 367 and On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 162 sqq.
143. "Music, which externally is completely emancipated from nature, does not need to
borrow external forms from anywhere in order to create its language" (On the
Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p. 154 sq.).
144. "The direct impression of 'external nature' ... " (On the Spiritual, in Complete Writ-
ings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p. 218).
145. "Chiefly unconscious, for the most part suddenly arising expressions of events of an
inner character ... " (On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p. 218).
146. On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p. 218.
147. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 395. ("Erfinden, nicht aber errechnen!
Erdenken darf man, aber man darf es selbst nicht merken, wie man denkt." HL, p.
441) This sentence shows that Schonberg's and Kandinsky's dispute on "construc-
tion" was really - as Schonberg put it - above all "a quarrel over words" (Arnold
Schoenberg- Wassily Kandinsky. Letters, Pictures and Documents [seen. 2], p. 54).
148. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 215, 218.
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 57
149. ~epresented (partially) by Impression V Park (Roethel/Benjamin: Werkverzeichnis der
Olgemiilde, Vol. I [seen. 100], no. 397, p ... 382) and Improvisation 18 (mit Grabsteinen)
(Roethel/Benjamin: Werkverzeichnis der Olgemiilde, Vol. I [see note 100], no. 384, p.
367). The problem of "melodic" and "rhythmic" components in painting, aspects
with which Kandinsky dealt more systematically in his Bauhaus-lectures, can be no
more than mentioned here.
150. Kandinsky's example for "this complex type of composition" is Composition II.
151. See Kandinsky: On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. II (see n. 9), p. 875,
note 16.
152. The question of how far the term "composition" may have changed its "inner"
meaning, but also its role in the context of Kandinsky's artistic mode needs further
investigation; see also Kropfinger: Romantisches Bewufltsein - Musikalische Modernitiit
- Knndinsky's Grofle Abstraktion, in Zur Aktualitiit der Romantik, ed. Brigitte Reuter.
Dokumentation. Mit einer Einfiihrung von Ewald Reuter, Tampere 1993, p. 216.
Brisch mentions that the first paintings which Kandinsky registered in his handlist
were all called "Compositions", "with brief indications of color and object" (see n.
15, p. 165). Roethel/Benjamin more precisely say that the note "C." could be read as
"C.[omposition]". For all these cases they have excluded the term "in light of the
great importance placed ..by the artist on his later 'Compositions'" (Roethel/Benja-
min: Werkverzeichnis der Olgemiilde, Vol. I [seen. 100], no. 181, p. 189). There is, on the
other hand, "no evidence that the works belonging to the State Pushkin Museum
entitled Komposition followed by a Cyrillic letter were assigned their titles by the
artist ... " (Vivian Endicott Barnett: Kandinsky, Watercolours, Catalogue Raisonne Vol.
One. 1900-1921 (London 1992), no. 392, p. 350).
153. Vivian Endicott Barnett: Kandinsky at the Guggenheim (New York 1983), p. 31.
154. Cf. Wassily Kandinsky. Sketch for Composition VII. From the Paul Klee Family Collection
sold by Alexander Klee, Sotheby's (London 1992).
155. In Sketch 2 and Sketch 3, as well as in the final version of Composition VII the colors
are much colder.
156. Cf. Der Blaue Reiter im Lenbachhaus Miinchen. Herausgegeben und mit einer Einfiih-
rung von Armin Zweite sowie Bildkommentaren von Annegret Hoberg (Miinchen
1991), pl. 46.
157. Cf. Brisch (see n. 15), p. 253.
158. Erika Hanfstaengl: Wassily Kandinsky: Zeichnungen und Aquarelle. Katalog der Samm-
lung in der Stiidtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus Miinchen (Miinchen 1974), no. 249.
159. J. Hahl-Koch: Knndinsky (see n. 24), p. 210, no. 255.
160. Erika Hanfstaengl: Wassily Kandinsky (see n. 158), no. 248.
161. Kandinsky: On the Spiritual, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 209. It is clear on
the other hand, that "hidden construction" has also a strong spiritual "sound"
which, of course, is above all connected with the enhanced expression caused by
stringent contrasts and constructive condensation. It is what only instrumental
music can afford: to be expressive by means of structurally "logic" development
of musical "thoughts" as Friedrich Schlegel put it. Cf. Kropfinger (Romantisches
Bewufltsein .. . , [see n. 152], p. 206, 216); cf. also Thiirlemann (Kandinsky iiber Kan-
dinsky [seen. 27], p. 86 sq.). Interestingly, "latent construction" did not lose its value
for Kandinsky when the constructive elements in his paintings had come to the fore.
In a letter to J. B. Neumann of October 21, 1935 he writes: "I know and love it:
balancing, however in a way, which makes the thing externally appear as to be
unbalanced." ["Es sind 'dramatische' und sehr 'lyrische' Blatter dabei, heisse und
kiihle und sehr kalte, schwere und haarleichte, aber fast durchwegs mit dem mir
geeigneten 'Gleichgewicht', das, wie Zervos sagt, immer riitselhaft bleibt. Ich weiss
und liebe es: ausbalancieren, aber so, dass das Ding iiusserlich unbalanciert
erscheint."] (Getty Center, Resource Collections, folder 850 910-69.)
58 Schonberg and Kandinsky
162. Erika Hanfstaengl: Wassily Kandinsky (see n. 158), no. 252. It may be one of the
earliest - if not the first - sketch, according to the general note on the upper right
border: "Erst schematisch fest !!laufstellen. Dann Verbindungen I + Unterbrechun-
geniGrenzen positive (?) I u[nd] negative (?)."
163. Erika Hanfstaengl: Wassily Kandinsky (see n. 158), no. 251.
164. There are of course also watercolor studies for Composition VII (see Vivian Endicott
Barnett: Kandinsky, Watercolours [see note 152], fig. 358 sqq.). Especially interesting in
this case are figs. 359 and 360, which are clearly connected with Sketch I.
165. Concerning his analysis of Painting with White Border (d. Reminiscences I Three
Pictures, in Complete Writings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p. 390, 391. One is reminded of
what Kandinsky says in his "Cologne lecture" of 1914 about the enormous immedi-
ate and contextual qualities of the color white, "turning the whole of painting
upside-down" (in Complete Writings, Vol. I [seen. 9], p. 397 sq.).
166. Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three Pictures, in Complete Writings, Vol. I [seen. 9], p. 385.
167. Hanfstaengl: Wassily Kandinsky (see n. 158), no. 250. See also Thiirlemann: Kandinsky
iiber Kandinsky (see n. 27), p. 197, who is certainly right in referring Kandinsky's
words "Analysis of the last sketch" to Sketch 3.
168. Cf. J. Hahl-Koch: Kandinsky (see n. 24), p. 212 sq. On the photographs, when
compared with reproductions of the final version, strangely enough a small strip
of the upper border of the painting is missing.
169. The annotation "Abgrund" in the lower right corner is an argument against Thiirle-
mann's identification of Hanfstaengl no. 273 as a further preparatory study for
Composition VII because of the same note in its lower left corner (d. Thiirlemann:
Kandinsky iiber Kandinsky [see n. 27], p. 140).
170. The relation of the diagonals in Sketch 1-3 and final version is: 1 : 1.06: 1.06 : 1.11.
171. W. Kandinsky: "Letters from Munich", in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9), p. 80.
172. A. Schonberg: Theory of Harmony (seen. 11), p. 70.
173. Especially in Schonberg's Gedanke- manuscript (d. Alexander Goehr: Schonberg's
Gedanke Manuscript, in JASI III1 (1977), p. 4-25.
174. See among others: Carl Dahlhaus: "Ausdrucksprinzip und Orchesterpolyphonie in
Schonberg Erwartung", in Bericht iiber den 1. Kongrefl der Internationalen Schonberg-
Gesellschaft (Wien 1978), p. 34-38.
175. These are, of course, not the only shaping elements and features; d. John Crawford:
"Die Gliickliche Hand: Schoenberg's Gesamtkunstwerk", in Musical Quarterly LXI4
(1974); Karl Worner: Die gliickliche Hand (Bonn 1970) and more recently: Joseph
Henry Auner: Schoenberg's Compositional and Aesthetic Transformations 1910-1913:
The Genesis of Die Gliickliche Hand (see n. 48), passim.
176. Cf. Reinhold Brinkmann: "Schonberg und George. Interpretation eines Liedes", in
Archiv fiir Musikwissenschaft 2611 (1969), p. 1-28.
177. Cf. Brinkmann: "Schonberg und George" (see n. 176), p. 16.
178. This letter is published here for the first time (see notes 1 and 48 and p. 62+64).
179. Arnold Schonberg: Style and Idea, ed. Leonard Stein, (Berkeley I Los Angeles, 1984),
p. 144.
180. Cf. Rudolf Stephan: "Uber Schonbergs Arbeitsweise", in Arnold SchOnberg Gedenkaus-
stellung 1974, ed. Ernst Hilmar (Wien 1974), p. 119 sqq.; R. Stephan: "Uber die
Klangvorstellungen Arnold Schonbergs", in Klang und Komponist. Ein Symposium
der Wiener Philharmoniker, ed. 0. Biba u. W. Schuster (Tutzing 1992), p. 191-199.
181. Arnold Schonberg. Self-Portrait. A Collection of Articles, Program Notes and Letters by
the Composer about his Work, ed. Nuria Schonberg-Nono (Belmont Publishers, Pacific
Palisades 1988), p. 54.
182. Arnold SchOnberg. Self-Portrait (see n. 181), p. 55.
183. Arnold Schonberg: "The Relationship to the Text", in A. Schoenberg: Style and Idea,
ed. Leonard Stein, (Berkeley I Los Angeles 1984), p. 144 sq.
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 59
184. It is clear that this may differ from artist to artist.
185. Arnold Schonberg. Self-Portrait (see n. 181), p. 55.
186. This can be taken for granted when we compare Kandinsky's descriptions in
Reminiscences I Three Pictures (in Complete Writings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p. 371) and
Haber's criteria for eidetic images as referred to by Cytowic in Synesthesia (see n.
56, p. 100).
187. Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three Pictures, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 371.
188. Cf. Ernst Gombrich: Art and Illusion, Reprint (London 1993), p. 155.
189. See Gombrich: Art and Illusion (seen. 188), p. 155 sqq.
190. Comparable artistic efforts like those of Holzel, Delaunay, Klee, Mondrian and
others cannot be taken into account here.
191. This is a position held by Johann Friedrich Herbart und Robert Zimmermann, based
on Kant and Moritz; d. Morgan (see n. 29, p. 232 sq.). With these and other
comparisons with puzzling aspects from the history of ornament, no catalogue of
influences is intended!
192. A position which, to a certain degree, recalls that of Vischer and Fechner; d. Morgan
(seen. 29, p. 233).
193. Cf. Klaus Kropfinger: "The Shape of Line", in Art Nouveau and Jugendstil and
the Music of the Early 20th Century (Adelaide 1984) (=Miscellanea Musicologica.
Adelaide Studies in Musicology, Vol. 13),__ p. 136 sqq.; ibid.: "Wagner - van
de Velde - Kandinsky", in K. Kropfinger: Uber Musik im Bilde [see note 31], p.
434 sqq.
194. Cf. Morgan (see n. 29), p. 236 sq.
195. An approach which reflects Roessler's position (d. Morgan [seen. 29], p. 238) and
that of van de Velde (d. Kropfinger: "The Shape of Line" [seen. 193], p. 136 sq.) as
well. On the importance of Hoelzel d. Peg Weiss: Kandinsky in Munich. The Formative
Jugendstil Years (Princeton 1979), p. 43 sqq.
196. Cf. Morgan (seen. 29), p. 234. That does not mean, however, that Kandinsky was
(directly) influenced by van de Velde, Endell, Roessler and/or Lipps.
197. Cf. Rose-Carol Washton Long (Kandinsky [see n. 29], passim), but also Langner's
("Gegensii.tze und Widerspriiche- das ist unsere Harmonie" [see also n. 1]), Zwei-
te's ("Kandinsky zwischen Tradition und Innovation" [seen. 29]) and Peg Weiss's
studies (d. Edward J. Kimball and Peg Weiss: "A Pictorial Analysis of 'In the Black
Square'", in Art Forum, 43/1 [1983], p. 36-40).
198. Rudenstine rightly states that: "Kandinsky's works of 1913 were, until the early
1950s, traditionally regarded as totally abstract." (Rudenstine: The Guggenheim
Museum Collection [see n. 102], 173.)
199. Kandinsky: "On the Question of Form", in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 243
sq.
200. In both versions: " ... einmalige Erscheinung einer Ferne, so nah sie sein mag."
"Walter Benjamin: Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbar-
keit", in Gesammelte Schriften, Vol. 1(2), ed. Rolf Tiedemann I Hermann Schweppen-
hii.user (Frankfurt am Main, 3/1990), p. 440, 479. "Auratic Iconography" matches
what Kandinsky calls the "particular spiritual sound" that objects do indeed have,
which he could not immediately get rid of because he was "not yet sufficiently
mature to experience purely abstract form without bridging the gap by means of
objects." (Kandinsky: "Cologne lecture", in Complete Writings, Vol. I [see n. 9], p.
396.) In my view, the aspect of "auratic iconography" does not match Steiner's idea
of "aura" (d. Sixten Ringbom: The Sounding Cosmos [see n. 29], p. 63, 81 sqq., 96
sqq.). For another interpretation of "aura" in Kandinsky's paintings of this time see
Yule F. Heibel:" 'They danced on Volcanoes': Kandinsky's Breakthrough to Abstrac-
tion, the German Avant-Garde and the Eve of the First World War", in Art History,
12/3 (September 1989), esp. p. 354 sq.
60 Schonberg and Kandinsky
201. This could have been the reason why Kandinsky in 1936137 insisted that a painting
like Composition VII should be called "non-objective" in spite of the figurative relics
still visible (d. Rudenstine (see n. 102), p. 273 sqq.).
202. Cf. Ernst Gombrich: Art and Illusion (seen. 188), p. 314.
203. This sentence of Schonberg's is related to his First String Quartet, op. 7 (d. Schoen-
berg - Berg - Webern. The String Quartets. A Documentary Study, ed. Ursula v.
Rauchhaupt (Hamburg 1971), p. 36.
204. Cf. Kropfinger: "The Shape of Line" (seen. 193), passim.
205. Cf. Reallexikon zur deutschen Kunstgeschichte, Vol. V, ed. L. H. Heydenreich und K.-A.
Wirth (Stuttgart 1967), cols. 88 sqq.
206. No less significant is the analytical sketch of Composition II (d. Rudenstine [see n.
102], p. 233).
207. Heller lays stress on the fact that "Apocalyptic thought patterns appear with
increasing vehemence in Kandinsky's imagery- both verbal and pictorial- during
1910-13. Prior to 1910, neither his writings nor his paintings reveal such tendencies."
("Kandinsky and Traditions Apocalyptic", in Art Journal [seen. 76], p. 20.)
208. Cf. Peg Weiss: "Editor's Statement: Are we ready to memorialize Kandinsky?", in
Art Journal, 4311 [Spring 1983], p. 11.
209. Sixten Ringbom is surely exaggerating the importance of anthroposophy and theo-
sophy for Kandinsky's spiritual art (d. The Sounding Cosmos [seen. 29], passim). This
aspect is also valid in Ringbom's text "Uberwindung des Sichtbaren. Die Generation
der abstrakten Pioniere", in Das Geistige in der Kunst. Abstrakte Malerei 1890-1985 (ed.
Maurice Tuchman and Judi Freeman, Stuttgart 1988, p. 131-154), where he even
credits Theosophy with Kandinsky's wish to become [!] a synesthete. There is no
doubting Kandinsky's interest. But Kandinsky certainly did not need to be inspired
by Besant's and Leadbeater's Thought- and Colour-Forms or Dr. Freudenberg's
occult descriptions. This is a methodologically, and because of the artist's biography
and self-observations, not justified exaggeration of "influence".
210. Cf. J. Hahl-Koch: Kandinsky (see n. 24), p. 178.
211. Ringbom: The Sounding Cosmos (see n. 29), p. 172 sqq.; Majorie Reeves I Beatrice
Hirsch-Reich: The Figurae of Joachim of Fiore (Oxford 1972), 314 sqq.
212. Wassily Kandinsky: "Cologne lecture", in Complete Writings, Vol. I (seen. 9), p. 400.
213. Cf. the typescript of a Bauhaus lecture (13IIV 132) with the concluding remark,
following a discussion of the "unthinkable distances", where he writes:" ... despite
this 'the cosmos holds together', it doesn't fall apart, therefore: endless telekinesis"
(Getty Center, Resource Collections, folder 850 910-5) ( ... trotz dem 'halt der Kos-
mos zusammen', zerfii.llt nicht, also: unendliche Fernwirkung."). There is also a
reading list among Kandinsky's papers (not in his own handwriting) that includes
Johannes Kepler's Harmonices Mundi and his Prodromus dissertationum cosmographi-
carum continens Mysterium cosmographicum (Getty Center, Resource Collections,
folder 850 910-42).
214. Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three Paintings, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9),
p. 377 sq.
215. Cf. Erwin Panofsky: Idea (Berlin 1960), p. 44 sq.
216. Kandinsky: Reminiscences I Three Paintings, in Complete Writings, Vol. I (see n. 9),
p. 373.
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 61

Lieber Herr Kandinsky,

ich kann leider (das ist sehr schade fur mich) nicht an Threr Ausstellung
teilnehmen, denn ich habe ja zu dieser Budapester Ausstellung zugesagt
und die wird am 2. Januar erOffnet. Deshalb muB ich Sie bitten alle meine
Bilder mit Ausnahme jenes Portrats, das Sie "Dame in Rosa" nennen
[sic!], durch einen Spediteur und unter Nachnahme der Spesen sofort
nach Erhalt dieser Karte (bitte vielmals) nach Budapest an folgende Adresse
zu senden:
Muvesz- haz, Budapest N. Krist6f-ter 2
Die "Dame in Rosa" dagegen an mich, auch gegen Nachnahme. Nicht
wahr bitte, Sie sind so freundlich, das sofort zu tun. Schade, daB ich nicht
bei Threr Ausstellung dabei sein kann, aber ich habe dort schon zugesagt
und es ist das auch gunstiger fur mich, weil ich dort einen eigenen Raum
bekomme (23 Bilder) wo ich nicht von den starken Farben der andem
Maler erschlagen werde.
Thr Buch habe ich jetzt schon ganz gelesen und werde es ein zweites Mal
lesen. Es geHillt mir auBerordentlich, denn wir stimmen in fast allen
Hauptsachen, wie Sie ja auch aus meinem Buch entnehmen werden
uberein. Ich bin ubrigens sehr neugierig, was Sie zu meinem Buch
sagen werden. Ich schreibe Thnen demnachst ausfi.ihrlicher.
Ich weiB nicht, ob ich Thnen schon gesagt habe, daB ich fur den "blauen
Reiter" doch etwas "Musik" (ein Lied) hergeben kann.
Fur heute SchluB. Herzliche GruBe auch an Thre Frau Thr Arnold Schon-
berg.
18/12.1911
[darunter mit dickem Schreibzeug, offenbar von Kandinskys Hand]:
"bestellt 2-91 XII"
ARNOLD SCHONBERG, BERLIN-ZEHLENDORF-WANNSEEBAHN
MACHNOWER CHAUSSEE, VILLA LEPCKE
62 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
ARNOLD SCHONBERG, BERLIN-ZEHLENDORF-WANNSEEBAHN
MACHNOWER CHAUSSEE, VILLA LEPCKE
15/1.1912
Lieber Herr Kandinsky,
in gro:ISter Eile, denn ich mu:IS mich auf meinen heutigen Vortrag
vorbereiten. I. Sie erhalten aus Wien von Herrn Ullmann einen Aufsatz
von mir fiir den "Blauen Reiter" tiber "Das Verhaltnis zum Text["]! Den
hatte ich einem wohltatigen Zweck eines akademischen Vereins zugesagt.
Doch ziehen die, da es sich urn eine Karnevals - Angelegenheit handelt,
lieber etwas lustiges vor. lch sandte ihnen bescheidneren. -Wollen Sie
mir nun gleich mitteilen, ob Sie diesen Aufsatz im "Blauen Reiter"
bringen mochten. II. Die Noten kann ich Ihnen erst in ein paar Tagen
schicken. III. Mit meinen Bildern das ist ein kolossales Mi:ISverstandnis.
Ich bat Sie aile meine Bilder, mit Ausnahme jenes Portraits nach Budapest
zu senden. Bitte lesen Sie meinen Brief noch einmal. Das ist mir hochst
unangenehm. Denn die in Budapest warten wohl noch immer auf die
Bilder. Wenn Sie das noch andern konnen, so bitte ich Sie dringend es zu
tun und alles, auch die "Landschaft" (die ich iibrigens "Nachtstiick"
nenne) nach Budapest zu schicken. Nur die Dame in Rosa nicht. Aber
die konnten Sie mir zuschicken! Darf ich Sie darum bitten? IV. Preise habe
ich nicht genannt, weil ich glaubte es habe wegen der paar Tage keinen
Zweck. War denn eine Verkaufsmoglichkeit? Auch wei:IS ich nicht genau
genug welche Bilder Sie ausstellten. Haben Sie Fotografien von den
Bildern gemacht? Ich meine fur den "Bl. [auen] R. [eiter]" - Wann soll
der denn erscheinen? Da:IS Sie mir vorwerfen, ich hatte Ihren Brief nicht
beatnwortet ist ungerecht. Aber ich gebe zu: nicht ganz. Aber jetzt
schreibe ich doch after, als Sie!!!!- Es ist schade, da:IS Sie nicht nach Berlin
kommen. Ich hatte mich sehr darauf gefreut! Konnten Sie in Ru:ISland
nicht etwas fiir meine Musik anfangen? Ich meine: Da:IS man mich einla-
det, meine Werke zu dirigiren? Viele herzl. Grii:ISe Ihnen und Ihrer Frau
Ihr Arnold Schonberg. Auch von meiner Frau!
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 63

Dear Mr. Kandinsky,l

I am regrettably unable to participate in your exhibition - a very great
pity for me - due to the fact that I have just agreed to an exhibition in
Budapest} which opens on 2 January. Thus, I must ask you to send all of
my pictures - save for the one you call "Lady in Pink" 3 - to the following
address in Budapest by forwarding agent, C.O.D., immediately upon receipt
of this postcard (and with many thanks):
Miivesz - haz, Budapest IV. Krist6f-ter 24
The "Lady in Pink," on the other hand, to my address, also C.O.D.
It is so very kind of you to do this. Regrets that I cannot be present for
your exhibition, but alas I had already accepted the other, which is indeed
more favorable for me, as I will have a room of my own (23 paintings)
where I will not be overshadowed by the strong colors of the other
painters.
I have just read your book from cover to cover,5 and I will read it once
more. I find it extraordinarily pleasing that we agree on nearly all of the

1 This and the following letter are located in the Getty Center, Research Collections
(Folder 850 910-70) (see also notes 1 and 48 of my text).
2 Schonberg had been invited by Paris von Giitersloh to participate in an exhibition in
Budapest with "15-20" of his paintings (d. Nuria Nono-Schonberg, ed., Arnold Schonberg
1874-1951. Lebensgeschichte in Beschreibungen, Klagenfurt, 1992, p. 90). Von Giitersloh also
writes that Schonberg would have a whole room at his disposal. Schonberg mentions the
invitation first in his letter to Kandinsky of 14 December 1911, where he speaks of 24
pictures to be exhibited (d. Arnold Schoenberg-Wassily Kandinsky. Letters, Pictures and
Documents, ed. Jelena Hahl-Koch, trans. John Crawford, London and Boston, 1984, p. 39).
Included in the same exhibition were pictures by Schiele, Kolig, and Faistauer (d.
Schoenberg-Kandinsky. Letters, Pictures and Documents, p. 190, n. 20). Von Giitersloh wrote
an essay entitled "Schonberg der Maler" for the Festschrift Arnold Schonberg, Munich, 1912,
p. 65-74, with contributions by Alban Berg and others.
3 The identification of the painting in question is still unclear, though it may have been the
portrait of Klara von Zemlinsky, if one can make such a judgment from the reproduction
(d. Arnold Schoenberg. Paintings and Drawings, ed. Thomas Zaunschirm, Klagenfurt, 1991,
Fig. 98, p. 241, and p. 372). Kandinsky tried to get a photo of the "Lady in Pink" for the
"Blue Rider" (letter of February 6, 1912; d. Schoenberg-Kandinsky. Letters, Pictures and
Documents [see n. 1, p. 46]). But neither this plan nor Kandinsky's intent to present the
painting in an exhibition of Der Sturm (letter of March 4 1912; ibid. p. 47) was successful.
Marc may have seen the portrait in Schoenberg's dining room, when he visited the
composer in Berlin, January 28, 1912. According to Kandinsky, Marc was "always talking
about it with great enthusiasm" (ibid.).
4 This is the address that von Giitersloh mentions in his letter to Schonberg (see n. 1).
5 This is a reference to Kandinsky's book On the Spiritual in Art, which the artist had sent
to Schonberg with his photograph and dedication on 4 April 1911.
64 Schonberg and Kandinsky
main issues, as you too will gather from reading my book. 6 I am, incident-
ally, extremely curious to know what you will have to say about my book.
I shall write to you in more detail soon. I am not sure whether or not I
have already told you that I will, after all, compose some music (a song)
for the Blue Rider.
For now, that sums it up. My kindest regards to your wife, Yours,
Arnold Schoenberg.
18 December 1911
[below, in bold script, apparently in Kandinsky's own hand]:
"ordered 2-91 XII"
ARNOLD SCHONBERG, BERLIN-ZEHLENDORF-WANNSEEBAHN
MACHNOWER CHAUSSEE, VILLA LEPCKE

ARNOLD SCHONBERG, BERLIN-ZEHLENDORF-WANNSEEBAHN

MACHNOWER CHAUSSEE, VILLA LEPCKE
15 January 1912
Dear Mr. Kandinsky,
In great hurry, as I must prepare my lecture for today.
I. You [will] receive from Mr. Ullmann in Vienna 7 an essay of mine
for the Blue Rider dealing with "The Relationship to the text!" -
Something I agreed to do for an academic association. However, as
it should have concerned Carnival, they preferred something amusing.
I've sent them a more modest piece. Would you let me know right
away whether or not you would like to include this article in the Blue
Rider?

6 Schonberg's Theory of Harmony, which he had sent to Kandinsky with his picture and a
dedication, dated 12 December 1911, in which he quotes from the last movement of his
Second String Quartet.
7 Here Schonberg surely does not speak of Viktor
Ullmann, who would later be his pupil,
but who at this time was just 13 years old; rather he means Ludwig Ullmann, who belonged
to the editorial staff of the Akademischer Verband fiir Literatur und Musik. It is therefore also
clear that Schonberg had originally intended the text for publication by the Verband. The
more "modest" text Schonberg speaks of consisted of his "Aphorisms," which appeared
in the Karnevalsnummer 1912 of Der Ruf, the journal of the Verband (d. Arnold Schonberg.
Gedenkausstellung 1974, ed. Ernst Hilmar, Vienna, 1974, nos. 235 and 236, p. 245. See also
Schonberg's Berlin Diary of February 14, 1912; d. "Attempt at a Diary", in JASI IX/1 [June
1986], p. 28]).
 Latent Structural Power versus the Dissolution of Artistic Material 65

II. The music I will send to you in a couple of days' time. 8

III. As for my paintings, this is a colossal misunderstanding. I asked you
to send all of my pictures, with the exception of this single portrait, to
Budapest. Please, read my letter once more. It is of the greatest embar-
rassment to me. For in Budapest, they surely will still be waiting for the
pictures. If you are yet able to correct this, I urgently ask you to do it, and
to send all, includin~ the "Landscape" (which, by the way, I call "Night
[Nocturnal?] Piece" ) to Budapest. The only exception is the "Lady in
Pink." As for her, however, could you send her to me! May I please ask
you this?
IV. I gave no prices, because I believed that for a couple of days there
would be little chance. Was there indeed the possibility of a sale? Neither
do I know exactly which pictures you exhibited. Did you take photo-
graphs of the pictures? I mean for the "Bl. R." [Blue Rider] -When is it
expected to appear? That you blame me for not having answered your
letter is unjust. But I grant you: not entirely. But now I write more often
than you!!!- It's a pity that you aren't coming to Berlin. I had very much
looked forward to it! Couldn't you initiate something in Russia for my
music? 10 I mean: Arrange for someone to invite me to conduct my works?
Many cordial regards to you and to your wife, Yours, Arnold Schoenberg.
Also from my wife!

8 Not earlier than February 6, 1912 could Kandinsky thank for Schonberg's music
("Herzgewiichse") for which Gabriele Munter had once more urgently asked on January
27, 1912.
9 Apparently the signed and dated picture of 1910 which in the catalogue of the recent
comprehensive Schonberg exhibition' has been listed as "Night landscape" (Arnold
Schoenberg. Paintings and Drawings, p. 301, 380, no. 194.)
1° Kandinsky's letters of January 16, 1912 (d. Schoenberg-Kandinsky. Letters, Pictures and
Documents, p. 43), March 28 (ibid., p. 50 sq.) and October 23 (ibid., p. 58) show that he was
seriously concerned to obey Schonberg's demand.
 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel
Experiments
JELENA HAHL-KOCH

We are currently celebrating the 82nd anniversary of Schonberg's concert

of early January 1911 in Munich. Kandinsky attended this concert, and few
days later he painted his famous Impression III (Concert) (fig. 1) and wrote
his first letter to the composer. Fortunately these two geniuses became
friends and left us an extraordinary correspondence on a whole range of
subjects that intrigued them, at that crucial period between 1911 and 1914
when Kandinsky founded abstract art and Schonberg atonal music.
The subjects dealt with in their letters were Kandinsky's and Schon-
berg's paintings, their stage plays and their theories (which they were
working on at the same time, but independently). Also their search for
a common denominator of art and music with the final aim being the
SYNTHESIS OF THE ARTS, then the creative act itself and the question
whether intuition or construction, the more intellectual approach, should
take the lead.

Figure 1 Kandinsky, Impression III (Concert), 1911, oil on canvas., Stadt. Galerie im Lenbachhaus,
Munich © W. Kandinsky c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
68 Schonberg and Kandinsky
In this colloquium report, you might expect to hear a general outline of
all the interesting themes between these two innovators. But, don't worry,
I won't repeat what I wrote in the edition of their correspondence,
because I prefer to concentrate on those subjects where there is new
material or where new research has been done.
One small piece of new information. It was Kandinsky' s companion, the
artist Gabriele Munter, who had found Schonberg's address, so Kandinsky
could write to him. She mentioned this at a later occasion, when she was
observing the contact between Kandinsky and 'Volker' (Erich Gutkind, a
German-Jewish philosopher) who tried- together with Kandinsky and a
few others- to found a peace initiative in 1914 shortly before the outbreak
of World War I. Munter, who intended to establish a contact between
Gutkind and Schonberg, wrote to the latter on August 20, 1912: "I think
such people should get to know each other, just as I had found your
address" . Certainly Kandinsky himself had wished to meet Schonberg,
but also his companion, who knew him well since they lived and travelled
together from 1904 on, had occasionally taken the initiative and made the
first practical steps. As for comparable contacts there was, except for the
two just mentioned, only one more in these years: to the Russian artist,
musicologist, physician and organizer of the younger Cubofuturist artists,
Nikolai Kulbin. In general, however, Kandinsky was rather shy and
reserved. So we can conclude that he took such initiatives only when it
seemed really important for him to meet someone. He wrote to Kulbin
because he had heard that his new art association in St. Petersburg, the
Triangle, was as progressive and daring as his own New Artists Asociation in
Munich. The later contact with Gutkind had already been established, since
Gutkind had sent his book Siderial Birth to the Blue Rider group in 1912.
So we can see that: in Schonberg's case, Kandinsky (and with him
Munter) made a major effort to meet an individual person. Why? Was it
just the progressiveness of Schonberg's music that fascinated Kandinsky
to such an extent? Or did he understand enough about music to be able to
judge (and better than most other contemporaries of Schonberg) the high
quality of that music? Or was it, because he was eager to find another
fellow fighter for new ideas in art- art in its largest definition? All this
was certainly the case, but it only answers the question partially. Another
reason was Kandinsky's tremendous interest in music, which surpassed
by far his theoretical knowledge (he played both the piano and the
violoncello, but considered himself rightly as a dilettante). His preoccu-
pation with music had already become evident in his friendship with the
Russian composer Thomas von Hartmann, with whom he had worked on
his experimental 'stage compositions' since 1909.
 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments 69
But before we investigate Kandinsky' s and Schonberg's "dilettante"
innovations, i.e. those beyond their professional activities, let us start
with the first subject matter of their letters: Should intuition or construc-
tion take the lead in the creative process? Listen to how Schonberg in 1911
still pleaded for the intuitive solution: "But art belongs to the unconscious!
One must express oneself! Express oneself directly! Not one's taste, or one's
upbringing, or one's intelligence, knowledge or skill. Not all these acquired
characteristics, but that which is inborn, instinctive"2 •
Schonberg- as we have always known- had worked with tremendous
difficulty on the musical score of his opera Die gliickliche Hand (The Lucky
Hand) and did not finish it until fully 3 years after writing the text, in
November, 1913. In between he had composed Pierrot Lunaire. A very
thorough investigation into all obstacles for Schonberg's delay was pub-
lished recently in the Schoenberg Journal by Joseph Auner. The reason he
gives is intriguing: "The breakdown of Schonberg's intuitive aesthetics
and the emergence of a new approach to composition ... This is reflected
by the strikingly large number of sketches (while otherwise he had little
to none) and by the fact that Schonberg had substantially modified his
earlier views"3 . In 25 pages Auner proves the enormous difference from
the spontaneous, genial achievement of Erwartung, Schonberg's previous
monodrama that he composed within an astonishingly short time period
(17 days) with hardly any sketches or corrections. But now the path
seemed obstructed and obscured, the intuitive solution was no longer in
reach. Was it only because of the personal crisis (his wife's love affair in
1908)? Auner says the change was much more fundamental; I agree.
While on the whole I maintain my opinion that there was no influence
between Kandinsky and Schonberg, now I am proposing an hypothesis,
which when I edited the correspondence, I did not yet dare to make,
because there were not enough facts then known. My hypothesis is:
Schonberg could after all have thought about, why Kandinsky continued
to insist on the necessity of construction in the creative process and
contradicted him a few times: "Fundamentally, I agree with you. That
is, when one is actually at work, then there should be no thought, but the
'inner voice' alone should speak and control. But up to now the painter
has thought too little in general ... But the painter (and precisely so that
he will be able to express himself) should learn his whole material so well
and develop his sensitivity to the point where he recognizes and vibrates
spiritually ... " 4 . Actually this was the only point of disagreement. And
especially since they otherwise showed remarkable parallels in their
ideas and creative acts, and because Schonberg thought highly of the
nine year older artist, he could at least have been somewhat disturbed
70 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
by Kandinsky's words, with the result that his new aesthetic concept in
1913 included a lot more preparatory work and construction. So in his
Lucky Hand, whose theme is precisely the opposition between effortless,
genial creation and the more superficial, laborious and less inspired
handicraft, the author had lost to some extent his own 'lucky hand'.
Now let us shift to the subject of synesthesia. Once, in an unpublished
letter of 1903 to Gabriele Munter, Kandinsky described the city of Venice
thus: " ... this twilight, where blue, purple, gold, orange, copper develop
the most pensive symphony!"5 One is reminded of similar comparisons
between color impressions and a Symphony, the fortissimo of an orches-
tra and so forth, in his Reminiscences. Such comparisons are neither arbi-
trary nor deliberately poetic: Kandinsky' s whole correspondence, his
theoretical writings and also the titles of his paintings (Impression,
Improvisation, Composition, Pastorale, Fugue and so on) attest to the
continuous presence of music.
The first drafts for On the Spiritual in Art are dated 1904 (they have
never been published); they deal with the effects of color on the human
mind (also in relation to sounds in general and music in particular). In his
letters to Munter of the same year, he stresses that he needs inner peace
and tranquillity to concentrate on and perceive such subtle vibrations,
before writing down his observations -just the same as for creating a
work of art.
Among Kandinsky's yet unpublished and undated manuscripts in his
Munich estate is a strange double-sheet (figs. 2-4) with 3 notes, 2 corre-
sponding figures and 4 explanatory texts. On the first page Kandinsky
states that the depicted note "means a complaint, a desire, a non-satisfac-
tion, [a little] pain, a little suffering". The second page with the straight
figure at the bottom reads: "Solemnity of a supernatural character with
coldness and indifference towards men. Its symbol is nature as a whole.
This sound is like an answer to the question (see above), which however
remains incomprehensible and unsatisfactory.
Graphically= [line, dash, arrow]."
On the third page with the figure in motion Kandinsky explains: "Enthu-
siasm, passion, joy. It is like a joyous apprehension of a voice from above,
but which does not come from a familiar and definable source. Graphi-
cally [a spiral moving upward]."
The fourth and final page consists only of text: "The soul poses a question
and looks for an answer in the surrounding sensual nature. The answer is
given, but does not satisfy. Suddenly the supernatural answer comes that
calls into higher realms. Accord D major is peacefulness, satisfaction after
having received the answer" 6 .
 Kandinsky, SchOnberg and their Parallel Experiments 71

k<~.-9 , /."' , v.~, .<:·;

<;;,.~,i' ,,>. ~ ~.:x , ".~~--;,
f
l. /f.:;.~ ,. _
d
0(~-.::z.,.'· )/...-'.;..-.;...·

Figures 2-4 Undated manuscripts by Kandinsky. (Gabriele Munter- and Johannes Eichner-
Foundation, Munich.) © W. Kandinsky c/ o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
72 Schonberg and Kandinsky
Here we have in a 'shorthand' formula Kandinsky's whole conception
of art, namely that the material aspect of our world is not sufficient: the
essential answer lies in transcendance (which artistically, of course is
closer to abstraction than to the depiction of the material world). But
one is puzzled by the musical notes; what does the painter mean by
associating three single notes to emotions or states of mind? If one
might still follow and guess his feelings about the Accord D major, one
wonders how an isolated sound can mean anything. [I would very much
like to hear more about it from musicologists: is Kandinsky experiment-
ing in a totally naive and absurd manner? Or is there something to it?]
In any case, all this is symptomatic of Kandinsky's fascination with
music and shows the leading role it played in his thoughts and sensitiv-
ity. In a letter to Schonberg in 1911 he gives the reason for this leading
role that music had for him: "How fortunate musicians are with their well
advanced art. Real ART, long fortunate in having foregone purely prac-
tical means. How long will painting have to wait for this? Though it is
entitled (obliged) to it as well: colors and lines for and by themselves -
such limitless beauty and power" 7 .
Kandinsky ranks music as the leading art form, because it is the most
abstract and does not imitate the outer world ( ... for instance a rooster's
crow is not necessary to suggest a morning mood). The Russian Symbolist
poet Andrei Bely had stated already in 1902: "Beginning with the lowest
forms of art and ending with music, we witness a slow but sure weak-
ening of the image or reality. In architecture, sculpture and in painting
these images play an important role. In music they are absent. In
approaching music, a work of art becomes deeper, broader" 8 . It is likely
that Kandinsky knew Bely to some extent, since many publications of the
Russian symbolists are still in Kandinsky's library.
Music can teach painting the principle of using colors, lines, and shapes
in and for themselves. This was precisely what he longed to do even
before he made the final step toward abstract painting. And this is why he
sought out progressive composers like Thomas von Hartmann and
mainly Schonberg. He was so enthusiastic about the first atonal composi-
tions, which revealed to him the affinities between their respective aspira-
tions, that he saw the need to get to know more about this composer who
was causing scandals, just as he himself was with his exhibitions.
That very year, when he established the contact, in 1911, Kandinsky
states in The Spiritual in Art: "Schonberg's music takes us to a realm
where musical experience is not acoustic but purely spiritual." And he
translated parts of Schonberg's Theory of Harmony into Russian for the
catalog of Vladimir Izdebsky's second International Salon 1911 in Odessa
 Kandinsky, SchOnberg and their Parallel Experiments 73

and added an important observation: " ... how keenly this revolutionary
composer feels the inviolable, organic link, the inevitable natural develop-
ment of the new music out of the old ... There is a limit, however, to the
attainments of every age, every chord, every progression is permissible,
'but - Schonberg says - I feel even today that there are certain limits
which determine my use of this or that dissonance.' Schonberg combines
in his thinking the greatest freedom with the greatest belief in the ordered
development of the spirit" 9 • Here Kandinsky naturally speaks for himself
as well.
Let us go back to 1907, to more unpublished documents. He spent that
year with Gabriele Munter in Paris, where he came to realize that the
Fauves were far ahead of him. His relationship with Gabriele had also
reached a dead end. After their return to Germany, Kandinsky had to
recover from this emotional crisis alone in a resort: "I would like to be
able to feel again, to cry again before nature, to kneel down, to give
thanks ... I cannot live like a blind and deaf person, after having had
eyes and ears ... I have become insensitive. And only music can save
me ... I have to have good music (we know for instance that he was
very fond of Beethoven's 3rd symphony). It stimulates me so" 10.
Kandinsky also inquired into the recently founded Munich sanator-
ium's use of color therapy, which applied music as well: "At times the
patient was given single sounds or particular chords in rhythmic repeti-
tion during the treatment" - reports Alexander Strakosch, Rudolf Stei-
ner's secretary and husband of Kandinsky' s former student Maria
Giesler11 . We know now that Kandinsky owed to Maria his acquaintance
not only with Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, but also with
the Russian musicologist and theosophist Alexandra Zacharina-Unkovs-
kaya. In 1910 Maria gave a color scale with which Unkovskaya used to
demonstrate the vibration of sounds in accord with the vibration of colors
(this scale is preserved in Kandinsky's Munich estate). Kandinsky men-
tions in a letter of October 1910 from Moscow to the previously men-
tioned Petersburg physician, painter, musicologist and organiser of the
young Futurists, Nikolai Kulbin: "I may go to Kaluga to speak with
Alexandra Vasilievna Unkovskaya (that is, to meet her)" 12 . - and to
Munter he wrote that Unkovskaya was eager to show him her system,
her investigations into the numerical, mainly the no. 7, and he reported
that his woodcuts seem to her "purest painterly music" 13 •
In the Spiritual in Art Kandinsky describes the work of Unkovskaya: "to
impress a tune upon unmusical children with the help of colors ... She
has constructed a special, precise method of 'translating the colors of
nature into music, of painting the sounds of nature, of seeing sounds in
74 Schonberg and Kandinsky
color and hearing colors musically". This method has been recognized as
useful by the Petersburg Conservatory- On the other hand, Scriabin has
constructed empirically a parallel table of equivalent tones in color and
music, which very closely resembles the more physical table of Mrs.
Unkovskaya. Scriabin has made convincing use of his method in his
Prometheus." More critical is a private letter to Munter: "Recently I
heard Scriabin' s music. Interesting but - in my eyes - too beautiful. He
too, thinks a lot about correspondences between the musical and the color
tones, but, as I understand, not profoundly enough" 14 .
In a phase of slow progress with abstraction - when he was tormented
by self doubts and uncomprehending critics - Kandinsky turned increas-
ingly to music, as his first musician friend Thomas von Hartmann
reports:" This period (before 1910) was marked by his ideas of a certain
relationship between the doctrine of painting and musical theory, and
by his constant dissatisfaction with the contemporary theatre (particularly
opera)" 15 . From 1909 on, Kandinsky collaborated with Hartmann on his
stage compositions, with the idea of creating a work of art in which
sound/music, color/painting, movement/dance and lighting were at
times used together or against each other, in all variations. This synthesis
aimed at achieving more than the sum of the parts, not just an addition or
subordination of one part to another - as was, according to Kandinsky,
still the case with Wagner and Scriabin. The best known of these stage
compositions was The Yellow Sound, which Kandinsky took out of the
close context with two other stage plays and developed it further, until
he finally published it in 1912 in the Blue Rider Almanac.
At the same time, between 1909 and 1913, Schonberg who went
through a crisis before reaching his 'free atonality', turned increasingly
to painting and also worked on small operas with the aim of a Gesamt-
kunstwerk. In 1909 it was the short monodrama Erwartung, then he began
the work on Die gliickliche Hand (The Lucky Hand), interrupted by Pierrot
Lunaire. It is especially the 3rd scene of Die gliickliche Hand which reveals
Schonberg's pursuit of the Gesamtkunstwerk and which at the same time is
most comparable with several scenes of Kandinsky' s Der gel be Klang. It is
the combined crescendo of the orchestra with lights of changing colors,
which, however, according to Schonberg's words, seems to be brought
about by the Man's (the main character's) changing emotions, and thus to
that extent still shows, by means of psychology, a last link with reality.
This is no longer the case in Kandinsky's play. We should also remember
that at the same time, Kandinsky stated that in his opinion Wagner (who
of course was of great importance for both Kandinsky and Schonberg)
showed only the first steps towards a real synthesis of the arts, because he
 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments 75

did not use the media completely independently, but in an additive

manner, with music always having the leading role.
When Schonberg compares Kandinsky' s The Yellow Sound with his own
Lucky Hand, he calls its renunciation of a realistic plot a "great advantage"
and affirms that he had fundamentally wanted the same thing. This is
certainly credible, since he gave for instance the following direction:
"The entire effect should not imitate nature, but rather be a free combina-
tion of colors and forms" (exactly as Kandinsky), but then - what a
contradiction - Schonberg describes a detailed realistic stage-setting16 .
Such crass collisions between purely symbolic actions and frankly natur-
alistic passages are astonishing and, one must admit, weak points of the
work. So it is good to learn from Schonberg's letters to Kandinsky that
basically he intended to be more abstract as well as coming closer to a real
'Gesamtkunstwerk'. This was to a greater extent achieved by Kandinsky's
stage compositions: it was already a random play of independent
color, movement and noise/ or music. It must have fascinated him to
add to the elements of color and form, which were familiar to him from
painting, the temporal elements of music as well as movement and light-
ing, both of which could modify form and color and make them come
alive. His results, and to some extent also those of Schonberg, went
beyond everything that had been achieved so far in the field of the
synthesis of the arts (a field of interest since the Romantic and mainly
the Symbolist period).
For sure Kandinsky and Schonberg - together with Oskar Kokoschka,
the sculptor Ernst Barlach and some others - must be included in that
series of 'dilettantes' who gave to the German Expressionist theatre its
most significant impetus and opened new creative possibilities to the
professional theatre. Sometimes the most daring innovations are made
as it were on a side track, by dilettantes which both Kandinsky and
Schonberg were in the field of the theatre, because in a neighboring art
they can experiment more playfully and without the need and stress of
being successful.
Kandinsky, in order to investigate the internal relationship between the
different realms and to examine the 'translatablity' of one art into the
other, experimented with Hartmann and Alexander Sakharov, a young
Russian dancer. Sakharov, later a famous 'modern dancer', modified his
role in Kandinsky's very first stage play, Daphnis and Chloe for his first
recital in Munich in 1911 (Kandinsky had given up this project, after
Diaghilev and Fokin had started their version, which in Kandinsky' s
eyes was already outdated). While they of course used ballet, Sakharov,
as a kindred spirit of Kandinsky's, eliminated every decorative and
76 Schonberg and Kandinsky

secondary detail and tried to crystallize the essence and (religious) origin
of dancing.
Kandinsky described his experiments with Sakharov and Hartmann:
"The musician chose among my pictures the one that seemed to him the
most musically eloquent and clear. He interpreted it without the dancer.
Then the dancer returned, listened to the music and translated it into
dance, whereupon he was asked to guess which watercolor he had
danced" 17 .
Not by chance, Kandinsky's first and most intensive involvement with
these questions falls in the critical transitional phase between representa-
tional and abstract painting. From his autobiographical writings we know
that these were anarchical, agonizing years of searching, doubting and
sometimes of despair and great loneliness. But Kandinsky did not publish
the quoted account until about 10 years later in Russia, when he
attempted to finally give a scientific basis to his still active preoccupation
with the synthesis of the arts. He quoted the composer Alexander Shen-
shin as an exponent of a true scientific relationship between music and
the plastic arts, one who had found mathematical correlations between a
Michelangelo sculpture and a Liszt composition on the same theme.
Kandinsky continued to experiment in the INKHUK: "Musicians chose
3 basic chords, painters were invited to depict them first in pencil,
then ... each chord in color." We are reminded of his early experiments
(Fig. 2-4).
Back to the Munich period, when such experiments led to an innova-
tive use of music and noises in his stage compositions. As early as 1909, in
Green Sound, we find the following: "a terrifying noise behind the stage,
as if the sky were falling down." And in Black and White also from 1909: a
short and strange horn sound, while figures, clad in black, execute rhyth-
mic mouvements. Then a high guttural voice utters inarticulate sounds. A
later version of Yellow Sound of 1912 uses the guttural tenor of 1909 in two
tension-filled moments: shrill and high, it shouts absolutely incompre-
hensible words, containing a multitude of a-vowels (Kandinsky gives
only as a suggestion "Kalasimunafakola") 18 .
In October/November 1910 Kandinsky was in Moscow and continued
to work with Hartmann on those stage compositions. At the Conservatory
they were given a demonstration of the difference between a harmonium
with tempered tones and one with natural tones (an invention of a Mr
Smirnov). Kandinsky found that what today is considered utterly disson-
ant and impossible, sounds very fine and even harmonious on the natural
keys (for instance si-do-re). He concludes: "From this can result a basic
upheaval of the theory of harmony and counterpoint" 19 . From Moscow
 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments 77

he also reports that Hartman had played the Giants (i.e. the first draft of
Yellow Sound) to the composer Boleslav Yavorsky, who was full of praise:
"stage it immediately, he said." It turned out that Yavorsky had similar
plans, in fact the prelude of the Giants was almost identical with his, and
Kandinsky considered letting him write the music to the prelude and
Hartmann for the Giants, the postlude and Black and White. They applied
at Stanislavsky's 'Artists Theater', but were refused. Kandinsky called
that theatre too realist, and the recent staging of his much admired
Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck's Blue Bird was disappointing: "a chil-
dren's fairy tale plus philosophical-occult patchwork". Kandinsky calls
Yavorsky the best pupil of Taneyev: "He is quite somebody. He revolu-
tionized the whole musical theory and has inaugurated new principles
(by drawing upon the oldest ones)." [Remember what Kandinsky said
about Schonberg's awareness of the old principles in spite of his innova-
tions!] "[Yavorsky's] theory is a sister of my painterly theory: the direct
°
application of the physical-psychological effect." 2 Kandinsky's interest in
such matters goes back as far as 1897, when the perception-theorist
Theodor Lipps was teaching at the Munich university. Lipps spoke
about immediate psychic experience, stressing the role of empathy as
against intellectual perception.
Remember, too, Kandinsky's remarks in his Spiritual, which echo Mae-
terlinck- about the pure sound of a word, for example, when a word is
repeated often enough, its meaning becomes secondary and ceases to
intrude on its acoustic aspect. Only then does one perceive the inner
sound, the word's perhaps mystical meaning.
The Kandinsky-literature since Sixten Ringbom's book The Sounding
Cosmos (Abo 1970) stresses more and more the theosophical and anthro-
posophical connections and some art historians pay more attention to
supposed 'thought forms' and auras than to the paintings themselves.
[Some of you may remember the large exhibition which borrowed the
title of Kandinsky's main theoretical work On the Spiritual in Art a few
years ago here in Den Haag, coming from the County museum in Los
Angeles: a Dutch theosophical journal at that time as it were took over
Kandinsky, treating him as if he were the purest theosophist and their
intimate fellow. No, there is evidence that Kandinsky never joined the
Theosophical or Anthroposophical Society and his interest in it soon
faded after a short fascination. In fact the artist never joined any non-
artistic association. But there is another spiritual connection, one that has
not yet been investigated. His encounter with the composer Hartmann in
1908 or earlier led to a life-long, very close friendship. Hartmann and his
wife Olga, a singer, were close to the Sufi movement even before joining
78 Schonberg and Kandinsky
Gudjieff's esoteric group in 1917. Sufism was still a secret teaching at this
time. Members were not permitted to reveal much to the uninitiated to
avoid misuse. But such a stable personality as Kandinsky (who was
Hartmann's senior by 17 years) could certainly be trusted. Also it was
clear to any initiate that Kandinsky was 'extra lucid', as Steiner is sup-
posed to have observed. So it is quite likely that the Hartmanns alluded to
the important role the so-called Wazifas played in their life. A Wazifa (or
Latifa) is a sound which carries an age-old significance, naming one or
another of God's aspects, which man partakes of to some extent. It acts
upon the different chakras or energy-zones of the body: for instance those
including the i-sound stimulate the third eye, the seat of affective percep-
tion. The a-sound (as Kandinsky emphasized in the incomprehensible
words of his stage plays), opens the heart chakra in loving affection to
the world. At the initiation the master often attributes one or several such
sounds to the pupil as a daily exercise, according to what the student
must strengthen or still discover within himself. Now why should Hart-
mann have kept such matters secret from his friend, who since 1904 had
been studying similar phenomena and their relation to colors, and who
used them in his stage compositions? In fact Hartmann's wife Olga firmly
stated that the movement of the last giant in Kandinsky' s Yellow Sound
(when he raises both arms slowly till his figure reaches the form of a
cross) was inspired by a Sufi spiritual exercise. This seemed to me rather
to have a Christian root, and I remember fighting over this question with
Olga, when I stayed with her to study Hartmann's contribution to the
common stage plays. Still I must do justice to Olga's memory and judge-
ment, and as surprising as I found her statement, it has historical value.
There is no sure way anymore to reconstruct the truth.
Aside from light, sound (music) is for the Sufi the most important
manifestation of the spirit that can be perceived by our senses and is
used for prayer, healing etc. In the Sufi tradition, just as in the Tibetan
etc., exercises in overtones are very important, they are considered to be
the finest, most spiritual manifestation of sound (I am so curious to know
what the professional musicologists attending this colloquium will say
about the reasons ... is it because overtones are extremely subtle or
because they are indirect and supplementary tones to the one created
main tone/sound ... ?). It is not proven but it is likely that Kandinsky
had heard about that from his friends - and that was prior to his
acquaintance with Schonberg.
The subtlety of effect can be compared with microtonal compositions.
They supposedly influence the psyche in barely perceptible ways without
detouring through the brain. This is precisely how Kandinsky wanted to
 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments 79
reach people through his art. In June, 1910, he wrote his first letter to
Nikolai Kulbin, believing - as he did with Schonberg - that they had
common goals. Perhaps Kandinsky was already familiar with Kulbin's
publication Studio impressionistov (Studio of the Impressionists), with its
passages on hearing colors and coordinating spectral colors with the
music scale. Kulbin sent Kandinsky his brochure Free Music. Application
of the New Art and Music. Kandinsky promptly translated parts of it for the
Blue Rider alma~nac. In essence, these say that, like the 'music of nature',
free music uses all tones, quarter, eighth, even thirteenth tones. The
microtonal composer's ability to act on the mind is enriched in particular
by 'small intervals' which are not perceived by the brain. Such ideas were
'in the air' at that time, but Kulbin was probably one of the first to have
noted them and experimented with them. I wonder to what degree this
can be compared with Schonberg's invention of the 'Sprechstimme', the
'speaking' voice that he used more and more in his works.
The sensitivity for microtonal effects might have been particularly
strong in Russia, perhaps because every Russian was subjected to them
in church from childhood on. Not through the choir, but through the
priest's finely elaborated way of chanting (an ear for music is an absolute
requirement for priesthood in the Orthodox church). The priest's voice
rises in pitch imperceptibly at particularly dramatic or solemn moments,
not through steps or half steps but through something close to 'micro-
tonal glissandi' (for non-musicologists like myself this can be explained
oversimply as the violin technique of gypsy music). Russian Poets create
a similar effect with their rhapsodical howling way of declamation.
Nowadays it has become more rare, but I remember hearing Yosip
Brodsky a few years ago recite in exactly this tradition, and it sent strange
shivers up and down my spine.
Kandinsky's first contact with microtonal effects goes back to 1900- but
in painting. There is new evidence concerning Paul Signac's famous
treatise From Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism, published in 1899, which
Kandinsky quotes often, starting from On the Spiritual right up to 1928.
His early close friend Benja Bogaevskaya translated the book into Russian
probably on his instigation (her manuscript was found in Kandinsky's
estate with several early pencil sketches of his). Signac emphatically
demonstrates that 'petits intervalles' are found in Delacroix's work,
where they help to create hitherto unknown effects and remarkably
pure shades of color: i.e. intervals between a) light/ dark, tone in tone,
b) close shades, like warmer/colder.
When Kandinsky in 1914 expanded his stage compositions to what was
to become Violett, his composer friend Hartmann was not in Munich.
80 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
Kandinsky endeavored to deal with the music himself, giving only global
indications about instruments (like: a violin plays a scale) and concentrat-
ing on noises and voices. Example: "A child's voice, very high and
somewhat in the manner of a church song". Before the next act there
are voices and noises in full darkness which announce the changing of the
scene: nails being pounded in, an artisan whistling, commands like:
"Bring the wall, the domes - careful! Lower the sun (something rolls
around with a muted noise)." 21 These are 'alienating effects' similar to
those produced much later in Bertolt Brecht's theatre. The darkness on
the stage and in the theatre increases the perception of the sounds.
Kandinsky specifies the human voices with precision: a breathless child's
voice; a warm alto; whispers. The modulations of an old beggar's voice go
from "nasal, almost howling" to "hacked, dragging" and "cello-like
glissando". A shawm imitates a human voice, then the same theme is
quietly played on a trumpet.
There is a large wooden cow on stage which first moos either sadly or
stolidly and later in a very high range, "complaining pathetically as if she
had lost her calf", first alternating with the choir, later on together. The
action of Violett, if "action" is the right term, could be termed "pre-
dadaist". There is an attempt at producing surprise, and shock too, by
baffling the audience, confronting it with the unfamiliar and a deliberate
lack of coherence between different elements. When one is not distracted
by meanings or plot, one is more open to the direct effect of the art form,
the media itself, Kandinsky believed, particularly if it contains new and
unusual elements.
Not having Hartmann to work with, Kandinsky composed a little
music for the first and only time in his life. So take it more as a curiosity,
when you now witness as a one minute pause in my report the few notes
which Kandinsky wrote as a recitative for one voice.
For Schonberg painting was a marginal, but from 1907 till 1912, very
important activity. When Kandinsky contacted the composer, he was not
aware that he painted too. And surprise! Schonberg painted not only
realistic pictures, mainly portraits and self-portraits, but also some
abstract ones (figs. 5, 7, 9, 10, 12). The critics judged: "Schonberg's music
and Schonberg's pictures - then one must lose both one's hearing and
sight at the same time." But Kandinsky was one of the first people who
recognized the value of these highly expressive and genuine paintings,
and he dared to show three of them in his first Blue Rider exhibition and
almanac next to professional works. But he prefered the realistic ones!
Peter Gorsen's opinion: "Standing in the way of an art-historical under-
standing of Schonberg's visionary painting is ... the fact that it reveals
 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments 81

Figure 5 Schonberg: Vision

© A. Schonberg
c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

Figure 6 Schonberg: Self-portrait

© A. Schonberg c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam
82 Schonberg and Kandinsky

Figure 7 Schonberg: Red Gaze © A. Schonberg c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

Figure 8 Schonberg: Self-portrait © A. Schonberg c/ o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments 83

Figure 9 Schonberg: Thinking © A. Schonberg c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

Figure 10 Schonberg: Die gliickliche Hand © A. Schonberg c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

84 Schonberg and Kandinsky

Figure 11 Schonberg: Mahler's Funeral © A. Schonberg c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdarr

Figure 12 Schonberg: Vision (Gaze) © A. Schonberg c/o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

 Kandinsky, Schonberg and their Parallel Experiments 85

Figure 13 Schonberg: Hatred © A. Schonberg c/ o Beeldrecht Amsterdam

itself in its introversive pictorial language as decisively unhistorical and

regressive, but at the same time as the creative self-healing attempt of a
depressive individual, who finds his actual artistic justification only in his
musical work, in which the painter's psychogrammes are integrated and
dissolved." 22 "The comparison of his visionary pictorial poems with self-
portraits of the depressed may reveal that we have primarily a phenom-
enon of therapeutic painting and not that of artistic volition here." And
why is this the case only within a certain time period? And why is his
painting a self-healing process, but not his music? Isn't every artistic
exercise in some way a self-healing process (a process which concerns
no one but the author himself and can be totally disregarded, if the result
is art)?
In contrast to this and to many other opinions, the contemporary
Austrian artist Oswald Oberhuber stated in 1984 that Schonberg was
the most important painter of his time 23 . He sympathizes with Schon-
berg's tendency to withdraw, and whose share in the history of art in tum
was witheld. Let us reflect upon the idea of withdrawing - literally we
might think of Schonberg's withdrawal when Kandinsky wanted to con-
tinue exhibiting his paintings, for instance in Berlin after 1912. The com-
poser said he does not feel right to be among professional artists. But also:
to withdraw indirectly, to draw and paint more awkwardly and naively
than to his ability. But why is there such a difference in quality (a purely
86 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
art-historical point of view of course)? Does it mean that Schonberg
sometimes withdrew more, sometimes less?
Last year, finally a huge catalogue was published, showing most of
Schonberg's artistic production. And when one sees it all, one wonders
even more about the contrast between absolute masterpieces and so many
weak works. The editor, Thomas Zaunschirn, mainly discusses the diffi-
culty of distinguishing the composer from the painter. To protect the
painter from the composer, it seems important to inquire about the belief
in the homogeneity of the person. What is the actual meaning of the
statement: "There was only one Schoenberg whichever he did: compose,
teach, write or paint (Sorell, 1958). But the totality of the person does not
necessarily constitute the homogeneity of the individual facets. A religious
genius does not have to be an outstanding artist, and a person's ability to
cook does not become more impressive by peak performances in sports." A
very good and witty question. But still it is a fact that talents are usually not
equally distributed: one person is a good cook, another a great musician.
Unfairly, it is true that a genius is also quite often talented in many other
fields than his own, as Schonberg's and Kandinsky's examples show! Also
let us ask the naive but logical question: why is it necessary to separate
Schonberg the musician from Schonberg the painter? He was a great com-
poser, that is a fact; does he therefore have no right to be a good painter? Or
at times a weaker painter? Why cut a person to pieces artificially?
For control let us come back to Schonberg's own words. When in 1907
he announced he wanted to paint portraits and even earn money with his
new profession, he later admitted: "It was a way of expressing myself, of
presenting emotions, ideas. As a painter I was absolutely an amateur.
And I had no theoretical training and only a little aesthetic training, this
only from general education ... This is the difference between my paint-
ing and music" 24 . To Stokowsky he concedes in 1949 that his painting
"deviates considerably" from other styles. He considered his own style as
"making music with colors and forms." As opposed to his own frequent
repeated suppositions, the peculiar position of his painting lies in the lack
of a style. The various ways of painting a self-portrait deserve the same
attention as the art- historical failure in the search for models, Zaunschirn
claims. Was it Ensor, Jawlensy, Kubin? Kokoschka started much too late,
and Schonberg got to know Kandinsky, when the main part of his paint-
ing was accomplished. From Richard Gerstl he might have learned a little
technique. No, Schonberg had practically no models, and that might be
the main reason why, as a painter he has been spared appropriation. He
probably would have liked that: how resistant he still is to all strategies of
reception and classification. "He shows an awkward originality, in light
 Kandinsky, SchOnberg and their Parallel Experiments 87
of which it is not permitted to differentiate between the successful Red
Gaze and unsuccessful portraits, between quality and things it would
have been better not to show" 25 • In my opinion not only the few paintings
of highest quality may be shown, but also the truly dilettante pictures. The
fact is that even minor and marginal activities of geniuses have an inter-
est, especially if they are innovative.

NOTES

1 Letter from G. Munter to SchOnberg, Aug. 20, 1912, in: Arnold Schoenberg/Wassily
Kandinsky, Letters, Pictures and Documents. Ed. J. Hahl-Koch, London/Boston 1984,
p. 55f.
2 Letter to Kandinsky, ibid. p. 23.
3 J. Auner: "Schoenberg's Aesthetic Transformations and the Evolution of Form in Die
gliickliche Hand", in: Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, Vol. XII, No. 2, Nov.
1989, p. 2.
4 Letter to Schonberg, in: Schoenberg/Kandinsky, Letters ... p. 25.
5 Letter to Munter, September 3, 1903, pp. 103 ff. (Gabriele Miinter- and Johannes
Eichner-Foundation, Munich.)
6 (Gabriele Munter- and Johannes Eichner-Foundation, Munich).
7 Letter to Schonberg, April 9, 1911. in: Schoenberg/Kandinsky, Letters, ... p. 27 f.
8 A. Bely, "Formy iskusstva", in: Mir iskusstva, St. Petersburg No.8, 1902.
9 "Paralleli v oktavakh i kvintakh", in: Salon 2, Ed. Vladimir Izdebsky, Odessa 1910/
1911, p. 16.
10 Letter to Munter, July 7, 1907 (Gabriele Munter- and Johannes Eichner-Foundation,
Munich).
11 A. Strakosch, Lebenswege mit Rudolf Steiner. Strassburg/Zuerich 1947, pp. 16f.
12 Letter to Nikolai Kulbin, October 18, 1910 (Russian Museum, St. Petersburg).
13 Letter to Miinter, October 23, 1910 (Gabriele Munter- and Johannes Eichner-Founda-
tion, Munich).
14 Letter to Munter from Moscow, October 10, 1910 (Gabriele Miinter- and Johannes
Eichner-Foundation, Munich).
15 Thomas von Hartmann, "Der unentzifferbare Kandinsky" (The undecipherable
Kandinsky), 1913, manuscript (Gabriele Miinter- and Johannes Eichner-Foundation,
Munich).
16 Letter of Aug. 19, 1912, in: Schoenberg/Kandinsky, Letters, ... p. 54.
17 Report in: Vestnik rabotnikov iskusstv, No. 4-5, Moscow 1921, p. 74f.
18 Manuscript, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
19 Letters to Munter, October 3 and November 17, 1910 (Gabriele Miinter- and Johannes
Eichner-Foundation, Munich).
20 ibid.
21 Manuscripts of "Violett", Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
22 Quoted from: Arnold Schoenberg, Paintings and Drawings, Ed. Th. Zaunschirn, Klagen-
furt 1992, p. 43.
23 ibid.
24 Th. Zaunschim, "The Painter Schoenberg", in: Arnold Schoenberg, Paintings and Draw-
ings, Ed. Th. Zaunschim, Klagenfurt 1992, p. 53.
25 Ibid.
Kandinsky and Schonberg: The Problem of
Internal Counterpoint
BULAT M. GALEYEV

Most people connect the name and theoretical works of Kandinsky with
the problem of synesthesia. Moreover he is often called an artist-synesthe-
sist. And indeed he constantly referred to the analogies between music
and painting, compared concrete musical timbres with certain colors all
the time. Further, it appears that he made special research of the synesthe-
sia problem in the "laboratory of monumental art" (INHUK), founded by
him after the Revolution, and then in the Bauhaus. These facts are known
to many researchers, but, unfortunately, they disregard the main deduc-
tions of Kandinsky which are connected with his brilliant idea of "inter-
nal counterpoint". The idea appeared to be very fruitful and I have
proved that Kandinsky had discovered the fundamental esthetic law,
which is very important for modem artistic practice, for all arts, including
the new ones too.
Thus, let us first recollect what synesthesia is. As a psychological
phenomenon and as a product of culture synesthesia is intermodal,
intersensory (specifically-audio-visual) associations most actively formed
and cultivated in human intercourse (language, and especially in art). I
have already said at the symposium during the "Impakt-91" festival, that
among audio-visual synesthesias it is possible to select the following most
common for all people appropriate associations:

dynamics of sound, -dynamics of "gesture" (this is both its

changing of music movement in depth and the changing of
loudness brightness);
melodical development - dynamics of plastics, of picture;
music tempo - speed of motion and of transformation of
visual images;
timbre development - colour development of plastics;
changing of tonality - development of colouring of the whole
picture or of colour planes (during
polytonality);
90 Schonberg and Kandinsky
shear on registers - changing of size and lightness of the
drawing;
changing of modes - changing of lightness of the whole picture.
(major, minor)

Many artists and theoreticians of art consider, that in the new arts
based on the audio-visual synthesis it is quite sufficiant to follow the
"prompts" of synesthesia and to continually realize, model on the screen
or on the stage these accordances, mentioned above, in order to obtain a
highly artistic result. These tendencies are especially evident in cinema
without a plot, abstract cinema, in animation (specifically in computer
animation of recent years), where there is even a special term for it here in
the Netherlands - "synesthetical film". In those films there is constant
synchronism in the motions of music and complicated visual images,
which is considered not only as a merit, but occasionally turns into an
end in itself.
Yes, these films are attractive as a kind of "visual portrait" of well-
known musical works (let's recall certain fascinating films of 0. Fischin-
ger, N. McLaren, the Whitney brothers). But the experience of other
audio-visual arts prompts the notion that possibilities of the audio-visual
synthesis are not exhausted by audio-visual synchronism (or, so to say, by
an audio-visual "unison").
Stanislavsky in theatre, Fokine in dance, Eisenstein in cinema, Scriabin
in light-music have all shown what great possibilities are hidden in the
methods of audio-visual polyphony when, side by side with moments of
audio visual "unison" (i.e. of synchronism of "audio" and "vision" by
some mutual signs), the moments of premeditated, conscious digression
from the "unison" are used too. I mean the moments of "audio-visual
counterpoint", when "audio" and "vision" come into conscious (thought
out) conflict. This conflict can manifest itself (be put into effect) in either
"horizontal plane" (unsuperpositions in time structure) or in "vertical
plane" (unsuperpositions in emotional and sensible influence). In other
words, synthesis in these moments is put into effect purposefully against
"prompts" from synesthesia, achieving by this the necessary feeling of
contrast, conflict, distress, etc., finally forming thus a complicated drama-
turgy of synthetical work (composition). But these propositions can also be
considered as universally recognized by the theory and they will, I hope,
introduced into practice of all the new audio-visual arts step by step.
The genius of Kandinsky is based on the fact that he went further,
opened deeper regulations of the synthesis by turning his attention to
phenomena of so-called "internal counterpoint", on the basis of which I
 Kandinsky and Schonberg: The Problem of Internal Counterpoint 91

have developed his ideas, having continued with research into the prin-
ciples of the so-called "internal polyphony" (for all temporary arts,
including audio-visual).
In connection with this I would like to highlight that, side by side with
the usual known to all intermodal synesthesias, there are also less evident,
less appreciated, but equally important intramodal synesthesias. What I
would like to touch upon are the psychological associations between the
separate components inside one sensory material! Thus, for example, V.
Kandinsky noted that the active yellow color is close by its emotional
effect to an active sharp figure of a triangle, the calm dark blue color is
close to a calm circle, and a monolithic square is close by its effect to the
red color, etc. By analogy one can see the presence of "internal" synesthe-
sia for hearing too: the timbre of trumpet is similar to an active melodical
drawing, to the major tonality, and the timbre of cello is similar to a slow
tempo, to an elegiac melody, etc.
If we follow the prompts of the "internal" synesthesia we shall reach a
constant strengthening, duplicating of the effect (e.g. if we make a
triangular figure yellow, a circle dark blue, etc.). This method can be
called an "internal unison". But we have hardly considered the effect of
constant strengthening a worthy artistic task. Because the drama, the final
aim, the content of the art work may demand other methods too, where
an artist consciously avoids "internal unison".
Leaning upon his experience as a painter, Kandinsky explained this
term: "internal counterpoint", invented by himself, in the following way.
He imagined the painting "Sudden grief", in which there is a woman,
who has recieved a letter, informing her that she has suddenly become a
widow. Kandinsky considers it would be banal to depict the "feeling of
grief" with the "grief" plot itself and with the "grief" composition and
with the "grief" drawing and with the "grief" colouring. He thinks that a
much more powerful effect could be reached if against the theme of grief
the widow's dress would suddenly become bright red, it would stress the
suddenness of grief and the drama of the moment. If one looks attentively
on Kandinsky's abstract pictures one would note that Kandinsky widely
used the whole range of contrasts- from zero during internal unison (red
square, blue circle) to the sharpest contrasts (yellow circle, green square),
etc. All this lets us perceive his abstract pictures as a real symphony,
"music for the eye".
I have supposed that a similar situation is common for all arts, where,
probably, it is also possible to discover the moments of purposeful,
premediated "internal counterpoint" of various degrees of complexity
in different periods of the development of these arts.
92 Schonberg and Kandinsky
The most evident architecture examples: the outward appearance of
Egyptian pyramids does not conflict with our habitual feeling of the
ponderability, the solidity of the material used: namely stone (we are
dealing here with "internal unison"). And on the contrary, in the struc-
tures of "flaming Gothic" and in whimsical, flowing windings of baro-
que, the visual image is synesthetically antagonistic to the material used
("internal counterpoint"), something that defines the aesthetic peculiarity
of these styles.
In poetry, when unintentionally highlighting ("marking out") the pho-
nic qualities of words in verses (onomatopoeia and alliteration), it is
possible to make these qualities of sound continuously fall in "unison"
with the meaning - as was sometimes done by the Russian Symbolist
poets at the end of the 19th century. But it is also possible to interwine
these two "voices" (sounding and meaning) in other, more complicated
and different relations, dictated not only by a formal task, but by an
internal artistic necessity. Brilliant examples of harmony of sound and
meaning were given by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. And it
was our contemporary poet Boris Pasternak, who filled the notion of
"music of verse" with a polyphonic, but not a trivial flat content. He
wrote: this "phenomenon is not acoustic at all and it consists not in
euphony of vowels and consonants, taken separately, but in the correla-
tion of the meaning of speech and its sounding". I should like to note,
that the creative work of Pasternak himself proves that the character of
these correlations in his work is not limited by a despondent "internal
unison''.
In another temporal art - in theatre, similar arguments were used by
Stanislavsky, who violently opposed the method of "merry meriment",
which is frequently used in actor's recitation, when "merry semantics"
regardless of the authors intentions - whether it is necessary or not - is
presented phonically in a "merry" sounding.
And, finally, music, where it appears, even one-voice melody can be
split into, so to say, "internal voices", if mental plots are made of the
charges in every component (melodical development, loudness, tempo
etc.). They can be parallel (i.e. follow the "prompts" of intramodal
synesthesia - e.g., supposed to sound-pitch activity by loud sounding,
quick tempo, buoyant timbre and mode) or remain in an antiphase (quick
tempo in pianissimo, lyrical melody in nasal timbre and so on). The
Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov in his works on orchestration has
made profound research into this problem. He dwelled on the necessity
to apply both methods (according to our terminology the method of
"internal unison" and "internal counterpoint" which, taken together,
 Kandinsky and Schonberg: The Problem of Internal Counterpoint 93

permit us to say, concerning the temporal art of music, about the exist-
ence of "internal polyphony" in music). By the way, according to my
comparing analysis of music of different epochs, it is possible to note
the following fact: a step by step change from the primary usage of
the "internal unison" methods to wider turning to "internal counter-
point" methods is observed in music evolution (compare for example
the music of Bach, Beethoven, Scriabin). To my mind in a most evident
form it has become apparent in the "Klangfarbenmelodie" of Schonberg,
where such a characteristic as timbre has also got an opportunity for
independent development (although it was done within a purely formal
method).
Probably similar evolution is common in the development of every art.
Nevertheless we finally see that even the experience of non-synthetic art
proves the possibility and necessity of deepest penetration of counter-
pointical, polyphonical thinking in the structure of audio-visual, synthetic
arts. These arts can now use, alongside the evident merits of audio-visual
polyphony, the merits of "internal polyphony" of every art participating
in the synthesis. This will let us reach the closest polyphonical unity of
"external" and "internal" voices for the realisation of the most complex
artistic ideas.
Such are the conclusions resulting from my reflections upon a subtle
and profound observation made by Kandinsky on the problem of "inter-
nal counterpoint".

Bibliography
1. V. Kandinsky. Concerning the Spiritual in Art (Painting). - In: Petrograd All-Russian
artists congress proceedings (December 1911-January 1912), 2 volumes, Petrograd,
1914.
2. V. Kandinsky. Stages: Artist's Text. -Moscow, 1918
3. V. Kandinsky. On Stage Composition. -Figurative art (Izobrazitelnoe iskusstvo), 1919, 1.
4. V. Kandinsky. Concerning the Spiritual in Art.- New York, 1967
5. S.D. Khan-Magomedov. Kandinsky on Perception and Effects of Means of Artistic
Expression - In: VNIITE proceedings, Technical aesthetics issue No. 17, Moscow,
pp. 77-96
6. V. Kandinsky. Exhibition Catalogue.- Leningrad, Avrora, 1989. From the contents:
Letters of V.V. Kandinsky to D.N. Kordovsky
D. V. Sarabjanov. About V.V. Kandinsky
S.D. Khan-Magomedov. V.V. Kandinsky in the section of monumental art at INHUK
(1920)
T.M. Pertseva. V.V. Kandinsky and GAHN
L.P. Monakhova. V.V. Kandinsky in the Bauhaus (1922-1933)
M.P. Vikturina. About the question of V.V. Kandinsky's painting technique
7. V. Kandinsky. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. -Leningrad, 1990
 Where does "The Blue Rider" Gallop?
Schonberg, Kandinsky and Scriabin
on the Synthesis of Art
IRINA L. VANECHKINA

1992 is notable for the fact that it was the anniversary for the almanac
"The Blue Rider" (Der Blaue Reiter) - the first and last issue of which was
published in 1912 in Munich, edited by V. Kandinsky and F. Marc. This
collection of articles of known artists and musicians greatly influenced the
theory and practice of 20th century art, which explains constant attention
to it up to the present times. There exists prominent research about "The
Blue Rider" and its authors (e.g. see 1). Our interest in it is stimulated
by the fact that on the pages of this collection met the three great artists
of the 20th century, who tried, each of them in his own way, to embody
in their creations the idea of synthesis of arts (meaning the painter
Kandinsky, and composers Schonberg and Scriabin). Kandinsky is
represented by two articles - "To the Question of Form" ("Uber die
Formfrage") and "About Stage Composition" ("Uber Biihnenkomposi-
tion")2 and also by the practical work - the scenario of his composi-
tion"Yellow Sound" ("Der gelbe Klang") 3 . Schonberg had published
here the article "Correlation with Text" ("Das Verhaltnis zum Text").
Ideas of A. Scriabin are introduced by his friend and biographer
L. Sabaneyev in the article "Prometheus by A. Scriabin" ("Prometheus
von Skrjabin"t
The aim of our report is to bring to light the similarities and, at the
same time, reveal the differences in their understanding of aims and ways
of synthesis, to compare the results of their practical experiments, evalu-
ating both from the positions of modern synthesis theory5 . In short, we
have to ascertain where "The Blue Rider" started its run from and where
it is really galloping now, regarding the title of the collection itself as a
symbol of modern ideas of arts synthesis.
First of all the similarity lies in the fact that they themselves were
creators of the Leonardo type - variously endowed men. Thus the painter
Kandinsky wrote verses and scenarios, and was a musically educated
man. Musician Schonberg took painting seriously, and wrote verses and
librettos for his stage works. Musician Scriabin also wrote poetry and
philosophical programmes for his writings. It is also remarkable that all of
96 Schonberg and Kandinsky
them paid attention on making analogies between the hearing and seeing
(Kandinsky and Schonberg compared musical timbres and colors; it is
known an original system of parallels between colors and tonalities had
been born in Scriabin). In a certain measure their mutual passion for
theosophical studies influenced all this. Nevertheless we can only estab-
lish that, side by side with the fact that every one of them was a pioneer in
his main sphere of activity (Kandinsky - abstract painting, Scriabin - new
modes, Schonberg- dodecaphony), all of them, each in his own way, be it
in painting or music, inevitably and naturally came to the synthesis of
arts.
Thus, let's begin with the theoretical standpoint of Kandinsky. Discuss-
ing the essence of synthetic art (for some reason he used another unusual
term - "monumental art") he imagined the real embodiment of the
synthesis as some kind of "stage composition". As we can see, Kandinsky
uses just these words and it is the summing up, on the stage only, of the
following three abstract elements:

"1. Musical tone and its movement.

2. Corporal-spiritual sounding and its movement, expressed by
means of a human body or object.
3. Color tone and its movement, which obtain independent signifi-
cance and are used as a means processing equal rights."

Thus, his stage "composition" differs from the usual theatre perform-
ances just because all the synthesized elements are "abstract". "Abstract"
soundings of music and "abstract" movements of human body were used
in the traditional theatre too, but the new component of synthesis here is
the "color", coming from "abstract" painting and which has to get the
movement, lacking in the painting itself. Explaining the principles of the
interaction of these three "abstract" elements, Kandinsky warns, that in
spite of their independence they must not repeat each other, being at the
same time subordinated to the one "internal aim". Kandinsky wrote, that,
for example, "music can be completely subdued or moved to the back-
ground, if action, e.g. movement, is expressive enough and its effect is
only weakened by an active presence of music. Decreasing the motion in
a dance may lead to the growth of motion in music". In these conceptions
Kandinsky demonstrates one of the most important and deepest ideas of
his theory - the idea of counterpoint in different arts. He points out, that
the unusual force of influence of synthetic art lies just between "conso-
nance" and "anti-consonance", i.e. between unison and counterpoint of
means used.
 The Blue Rider 97

For all that, Kandinsky as a painter thought that only the light is that
main means, through which it is possible to influence the human spirit.
"Color as a key, eye is a little hummer, spirit is a multistrung piano". This
phrase was written by V. Kandinsky in his work "Concerning the Spirit-
ual in Art", which preceded "The Blue Rider". Being based on the idea,
that the spirit is the whole and that sight is connected with all other
senses, Kandinsky suggested detailed comparisons not only between
colors and feelings, colors and symbols, colors and timbres, but also
between colors and temperature qualities, colors and different kinds of
motion. These synesthetical notions of his form are the content of a special
chapter "Language of Colors" in the above mentioned work "Concerning
the Spiritual in Art" 6 .
Exactly the principles of two program works by Kandinsky - "About
Stage Composition" and "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" lay at the base
of the creation of the scenario for his composition "Yellow Sound".
Though the composition has its plot it is quite abstract. Live actors
participate in it, but they are only character-symbols. The use of colors
in the dresses of the personages is symbolical too. So a child in white and
a man in black symbolize Life and Death. Groups of people in red and
blue symbolize the earthly and spiritual and giants in yellow - the instant
and base. Light must be present in Kandinsky's work too, but it is just the
beams, lighting the characters and helping to connect stage action with
music by their dynamics. (As for the significant reasonings of Kandinsky
about "moving abstract painting", it appears, he meant first of all appre-
ciation of abstract dance in color costumes.) They are also examples of
counterpoint of means which are contained there. So in the third picture
the musical diminuendo corresponds to the light crescendo, while bright
and variable light is contrasted with the low whisper of the giants. In the
fifth picture, Kandinsky advises to use the method of conscious diver-
gence in the tempo of music and dance etc.
Kandinsky himself had no time to see the realization of his "Yellow
Sound" 7 . Foreseeing the difficulties of possible embodiment of the
abstract stage composition according to his verbal (by means of words
only) description, Kandinsky thought, that the main thing in the scenario
published by him are the proposed principles. As one could foresee, all
the attempts to perform the "Yellow Sound" in different countries in
further years were very different one from another. And this is not
surprising if we keep in mind that different musical bases were used
there (in the USA- T. Khartman, in France- A. Webern, in the USSR- A.
Schnittke). But it is important for us to note the following: in all of them
the use of light was accomplished according to the theatre canons, and
98 Schonberg and Kandinsky
the thesis about moving abstract painting (I would like to stress it) was
reduced to the appreciation of a dance in colored dresses. This primacy of
material color and material plastics was preserved in the performance of
Kandinsky's composition, staged by him to the music by Mussorgsky
"Pictures from an Exhibition" in Dessau in 19288 . Scenography here
became more complicated - not only did the actors move on the stage
but also color decoration elements, lamps, were moved by the actors to
music. Thus, in such an unusual way Kandinsky tried to achieve the
animation of the abstract painting. In this he was close to experiments
of 0. Schlemmer with abstract ballet. It is surprising that Kandinsky did
not use the experience of his other colleagues in the Bauhaus - L. Khirsh-
veld-Mak, I. Khartvig, who had already achieved some real animation of
the most complex figures of abstract painting by the use of nonmaterial
light projection.
Now let us address ourselves to Schonberg. His article in "The Blue
Rider" is devoted to the interrelations of music and word, where he
stands for the use of different most complex forms of their union. Also
in those years, as it is known, he worked on the synthetic monodrama
"The Lucky Hand" ("Die gliickliche Hand"), where to music and word
he added mimicry, picturesque decorations and peculiar scenography,
subordinated to music. A. Schonberg is astonishingly close to V. Kan-
dinsky in the symbolic character of the plot. But his idea is more devel-
oped and complete. Leit-motives, leit-timbres, leit-colors are conformed to
all personages. The timbre of the cello always corresponds to the Man;
violins, flutes, harps - to the Woman. In the dynamics of the stage-light
the composer used the following color-timbre parallels: yellow - trumpet,
blue - English horn, violet - clarinet, bassoon and so on. Schonberg refers
to purely light-music methods at the culminating moment of the drama,
when tension of the action and expressionist music reach such a limit that
the sounds appear to "go out of themselves" into the sphere of different
feeling, into the sphere of light. It takes place in the scene of the storm.
The logics of correlation between color, timbres and emotions incarnated
in this light-musical episode is consonant with Kandinsky's system of
color-timbre synesthesias. (It is clear - they were friends and spiritually
close.) The storm in nature, tension of human emotions are accompanied
by the sound and light crescendo. In timbres the movement goes from
violins and oboes through clarinet, bassoon, tambourine, harp to the
triumph of trombones and trumpets. The episode is brought to a finish
by a pacifying English horn. Accordingly this is mirrored in color, which
goes from black and brown through dull green, violet and red to orange
and yellow. The light crescendo is closed by a soft blue color. As we see,
 The Blue Rider 99
Schonberg like Kandinsky remained close to the usual theatre traditions,
although as a musician having worked for a long time for the stage, he
was more detailed in the study of light-musical (music-kinetic) synthesis
methods.
But it was Scriabin who completely reduced the whole visual compo-
nent to the light. In the above mentioned article about the "Prometheus"
by Sabaneyev there is some information about the line of "Luce" (light),
according to which all the space had to be changed into colors parallel
and synchronously with the changing of chords and tonalities in music. It
is known besides that just after the "Prometheus", Scriabin already spoke
about the necessity to introduce into the part of light some complex light
forms, light plastics and, what is vital, he rebukes the initial idea of audio-
visual counterpoint methods in the future synthetic works.
Scriabin had no time to put his principles into practice, the same as he
had not realized his idea of "Mystery". This great synthetic performance
had to be presented in some temple, built of ephemeral, unsubstantial
material. By the way, Kandinsky also dreamt about some fantastic temple
where there would be presented and united all the arts. It was remarkable
what name Kandinsky had given to this temple- "The Great Utopia" 9 .
The last synthetic idea of Schonberg's was "Accompanying Music to a
Cinema Scene" ("Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene") which was also
left unrealized. Without a doubt, the successors will turn to these projects
again and again - out of respect for the pioneers of audio-visual synthesis.
If we ev"l.luate the positions of our three "riders" on a global scale, and
if we speak about synthesis of arts on the music base, then it was best
discovered by Scriabin. Only by turning to ephemeral material- i.e. the
light, can one achieve that pliability and freedom in the management of
visual material, which has already been achieved in respect to the sound.
Only in this case the synthesis of "audio" and "visual" will have equal
rights both in articulating and artistic possibilities. Only by the use of
light one can get a moving abstract painting with the most complex
dynamics of the most complex figures, which are no longer subordinate
to the forces of gravity. (This is the difference between "screen" and
"stage", where the action of the gravity forces is preserved for both the
usual and abstract ballet.)
I should like to highlight of the inferences of modern scientists about
the light-music genesis. It is certain today that men have already had for a
long time an opportunity to perceive music through eyes - in dance 10 .
And light-music is a further, instrumental development of a musical
gesture. Today, having received such material as controlled light one
can turn to "instrumental light choreography", to the dance of abstract
100 Schonberg and Kandinsky
light images, as it is possible to characterize briefly the essence of the new
art - light-music. Art works of A. Laszlo, 0. Fischinger, T. Wilfred, the
best abstract computer films convince us of that only on the screen, just
by the use of light, it became possible to obtain a harmonious and
complete unity of "music for ear" and "music for eye", having made a
decisive step towards the reaching of a qualitatively new level of synth-
esis. "The Blue Rider" had come to its end and passed on the baton to the
other riders - to the riders of the computer era.

REFERENCES

1. E. Raters: Wassily Kandinsky und die Gestalt des Blauen Reiters. - Jahrbuch der
Berliner Museen, vol. 5, 1963, No. 2.
2. This text was published in Russian later with abridgments:
B. KaH,[(HHCKHH. 0 cu;eHnqecKoll: KOMII03Hl(HH. - I-'13o6pa3HTeJihHOe ncKyccTBO, 1919,
N. 1.
3. This was not published in Russian. Only in collected works of S. Eisenstein (1964-
1971) there were wide extracts from it (vol. 2, p. 2213-215).
4. This article was earlier published in Russian:
JI. Ca6aHeeB. ''IlpoMeTell:" CKpH6nHa.- My3hiKa, 1919, N. 13.
5. In some measure it has been done already in confronting analyses of their creative
works: H.H. Stuckenschmidt. Kandinsky und Schonberg. - Melos, vol. 31, 1964, Nos.
7-8; H. H. Stuckenschmidt. W. Kandinsky und A. Schonberg. - Universitas, vol. 32,
1977, No. 3; F. Weiland. Der gelbe Klang. -Interface, vol. 3, 1981, No. 1; D. Pecaud. Le
temps d'un espace: Scriabin, Kandinsky. - Schweizerische Musikzeitung, vol. 117,
1977, No. 3; f. C. Crawford. Die Gliickliche Hand: Schonberg's Gesamtkunstwerk. -
The Musical Quarterly, vol. 60, 1974, No.4; K. H. Worner. Arnold Schonberg and the
theatre.- The Musical Quarterly, vol. 48, 1962, No.4; ¥1. JI. BaHeqKHHa. B. M. raJieeB.
Ilo3Ma orHH (o KOHu;erru;nn cseTOMY3hiKaJIBHoro CHHTe3a A. H. CKpH6nHa). - Ka3aHh.
lf3):(-B6 KrY, 1981.
6. This classic work of Kandinsky was published for the first time in Germany in 1912 in
German, but firstly it was proclaimed in Russian (see Trudui Vserossiiskogo sezda
khudozhnikov in January 1911-Dec. 1912. -St. Petersburg, 1914). In the USSR it was
published in the Tvorchestvo (Creative work) magazine (1988, No. 8-10 and 1989,
No. 1) and as a separate book it was printed in Leningrad in 1990.
7. About attempts to perform the "Yellow Sound" see in article: ¥1. JI. BaHeqKnHa:
Cy):(h6a u;eHnqecKoll: KOMII03Hl(HH B. KaH,!IHHCKoro ")KeJIThiH 3BYK". - In the book:
CseTOMY3hiKa B TeaTpe n Ha 3CTpa,!le (Te3HCHhie ):(OKJia):(hi).- Ka3aHh, KAM, 1992.
8. See about this in the article: Hartman - Mussorgsky - Kandinsky - Ravel. - Neue
Zeitschrift fiir Musik, 1963, No. 10.
9. B. KaH):(HHCKHll:. 0 BeJIHKoll: yTorrnn.- Xy):(O)!{eCTBeHHaH )!{H3Hh, 1920, N. 3.
10. B. raJieeB. CseTOMY3hiKa: CTaHOBJieHHe H cyll(HOCTb HOhOfO HCKyCCTBa. - Ka3aHb,
TaTKHHrOH3AaT, 1976.
Public Loneliness: Atonality and the Crisis
of Subjectivity in Schonberg's Opus 15
ALBRECHT DUMLING

The Relationship to the Text

As a key-work of contemporary music Schonberg's "Funfzehn Gedichte aus
'Das Buch der hiingenden Giirten' von Stefan George" op. 15 documents not
only a turning point in music history, but also in the development of the
modem artist. The esoteric poems by Stefan George and the dissonant
musical aphorisms by Arnold Schonberg at first look seem to be out of
this world, far away from the European reality. But it is just this isolation,
this strangeness, which reflects the personal situation of both artists and
which in fact was the basis of their inspiration. This, together with the
more and more chromatic development of the musical material following
Wagner, gives an explanation for the necessity and authenticity of this
first atonal composition. Rather than repeat the different chromatic stages
between tonality and atonality, I will in the following focus on the more
neglected aspect, how the connection to specific poetry helped Schonberg
to redefine his role as an artist. This new role consequently authorized
him to give his musical language such a considerable change.
In Schonberg's oeuvre text-related compositions clearly dominate. Out
of the fifty works that carry an opus number twenty-eight are based on
texts, on poems, novels or dramas, not to mention unnumbered works
such as the "Gurrelieder", the oratorio "Jakobsleiter" and the opera "Moses
und Aron". In the composers' early period the dominance of vocal works
is even more striking. From opus 1 to opus 22 only five compositions are
not related to texts. 1 The majority of the early works are songs, Lieder and
Gesiinge. Nevertheless some musicologists try to see Schonberg primarily
as a composer of 'absolute music' in the tradition of Brahms, who then in
tum is also regarded as an autonomous composer. For these historians
the string quartet and not the song represents the center of his evolution,
and they are happy to quote from the composer's essay "The Relationship
to the Text" (1912) 2 in order to show that poetry had no influence on his
artistic development. But does Schonberg's aesthetic theory really corre-
spond to his works, does his essay appropriately describe the creation of
102 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
his George Songs op. 15? Was the poetry that he selected only of second-
ary importance for him?
In his early years Schonberg had set a great variety of poems, by
romantic and realistic poets which are forgotten now and whose influence
on him was less important. In 1897 however he turned to an author who
even today is known as one of the heads of German Modernism ("Die
Moderne"): Richard Dehmel (1863-1920). In December 1899 he finished a
string sextet entitled "Verkliirte Nacht. Gedicht von Richard Dehmel I fiir sechs
Streichinstrumente" (Transfigured Night. Poem by Richard Dehmel, for six
string instruments). In the first performances this relationship to the text
was always prominently mentioned (Figures 1-2).
In a letter to Dehmel, dated December 13, 1912, Schonberg wrote:
"Your poems have had a decisive influence on my musical development.
They forced me for the first time in my life, to search for a new sound in
lyric music. That is to say, I found it spontaneously by reflecting musi-
cally what your verses stirred and agitated in me. People who know my
music will confirm that my first experimental settings of your Lieder
contained more hints at my future development than many of my much
later compositions." 3 The composer confessed, that the experience of the
new texts had inspired a new musical language. Schonberg in those years
almost exclusively composed using texts of this poet, acquiring at the
same time greater sensibility for instrumental colors and for impression-
istic harmony.
The second great step forward in his development as a composer of
Lieder occurred in 1908 and was connected with a poet, who figures as a
counterpart to Richard Dehmel, namely Stefan George (1868-1933).
Although Schonberg later tried to dispute this influence, there is some
evidence that the decisive step to atonality was closely connected with his
choice of George's poetry. One may suggest that his influence was even
greater than that of Dehmel.

The background of George's poetry

There is no bigger contrast conceivable than between the straightforward
and even adventurous nature of Dehmel on one side, and the esoteric
distance and self-stylization of George on the other. Dehmel disliked the
godlike attitude of his colleague. In 1895 he wrote in a letter: "George
claims to have reserved the one way to real art for himself. We object to
that since we believe that there are many dwellings in the house of our
father Apollo. George wants art for art's sake whereas we search for a
connection between art and life. Life doesn't consist only of exclusive
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 103

Concert-Bureau Alexander Rose

I. Kiirntnerring 11.

Kleiner Mnsikvereins-Saal.
Dienstag den 18. 1\tarz 1902
abends halb 8 Uhr

VI. (letzter) Kammermusik-Abend

Quartett Rose
Arnold Rose Anton Ruzitska
(1. Violine) (Viola)
Albert Bachrich Friedrich Buxbaum
(2. Violine) l Violoncell)
...(§--· -- ---

program"l:
r. HEIUfAKN GR.:\DENER Quartett D-moll, op 33·
Allegro con t-rio.
Ada~:io (im Balladenton).
Scherzo.
Rondo. Finale (Allegro mnrlerato1.

2. ARNOLD SCHONBERG Sextett nach Richard Dchmels Gedicht

•Die verkHi.rte Nacht•.
(~lanuscript, erste AuffUhrung.)
2. Viola: Herr Franz Jelinek \ Mitglieder des k. k. Hof·
2. Cello: Herr Franz Schmidt J Opernorchesters.

3· JOHA~:\ES BRAH~IS . Quintett F-dur, op. 88.

Allegro non troppo rna con brio.
Gra\"e ed appassionato.
Allegretto vi,·ace.
Allegro energico.
2. Viola: Herr Franz Jelinek.

Wibrend der Vortr!ge bleiben die Saaltbtiren gescblomn.

Figure 1 Program of the first performance of Schonberg's op. 4. Vienna, March 18, 1902. (Arnold
Schonberg Institute Los Angeles)
104 Schonberg and Kandinsky

Kammermusik-Verein m Prag.
XXVIII. Jahrgang .

....,......---,---~

Zweites Konzert
Montag den 21. Marz 1904 urn 7 Uhr abend
im Konzertsaale des Rudolfinums,
unter gefalliger Mitwirkung des Quartetts der Herren:
Konzertmeister Arnold Rose (1. Violine), Albert Bachrich
(2. Violine), Anton Ruzitska (Viola) u. friedr. Buxbaum
(Violoncell)
und der Herren:
Franz Jelinek (2. Viola) u. Franz Schmidt (2. Violoncel!)
aus Wien.

PROORAMM.
I. ,Verklarte Nacht;• nach dem gleich·
namigen Oedichte DEHMELS in dessen
-WE!B UND WELT fiir sechs Streich-
ins!ntmente Arnold Schonb~rg.

2. ltalienische Serenade G-dur (Streich·

quartett) . . . Hugo Wolf.
"3. Zweites Streichsext ett G-dur, op.
36 1 \ 866) . Johannes Brahms.
a) Allegro non troppo.
h) Scherzo. Allegro non troppo.
c) Poco Adagio.
d) Poco Allegro.

---------- ---------------------------------
Drittes Konzert am 12. April 11nter Mitwirkung
d..:s Henri Marteau-Str eichquartett s aus Paris.
L
Figure 2 Program of a performance of op. 4 in Prague in 1904. Here even the source of the poem, the
volume "Weib und Welt", is mentioned. (Arnold Schonberg Institute Los Angeles)
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 105
temples ... " 4 Despite these objections he did not hesitate to list
George along with Hofmannsthal, Mombert, Dauthendey, Arno Holz,
Scheerbart, Detlev von Liliencron and Przybyszewski as one of the impor-
tant poets of the turn of the century. 5 George never showed that same
tolerance. 6
To understand this attitude we must look at the biographical back-
ground to his poetry. In 1892, after the completion of his book "Algabal",
he suffered a profound crisis in Vienna, when the young Hugo von
Hofmannsthal rejected his offer of friendship. Just in that moment of
isolation, he heard there lived in his hometown Bingen on the river
Rhine a person who knew and liked his poems. This person was Ida
Coblenz, the extravagant daughter of a rich Jew, who resided in a
palatial home just opposite the Georges? In an unpublished novel
titled "Daija" she has portrayed the young Stefan George who from
1892 visited her several times and left on her a strange, cold impression.
Nevertheless she could not deny her admiration for the formal
mastery and musicality of his poems. 8 George for his part was highly
impressed by the young woman who not least by the oriental style of her
dressing, differed significantly from the other inhabitants of this provin-
cial town.
In the summer of 1894 he presented her with fifteen poems which later
became the center of the "Buch der hangenden Garten". She found herself
portrayed in the dominating Semiramis figure, and the Hanging gardens
seemed to be a poetic version of the elegant surroundings of her father's
home. A broad iron gate, ornated with a coat of arms and two stone vases
in antique style, gave the entrance its grand feudal character. 9 In his
Semiramis songs George mentioned this gate as the "bebliimte Tor wo wir
nur das eigene Hauchen spiirten". The young poet stayed here whenever he
could. For him this garden was the only possible place of happiness.
Among the many George photographs there are only two that portray
him not as a serious priest or prophet, but as a human being that could
even smile. These unusual portraits (Figure 3) were taken by Ida Coblenz
in her parents' garden in the summer of 1896.
There is no single picture that shows George smiling again. Rather
typical is the facial expression shown in Figure 4.
In my book on Schonberg and George I have investigated and char-
acterized the relation between the poet's life and his poetry in greater
detail, and explored the strange irony that subsequently led Ida Coblenz
to marry Richard Dehmel. The same woman that had inspired George's
"Buch der hangenden Garten" later provoked Dehmel's famous volume
"Weib und Welt", which included "Verklarte Nacht". Had George's highly
106 Schonberg and Kandinsky

Figure 3 Stefan George in Ida Coblenz's garden, summer 1896. (Photos: Ida Coblenz) From: Robert
Boehringer, Mein Bild von Stefan George. Dusseldorf und Miinchen, 2nd ed. 1968, plate 43
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 107

Figure 4 Photograph of Stefan George. (Photo: Sabine Lepsius) From: Boehringer, plate 57

artificial verses been the product of an unreal dream, Dehmel's poetry

could more easily be identified with his real life. In November 1896 the
last letters where exchanged between Ida Coblenz-Auerbach and Stefan
George. He asked her to return the volume "Das Jahr der Seele" that he
108 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
had dedicated to her. After that he did not address love poems to any
other woman. Instead he built up a circle of disciples from which women
were excluded. So was music.
The early "Blatter fiir die Kunst", the esoteric journal of the circle, had
started in a Wagnerian atmospher e 10 and had contained some musical
settings of George poems like this compositio n by Karl Hallwachs.

'" Aus den Ienos pen quel len sach te trop fen vol und
~

.:)
ppsempre I~
- ~
I~
-- -
} ,..._ etwas11Jgem

'" klar da das Iicht auf ih nen lach te undwenn

" I I I I

~·v-: '~ '';(

_;, semprePP
.~- ;,

•
"' mei ne thnl nen nies sen? was ich ge stemnicht er - riet~

II I I I

~ espressivo
»~: e: -,: ~,-:- ft. ~ ...
':' ,~.
'!"'
cres-

• t•

.,
heu · te bin ich es ge - wahr dass der letz te
II I I

..,
.-
':'. ':' v
cen. -do
J. " I
----
v #ll~·
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 109

~·
____.... t. .. .. arubreiten

oil lrost kann ich euch nicht mehr ge- nies sen neu e son ne
michflieht

~ M..J. -....J. M..J~I\

" :
OJ!
r-,...~,....
crescendo
lb... · I~- ~~ I~tmolto es~~-
I I

r.-. r.-. p
R

oil jun - ges jahr jun ges jahr.

~~~ -;-----.

~~,;J:. ~ .,; 15_~J. 1~:~,

r•·

~ !
r ., r ., ~:

Figure 5 From "Lieder im geschmack eines fahrenden spielmanns von Stefan George I in Musik
gesetzt von Karl Hallwachs". Reprinted in "Blatter fur die Kunst" 1894, II 2.

Like Zeiter in his equally simple and homophonic Goethe settings,

Hallwachs also preserved in his composition the rhythm of the poem
and of course maintained its verse structureY He must also have planned
to compose some poems from the "Book of the Hanging Gardens". In
December 1894 Ida Coblenz asked George, if Hallwachs had already
finished the Semiramis-Lieder. If they were composed at all they were
never published. After Ida Coblenz had made her decision for his rival,
George developed a concept of poetry as a cultural form totally in con-
trast, in direct opposition to music. He never again asked composers to
set his verses nor did he ever want to have the name of Ida Coblenz
mentioned. 12 Only after George's death did she dare to recollect her early
encounters. 13 And their corresponden ce was first published in 1983.

Schonberg's transition from Dehmel to George

Although Schonberg certainly was unaware of these hidden connections
between "Verkliirte Nacht" by Richard Dehmel and the "Buch der hiing-
enden Garten" by Stefan George, he nevertheless must have felt the con-
trast in style and attitude. This contrast was also reflected in the different
110 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
audiences of both poets. At the turn of the century Dehmel' s poetry,
which abandoned the strict moral laws of the middle-class, was popular
among progressive intellectuals and workers alike. In contrast George's
encoded, snobistic poetry appealed to a minority, to an elite of connois-
seurs, some of whom- like Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Clemens von
Frankenstein- actually came from the nobility. George viewed the public
success of his rival with despair and contempt. The greater Dehmel's
popularity, the sharper would he insist on exclusivity and not allow
any newspaper to reprint his poems. Instead he invented special letter-
types for his verses and a unique form of reciting which was limited to a
few selected houses. 14
Although in the George circle one was not even allowed to mention the
name of Dehmel, there existed one man who managed to maintain good
relations with both poets. The pianist and composer Conrad Ansorge
(1862-1930), a pupil of Liszt, had set poems both by Dehmel and George
and was acknowledged for his understanding, not only of music but also
of the other arts. To promote this connection between modern music and
modern poetry the Ansorge-Verein of Vienna was established, supported
by poets and composers alike, by literay critics and music historians,
among them Peter Altenberg, Detlev v. Liliencron, Karl Wolfskehl, Wil-
helm Kienzl and Max Graf. They all aimed at equal rights for poetry and
music. In December 1904 the Verein organized a Stefan George-program,
including Ansorge's settings of the cycle "Waller im Schnee" (Pilgrims in
the Snow). The success however was limited. For the musically interested
listeners the songs were too simple, whereas the literary element in the
audience had difficulties with George's esoteric style.
Arnold Schonberg and his friend Alexander von Zemlinsky were con-
nected to the Verein from the outset. One of his earliest programs, dated
February 11, 1904, had included a selection of Schonberg songs (from op.
2 and op. 3), mostly based on Dehmel, together with excerpts of Ansor-
ge's George cycle "Waller im Schnee". Schonberg in contrast to his friend
Zemlinsky appreciated that composition. 15 Whether or not he appreciated
George's poetry, too, is unknown. But when, a few months later, in July
1904, the 600th anniversary of Petrarca was celebrated, he decided to set a
translation of Petrarca's "Nie ward ich, Herrin, miid", which he included in
his op. 8. The aristocratic style of this ft:oem marks a first step towards the
similarily stylized poetry of George. 6 It took however more than three
years till on December 17, 1907, Schonberg really set a George poem. It
was his op. 14 Nr. 1 "Ich darf nicht dankend an dir niedersinken".
The poem belongs to George's cycle "Waller im Schnee". Since Schon-
berg had kept the concert program from February 1904,17 he must also
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 111
have known the program notes which explained "Waller im Schnee" as the
lament of a lonely artist who is going to lose his friend. This was just his
own situation that December in 1907 when Gustav Mahler, his most
influential supporter, left the Austrian capital. The decision to compose
a George poem a few days after this sad event is not only justified by the
common subject of lament and loneliness; it also signified the decision to
redefine his identity as an artist.

Years of Crisis
In a slow and very difficult process Schonberg had to accept his lone-
liness. The scandal that followed the first performance of his Chamber
symphony op. 9 in February 1907 had deeply hurt him. One critic
had characterized this composition as "wild noises of democrats that no
human being with any self-respect would ever mistake for music". 18 But
not only in concert-life did he feel more and more rejected; the same was
true in his private life, the summer of 1907 being a turning point. The
Schonbergs spent that summer together with the Zemlinskys and the
painter Richard Gerstl near Gmunden at Lake Traun. Influenced in his
ideas by Otto Weininger and Sigmund Freud, in his paintings by Zuloaga
and van Gogh, Gerstl was radically opposed to all academism. 19 His
interest in music was such, that once even the position of a music critic
was offered to him? 0 Over that summer he gave lessons in painting to
Arnold Schonberg and his wife Mathilde. When, a few months later,
Gerstllost his studio, he found a new one in LiechtensteinstraBe, in the
same house according to Wellesz, where his friends the Zemlinskys and
the Schonbergs lived. 21 A closer relationship to Mathilde must have
developed.
Even in the early days of his marriage, Schonberg had found it difficult
to integrate his wife in to the circle of his friends. Now this wedlock must
have come to a crucial point. There is some evidence that he had this in
mind when, in the autumn of 1907, he wrote down for the first time the
quotation from the popular song "0 du Zieber Augustin, alles ist hin"
(Everything is lost). As we know, this quotation belongs to his second
String Quartet which- ironically- he dedicated to his wife. His sad or
even bitter feelings were intensified when shortly later, on the 9th of
December, Gustav Mahler left Vienna. As a consequence the "Vereinigung
schaffender Tonkiinstler" was disbanded. 22 Mahler, the honorary president
of that organization, had promoted performances of the compositions of
his younger colleague. Without him there was only a single Schonberg
concert in Vienna that next year. In December 1907 Schonberg recognized
112 Schonberg and Kandinsky

sharply his deep isolation which left no more room for Dehmel' s opti-
mism, for his feeling of liberty and freedom. He no longer felt free but
was looking for new authorities. In his early years Schonberg had not
been a very religious man. Human love represented for him a far greater
value. Yet in 1907 and 1908, his years of crisis, he began to change this
orientation. Instrumental in the transition was George's poetry. While
Dehmel since 1897 had represented for him the model of the modern
artist, who with his free and optimistic spirit reaches mankind, he now
turned to George as the model of the isolated artist creating the future
and no longer caring for a contemporary audience.

The difficult path to a new musical language

To understand the inner logic of this process, it seems necessary to take a
look at the chronological order of his compositions between 1907 and
1909. His third sketch-book, covering just that critical period, may serve
as a source. As already Reinhold Brinkmann has pointed out}3 Schonberg
was occupied with several compositions at the same time. In this process
instrumental works were pushed away more and more by vocal projects.
Again the texts brought up new ideas which then changed the musical
language?4
The Second String Quartet must have been planned originally as a
purely instrumental composition. Schonberg started to compose the first
movement on the same day in which he completed his Conrad Ferdinand
Meyer chorus "Friede auf Erden" (Peace on Earth) op. 13: on March 9, 1907.
This work was several times interrupted by Lieder which seem to have
influenced the concept of the String quartet. It lost in this process it's
abstract, formal character and became semantic.
The first interruption had already taken place in March and April1907,
when Schonberg composed his two ballads op. 12 in order to participate
at a ballad contest organized by the popular Berlin journal "Die Woche". It
indicates that, at that time, he was still longing for success and apprecia-
tion. In July 1907, when he spent his holidays with his family, with the
Zemlinskys and Gerstl at Traun Lake, he interrupted the string quartet to
start another instrumental composition, his Second Chamber Symphony.
He finished neither the string quartet nor the chamber symphony.
In the autumn of that same year, he noted on page 98 of his sketch-book
a Goethe setting "Kennst Du das Land, wo die Zitronen bliihen", Mignon's
yearning for the land of dreams. Just two pages later we find the quota-
tion of the popular song "0 du lieber Augustin, alles ist hin", mentioned
above, which was to be the first semantic element in his Second String
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 113

Quartet. It could easily do without words since everyone in Vienna would

automatically associate them with the melody. There is an inner connec-
tion between those two sketches, which also explains the growing portion
of vocal music and of dissonances at the same time. The dreamland of the
Goethe text seems to represent the ideal world of art, whereas the popular
song hints at the despairing banality of everyday life. Since Schonberg did
not feel at home in his own surroundings any more he looked for a new
orientation. In this situation George's poetry offered him a new system of
values that was far removed from banality. Schonberg himself confirmed
this in his essay "How one becomes lonely": "I had started to compose a
second chamber symphony. But after I had nearly finished two move-
ments, about half of the whole work, poems by Stefan George, the Ger-
man poet, inspired me to set a few of them, and surprisingly, without any
expectations of that kind, those Lieder revealed a style that was totally
different from everything I had written before. This was the first step on a
new, but very difficult path." 25
The first George song that he composed, "Ich darf nicht dankend an dir
niedersinken" as his op. 14, 1, enters new fields of harmony, but does not
yet, however, represent his definite arrival at the poet's world. In the
beginning of the next year (February 1908) he created the song "In diesen
Wintertagen" which expressed new hope. The style of this poem by Karl
Henckell (which was also set by Richard Strauss) reminds one of the
poetry of Dehmel. As the poem ends with the idea of love, the composer
in his setting gave this word "Liebe" the most prominent position. The
composition ends in a pure C-major-consonance, symbolizing the desired
harmony (Figure 6).
Already in March 1908 Schonberg turned again to George. He then
composed "Da meine lippen reglos sind und brennen", as the first song of his
"Book of the Hanging Gardens". It no longer ends with a consonance, but
rather with a musical question-mark, with a harmony that is as myster-
ious as the signal mentioned in the last line of the poem (Figure 7).

II
II

Figure 6 Schonberg, op. 14, Nr. 2, last bars.(© Universal Edition, Wien)
114 SchOnberg and Kandinsky

Figure 7 Op. 15, 4, bars 23-26. (© Universal Edition, Wien)

The Choice of the Text

Schonberg's selection of a poem from George's "Waller im Schnee" could
be explained since the composer knew this cycle from Ansorge's compo-
sition. How he met with the poet's "Buch der hiingenden Garten" can only
be a matter of speculation. Neither Zemlinsky nor Gerstl would have
recommended this book to him since both disliked George's poetry.
Schonberg himself may have discovered the poetical image of the garden
as a parallel to the dreamland from Goethe's Mignon song or Henkell's
island of love. But the "Book of the Hanging Gardens" not only consists
of the central fifteen Semiramis poems; it is surrounded by descriptions of
the hero's fight as a crusader against his enemies. In these poems (which
he did not set) Schonberg could find a symbolic version of his conflict
with the conservative musical world of Vienna. This assumption is being
underlined by the fact that there exists an undated sketch of a song
"Friedensabend", depicting the Hanging Gardens as the peaceful contrast
to the battlenoise from below.
The opposition of garden and city around 1900 was a central concern in
the arts. Many architects of the time made a strict division between living
and working quarters. For Jugendstil artists like Olbrich, Muthesius and
Schultze-Naumbu rg the suburban villa represented the ideal form of
living. Schonberg who in his early years always lived in the city center,
changed this habit after the crisis of 1908. Neither in Vienna nor in
Berlin or Los Angeles did he prefer to dwell in downtown areas. Instead
he chose residential districts like Zehlendorf, Modling and Brentwood.
The short period of a more urban life in Berlin was an exception to this
rule.
Another form of isolation was characteristic for the original Hanging
gardens at Babylon, once one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The
sensation seems to have been derived primarily from the high position
over the ground, which demanded technical solutions for the watering of
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 115

Figure 8 Map of Babylon, from : Robert Koldewey, Das wieder erstehende Babylon, Leipzig 1913
116 Schonberg and Kandinsky
flowers and the isolation of cellars below against encroaching waters. The
Babylonians managed this by combining several layers of reed, asphalt,
bricks and even lead. Only five years before Schonberg started his com-
position the vaults which carried the Hanging Gardens were excavated
by the German archeologist Robert Koldewey.
Although the discovery and reconstruction of old Babylon was the
greatest project of German archeology after 1899, there is no indication
that Schonberg had any information about it. For him the Hanging Gar-
dens were not an historic place but the symbol of a protected sphere that
contrasted with the aggressive banality of everyday life. The garden also
represented the contrast between necessity and refinement. Another motif
that may have influenced his choice of text was the motif of noble
exclusivity, which corresponded to his development from a democrat to
a monarchist. 26 Most important however was the motif of love which
George represented totally differently than Dehmel in his poetry. Instead
of partners with equal rights, we find the young man as an inexperienced
slave who adores a mighty queen.

Tell me on what path today

She will come and wanders by . ..

the poor man utters and then submissively continues:

That I lean my cheek to lie

Underfoot for her repose.

While Stefan George approached Ida Coblenz in a subservient tone,

Richard Dehmel, later her husband, addressed her in a more spontaneous
way. Also he idealized love, but to glorify rather than to disguise reality.
Both poets had spoken to the same woman in two very different ways.
Schonberg took over their attitudes in two contrasting situations but also
in context of one woman: Mathilde. In the early years of his marriage he
could identify his love with Dehmel's enthusiastic tone. In 1908 he found
the pessimistic and submissive attitude of George more appropriate. In
one of his aphorisms, published one year later, he explained: "When
oriental people want to honor a friend, they use as extreme and powerful
means the method of self-humiliation. 'Your slave, your servant; I am not
worthy, to loosen your shoe-string.'- if a servant says this to a prince, it is
not especially flattering, because it is true. But if a prince says it to a
prince, it means: 'You know, who I am and how I am admired. Look, I
place you even higher than myself. I step down to let you be seen better.
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 117

From this you may recognize, how much I like you.' " 27 Schonberg con-
cluded: "Only the superior who is sure to loose nothing can praise in such
an unrestricted way." Since he now regarded himself as the superior, the
method of self-humiliation could be used by himself.

Start with an open end: op. 15, No. 4

Like the poet also, Schonberg first did not mean to create a whole cycle of
songs. So instead of No. 1 he started with No. 4 of the Semiramis songs.
This is the poem:

Da meine lippen reglos sind und brennen

Beacht ich erst wohin mein fuss geriet:
In andrer herren priichtiges gebiet.
Noch war vielleicht mir moglich mich zu trennen,
Da schien es, dass durch hohe gitterstiibe
Der blick, vor dem ich ohne lass gekniet,
Mich fragend suchte oder zeichen giibe.

This is a rough verbal translation:

Since my lips now are motionless and burning,

I only now take notice of where my feet have brought me:
To other master's splendid realms.
It was perhaps still possible to turn back.
Then it seemed, that between the high fence palings
The glance, before which I knelt all the time,
Would search for me and give signs.
The seven lines seem to contain two complete phrases. Closer investiga-
tion shows however that the first line of the second phrase "Noch war
vielleicht mir moglich mich zu trennen" is a complete phrase, too. In its
reflective character it contrasts to the rest. The syntactic as well as seman-
tic structure of the poem can therefore be described as a symmetrical
three-part form ABA.

Contents/syntax: 3 + 1 + 3 Lines
A 1 Da meine lippen reglos sind und brennen
2 Beacht ich erst wohin mein fuss geriet:
3 In andrer herren priichtiges gebiet.
B 4 Noch war vielleicht mir moglich mich zu trennen,
118 Schonberg and Kandinsky
A 5 Da schien es, dass durch hohe gitterstiibe
6 Der blick, vor dem ich ohne lass gekniet,
7 Mich fragend suchte oder zeichen giibe.

The slightly different rhyme structure, as shown in the following exam-

ple, consists of two parts, which are interconnected by a rhyme-element b:

Rhyme: 4 + 3 Lines
1 Da meine lippen reglos sind und brennen a
2 Beacht ich erst wohin mein fuss geriet: b
3 In andrer herren pdichtiges gebiet. b
4 Noch war vielleicht mir moglich mich zu trennen, a
5 Da schien es, class durch hohe gitter - sUibe c
6 Der blick, vor dem ich ohne lass gekniet, b
7 Mich fragend suchte oder zeichen giibe. c
This unusual structure already shows influences of oriental poetry. But
the musical quality of the poem is not limited to rhythm and rhyme.
Under the influence of Mallarme and Verlaine George controlled the
vowel structure also within the lines:

Rhymes supported by vowels and consonant endings

a s- i-nd u-nd b-rennen
a m-i-ch z-u t-rennen
b fuss ge - r iet
b ... s ge - b iet.
b .. ss ge - kn iet.
c d u r ch hoh e gitter - st iibe
c s u ch te od er zeichen g iibe

Rhyme "a" includes the vowels "i" and "u":

sind und brennen - mich zu trennen
Rhyme "b" includes the final consonant "s":
fuss geriet - ges gebiet - lass gekniet
Rhyme "c" has the most relations: "u", "ch", "o", "e" and "iibe":
Durch hohe gitterstiibe, suchte oder zeichen giibe.

One can even analyze the whole poem as a sequence of vowels, as

demonstrated in Figure 9, 4.
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 119

1 contents/syntax: 3 + 1 + 3

A 1 Da meine lippen reglos sind und brennen

2 Beacht ich erst wohin mein fuss geriet:
3 In andrer herren prachtiges gebiet.

B 4 N och war vielleicht mir moglich mich zu trennen,

A' 5 Da schien es, dass durch hohe gitterstabe

6 Der blick, vor dem ich ohne lass gekniet,
7 Mich fragend suchte oder zeichen gabe.

2 rhyme: 4+3
1 Da meine lippen reglos sind und brennen a
2 Beacht ich erst wohin mein fuss geriet: b
3 In andrer herren prachtiges gebiet. b
4 Noch war vielleicht mir moglich mich zu trennen, a
5 Da schien es, dass durch hohe gitter- stabe c
6 Der blick, vor dem ich ohne lass gekniet, b
7 Mich fragen suchte oder zeichen gabe. c

3 rhymes supported by vowels and consonant endings

a-X-X-X-X- s-i-nd u-nd b- rennen
a m-i-ch z-u t- rennen,
b fuss ge- r iet
b ... s ge- b iet
b ... ss ge- kn iet
c d u r ch hohe gitter- st abe
(Mi) ch su ch te od er zeichen g abe

4 Vowels
A I E 0 I u E
1 DA(meine) llppen rEg lOs sind Und brEnnEn
2 Be-
Acht Ich Erst wO- hin(mein) fUss gE-
rlet:
3 In
Andrer
hErrEn (pr chtl. .. ge ... s) gE-
biet.
120 Schonberg and Kandinsky

4 NOch
wAr viel(leicht) mir
mOegllch
mlch zU trEnnEn,
DA schien Es,
dAss dUrch
hOhe
gltter ...... (stab E)
dEr
6 bllck, vOr dEm
Ich
Oh -nE
lAss ge- kniet,
7 Mich
frAgend sUch- tE
Oder
(zeichen) (g) abe
i=lippen - sind - ich - wohin - gitter - blick - mich

Figure 9 Book of the Hanging Gardens: Analysis of poem No. 4.

The model may be found in the first line:

Da meine lippen reglos sind und brennen
The sequence of the German vowels a-i-e-o-i-u-e is comparable to a
melodic theme, that is being varied in the following lines. The second
line resembles closely the original theme whereas in the following lines
the order of vowels changes more and more.
In the beginning of his musical composition (Figure 10) Schonberg
preserves the structure of the poem, by setting it line by line. Already in
the second line his manuscript contains a significant mistake. Instead of
"beacht ich erst, wohin mein fuss geriet" he wrote down "beacht ich nicht
wohin mein fuss geriet". He thus underlined the blindness of the lyrical
Ego, staggering into unknown territory. This corresponds to the lack of
any clear meter at the beginning of the composition. Only after three bars
can a regular rhythm and a regular bar system be recognized.
In no other song from his op. 15 did the composer use the tempo mark
"gehend" (in walking speed). He hereby seemed to state that the rhythms
symbolize the walking of our hero. His movement starts irregularity and
syncopated, but then becomes a regular two-four-tim e. Already from bar
12 this regular pulse dissolves into five-eight-tim e. At the reprise in bar
18 begins the last section, based on a four-four-tim e, an expanded
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 121
version of the beginning. So already the changing times show the three-
part-structure A B A.
The three sections are characterized by different movements which
represent different emotional situations. Whereas the first part shows
the man walking into unknown territory, in the second part his regular
movement comes to a standstill. The five-eight-time evokes, instead of
walking, a more reflective mood. The voice here changes from singing to
a kind of nervous whispering, which now definitely changes the verse
structure into prose. This marks the turning point: the hero asks himself if
he had not better return (Noch war vielleicht mir moglich .. .). Yet the third
part brings the decision to stay in these strange surroundings. Someone is

A mold Sctlt>nberg, op. 15, nr. 4

i•'i ,J -$;1 ,l -~
be · ach1 ich er'!t, wo-

=. ~---------------------
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F.f- - f
p
-·I
-=r- ----

etwu drltngend
d
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rt¥ •r ---=----=1
bin me.in Fu£
' If in and • tcr

(')by Universal Edi\ion. Vienna

122 SchOnberg and Kandinsky

J'

Noeh wu viet~ lekhl mir ~~ lich, rnich zu t.m • aep,

- = ===--
.--
I>'• --------------------

mich fra • pnd

Figure 10 Schonberg, op. 15, No.4(© Universal Edition, Wien)

looking, giving mysterious signals (marked in Figure 10). As in a dream

the hero neither knows who is looking at him nor what the signals mean.
But he wishes to discover the answers.
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 123

This staggering movement towards an unknown destination corre-

sponds to the lack of any tonal orientation. On March 18, 1908 Schonberg
renounced for the first time a distinct tonality. Although in this song
melodic as well as harmonic elements are based on the interval of the
third, they are no longer connected to a basic tonality. The end offers no
tonal solution. Like the poet, the composer too, makes no effort to solve
the riddles. It is up to the listener to add a consonant chord, an ending in
G-major or F-sharp-major, in his imagination, or to accept the unresolved
dissonance. The end is left open.

The Ascent from the Sensuous to the Spiritual

Five days after this song No. 4 ("Da meine Lippen .. .") Schonberg had
completed No. 5, by the end of the month No. 3. On 13th of April he
finished No.8, based on a highly emotional poem:

Wenn ich heut nicht deinen leib beriihre

Wird der faden meiner seele reissen ...

Those four songs he wrote down on a double-sheet under the heading

"Vier Lieder" ?8 All four poems express a burning longing for a mysterious
woman that does not say a single word. They express expectation, Erwar-
tung.
The two vocal movements from the string quartet op. 10, "Litanei" and
"Entriickung", which were created in the early summer of 1908, represent
a totally different attitude. Schonberg selected these two poems from the
books "Maximin" and "Traumdunkel" which belong to George's volume
"Der siebente Ring", written years after the poet's last contact with Ida
Coblenz. "Litanei" no longer addresses a human being but a god. The
central line of that poem reads: "TOte das sehnen, schliefle die wunde! nimm
mir die liebe, gib mir dein gliick!" Or in the translation by Ernst Morwitz:

Whole be the wounded, yearning shall perish!

Ease me of passion, give me your joy!

Yearning shall perish ... This movement marks the departure from the
idea of love towards religion. Even more open and clear this is expressed
in the last movement "Entriickung":

I only am a spark of holy fire,

A thunder only of the holy tongue!
124 Schonberg and Kandinsky
The last line recalls Schonberg's confession: "Art is the outcry of those,
who in their fate experience the fate of mankind ... In their inside is the
movement of the world; to the outside comes only the reflection: the work
of art." 29 Impotence in real life changed into phantasies of omnipotence.
Art replaced love and religion. The most private was transformed into the
universal.
Schonberg himself has characterized this process, which can be found
in his Second String Quartet and his "Book of the Hanging Gardens"
alike, as the "ascent of the sensuous into the spiritual". 30 To understand
his atonal compositions and the writings of that period, it is of great
importance to know their chronological place in this transitional process
from the sensuous to the spiritual, a process that Schonberg also men-
tioned in his dedication of the "Harmonielehre" to Kandinsky31 or in his
famous letter to Dehmel, where he looked back to his development from
materialism through anarchism to spiritualism. 32 Whereas the "Book of
the Hanging Gardens" marks an early point in this development, his
correspondence with Kandinsky33 and his essay "The Relationship to
the Text" are already on a higher level of abstraction. Before correlating
this essay and his op. 15 it is therefore necessary to take into account the
degree of self-stylization that we find in this later period.

Creation of a new Ego

The year 1908 was certainly the darkest in Schonberg's life?4 His wife left
him for Gerstl, and only when she was appealed to as the mother of his
two children did she finally return. Schonberg drafted several last wills
that show how near he was then to suicide. To prevent this he made up a
new definition of himself. Separating body and soul, private person and
the artist, he created a new Ego. The real Schonberg, he declared in this
document, is the artist and not the private person. The artist, by his
solution, had never been betrayed by his wife; he did not even know
her. "So this event has not happened to me, but to some ridiculous
creation from the imagination of a woman. My wife has betrayed the
man, she wanted to see in me. But I was far awar. She has never seen me,
nor have I ever seen her. We have never met."3
In an act of violence Schonberg constructed a new artificial world from
which banality, as he put it, was excluded. It was also an act of purifica-
tion and self-protection that made him express the following in his last
will: "He who sticks to facts will not get beyond them, to the heart of
things. I deny facts. All, without exception. For me they have no value; for
I elude them before they can draw me down to them." 36 In the crisis of
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 125

subjectivity Schonberg created a new Ego, that no longer cared for the
outside world.
In an aphorism, published in 1909, he wrote: "A human being is what
he experiences; an artist experiences only what he is."37 This self-defini-
tion prevented him accepting his bad experiences as part of reality. Since
they nevertheless were present in his mind and his work, Schonberg now
emphasized the unconscious elements in the process of artistic creation.
He proclaimed that the unconscious dominated the conscious, which
meant the collapse of the principle of subjectivity, of autonomy and self-
control that he up to that moment had claimed for himself. But only by
denying control of his unconscious could he in his critical period keep
control over himself.
After the completion of my Schonberg-George study, Otto Breicha38 ,
Jane Kallir and Patrick Werkner have published books on Richard
Gerstl, that give more complete information about that autumn of
1908. But also the compositions and paintings, that were produced that
September in Schonberg's flat and in Gerstl's studio, apparently both in
LiechtensteinstraBe 68-70, give an impression of the uneasy atmosphere.
Here (Figure 11) is a deliberately provoking self-portrait of Gerstl, dated
September 12, 1908. 39
After finishing the Four George Songs, consisting of Numbers 4, 5, 3
and 8, in the spring of 1908 and after also completing the "Litanei" in the
summer, Schonberg in that September continued his composition of the
"Book of the Hanging Gardens". He started with No. 13, a number he
had always connected with bad luck. In this poem all hope of opening the
heart of the mighty Semiramis has disappeared.
No. 13
Du lehnest wider eine silberweide
Am ufer, mit des fiichers starren spitzen
Umschirmest du das haupt dir wie mit blitzen
Und rollst als ob du spieltest dein geschmeide.
Ich bin im boot das laubgewOlbe wahren
In das ich dich vergeblich lud zu steigen ..
Die weiden seh ich die sich tiefer neigen
Und blumen die verstreut im wasser fahren.
George carefully tried to avoid repetitions of words within a poem, and
even within the cycle. It is especially surprising therefore, that the word
"Weiden" (Willows) appears twice. Willows hanging into the water are in
German called "Trauerweiden" (willows of sorrow). By this repetition the
poet seemed to point at them as symbols of sorrow and grief. Schonberg
126 SchOnberg and Kandinsky

Figure 11 Richard Gerst!, Self-portrait in full size, 1908, oil (Private Collection)

finished his No. 13 on the 27th of September. The same day a letter had
arrived from Richard Strauss, saying that he could not accept the Cham-
ber symphony op. 9 for his concerts in Berlin. 40 Two days later Gerstl
made two desperate self-portraits, both dated September 29. They differ
only in the expression of the eyes.
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 127

Figure 12 Richard Gerst!, Self-portrait, 29 September 1908, pen, pencil, ink (Graphische Sammlung
Albertina, Vienna)

Schonberg in his self-portraits also concentrated on the expression of the

eyes, as for example in Figure 14.
It seems that Schonberg only now decided to set all fifteen of the
poems. In direct connection with No. 13 he sketched No. 14 and No. 15.
On the 11th of October he interrupted his work and began first drafts to
his drama with music "Die gliickliche Hand" . Here in his own words he
portrayed the artist as the supernatural being, that no longer needs
128 Sch(J"nberg and Kandinsky

Figure 13 Richard Gerst!, Self-portrait, 29 September 1908, shifted ink and carbon (New York, Galerie
St. Etienne, Nachlal5 Kallir)
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 129

Figure 14 Schonberg, Self-portrait, pastel on paper (Schonberg Family) (© A Schonberg, c/ o

Beeldrecht Amsterdam)

earthly happiness. Now that he had found his new Ego he did not
really need George any more, but could write his own text instead. He
could now also renounce the tonal associations which still had been
implicit in his earlier George settings. Tonality, which for the majority
of european listeners represented the basis of all music, was for him only
a "Mittel der Darstellung", a medium of representation. Since it no longer
corresponded to his "Ausdruckswillen", his expressive volition, he no
longer used it.
130 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
Schonberg definitely abandoned tonality in his George Songs No. 11 to
15, which also in the poetic cycle represent the turn from summer to
autumn, from fulfillment to departure. Parallel to the decay of love in
the songs, parallel to the approach of autumn in art and reality, the
emancipation of dissonance took place. However the more Schonberg
advanced from sensualism to spiritualism, the more he believed in his
new artificial priest-like Ego, the more he denied any reflection of reality
in his work.
When on November 4, 1908, there was a concert of Schonberg's pupils
the critics again reacted very hostilely. On the night after that concert
Gerstl committed suicide in his studio in LiechtensteinstraBe.41
A few weeks later, on the 21th of December, the year's only Viennese
Schonberg concert took place, containing the first performance of the
Second string quartet, which the composer had finally finished and
dedicated to his wife. 42 This work reflected the terrible private crisis but
also a new vision of himself as an artist. Despite an incredible scandal the
composer tried to be calm. In a letter to Arnold Rose, the primarius of the
ensemble, he wrote: "The unshakable courage of a moral being is deaf to
the licentiousness of a bestial pack."43 In himself and in his pupils
Schonberg now developed a faith that could no longer be questioned by
anything.
The experiences of that year completely changed his relation to reality-
and to himself. From that moment on he felt he was fighting almost
alone against a world of enemies. As he confessed in a letter to Karl
Kraus, his attitude to the public was ambivalent. On one hand he
regarded it a tall order to write for an audience, on the other hand he
envied other artists their positive reviews. He did not want to consider
the listeners, who he believed were mostly incompetent, and yet
he needed their response. He explained away his lack of success in
concert life and the accompaning scandals as confirmation of his lonely
way.
In the program notes for the first performance of his fifteen Songs from
the "Book of the Hanging Gardens", the composer wrote: "I suspect, that
even those, who have trusted me so far, will not understand the necessity
of this development." One of those friends, who no longer followed
him on his way to a new musical language, was Alexander von Zem-
linsky, his brother-in-law and once his teacher. 44 Since Zemlinsky could
no longer help him, Schonberg looked for other ways to develop a strong
belief in himself. He found examples of lonely brilliance in Gustav Mah-
ler, Otto Weininger45, Karl Kraus46, Stefan George, Parzival and even
Jesus Christ.47
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 131

The inner logic of expression

Schonberg's George reception was essentially based on the subjects of his

poetry, on his poetic images, on his personality, his definition of the artist
and his "Weltanschauung". Yet the aesthetic views of both were very
different. When they created their respective "Book of the Hanging Gar-
dens" both had to control a critical personal situation. The different ways
they treated it in their art works, can be explained by their divergent
personalities, but also by their different artistic media. Since music in the
creational process seems to be more open to subconscious elements than
literature, George turned away from this "dionysic" art. 48 Artistic form
for him meant either strict self-control or repression of the instinctive.
On the other hand Schonberg in his atonal period, understood music as
a record of dreams that didn't need an interpretation. "On its highest
level art deals exclusively with the reproduction of the inner nature." 49
Another quote from the "Harmonielehre" underlines this attitude: "The
creation of the artist is instinctive. Consciousness has little influence on it.
He gets the impression, that everything what he does is dictated to him.
As if he was following the will of some inner power, whose laws he does
not know. He is only the executor of a will that he does not understand, of
the instinct inside himself."50
Here, as in his testament, Schonberg renounced any responsibility for
his instinct. But he certified that the resulting work of art was necessary; it
represented a form of catharsis essential for his existence. His composi-
tions preserve a truth that the composer himself did not want to take for
granted. What characterizes most of his works in this period, is that they
are very private and at the same time highly stylized, tremendously open
and also hiding secrets. Whereas the unity of both sides creates the
spontaneous intensity of these works, Schonberg himself tried to over-
look the biographical aspects. This strange simultaneousness of openness
and strict reserve can also be found in his paintings and in later works. In
October of 1910 in a letter to Alma Mahler, he confessed, apparently
reflecting "Die gliickliche Hand": "Colors, noises, lights, sound, move-
ments, gazes, gestures - in short, those things which compromise the
material of the stage - are to be lined up in a colorful way. Nothing
else. In my feeling it had a meaning to me when I wrote it down. If the
components result in a similar picture when they are put together, that's
alright with me. If not, this is even better. For I do not want to be under-
stood. I want to express myself but I hope I will be misunderstood. It
would be dreadful to me if I could be seen through. That is why with my
things I prefer talking about technical matters ... " 51
132 Schonberg and Kandinsky
While George allowed his personal feelings to enter his art only in a
highly controlled way, Schonberg burst open the stylized form of that
poetry and thus, through his music restored to the poems the spontaneity
which they had lost in the artistic process. Against the aesthetics of the
beautiful and of the ornament, which were represented by George, he
developed the aesthetics of truth. In his essay "Probleme des Kunstunter-
richts" he mentioned truthfulness as the highest criterion of art, a princi-
ple that was personified in his drama "Die gliickliche Hand". The beautiful
woman there cannot have the least understanding for the lonely man, the
truthful artist. Strangely enough Schonberg related truthfulness no longer
to artistic subjectivity but to the subconscious. Explaining that he was
determined by his inner nature, he said farewell to the responsibility of
the subject. 52
He deprived George's poems of the beauty of their strictly controlled
form and identified the true essence of the plot. In his musical settings
these documents of poetic symbolism became expressionistic texts. Soft-
ened feelings of noble melancholy were transformed into terrible outcries,
as in the fortissimo beats of the last piano epilogue. Since Schonberg - or
rather: the expressive forces in himself- aimed only at the truth, i.e. the
essence of his psychic processes, he dissolved the rhythmic discipline of
George's verse in prose and recited this prose in a way that could best
express his inner perplexity.

Tonality and anarchism

In contrast to George, Schonberg revolted around 1908 against clearcut
forms without trying to establish a new form. He did not want to estab-
lish a new style either. Corresponding to the domination of the subcon-
scious there was a strong anarchic element in his aesthetics. His father
was already an anarchistic idealist. His own collaboration with Ernst von
Wolzogen and his setting of a poem by John Henry Mackay, author of a
biogr~hy of Max Stirner, are hints at his ongoing interest in anarchistic
ideas. In 1912 in a letter to Dehmel he had confessed, that behind him
was a period of anarchism. This background is revealed also in his
attitude towards tonality, which Schonberg not only understood as a
symbol of harmony, but also of rule and dominion. He interpreted ton-
ality as a portrait of the conflicts of society. So his description of modula-
tion in his "Harmonielehre" strikingly resembles an analysis of the
struggles between the different nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian
monarchy. Mentioned are the borders, "where the powers of the gover-
nors diminish and the right of self-determination of the subordinates can
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 133
under some circumstances call forth revolutions, changements in the
constitution of the whole structure."54 It is quite revealing to find already
in the "Harmonielehre" the composer's conflict between anarchism and
monarchism. While at one point he explains the dissolution of tonality as
the emancipation of the subordinates, he subsequently describes it as a
reform that is owed to a liberal sovereign. It is this relationship between
anarchism and atonality, which was stressed by Ernst Bloch in his "Geist
der Utopie" and later by Heinz-Klaus Metzger, who saw atonality as the
preview of a political revolution still to come. 55
George had demanded strict discipline in the arts. Schonberg, in con-
trast, did not want to be limited by any borderline. Since he compared
infinity to eternity, he also needed in his music elements of infinity.
Already in the last movement of his Second String Quartet, titled
"Entriickung" (transport), he came near to the idea of an infinite musical
space, where tonal centers as well as centers of rhythmic gravity had to be
regarded as outdated limitations.

New Music expresses the New Man

Schonberg's departure from lyrical modernism- as represented by Deh-
mel - and his passing over to modern lyrics - as represented by George -
marked the beginning of New Music in its emphatic sense. 56 It is char-
acteristic for the key-works of New Music that they emerged from
extreme isolation and loneliness, a situation, which questioned not only
the identity of the artist, but also his language and his possibilities to
communicate. As in Hofmannsthal's "Chandos"-letter57 or in the quoted
draft of Schonberg's last will, the artist met this crisis by creating a new
Ego. He became a new being with a new artistic language - he became a
modern artist. Schonberg's George Songs are fundamentally different
from those by Franz Schreker, Egon Wellesz, Karl Hallwachs, Armin
Knab or Conrad Ansorge, since they reflect an existential perplexity.
Since Schonberg and George had to cope with real communications
problems, they developed their very own artistic languages that differed
from the generally used code. In his "Harmonielehre", which is also a
prime source for his aesthetic views, Schonberg wrote: "To the new and
unusual of a new chord the real 'Tondichter' is driven only by the
following reasons: he must express the new, unheard of, that is moving
him. What for coming generations is only a new sound, a technical
element, represents far more: it is the unvoluntarily found symbol, that
announces the new man, who is expressing himsel£."58 In a strange
combination of anarchism and theosophy Schonberg proclaimed that
134 Schonberg and Kandinsky
the laws created by the genius should be the laws of future mankind. 59
His creations then were a kind of prophecy, Schonberg himself being the
prophet, in both an artistic and religious sense. "We are to remain blind",
he explained in his speech on Gustav Mahler, "until we have acquired
eyes, eyes that see the future." 60
Since the 'new man' had to be an alternative to the former existence
of George and Schonberg, he was characterized by elements of
nobility and even holiness. The very high self-regard of the modern artist
stands in strange contrast to his proclaimed renounciation on any public
effect. Since this artist did no longer try to communicate, this activity was
now passed over to the listener or the reader. It was their duty to
recognize the artist's code and to try to understand what he had wanted
to express.
Unlike other composers of Lieder, Schonberg in his George Songs, did
not want to create musical settings that were stylistically equivalent to the
poetry. By reading the poems he was actually reading himself, or rather:
his self. His songs were very private, even intimate creations. This inti-
macy comes in conflict with the enhancement and the climax of the
mediums of expression. The balance of lyric expressions and lyrical
technical means which was characteristic for the romantic Lied, no longer
exists here.
What makes it so difficult to perform the songs, are not only their
dissonant harmonies which are no longer related to a clearly recognizable
tonal center. It is also the contrast between lyric intimacy - like in the
fourteenth song- and great dramatic expression -like Numbers 7 and 8.
The wide range of ambitus and dynamics transcends by far that of a
'normal' Lieder-recital. 61 The conflict between distance and nearness,
which led to those different concepts of interpretation, is inherent in the
juxtaposition of the artistic concepts of George and Schonberg. The com-
poser was even uncertain for some time if he should publish his new
composition at all. When finally he decided to have his Opus 15 per-
formed in public62, he added a preface that underlined the central posi-
tion of these songs for his artistic development:

"With the George Songs I have succeeded for the first time, to approach an ideal of
expression and form, that I have already had in mind for years. Until now I had not
enough energy and assurance to realize it. But since I have finally entered this path, I am
aware that I have crossed all borders of the old aesthetics; although I am going towards an
destination that to me seems clear, I already feel the opposition that I have to encounter; I
feel the heat of rebellion, which even moderate temperaments will produce, and I antici-
pate, that even those, who have so far believed in me, will not understand the necessity of
this development."
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 135

EHRBAR-SAAL, 1910, 14. Janner, /28 Uhr abends 1

VEREIN FUER KUNST UNO

KULTUR
NEUE KOMPOSITIONEN VON

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
RNITZ-
OlE SOPRANSTJMMEN SINGT FRAU MARTHA WINTE
DORDA
DIE TENORSTIMME:-.r HERR HANS NACHOD
CKE
FRAU ETTA WERNDORF SPIEL T DREI KLAVIERSTUE
UND BEGLEITET DIE LIEDER NACH GEORGE

ITET
HERR KAPELLMEISTER ARNOLD WlNTERNlTZ BEGLE
R UNO DIE FUENF EINZELNEN GESAENGE
DIE GURRE-LIEDE
RUDOLF
HERR DR. ANTON VON WEBERN UNO HERR DR.
BElDEN LETZT GENAN N-
WEIRICH VEREINIGE:-.r SICH MIT DEN
FUER ZWEI KLAVIERP. ACHT-
TEN ZUR AUSFUEHRUNO DER
IN DEN
HAENDIO GESETZTEN VOR- UNO ZWISCHENSPIELE
GURRE-LlEDERN

VORWORT
Lieder nach Geor~e und die KlavierstOcke ]9:)8, Der
Die Ourre·Lit~U hi!.br ich .anfangs 1900 komponie:r1, die
n liegt, rechtfer1ig1 \'iclleicht die J::roae stilistische Verschiedenheit Die Vereinigune ~olc:h
Zeitraum, der dazwische
eines Abe.nds t:edarf. da sit in auH:Slliger Weise eineD be.st!mmten Willen
heltrogener Werke im .A.uH~hrungsrahmen
ausdr0ck1, vielleicht ehe:l~.ai!s eincr Rechtfeni,unl{. l nat1e-
gelun~:en, ein~m Ausdruclcs· und! form-ldea
Mt1 d'~n liedern nach Ge-orge ist es mir ;r.um erstenma.l
Ja.hren l. Es n1 'ftrwirklic hen, e;ebrac.h n mir bis da.hin an Kn.ft und Siche:rheit.
zukommen. das mir seit vorschw~b
ich mir bewuf.t, aile Schranken ~iner vergangenen J.sthe1ik
Nun ich aNr diese Bahn endgi;1ig betreten habe, bin
einem mir als sic!ler erScheincnden Ziele zustrebe. so f11hle ich dennoch
durchbrochu lU haben; und wmn icb auc:h e, den selbst
sc~on jetzt den Widersland, den ich zu
UberM·inden haben werdti fUhle d~n Hih.egr.ad der Auflehnun
Temperam ente aul'bringe n werden, und ahne, da& seJb::;t solcht.. die mir bisher ,eglaubt haben, die
die g:eringsten
~olwendigkei1 ~ieser Entwicklung nich1
werden einsehen wollen.
Ueshalb schien es mir an~ebractll, d:.:rch die A-.JH'Uhrun
g der Gurre-Lieder, d~e \'Or :acht Ji.hren keine Frtunde
hin:tuwris en, dae nic:ht Mangel an Erfindung odet an technischem
r.ande.n. heute abtr deren viele besitun, dara1.1f
je.Der JandUiufigen J.sthetik mkh in diese Ric:htun& drant:en,
Ktinnen. odtr an Wissen urn die anderen Forderungen
ist. als Enichung; d118 ich jentr Bildllne gehorche, die
sondern, daiS ~.::h tinem innern Zwan~,::c for,ge, du st.:lrker
ist. al& meine kOnstleri s~h~ Vorbildung.
als meine naHirliche rr:Jrhti~:er
Arnol~ SchOnberg.

"Fiinf zehn Gedich te a us 'Das Buch der

Fi~ure 15 Pr0.gra~ of the first perfor mance of Schon berg's 1910, in Vienn a (Arnol d Schi:inberg
y 14,
Ha~genden Garten von Stefan Georg e" op. 15 on Januar
Institu te Los Angeles)
136 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
The expression of extreme loneliness, which was raised from the lyric
intimacy to great dramatic dimensions, became a public art form after
January 1910. This public loneliness stemmed from the contradiction
between the powerlessness of the artists as men and the overestimation
of their power as artists: from the contradiction between isolated single
elements and beings on one side and the tendency towards infinity at the
other. The modern artist transgressed by far his personal limits, those of
his art and the limits of his audience, which changed from a community
to a lonely crowd. He proclaimed that public and loneliness were a unity.

NOTES.

1. Opera 7, 9, 11, 16 and 19.

2. A. Schonberg, Das Verhaltnis zum Text. In: Der Blaue Reiter. Ed. by W. Kandinsky
and F. Marc. New edition by Klaus Lankheit. Miinchen 1965, p. 60-75.
3. Schonberg, Ausgewahlte Briefe. Mainz 1958, p. 30. Cf. Joachim Birke, Richard Dehmel
und Arnold Schonberg. Ein Briefwechsel. In: Die Musikforschung 1958, pp. 279 ff.
4. R. Dehmel, Ausgewahlte Briefe 1883-1902. Berlin 1923, p. 207.
5. Dehmel, Briefe. pp. 365 f.
6. Cf. A. Diimling, Die fremden Klange der hangenden Garten. Die offentliche Einsam-
keit der Neuen Musik am Beispiel von Arnold Schonberg und Stefan George.
Miinchen 1981. p. 284, note 560.
7. Julius Bab, Richard Dehmel. Berlin 1926, p. 126.
8. Ida Dehmel, Ober Richard Dehmel und seine Zeitgenossen. Reprinted in: Richard
Dehmel, Dichtungen, Briefe, Dokumente. Hamburg 1963, p. 264.
9. Ida Coblenz-Dehmel, Daija. Unpublished novel at the Dehmel Archiv of the Staatsbi-
bliothek Hamburg. p. 19.
10. At least one member of the George circle, Karl Wolfskehl, the friend of Kandinsky,
remained a Wagnerian throughout his life. A strong Wagnerian was also George's
early friend Georg Fuchs, who later founded the Miinchner Kiinstler-Theatre. Cf. Peg
Weiss, Kandinsky in Munich. The Formative Jugendstil Years. Princeton 1979, pp.
93f.
11. Cf. A. Diimling, Umwertung der Werte. Das Verhaltnis Stefan Georges zur Musik. In:
Jahrbuch des Staatl. Instituts fUr Musikforschung PreuBischer Kulturbesitz 1981 I 82.
pp. 29-32.
12. Only in recent years has the strong impact of Ida Coblenz on George been studied in
more detail. Cf. Friedrich Thiel, Vier sonntagliche StraBen. A study of the Ida Coblenz
problem in the Works of Stefan George. Utah Studies in Literature and Linguistics,
vol. 19. New York 1988.
13. Ida Dehmel, Ober Richard Dehmel und seine Zeitgenossen. In: Richard Dehmel,
Dichtungen, Briefe, Dokumente. Hamburg 1963.
14. Cf. Diimling, Die fremden Klange der hangenden Garten. pp. 233 ff.
15. Paul Stefan, Das Grab in Wien. Eine Chronik 1903-1911. Berlin 1913, p. 24.
16. Cf. Peter Horst Neumann, Arnold Schonberg, Stefan George, Petrarca. Zu des Kom-
ponisten Textwahlen zwischen 1904 und 1924. In: Neue Ziiricher Zeitung, Sept. 15,
1974, p. 50.
17. Program in Schonberg Collection, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
18. Illustriertes Wiener Extrablatt, February 9, 1907.
 Public Loneliness and Atonality 137
19. Patrick Werkner, Physis und Psyche. Der bsterreichische Fruhexpressionismus.
Wien/Munchen 1986, pp. 51 f., 57.
20. Gerstl was also a friend of Conrad Ansorge. Cf. Werkner p. 53.
21. Cf. Dumling, Die fremden KHi.nge, p. 161. See also Jane Kallir, Arnold Schoenberg's
Vienna. New York 1984, p. 24.
22. ~alter Pass, Schonberg und die "Vereinigung schaffender Tonkunstler in Wien". In:
Osterreichische Musikzeitschrift, June 1974.
23. R. Brinkmann, Arnold Schonberg: Drei Klavierstii.cke op. 11. Studien zur fruhen
Atonalitat bei Schonberg. Wiesbaden 1969, p. 16.
24. As Elmar Budde has demonstrated, this priority of vocal music also exists in
Webern's oeuvre. Cf. Budde, Anton Weberns Lieder op. 3. Wiesbaden 1971.
25. Schonberg, Wie man einsam wird. In: Vojtech (ed.), Arnold Schonberg. Stil und
Gedanke. Aufsatze zur Musik. Frankfurt/M. 1976, p. 354.
26. Already in his essay "Probleme des Kunstunterrichts" he contrasted nobility and
"plebeians". Cf. Vojtech, p. 166.
27. SchOnberg, Aphorismen. In: Die Musik IX, 21 (1909/10), p. 162.
28. Original manuscript at the Pierpont Morgan Library New York. Cf. Dumling, Die
fremden Klange ... , p. 289.
29. Schonberg, Schopferische Konfessionen. Ed. Willi Reich. Zurich 1964, p. 12.
30. Cf. Hubert Stuppner, Schonberg, oder: Der Aufstieg des Sinnlichen ins Geistige. In:
Musik-Konzepte Sonderband Arnold Schonberg. Munchen 1980, p. 100-116.
31. cf. Hartmut Zelinsky, Der "Weg" der "Blauen Reiter". Zu Schonbergs Widmung an
Kandinsky in die "Harmonielehre". In: Jelena Hahl-Koch, Arnold Schonberg -
Wassily Kandinsky, Briefe, Bilder und Dokumente einer auBergewohnlichen Begeg-
nung. Salzburg 1980.
32. Schonberg, Briefe. p. 31.
33. Cf. Hahl-Koch.
34. According to Jelena Hahl-Koch, Kandinsky had similar experiences in 1907.
35. Testamentsentwurf. Excerpts quoted in Kallir p. 28, and Thomas Zaunschirm (ed.),
Arnold Schonberg. Paintings and Drawings. Klagenfurt 1991, p. 47f.
36. Cf. Thomas Zaunschirm, Arnold Schonberg the Painter. In: Zaunschirm, p. 47.
37. SchOnberg, Aphorismen. In: Die Musik IX, 21 (1909/10), p. 162.
38. Otto Breicha, Gerstl - Kursorisches zum "Fall". In: Richard Gerstl (1883-1908). 85.
Sonderausstellung des Historischen Museums der Stadt Wien. Eigenverlag der
Museen der Stadt Wien 1983.
39. Werkner p. 63f.
40. H.H. Stuckenschmidt, Schonberg. Leben, Umwelt, Werk. Zurich/Freiburg 1974, p. 64.
41. Jane Kallir p. 28.
42. This dedication is as strange as his painted portraits of Mathilde. John Russell
discovered in them "an asymetrical, off-center quality that may seem to us to portend
the breakdown of the marriage and its eventual tragic end." Zaunschirm p. 125.
43. Pierpont Morgan Library New York.
44. In 1909 Zemlinsky, who up to this year had been Schonberg's neighbor in
LiechtensteinstraBe 68, left this apartment.
45. Cf. Jaques Le Rider, Der Fall Otto Weininger. Wurzeln des Antifeminismus und
Antisemitismus. Wien 1985.
46. Like Kraus, Schonberg also now regarded the spiritual as a male quality, the sensu-
ous on the other side as primarily female. Cf. Nike Wagner, Geist und Geschlecht.
Karl Kraus und die Erotik der Wiener Moderne. Frankfurt/Main 1982.
47. "In 'Pierrot lunaire' ... Schonberg established the identification of the artist and Christ
by a related religious symbolism: that of the Mass." Carl Schorske, Die Explosion im
Garten: Kokoschka und Schonberg. In: Wien - Geist und Gesellschaft im Fin de Siecle,
Frankfurt/M. 1982, p. 355.
138 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
48. Cf. Diimling, Umwertung der Werte (cf. Note 11).
49. Schonberg, Harmonielehre, 7th ed. Wien 1966, p. 13.
50. lb. p. 497.
51. Zaunschirm p. 437.
52. Cf. Norbert Nagler, Restauration und Fortschritt. Schonbergs monarchistische Demo-
kratisierung der Musik. In: Musik-Konzepte Sonderband Arnold Schonberg.
Miinchen 1980, p. 166.
53. Besides Wolzogen Hans von Biilow, Richard Strauss and Rudolf Steiner also propa-
gated the ideas of Stirner. Cf. Hartmut Zelinsky, p. 232f.
54. Schonberg, Harmonielehre. p. 176.
55. Heinz-Klaus Metzger, Arnold Schonberg von hinten. In: Musik-Konzepte Sander-
band Arnold Schonberg, p. 33.
56. Cf. C. Dahlhaus, Musikalische Moderne und Neue Musik. In: Melos/NZ 1976, p. 90.
57. Diimling, Die fremden Klange ... , pp. 35f.
58. Schonberg, Harmonielehre. p. 478.
59. Zelinsky, p. 228.
60. Schonberg, Mahler. In: Vojtech, p. 24.
61. Carla Henius, " ... und alles Vornehmen unter dem Himmel hat seine Stunde."
Erfahrungen mit Schonbergs "fiinfzehn gedichten aus dem buch der hangenden
garten" von Stefan George. In: Musik-Konzepte Arnold Schonberg, p. 95f.
62. At first Schonberg wanted to show his atonal compositions only to his closest friends.
cf. Schonberg, Wie man einsam wird, p. 355. He was even more shy with his
paintings. "Whether I should exhibit at all is already a question", he wrote in a letter
to Kandinsky from March 8, 1912. Zaunschirm p. 33.
 The Fool as Paradigm:
Schonberg's Pierrot lunaire and
the Modern Artist 1
REINHOLD BRINKMANN

So much, almost everything possible, has already been said or written

about Pierret and his long and prominent history - from Antoine
Watteau's Gilles to Pablo Picasso's sad clown; from the old Italian
Commedia dell' Arte, through the Theatre des Funambules and Jean-
Gaspard ('Baptiste') Debureau, to Vsevolod Meyerhold, the Berlin cabaret
of the 1920s, and Jean-Louis Barrault in Les Enfants du Paradis; and,
musically, from early Italian opera through Robert Schumann's Carnaval
to Arnold Schonberg's twenty-one melodramas - critics and scholars
from all fields have dealt with the European dimensions of this humble
puppet figure. As always in 'late' positions, I find myself in the
melancholic state of presenting you with many well known facts, more
summarizing old than originating new ideas, and without always being
able to add spoken footnotes referring to the many authors whose find-
ings or thoughts might be behind my own presentation today. I acknow-
ledge my debts to a variety of generous "Pierret" scholars here in
advance and in general, I will list as many of them as possible in the
bibliography at the end.
My presentation today will focus on Schonberg's Pierrot lunaire of 1912
and its historical position. I will begin with reflections on two statements
by Schonberg himself: the long and precisely designed title of the work
and programmatic text about it. I will proceed to remarks on the general
history of the puppet mask Pierrot, with special emphasis on 19th- and
early 20th-century representations. I will then tum to other "Pierrots"
from around 1900. An attempt to characterize Schonberg's Pierrot music,
its form, structure, and meaning, will follow. Finally, I will briefly assess
the historical significance of Schonberg's Opus 21.
With this, I am responding to the task to which I have been assigned: to
introduce to non-specialists a work of art that will be performed later
today.
140 Schonberg and Kandinsky

My first section includes philological commentaries on two verbal com-

munications by Schonberg. The first statement of Schonberg's about his
Pierrot lunaire is the title of the work. This title, in its early version
presented in the program brochure to the first audiences of the 1912
Berlin premiere and the subsequent concert tour, reads as follows:

Dreimal sieben Gedichte

aus Albert Girauds
"Lieder des Pierrot Lunaire"
(deutsch von Otto Erich Hartleben)
fUr eine Sprechstimme, Klavier, Flote (auch
Pikkolo), Klarinette (auch BafSklarinette), Violine
(auch Bratsche) und Violoncell
(Melodramen)
von
Arnold Schonberg
Op. 21
In drei Teilen

Quite obviously, this title is - from its content and form through its
presentation in print - a thoughtfully designed composition. As a clamp
or frame, there is the numerical aspect, with "three times seven" in the
first and "twenty-one divided by three" in the last lines. The old magical
numbers three and seven evoke an aura with religious connotations (and
the numerical center of Opus 21 will be a Rote Messe), and they are also
certainly a reflection of Stefan George's artificial play with numbers in his
poetic cycles which Schonberg knew so well during these years (the '5' in
his Buch der Hiingenden Garten, Schoenberg's 15 songs Op. 15, and the
multiplications of '7' in Der Siebente Ring from which Schonberg took the
two poems for his Opus 10). As an inner circle, surrounding the center in
lines 2, 4 and 10, there are the names of the two poets and of the
composer, and, connected with the title of the cycle, three designations
of genres between poetry and music, in a progressive order toward the
latter: "Gedichte," "Lieder," and "Melodramen". The center of the title,
however, is formed by the musical instruments, the Sprechstimme together
with five players and their eight instruments. Instrumentation as the core
of the title points toward color and gesture as the central aspects in this
work of chamber music. 2 In an unpublished letter of July 5, 1912, to Emil
Hertzka, the Direktor of Universal Edition, Schonberg remarked point-
 The Fool as Paradigm 141

edly, that Pierrot lunaire belongs to a group of works where "die Farbe
alles, die Noten gar nichts bedeuten, wo also nur die Partitur tiber das
Werk AufschlufS gibt.'' This refers to Herzgewiichse and Die gliickliche
Hand, works from 1911 and 1912-13, and probably back to certain aspects
of the Fiinf Orchesterstiicke of 1909, and, especially regarding Pierrot, is
certainly an overstatement. But it highlights the crucial importance of the
color parameter even within the confines of a chamber ensemble. "Kam-
mermusiklieder" was the term Schonberg later claimed to have avoided
[Die Jugend und ich, 1923, see Style and Idea, 92ff.].
It is interesting to note that the title includes the two terms "Gedichte"
and "Lieder." This clearly points to the 19th-century tradition of naming
songs and song collections as "Gedichte." Wagner's Fiinf Gedichte by
Mathilde Wesendonck or Brahms's Gedichte von Daumer, both for voice
and piano, are examples. The dominance of poetry, indicated by labelling
songs as "Gedichte," certainly goes back to the old aesthetics of the Ger-
man Lied of the so-called Goethezeit, where the term "Lied" oscillated
between poetical and musical components. "Lied" was then a literary
term characterizing a poem designated to be sung. But there is more
behind the use of the term "Lieder" within the title of Schonberg's work.
It places Pierrot lunaire within the tradition of the German song cycle.
Indeed, Pierrot is very much a song cycle, even stronger: a "Liederkreis," as
defined by Beethoven, Schubert, and particularly Schumann: There is a
narrative, a story; selected poems are ordered according to a plot - as
Schumann did with Heine or Eichendorff. In this case, Schonberg selected
his twenty-one poems from among a collection of more than fifty, follow-
ing a certain leading idea and forming a plot by grouping the poems in an
order that was not pretended by the poets, neither by Giraud nor by
Hartleben (their's was just a collection, not a cycle).
There are the traditional musical means by which a composer tries to
achieve cyclic unity. A few examples regarding three major parameters
may suffice:
(a) Thematic references at key moments, points of attraction, the begin-
ning and the end in particular, are one element. Compare the melodic
beginnings for the Sprechstimme of the first and the last melodramas:

~ j,,j I J? vi .J? ~p I~~, ~p .J? ' ~ ,.1

Wcin, Au - sen triokt

li
'" - .... Duft aus MJb" chen- z.cit ...

Figure 1
142 Schonberg and Kandinsky

(b) Identical rhythmic patterns related to a melodic cell and forming a

quasi-motive are another unifying means. Compare the recurrence of
the 16th-note figuration with its seven digits from the very beginning
throughout the work.

~ i v'F~
ftc I
Nr.1: Piano
&r

Nr. 11: Piano

Figure 2

(c) A harmonic orientation, or even gravitation toward a center E, or

chords built upon E, is obvious in many pieces and gets stronger at
the end of the cycle, with its strictest realization at the cadential
confirmation of E minor/major in no. 21, bars 28/29.

.....
rnolto rit.

.
~- H ~ ~
0 al- ter Duft Mllr eben - zeit

,h ·--
+·
pp
--

Ta i s#
v i
B E
_s___ ~

Figure 3

(d) In addition, Schonberg composed direct connections between several

songs (from no. 5 to 6, or 20 to 21, for example), as Schumann did in
Dichterliebe (nos. 1 through 3, for example).
 The Fool as Paradigm 143

(e) And, Schonberg wrote instrumental transitions between several of the

melodramas, including cross-references that function as musical com-
mentaries. Schonberg's interlude between nos. 13 and 14, for example,
refers back to no. 5, Der kranke Mond, and is such an instrumental
commentary. (And again, one remembers Schumann: the postlude to
Dichterliebe with its quote and expansion of the piano texture from
song no. 12, Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen.)
(f) Certainly, the instrumentation has its function for the cyclic ordering.
The central piece, no. 11, Rote Messe, the quasi-'negative' pole of the
piece, uses the 'reversed' instrumentation, with piccolo, bass clarinet,
and viola instead of flute, clarinet, and violin; and the very end has the
'heaviest' load: all eight instruments, primary as well as secondary
ones, participate.
(g) Certain numbers are designed for their specific place and function
within the cycle. Thus no. 14, Die Kreuze, was composed as a "Schlufl-
stiick" (Albertine Zehme's term in a letter to Schonberg of July 16,
1912); the beginning of no. 15, Heimweh, has an introductory gesture;
nos 20 through 21 are clearly consecutive pieces to end a section or a
cycle.

It seems pertinent at this point, to remember that, throughout the 19th

century, the Lied and the lyrical piano piece have an almost identical
history; Liederkreis and Klavierzyklus follow the same aesthetic principles.
(A comparison of Schumann's Carnaval and Schonberg's Pierrot could
prove such a statement. 3 ) As individual lyrical moments, these 'character
pieces' can represent different states of a subjective mind; ordered
sequences of such miniatures are able to form a process, designed and
directed by a lyrical plot.
The last line of Schonberg's title arrangement refers to the specific
'plotting' of Pierrot. And it can well be that the work's three-part form
with seven melodramas for each segment was found in connection with
the assignment of the opus number, that is '21'. Most likely, Schonberg's
earliest Pierrot plan was not "In drei Teilen". The form of the first Pierrot
manuscript A, the complete first draft of the entire cycle, suggests a two-
part form. The preparation of the manuscript in two separate gatherings -
with each piece already assigned to a specific place- indicates this. (From
this manuscript Schonberg made single Reinschriften for each piece
immediately after he had drafted them.) We do not know the exact
order within the first cyclical plan, nor do we know the number of pre-
selected poems. But we do know from a letter of July 13, 1912, by
Albertine Zehme that she had his 'preliminary plan'. At some point in
144 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
June/July 1912, Schonberg must have re-grouped the poems/melo-
dramas, now following a final plot. At the same time, or as a consequence
of this re-grouping, he designed instrumental transitions and other cycli-
cal strategies. It seems that a plan pasted on to an empty page of manu-
script A marks exactly this point within the compositional process (see
Figure 4).
As to the plot and its three-part division, it structures a reflection on the
state of the modem artist. 4 SECTION I, that is nos. 1-7, begins with the
intoxication of the artistic fantasy through the moon, the romantic symbol
of inspiration. Then mind and creative fantasy grow more and more
disturbed and disordered. In no. 7, the moon is pronounced sick. In
SECTION II, nos. 8-14, darkness descends; terror, destruction and artistic
martyrdom close in, with no. 11, the blasphemous Rote Messe, the numeri-
cally exact center of the 21 melodramas, as the deepest point of self-
sacrifice (Baudelaire's "absolute grotesque", displaying a mental split of
metaphysical dimensions!). In SECTION III, nos. 15-21, strong elements
of sentimentality, but also of parody and ironic reflection, are coming to
the fore. Pierrot abandons the moon (that is: backs away from his
advanced modernist standards); he returns home to his beloved Bergamo,
the town of all Zannis, Arlecchinos, Pierrots, and Kaspars- reconciliation
between artist and 'world' seems to take place, and at the end Pierrot is
bathing in sunlight from the small window of his bourgeois home peace-
fully looking at the world, as if everything were in order again: "0 alter
Duft aus Miirchenzeit .. ."
"In drei Teilen", Ferruccio Busoni's early description of Schonberg's
work refers to this three-part form and its meaning. In his letter to Egon
Petri of June 19, 1913, Busoni writes:
"Die Form des Pierrot lunaire ist sehr befriedigend. Sie besteht aus dreimal sieben
Gedichten, also drei Siitzen. Die Anzahl und Anordnung dieser Gedichte scheint erst
'chemin Jaisant' Jestgesetzt und gefunden worden zu sein. Es Jormte sich alles unter der
Hand. Trotzdem sie alle grotesk sind, so kann man die drei Theile (nach einigen
iiberwiegenden Nuancen) immerhin mit lyrisch, tragisch und humoristisch iiberschrei-
ben. -Zwischen einigen der Lieder scheinen kurze verbindende Ubergiinge nachkompon-
iert zu sein, welches mir als 'Naht' auffiel. Im zweiten Theile ist ein ganzes
instrumentales Intermezzo (ohne Text) eingefiigt, die dreistimmige Paraphrasierung
eines friiheren Fliiten-Monologs (der iibrigens ein Kind von der traurigen Weise aus
Tristan ist)."

Indeed, all the motifs and images for Schonberg's plotting of his narrative
existed in Giraud/Hartleben's collection of Pierrot poems, but unordered,
scattered among the fifty poems. Schonberg's selection and ordering
followed an intention to create meaning, to narrate a paradigmatic
 The Fool as Paradigm 145

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·~~...~·cw(
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Figure 4
146 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
story. How do we understand this plot, especially the open ending, and
what, in particular, is the role of the music?
I turn to a second statement by Schonberg and to my second commen-
tary. In December 1916, Schonberg sent the printed score of Pierrot lunaire
to Alexander von Zemlinsky, his former teacher, then composer collea-
gue, brother- in-law and friend, and he included the following dedicatory
text:

"Liebster Freund, meine herzlichsten Wunsche fur Weihnachten 1916. Es ist banal zu
sagen, dafl wir aile solche mondsuchtigen Wursteln sind; das meint ja der Dichter, daft
wir eingebildete Mondflecke von unseren Kleidern abzuwischen uns bemuhen und aber
unsere Kreuze anbeten. Seien wir froh, dafl wir Wunden haben: wir haben damit etwas,
das uns hilft, die Materie gering zu schiitzen. Von der Verachtung fur unsere Wunden
stammt die Verachtung fiir unsere Feinde, stammt unsere Kraft, unsere Leben einem
Mondstrahl zu opfern. Man wird Ieicht pathetisch, wenn man an die Pierrot-Dichtung
denkt. Aber zum Kuckuck, gibt es denn nur mehr Getreidepreise? Viele Grufle. Dein
Arnold Schonberg."

Schonberg's statement sees Pierrot as a representational figure. He is the

paradigmatic artist of the early 20th century - an alienated fellow,
despised by society, suffering from wounds of hostility and isolation,
but proud of these wounds, because they attest and prove to him that
he lives and expresses the truth about world and society. At times when
the price of grain means everything to his countrymen, the artist Pierrot,
sentenced by society to a fool's existence, dares to live out of nothing but
the strength of a moonbeam, the moonbeam 'fantasy', his artistic imagi-
nation. Yes, he seems to be the fool, but- as in Shakespeare's dramas- it
is the fool, the comic outsider, who sees through outer appearances and,
in fact, conveys the truth, laughing at the world that condemned him to
accept this role. Within the contemporary context of the year 1910, this
certainly is the position of decadence as a counterstrategy, aestheticism as
an opposition to reality and its dominating forces. With its self-elevation
of the 'absolute' artist it is a position of tragic hubris.
But Schonberg's Pierrot is more than the author's self-interpretation
reveals. The score already contains an internal commentary, a critique.
Thus, Pierrot represents an historical state of mind and its critical reflec-
tion. Both are evident in the music, evident as musical form, structure,
and 'tone'.
Schonberg always stressed the 'light' tone of the work, referring to
distancing as an artistic principle. In his letter to Schonberg of February
28, 1921, Erwin Stein wrote about his rehearsing Pierrot with Erika
Wagner-Stiedry, quoting Schonberg himself:
 The Fool as Paradigm 147
"Ich finde, daft die Wagner gut ist .. . was sie bringt ist echt, ohne Sentimentalitiit und
Pathos und Singsang. Vielleicht mitunter zu vornehm, der Ernst nicht kalt genug, die
Tragik nicht uberwiiltigend groft. Aber da ist beides, und ich glaubte Sie so zu verstehen,
daft das nicht allzuviel ausmacht, als Sie schrieben, daft alles "Allegretto" bleiben
muftte."

And later, in a letter to Fritz Stiedry of August 31, 1940, Schonberg was
even more precise:

" ... denn ich beabsichtige diesmal zu versuchen, ob ich nicht vollkommen diesen leichten,
ironisch-satirischen Ton herausbekommen kann, in welchem das StUck eigentlich
konzipiert war. Dazu kommt, daft sich die Zeiten und mit ihnen die Auffassungen sehr
geiindert haben, so daft, was uns damals vielleicht als Wagnerisch, oder schlimmstenfalls
als Tschaykowskysch erschienen wiire, heute bestimmt Puccini, Lehar oder darunter ist."

This means irony, satire in a twofold manner.

Pierrot' s mask of laughter covers a face that is full of tears. The modern
Pierrot is defined by the paradox that Lord Byron had already stated:
"And if I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep." The state
of world and society (Schonberg's "price of grain") is experienced as
such that the sensitive contemporary (Schonberg's artist, struck by the
moonbeam), feels condemned to alienation and even self-destruction.
Pierrot belongs to the tradition of the sad clown; as such his irony is a
mask. And the artistic utterance of such a state of mind uses the form of
the satirical, the burlesque, the grotesque. It indeed is the split of
mind that Charles Baudelaire, in his important essay "On the Essence of
Laughing", described as the "absolute comedy". Baudelaire uses the
figure of Pierrot to exemplify that, at times, the comical spirit is forced
to reach a metaphysical dimension. The contrast between things them-
selves, the split between the I and the whole (of which the relation
between artist and society can form a model), the originating split within
the sensitive Ego itself, becomes so fundamental that it can only be
expressed through ironical means. Robert Schumann in his famous
review of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique addressed exactly this problem
when he commented upon the blasphemous superimposition of the "Dies
!rae" with the dance from the Witches's Sabbath in the finale of the
symphony:

" ... if we could combat the spirit of the day, which tolerates a burlesque 'Dies Irae' we
should only repeat what has been said and written against Grabbe, Heine, Byron, Hugo,
and others. At certain moments in an eternity poetry may put on the masque of irony to
cover her sorrowful face. Perhaps the friendly hand of a genius may also one day remove
it."
148 Schonberg and Kandinsky
It seems that around 1912, and in the view of Schonberg, this friendly
genius could not have appeared. Schonberg's Pierret is a sad clown, the
work's "light, ironic-satirical tone" is its modern masque of irony, a cover
that veils the concerns about (to quote Schonberg's famous letter to
Kandinsky from about ten years later) "the overturning of everything
one has believed in."
The second aspect of irony as an aesthetic principle is its compositional
perspective. Schonberg's letter to Stiedry already names the play
with historical models, using the historicity of musical idioms as a central
compositional means of realizing the tone of a constant 'Allegretto.' I will
come back to this musical aspect at a later point. As a next step I need to
take a look at the Pierret figure itself, its history and its changes of
character. The question I pose is why just Pierret, why a puppet, the
mask of the fool, could become the paradigmatic representation of the
modern artist. Here are a few highlights of Pierret's remarkable European
history.

II

In the lecture presentation, this section dealt with the appearance of

Pierret in the different arts over several centuries. The intention was to
elevate Pierret to the range and recognition of other major characters
in European intellectual history: Spain's Don Quixote and Don Juan,
England's Hamlet, Germany's Faust. Pierret was seen as the contribution
of French culture to this quintet of great fictive characters. But the
term 'character' points at some difficulties for Pierret. As a figure of
primary transitory genres like pantomime, cabaret, circus, and impro-
vised theatre, there is no chance for a puppet to easily advance to the
heights of the Parnassus. One may rightly assume that the main body
of Pierret's active theatre carrier is lost, just because a decisive part of
his specific qualities was embodied in the actual performances on stage,
and could not be kept in books or in scores. And it was not the literary
quality but the specific 'pantomimic quality' of his actual presence
that defined Pierret's success. But what nevertheless survived in quite
different artistic fields - theatre, lyric poetry, the visual arts, music,
cabaret, film, and essays - is unexpectedly rich, both in quantity and in
quality. And only recent research has discovered, or better: re-discovered,
the importance of Pierret as a topical figure between Watteau on the one
end, and Daumier or Picasso, Lipchitz or Klee on the other, between the
Commedia dell' Arte and Moliere, Baudelaire, Verlaine, T.S. Eliot, Wallace
 The Fool as Paradigm 149

Stevens, Alexander Blok, and Robert Musil, not forgetting the acting
geniuses of Meyerhold and Jean-Louis Barrault. Somewhere in between
there, more towards the end, appears the trio of Giraud, Hartleben and
Schonberg.
My sketch of this history began, at some length and illustrated by
many slides, with the old Italian Commedia dell' Arte (represented by
the 1621 title page of the play La Gran Vittoria del Pedrolino with its
depiction of a typical scene), then proceeded to the French adaption of
the Italian mask creating the typological figure of the stupid and clumsy
Pierrot opposite, or as a complement, to the clever and agile Harlequin
(with the addition of Pierrot to the casting of French drama finalized by
Moliere; culminating then in Watteau's famous Comediens Italiens from
1719-20 and his Gilles, with its openness to romantic interpretations as the
sad clown). However, the chapter centered on 19th-century Paris, the
revival of the Pierrot figure in the theatre (after the French Revolution
had abruptly ended the first half of the figure's history), with the Theatre
des Funambules and one actor in particular: Jean-Gaspard Debureau,
called Baptiste, a native from Bohemia, who lived from 1796 through
1846 and created as well as established the 'nouveau Pierrot' on the
theatre stages of Paris and, subsequently, stored this figure permanently
into the memory of European intellectual history. (Jean-Louis Barrault in
Les Enfants du Paradis is Baptiste's most eloquent monument.) And both
the creation of the modern Pierrot itself and the way it was carried out,
are significant.
Baptiste's Pierrot was no longer the prankish buffoon, no longer naive,
fearful, coarse, and stupid, but detached, ironic, clever, and arrogant.
And: Baptiste already added elements of perversion, of the macabre and
violent actions to the repertory of the figure. (It was, by the way, during
the time of Victor Hugo and Hector Berlioz, both of whom added the
grotesque to the arsenal of European aesthetic values; also, Rosenkranz's
Asthetik des Hiifllichen was about to appear.) However, Pierrot remained
the sufferer. Here the fundament was laid for the development of the sad
clown. Baudelaire described Baptiste's Pierrot as "pale as the moon -
supple and mute as a serpent." And it was this change of its typological
orientation that enabled Pierrot to become an allegorical figure: the
paradigmatic mask for the modern artist. It is similarly significant that,
from its very beginnings, Baptiste's creation of the modern Pierrot was
accompanied by and reflected in the thoughts, aesthetics, and writings of
the Paris intelligentsia since the 1830s. In 1832 the most up-to-date of all
Paris critics, Jules Janin, wrote a glorifying book on Debureau, culminat-
ing in sentences such as these:
150 Schonberg and Kandinsky
There is no longer a Theatre Franfais; only the Funambules . .. Let us write the history
of art as it is, filthy, beggarly and drunken, inspiring a filthy, beggarly and
drunken audience. Since Debureau has become the king of this world, let us celebrate
Debureau!

Such fanfares established Debureau's theatre as the cult place of mod-

ernist artists, as the Mecca of the Paris intellectual avant-garde: Charles
Nodier, Gerard de Nerval, Theophile Gautier, Theodore de Banville,
Charles Baudelaire, Jules Champfleury... Francis Haskell has correctly
described this interplay:

"Debureau's talent attracted the intellectuals to a virtually forgotten and

unexplored theatrical genre; and the intellectuals then proceeded to change the nature
of that genre.
II

The intellectuals became attracted to Debureau's performances because

they could mirror their own self-interpretation in this figure of 'Pierrot
nouveau.' Gautier's definition is revealing:

Pierrot - pallid, slender, dressed in sad colors, always hungry and always beaten, is the
11

ancient slave, the modern proletarian, the pariah, the passive and disinherited being, who,
glum and shy, witnesses the orgies and Jollies of his masters. II

Baudelaire's important theory of the grotesque as the "absolute comic"- I

already referred to it earlier - is informed exactly by the "metaphysical
sadness" of Debureau's reinterpretation of the old Pierrot.
Here began Pierrot' s importance as an allegorical image for the deca-
dent spirit of the European fin-de-siecle, and here also began, as the
reverse side of the medal, the marketing of the sad clown as an object
of commerce. And the success was immense, on all fronts. The process
may be summarized as follows. A theatre figure of popular culture, re-
invented in the 1820s in Paris, gets intellectualized as a paradigm of a
modernist counter-mythology against the official culture of the 'juste
milieu' and its institutions. The publicized success of this adaption initi-
ates commercialization; within the new realm of public mass media, the
initial counter-image gets lost, and the original modernist intent remains
a minor thread only.
The success also created actors. Baptiste, who died in 1846, was
followed by other famous impersonations for the Pierrot figure: his son
Charles Debureau, then Paul Legrande (who played in Champfleurie's
pantomimes, for example in Pierrot, Valet de la Mort to which Baudelaire
reacted with enthusiasm). Later it was the Paris caricaturist Adolphe
 The Fool as Paradigm 151
Willette (1857-1926), one of the founders of the "Chat Noir" on Mont-
martre and editor of the journal Pierrot. Willette was one of the
most successful agents, marketing Pierret in newspapers, journals, bro-
chures, cartoons, lyrics, photographs, sketches, the pantomime theatre,
the music hall ... His cartoon-sketch Au Clair de la Lune from about 1882
[see Storey, plate 2] is an example of the trivial'serialization' of the figure.
(At the beginning, the cartoon could be "Der Wein, den man mit Augen
trinkt"; many of the ingredients are there, but it is turned into a trivial
every-day story of an erotic fantasy that gets alcoholized and deceived.)
At this time, Pierret was all over the place. A popular Pierret industry
had emerged, and the serious metaphysical grotesque was only a small
elitist branch within this massive production. Yet its imaginative
power was unbroken, and that is what interests us here today. But
certainly, as Schonberg's letter to Zemlinsky states, it is the 'power' of
the moonbeam only, an aesthetic opposition, that defines Pierret's mod-
ernist physiognomy. And this is the historical position also of Schonberg's
Pierrot lunaire. But before returning to it, let me briefly sketch its neigh-
borhood.
The paradigmatic change of the Pierret figure can be demonstrated
with two examples. The first, still portraying the old Pierret - the
heavy, clumsy, naive comrade of Harlequin - is to be found in
Robert Schumann's Carnaval, op. 9, from the late 1830s, the romantic
cycle of poetic piano miniatures that obviously inspired Schonberg. Car-
naval, just to point this out, includes twenty-one such character pieces, if
one counts the silent Sphinxes; its titles name Chopin, Colombine, and- as
the first piece after the introduction - Pierrot, followed by Arlequin. In
Schumann's view of the two zannis, Pierret is the slow, clumsy character,
heavily tumbling in octaves, whereas Harlequin is the fast and witty one.
That is still the old constellation. The second example, written in 1868,
decades after the appearance of Baptiste Debureau, thematicizes the
change. It is Verlaine' s early poem "Pierret," the sonnet with its
meticulously constructed correspondences of pale and white images,
and inner rhymes.

Pierrot
Ce n'est plus le reveur luna ire du vieil air
Qui riait aux ai"eux dans les dessus de partes;
Sa gaite, comme sa chandelle, helas! est morte,
Et son spectre aujourd'hui nous hante, mince et clair.
Et voici que parmi l'eroi d'un long eclair
Sa pale blouse a I'air, au vent froid qui I'emporte,
152 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
D'un linceul, et sa bouche est beante, de sorte
Qu'il semble hurler sous les morsures du ver.
Avec le bruit d'un val d'oiseaux de nuit qui passe,
Ses manches blanches font vaguement par I'espace
Des signes fous auxquels personne ne repond.
Ses yeux sont deux grands trous au rampe du phosphore
Et Ia farine rend plus eroyable encore
Sa face exsangue au nez pointu de moribond.

And the first line "You are no longer the lunar dreamer of the past"
immediately points to the new view of Pierrot. The poem deals with
the horrifying experience of the metaphysical split between the I and
the world, the dimension now attached to Pierrot. Images of aliena-
tion, isolation, sadness, destruction, and death, of terror, pain, and suffer-
ing prevail. Examples for the 'sad clown' from the visual arts add
similar images and thoughts: Daumier' s Pierrot with the Guitar, the
isolated figure from 1873, or the realism of his 1866 Deplacement des
Saltimbanques, the homelessness of a group of artists, driven out of
the city. And it is within this iconography of the lonely artist that
Pierrot finds his most significant realization. Pablo Picasso's depictions
of Saltimbanques and Harlequins from the beginning of the 20th century
are the prominent examples, the series culminates in his "Sad Pierrot" of
1918.
This 'nouveau Pierrot' and its connotations name the environment in
which the Belgian decadent Albert Giraud placed his 'Pierrot lunaire',
from which then Otto Erich Hartleben created Pierrot's most important
German versification. This is where Schonberg started, as far as poetry is
concerned. But within the same context of public market and artistic
representation there are musical realizations of Pierrot as well. Some
of them may have shaped Schonberg's sensibility toward this specific
subject.

III

How did music participate in portraying or using the Pierrot figure? A

fuller picture of Pierrot in music is still missing. As indicated above, there
are, and will always remain, severe problems for the historian. The nature
of Pierrot' s primary genre, extemporized theatre, does not favor the
survival of sources, especially for music; even if librettos survive, the
music is often lost.
 The Fool as Paradigm 153

For the early history, Nino Pirrotta can be called as a witness. His
enlightening general account of the manifold connections between the
Commedia dell' Arte and early Italian opera ends with a resignative
statement. Certainly, we know works such as Orazio Vecchi's madrigal
comedy L'Anfiparnasso, an attempt "to emphasize the unity of the Par-
nassus both of music and of comic poetry." But we will have to live with
Pirrotta' s negative summary:

"Of Pantaleone, of Arlecchino, of Isabella, of Pulcinella - only thin shadows remain,

for their life was embodied in the flesh, in the appearance, in the breath of their inter-
preters."

The same is true of 'Pierret nouveau'. Theatrical genres such as

pantomime are transitional by definition, and even if a score of some
sort survived, it would only be a skeleton of the actual performance,
and it would be almost impossible to reconstruct the real theatrical pre-
sence of the figures. Nevertheless, more could be done. To my knowl-
edge, no one has so far conducted a systematic investigation into the
remaining musical sources that include Pierret.
To get a basic (though limited) and somewhat representative picture of
what might have survived from Pierret music circa 1900, I prepared a list
of 'Pierret' settings of all kinds in the holdings of two major libraries with
printed title/subject catalogues, the British Library and the Boston Public
Library- the addition of the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Library of
Congress would certainly give a much broader and more representative
account - and I added some compositions I happened to know from other
sources. My compilation, ordered roughly according to three genres
(stage, instrumental, song), and complemented by a list of Pierrot lunaire
settings after Giraud/Hartleben, is given as a supplement [see appendix
pp. 163-66]. Though this list is quite preliminary it allows a few general
conclusions:

(a) The majority of 'Pierret' scores from about 1880 to 1920 belong to
theatrical genres, such as pantomime, ballet, or the so-called "opera
comique," a term that, at the time, covered all kinds of musical
comedies.
(b) The majority of composers are unfamiliar names; centers are Paris,
Brussels, London. (And one remembers that already Baudelaire talks
about French and English Pierrots.)
(c) After 1900 more and more songs are listed among the compositions.
Poems by Sarah Teasdale especially received a variety of settings; they
154 Schonberg and Kandinsky
display a light conversational tone, and do not participate in the
paradigm of the sad clown. The songs and their arrangements for
various instruments by Hutchinson show the commercial aspect of
popular culture.
(d) After 1900 the number of instrumental 'Pierrot' pieces is growing; the
figure has become so popular that no identifying text is needed any
more.
(e) I could locate eight composers (besides Schonberg) who set Giraud/
Hartlebens texts to music; one of them used Giraud's French original,
the others used Hartleben's transformations. All compositions are
songs in the traditional sense; seven select a smaller number of
poems; one composer (Vrieslander) sets the complete collection.
[This section ended with brief commentaries on a few examples from
among these songs.]

IV

What distinguishes Schonberg's Pierrot lunaire from the Pierrot settings of

his contemporaries? What is the specific signature, the artistic and histor-
ical signification of his cycle of twenty-one melodramas?
This is not so much a question of artistic quality. Certainly, there is no
doubt about the artistic superiority of Schonberg's cycle, truly a work "auf
hochstem Formniveau," to use Adorno's term. Several of the other Pierrot
songs display solid craftsmanship, though in toto they remain epigonic. A
few of them are really fine songs, worth performing in recitals, especially
Kowalski's twelve songs from 1912, which achieve an original tone, a
sphere of their own between Lied and cabaret song. But this is not the
difference in which I am interested.
All the other Pierrots hide the problematical and- in a historical sense-
the significant and representational aspects of the texts behind the norms
of the private Lied genre; they all domesticate the horrifying and
blasphemous images through the moderating limits of Hausmusik. There
is no indication of any historically paradigmatic perspective at all. Only
Schonberg aims at constituting a paradigm. In other words: in the realm
of 'Pierrot' music it is only Schonberg's cycle that elevates the puppet
Pierrot to the level of an allegorical figure, to a model of identification for
the late artist of modernity, for the problematic state of subjectivity,
for the crisis of identity and cohesion of the I. And Schonberg aims at
this historicalness not only by constructing a narrative plot from among
 The Fool as Paradigm 155

the poems, but through form, structure and tone of his music. The music
thus comments on the narrative of the texts, on the plot 'Pierrot lunaire',
and only this self-reflection of the work of art defines its historical posi-
tion.
As a work of the highest artistic degree, Schonberg's Pierrot lunaire
offers a historical diagnosis. It presents the puppet Pierrot as an allegor-
ical image for the modem artist, embodying contemporary concerns
about the state of subjectivity, that is, the problematic relation between
the I (not the 'We'!) and the world - again I am using this idealistic
dichotomy. But it is also a critical commentary on itself, on its own
representational intent. In an extreme state of self-reflection Pierrot lunaire
is music about its own presence, that is, music about history. And the
compositional means to achieve this is to construct a work as music about
music, music about a specific musical tradition. Let me finally illustrate
this with a few examples.
The basic compositional attitude was pronounced by Schonberg him-
self when he pointed to the "light ironic-satirical tone" of the work's
original conception, the "Allegretto" throughout, and when he remarked
that, what then, in 1912, might have been perceived as "Wagnerisch" or
"Tschaykowskysch," was now to sound like "Puccini, Lehar, or even
below."
Irony in music as compositional principle means distancing the com-
position from its own musical material. This enables a work to become a
commentary in and on itself. Schonberg's and Webem's very fundamen-
tal theoretical distinction between 'laws of the material' ('Materialgesetze')
and 'laws of presentation' or 'representation' ('Darstellungsgesetze') is
crucial in this respect. The compositional strategies for Pierrot lunaire are
not grounded in the 'laws of the material' used in the work, but are
following the 'laws of presentation'. The musical material is being used
for the purpose of presenting an idea, is being used in an almost Brech-
tian sense.
It is well known and much commented upon that many (most of the
twenty-one) pieces in Pierrot lunaire are based upon traditional models:
dances, old forms, old techniques, etcetera. No. 2, Colombine, truly is a
waltz; no. 5, Valse de Chopin, is a slow waltz; no. 17, Parodie, is a polka; no.
8, Nacht, is a passacaglia; nos. 12 and 15, Galgenlied and Heimweh, are
compositions based upon the technique of developing variation; nos. 17
and 18, Parodie and Der Mondfleck, proceed according to rules of imitative
counterpoint, such as canon and fugue; no. 19, Serenade, is again, a slow
waltz, but also a Dramolett designed as a miniature cello concerto, with
a veritable cadenza; no. 20, Heimfahrt, is a barcarole. These models,
156 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
traditional types, are being used (as, a few years later, Stravinsky will use
waltz, march, and ragtime in a neo-classicist manner in his Soldier's Tale);
they are being played with; they are presented as if the composition were
playing with them. They are musical material for the purpose of present-
ing, for making a statement.
But beyond this, there are other types of references to tradition,
allusions to specific styles, specific works and passages, that are clearly
identifiable, even in the sense of quotations. A few examples again may
suffice:

- no. 16, 'Gemeinheit', is (as Christian M. Schmidt has pointed out)

evidently modeled after the classical design of recitative and aria,
- no. 6, 'Madonna', clearly quotes a specific Bach model, a three-part
setting without basso continuo, and the precise point of departure is
either the 'Adagio' from J. S. Bach's Sonata for Flute and Violin, BWV
1038 (the source for the section 'Cute Nacht' from the motet Jesu meine
Freude, BWV 227, as Rudolf Stephan suggested) or, more likely, the
'Preludio' no. 24 in b minor from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier I, BWV
869.

More specific references include

- in no. 9, 'Gebet an Pierrot', at the word 'Lachen', an allusion to

Kundry's famous outcry 'lachte' from m. 1182 of act II in Wagner's
Parsifal, leaping there from the high b3 two octaves down to c#1;
Christian M. Schmidt rightly identified this quotation. By the way,
this was a passage Schonberg had already quoted elsewhere. Sieghart
Dohring has pointed out that the 'Frau' at the singular climax of
Schonberg's Erwartung (m. 189) uses exactly, and only there, the
same pitches for her cry 'Hilfe'. And David Lewin reminds me that
already the climactic 'Liebe' in Schonberg's Second String Quartet op.
10 uses the same reference (though not exactly the same pitches);
- in no. 3, 'Der Dandy', the emphatic upward passage almost certainly
recalls the 'Schwung' of Richard Strauss's opening melodic gestures. I
hear a clear reference to the opening of Ein Heldenleben, a title that
could well be applied to Pierrot, appropriately in an ironic sense
(while the 'Dandy' signature might have particularly appealed to
Schonberg in connection with Richard Strauss ... ) And when in mm.
28/29 the Heldenleben theme appears on its original pitch Eb in the
piano bass, appropriately illustrating the words "im erhabenen Stil,"
the quotation is unmistakably realized.
 The Fool as Paradigm 157

I could easily continue pointing out many more traditional patterns,

techniques of thematic and motivic construction, textures, gestures. There
is not a single piece in Pierrot lunaire that is not based upon pre-existing
material. The entire cycle indeed is music about music. But as important
as the use of such models, is the way in which they are being used. It was
again Busoni, the great musician, who described this intention in an
unsurpassed manner after he had heard a performance of Pierrot
arranged for himself in June 1913 in his Berlin home. I quote again from
his letter of June 19, 1913, to Egon Petri:

"Es ist als ob es [the work] aus zerbrockelten Bestandteilen eines groflen Musikmecha-
nismus zusammengestellt wiire, und als ob einige dieser Bestandteile zu einer andern
Function angewendet wurden als der zu der sie ursprunglich bestimmt waren."

Busoni is perfectly true in all respects. Indeed, the musical material for
Pierrot lunaire is "assembled from crumbled ingredients"; indeed, it is
assembled to create a feeling of a music machine (the mechanical, puppet
aspect of the piece!); indeed, the material is being used in other ways (and
to other ends) than "those for which it was originally designed"; and,
indeed, Busoni's 'as if', the subjunctive, is the mode of Schonberg's
Pierrot music itself.
The 'as if'. The subjunctive. Consider the parodical use of double fugue,
canon, and mirror retrograde in nos. 17 and 18, the most serious techni-
ques just for the dullest and most comical texts. We have to understand
that Schonberg was very well aware of the problem of strict counterpoint
in free atonality, with no systematic control of the vertical dimension.
Thus the superimposition of canon and fugue, together with the mechan-
ical retrograde motion from the exact middle of the piece, might lead to
exactly the opposite of strict order, to a loose texture, close to being
chaotic, where the actual pitches do not matter any more, but line, con-
tour, gesture and instrumental tone are the dominating forces. Or con-
sider another moment, the Kundry quote, where not the voice with its
text 'mein Lachen' is referring back to the Wagner heroine (how could
poor Columbine do that at all. .. ), but the clarinet. It is 'as if' the clarinet
remembered what the Sprechstimme protagonist forgot or never knew. Just
the opposite perspective of commenting is to be found in the recitative-
aria relation of no. 16, Gemeinheit. The instrumental recitative ends with
the colon, anticipating the Sprechstimme to continue. But, instead, the cello
takes off, 'sings' the aria, so to speak, and the Sprechstimme, the drama's
protagonist, is degraded to a secondary, accompanying voice. Now it is
'as if' the Sprechstimme were narrating a commentary on what is going on
158 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
in the instrumental parts. And in no. 4, Eine blasse Wiischerin, Schonberg in
fact demands that this reversed relationship should be observed- music
'as if'.
Consider, just for a moment only, who in fact might be the narrator of
Pierrot lunaire. Pierrot certainly is a male character, the Sprechstimme is
designated for a female singer. (Though the preface could raise some
doubts with the 'er' for the reciter.) The first 'ich' is Columbine's in no.
2. In no. 3 Pierrot is introduced by an unidentified narrator. (Who is
that? Could it be Columbine? Most likely not, since she was the object
of the narration in no. 2.) The 'mich' in no. 5, Valse de Chopin, is not
defined; it could be Pierrot, but here, indeed, it could also be Columbine.
The 'mich' in no. 6, Madonna, is the poet - one would assume Pierrot
(would one?). The 'mich' in no. 9, Gebet an Pierrot, is certainly not Pierrot
but could well be female, again Columbine, for example. Nos. 10 to 20
have no 'I' but a narrator talking about Pierrot and others in the third
person. No. 21 is, again, an 'I' poem. Clearly the poet (the poet Pierrot?)
who has returned to Bergamo (it must be Pierrot) speaks, and there is the
melodic reference to no. 1, where this poet was introduced by a narrator
and did not speak.
Seeing this jigsaw puzzle together with the compositional strategies
analyzed above, one might conclude that it seems 'as if' the work were
narrating itself. Thus, its comments on the state of the modernist artist are
a commentary from within, a modernist verdict about the ending of
modernism. This highly artificial self-referencing would then define Pier-
rot lunaire as the 'absolute' work of art in which all theories of modernism
culminate.
Let me add one final appendix: the very end. This ending showing a
happy Pierrot, now domesticated, sitting in the bright sun of Bergamo,
has always been interpreted as a positive homecoming for the artist, as a
moment of peaceful reconciliation. I believe that is wrong. I already see
Hartleben's text (not Giraud's with its reference to Watteau), his window
image in an iconographical tradition. In my view, it refers back to E.T.A.
Hoffmann's 1822 novel Des Vetters Eckfenster. This is a novel about a sick
artist, a lame man, depending on a disabled servant's assistance, unable
to move, unable to go from his apartment down to the street, but who
looks at real life from his small window high above the market place (the
Berlin Gendarmenmarkt) where the normal people live and interact, using
his binoculars and imagining only what people down there might intend,
think, and talk about. It is, apparently, a make-believe existence of pure
fantasy, peaceful only as unreal imagery, but behind the facade lies a
tragic life. "Poor cousin" are the last words of the novel. I see Hartleben's
 The Fool as Paradigm 159
window image as a reference to Hoffmann's novel. And Schonberg's
commentary on Hartleben's adaptation given in the harmonic language
of his last melodrama, which seems more and more saturated with
thirds and gravitates toward a key of E - Schonberg's commentary
reveals the "aus meinem sonnumrahmten Fenster beschau ich frei
die liebe Welt" as a nostalgic looking back, as a self-deceptive error.
Not only is the proper cadence of the piano in mm. 28/29 (A minor- B
major with 5# - E minor /major - quite ordinary, IV-V-I, though the
notation of the dominant chord with G instead ofF double sharp typically
hides the actual function) not confirmed by the Sprechstimme, the tonal
language itself is understood as an 'as if' only. It alludes to the past and
its beauty as a world that is lost and can only be remembered (in the
sense of Schonberg's letter to Busoni of 24 August 1909 where he talks
about the necessary loss of beauties accompanying artistic progress).
But at the same time the 'as if' does not allow a peaceful return. The
spirit of fin-de-siecle, and of 'Fin-de-siecle Vienna' in particular, is gone.
The catastrophe of World War I, anticipated by so many artists and
foreshadowed in their works, would soon fulfill this projection. Schon-
berg, in his letter to Kandinsky from 1921 quoted already above, would
later speak of "the overturning of everything one has believed in" as the
actual background for the statement of no return. Walter R. Heymann's
chanson Abschied von der Boheme on a text by G. von Wangenheim, written
around 1920 for Friedrich Hollaender's Berlin cabaret Schall und Rauch,
gives the quasi capitalist trivialization of this sentiment. In a sense, it also
has an element of self-referencing. The chanson ends with the following
refrain, a poet's commentary about a farewell to Pierrot, now in the first
person,

Wir Ieben nicht mehr im Atelier

Wir Ieben nicht mehr in der Nacht.
Wir haben ein biirgerliches Metier
Und den Tag zum Tage gemacht.
Wenn ich verdiene bin ich froh.
Ich singe wenn sichs lohnt.
Ich bin der lebnde Leichnam Pierrot,
Was weifl ich noch vom Mond.
Wer zahlt mir das meiste fiir dies Poeme,
Fiir mein Abschiedslied von der toten Boheme?

A very last twist, a codetta within the coda. There is a special 'couleur
locale' in Schonberg's perception of the Pierrot figure. Let me call it the
'Hanswurst', or the 'Wurstel' perspective. In Alban Berg's library the
160 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
Viennese musicologist Regina Busch found an annotated copy of Peter
Altenberg's Vita Ipsa. One of Berg's remarks reads as follows: "Schonberg
sagte, als Busoni ihm vorwarf, daB das eine der Pierrot-Stiicke nicht
Italien vorstelle, wie der Text besage: Fiir mich ist der Prater Italien."
And indeed, Pierrot lunaire is music about the Viennese tradition of music,
about a modem artist participating in and growing out of this tradition.
And it is not surprising at all that Schonberg wanted to locate Pierrot in
Vienna. Extemporized theatre always had, and even continues to have, its
place in Vienna, the great city of the Baroque. "Tschauner's Stegreif-
Theater", the last surviving witness (rough and coarse as it is) of this
wonderful tradition of popular culture will hopefully exist for many
decades to come! (No one visiting Vienna should miss it!) But further:
the puppet Pierrot has its Viennese brother.
Regina Busch is currently researching the many facets of 'Italy in
Vienna', and has reported about the huge entertainment area in the
Viennese Prater, a park called "Venedig in Wien", that apparently existed
from the late 19th century through the 1930s, occupying about 50,000
square meters (in an area where today the famous Ferris wheel is
located), with eight meter wide canals, gondolas, bars, restaurants, enter-
tainment theatres, music groups, orchestras, singers, pantomimes, etce-
tera, etcetera. And it was only a few blocks away from the Prater, in the
Birkenau of the Leopoldstadt, that Schonberg was born. Also, consulting
Viennese journals and program brochures from around 1900, it is easy to
recognize that any human being interested in Viennese cultural activities
during these decades would constantly meet Pierrot. From Richard
Spechts' s Pierrot Bossu of 1896 through the 1897 ballet Pierrot als Schild-
wache at the Vienna State Opera (repeated 1901), the Dberbrettl perfor-
mances of 1901 of Pierrots Fastnacht (text: Leo Feld, music: Oscar
Straus), Die beiden Pierrot (text: Levetzow, music: Wendland), the
1901 Ronacher ballet pantomime Pierrots Neujahrstraum (music: Josef
Hellmesberger/Josef Bayer) to Franz Schreker's two pantomimes of
1909 and Franz Lehar's Faschingswalzer of 1911 with the title Pierrot und
Pierrette - year after year Vienna produced one Pierrot piece after the
other. 5 Indeed, the young Viennese Arnold Schonberg could not have
escaped this puppet.
However, it has escaped notice that the Pierrot lunaire score includes
two explicit references that define the sad clown as a Viennese character.
Both moments are musically designed as structural licenses, and both are
quite unusual within their context as well as within the Pierrot music and
its compositional principles.
 The Fool as Paradigm 161

The first Viennese identification happens at the very point where

Pierrot is mentioned for the first time in the cycle. This is m. 21 of
no. 3, Der Dandy, with the text "Pierrot, mit wachsemem Antlitz." At
this moment, the piano plays a melodic formula, marked Hauptstimme.

Figure 5

Strangely enough, this melodic formula is set in octaves - the only

time in the entire work that the piano part has octaves, a very unusual
design, indeed, obviously pointing toward something. And the motive
sounds somewhat familiar; it could also look more normal if notated
this way

Figure 6

and, indeed, one commentator (Jonathan Dunsby) believes it to be a

quote of unknown or hidden origin. To me, it seems not to be a
direct quote from a specific work (though someone, at some point in the
future, might find its source), but an allusion: it is a waltz fragment. It
is not

Figure 7

[Johann StrauB, G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald], and it is not quite but
almost
162 Schonberg and Kandinsky

~ J ~r r
Figure 8

[Johann StraufS, Kiinstlerleben] -though "life of an artist" would be quite

appropriate. But certainly, it is an idiomatic pattern, a quasi Viennese
motto, that defines Pierrot when he is first identified by his name. Schon-
berg's Pierrot is a Viennese puppet.
The other moment of Viennese identification happens at the very
beginning, in the third stanza of no. 1, Mondestrunken, where 'Der Dich-
ter', the artist is mentioned for the first time. And here we find another
strange compositional strategy: within a carefully designed placement of
the participating instruments in the sequence of the three stanzas, the
Violoncello is introduced only to double the tenor melody of the piano.
The manuscript reveals that the cello was added later to an already
existing instrumental texture. The veiled message of this strategy is
obvious: the cello was Schoenberg's own instrument, the 'license' of
doubling an existing voice-again unique within the entire work-is used
to identify the 'poet', who will later be named as Pierrot. He is secretly
identified as the composer himself.
I do not suggest understanding Pierrot lunaire as sounding biography,
at least not primarily. But I take these two Viennese identifications, two
musical definitions of this Pierrot as indicative for his heritage. In light of
this, the first phrase of Schoenberg's 1916 letter to Zemlinsky, part of one
of his most powerful artistic creeds, becomes a very distinct quality:
'Mondsiichtige Wursteln' called Schoenberg the truly modern Viennese
artist. Schoenberg's allegorical Pierrot is the Viennese Hanswurst. Pierrot,
the French puppet character added to the cast of the Italian Commedia
dell'Arte, revitalized and intellectualized in 19th century Paris, a figure of
popular as well as high culture, as such able to represent the endangered
subject of European modernism, the modern artist, is musically inter-
preted as the representative figure of the Viennese new music. But
Schoenberg's sense for history at the same time comments on, and ques-
tions, the quest of modernism to present the truth. And even if Schoen-
berg's self-reflection in the figure of Pierrot is again executed with
modernist strategies, besides and beyond all its aesthetic qualities, it is
this historical signification that makes Pierrot lunaire one of the great
human documents of our century.
 The Fool as Paradigm 163
Appendix: Musical Pierrots around 1900
Stage
Vercken de Pierrot Fantome opera Paris 1873
Vreuschmen, comique vocal score
Leon
Lagaye, Alexandre La Pierrot d'a Cote opera Bruxelles 1879
comique
Mariette, Georges Pierrot mendiant opera (?) 1898 vocal score
Bletry Paul
Cieutat, Henri Pierrot puni opera Paris 1899
Rostand, Alexis Pierrot qui pleure et Pierrot comedie en Paris 1899
qui rit musique
Holbrook, Joseph Pierrot and Pierette. A Lyrical opera London 1909
Charles Music Drama, op. 36
Pierrot. Ballet Suite or pf London 1916, 1919
pianoforte solo, op. 36b
dell' Aqua, Eva Pierrot Menteur opera Bruxelles 1918
comique vocal score
Renieu, Lionel La chimere, ou Pierrot opera Bruxelles 1926
alchimiste comique vocal score
Lanciani, Pietro Pierrot macabre ballet-
pantomime
Hamburg 1886, pf Pierrot macabre. Morceaux pf Hamburg 1886
detaches
Vidal, Paul Pierrot assassin de sa femme pantomime ca. 1888, pf
Antonin
David, Adolphe Pierrot surpris pantomime Nantes 1890
Palicot, Georges Pierrot-poete pantomime Bruxelles 189?
Corta, Pasquale Histoire d'un Pierrot pantomime Paris 1893, pf
Mario London 1893, pf
Pierrot's Serenade (words by v, pf (?) London 1897
W.A.), 2 nos.
Entr'acte Serenade for mand, pf London 1898
mandolin and pianoforte
Schreker, Franz Die blaue Blume oder das pantomime 1909 (plot in:
Herz des Pierrot Schreker,
Dichtungen II,
music not
known)
Der Vogel oder Pierrots pantomime 1909? (plot: same as
Wahn above)
Reger, Max Eine Balletsuite fiir Orchester, ballet Leipzig 1913
op. 130 (1. Entree, 2.
Columbine, 3. Harlequin, 4.
Pierrot und Pierette, 5.
Valse d'amour, 6. Finale)
Korngold, Erich Die tote Stadt opera premiered 1920
Wolfgang (Fritz/Pierrot)
Noetzel, Hermann Pierrots Sommernacht ballet Wien 1924, pf
Rathaus, Karol Der letzte Pierrot, op. 19 ballet [Berlin] 1927
164 Schonberg and Kandinsky
Instrumental
Bantock, Granville The Pierrot of the Minute. orchestra Leipzig 1909
Overture to a dramatic
fantasy of E. Dowson
Arr. pianoforte pf Leipzig 1913
Ricordi, Giulio (J. Le Roman de Pierrot et de pf Milano 1881
Burgmein, Pierettes. Histoirettes
pseud.) musicales
Foote, Arthur W. Pierrot pf unpub.
Pierette pf unpub.
Scott, Cyrill 2 Pierrot Pieces, op. 35 pf London, New York
1904
Pierette pf London 1912
Pierrot amoureux vc, pf Mainz 1912
Lehar, Franz Pierrot und Pierette. Waltz orchestra Vienna 1911 (?)
Kaun, Hugo Pierette und Colombine. 4 pf Berlin 1907
Episoden, op. 71
Debussy, Claude Sonate pour Violoncelle et vc, pf Paris 1915
Pianoforte ("Pierrot fache
avec la lune")
Songs
Debussy, Claude Pierrot (Th. de Banville) v, pf 1881, pub. 1926
Pantomime (P. Verlaine) v, pf 1881 (1882), pub.
1926
Hutchison, Pierrot (F. E. Weatherly) v, pf London 1883
William M.
Pierrot. Valse on W.M. pf London 1883
Hutchison's song (pf solo
with coronet; and pf duet)
by J. Meissler, pseud. for
W.M.H.
Arr. pf by W. Smallwood pf London 1884
Arr. vl + pf by J. Meissler, vl, pf London 1888
Reeve, Norman The Pierrot and the Maid v, pf Chetham 1890
(N.R.)
Andrews, John Pierrot Coster v, pf London 1895
Charles Bond (A. Chevalier)
MacDermott, Pierrots. Humorous Song v, pf London 1902
Robert (J.A. Muir)
Barritt, Clifton The Pierrot' s Song (H. v, pf London 1903
Walther)
Lockname, Pierrot! Poor Fool! (Pierette's v, pf London 1908
Clement Birthday) (N.C. Rose)
Johnston, Jessie Pierrot (S. Teasdale) v, pf New York 1911
Pierrot, Trio for women's 3v, pf New York 1911
voices
Pierrot and the Moon Maiden v, pf New York 1912
(E. Dowson)
Buchanan, George Pierrot Land (B. Salisbury) v, pf London 1912
Meyrowitz, Walter Pierrot (S. Teasdale) v, pf London 1912
Livingstone, Helen Pierrot (S. Teasdale) (Songs, v, pf Minneapolis 1913
No.2)
 The Fool as Paradigm 165
Kroeger, Ernst R. Pierrot (S. Teasdale) v, pf New York 1914
Bonner, Eugene M. Pierrot Stands in the Garden v, pf London 1914
(S. Teasdale)
Goetzl, Anselm Pierrot's Serenade (F. H. v, pf New York 1915
Martens), op. 28
Gaynor, Jessie L. Pierrot (S. Teasdale) v, pf Boston 1919
Reubner, Dagmar Pierrot (S. Teasdale) v, pf New York 1921
de Corval
Heymann, W.R. He! Halloh! + Abschied von v, pf (1919)
der Boheme [chansons for
Friedr. Hollaender's Berlin
cabaret "Schall und Rauch"]

Und Pierrot lachte v, pf (after 1914) Read, Gardner

Pierrot v, pf New York Tosti, Sir
(S. Teasdale) 1943 Francesco Paolo
Pierrot's Lament v, pf (?) Giraud
Prohaska, Carl Pierrot lunaire 6 Gedichte aus v, pf Zurich 1920
Rondels bergamasques von
A. Giraud, op. 14.
Giraud/Hartleben
Pohl, Ferdinand Mondrondels. Phantastische v, pf Leipzig 1891
Szenen aus Pierrot lunaire
von A. Giraud, deutsch von
0. E. Hartleben, op. 4.
Marschalk, Max 5 Lieder aus dem Pierrot v, pf Berlin 1901
lunaire von Giraud-
Hartleben, op. 14.
Vrieslander, Otto Pierrot lunaire. Dichtungen v, pf Miinchen 1905
von A. Giraud, ins
Deutsche iibertragen von
O.E. Hartleben
(4 additional songs) in: v, pf Miinchen 1911
Giraud/Hartleben, Pierrot
lunaire, ed. Fr. Blei,
Pierrot lunaire .. . Neue v, pf Leipzig 1934
Ausgabe
Graner, Paul Gesange aus dem Pierrot v, pf ca. 1908
lunaire v. O.E. Hartleben
op. 25: Gebet an Pierrot,
Storche, Moquerie
Marx, Joseph Lieder und Gesange v, pf Wien 1910-1911
1. Folge,
No. 7: Die Violine (1909)
20: Pierrot Dandy (1909)
25: Valse de Chopin
(1909)
2. Folge,
No. 9: Kolombine (1909)
Valse de Chopin v, pf, str qu Wien 1917
166 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
Kowalski, Max 12 Gedichte aus Pierrot lunaire v, pf Berlin 1913
von A. Giraud, deutsch von
O.E. Hartleben, op. 4.
Lothar, Mark 3 heitere Lieder op. 4 No. 1: v, pf Berlin (1921)
Mondfleck

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Binhorn, Gabriele. Das Groteske in der Musik: Arnold Schonbergs "Pierrot lunaire." Pfaffen-
weiler, 1989.
Brinkmann, Reinhold. "Was uns die Quellen erzahlen ... Ein Kapitel Werk-Philologie," in:
Hermann Danuser et al. (eds.), Das musikalische Kunstwerk. Festschrift Carl Dahlhaus.
Laaber, 1988.
Busch, Regina. "Venedig in Wien." Unpublished lecture.
Dick, Kay. Pierrot. London, 1960.
Dohring, Sieghart. "Schonbergs Erwartung," in: Arnold Schonberg. Publikation des Archivs
der Akademie der Kiinste Berlin. Berlin, 1974.
Dunsby, Jonathan. Schoenberg: "Pierrot lunaire." Cambridge, 1992.
Green, Martin and John Swan. The Triumph of Pierrot. The Commedia dell'Arte and the Modern
Imagination. New York, 1986.
Haskell, Francis. "The Sad Clown," in: Ulrich Finke (ed.), French 19th-Century Painting and
Literature. Manchester, 1972.
Kirchmeyer, Helmut. Die zeitgeschichtliche Symbolik des "Pierrot lunaire." booklet for the LP-
reording Wergo 60001.
Lehmann, A.G. "Pierrot and Fin-de-Siecle," in: Ian Fletcher, (ed.) Romantic Mythologies.
London, 1967.
Pirrotta, Nino. "Commedia dell'Arte and Opera," in: Music and Culture in Italy from the
Middle Ages to the Baroque. Cambridge, MA, and London 1984.
Schmidt, Christian, M. "Analytical Remarks on Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire," unpublished
lecture at the Conference "From Pierrot to Marteau." Los Angeles, 1987.
Stein, Leonard, ed. Style and Idea. Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg. London: Faber &
Faber, 1975.
Storey, Robert E. Pierrot. A Critical History of a Mask. Princeton, 1978.
Wechsler, Judith. A Human Comedy. Chicago, 1982.
Youens, Susan. "Excavating an Allegory: The Texts of Pierrot lunaire," in: Journal of the
Arnold Schoenberg Institute. VIII, 2. November, 1984.

NOTES

1. Designed as a sequence of commentaries, the actual lecture was given with a rather
large series of slides. These illustrations cannot be reproduced in the printed version.
The style of an extemporized oral presentation, however, has been preserved, as
much as possible. Thanks go to Carol DeFeciani for her taking care of my manuscript.
2. Schonberg insisted that the score should be printed like a score of chamber music
with piano, that is, in this case, with the piano and the Sprechstimme part in normal,
the other instruments in smaller print. The appearance in the printed score reveals the
genre: 'Kammermusiklieder'.
 The Fool as Paradigm 167
3. The American musicologist Evan Bonds is preparing such a study.
4. As far as the texts and their order are concerned, Susan Youens was the first to
describe this from a literary point of view. ..
5. And Ernst von Wolzogen who engaged Schonberg fC?.r his Berlin cabaret Das Uber-
brettl tells us that on the large poster for the first Uberbrettl season 'the grinning
Pierrot' was looking down from every Litfaflsiiule (advertising pillar). See E. von
Wolzogen, Verse zu meinem Leben, Berlin 1907, p. 134.
 Expressionism and Rationality
KONRAD BOEHMER

One of the ineradicable misconceptions which throng the history of music

is the notion that music is divided into two halves: a rational half whose
products can be analysed numerically and not really amounting to much
more than that analysis, and a purely emotional- indeed irrational- half
which is amenable to a little philosophizing but defies any closer exam-
ination. Among the darlings of the "rationalists" (number fetishists to a
man) are sundry examples of medieval and Renaissance music, J.S. Bach
and then - after a deplorable historical gap - dodecaphonic and serial
works. The music of the classical and romantic composers and above all
that of the impressionists and expressionists is best left to the musical
belletrists. However, no grass can grow where number fetishism has once
encroached, and certainly no music can thrive. There is a simple reason
for this: every number is an abstraction of reality, and reducing two
apples to the number "2" says nothing about the quality of either apple.
When every aspect of musical sound or structure can be formulated in
numbers, the formulation degenerates into sheer tautology. Conversely,
when it is generally believed that purely numerical constructs guarantee
musical coherence, composition becomes mere handicraft. By that token,
much of what is called "computer music" today is nothing more than
arty-crafty kitsch; the music founders in the numerical construct in the
same way that the very worst painting founders in its subject-matter.
Even when music of quality - like Ockeghem, Bach or the early Stock-
hausen- imparts something of its rational premises, it always resists the
tautological moment inherent in the number as a means of musical con-
struction. Important works always have a surplus, an added value incon-
gruent with its constructive rationality, and that is perfectly logical: if
music were to cling exclusively to its rational components, musical dis-
course would have a hard time of it. Without this discourse music is
simply sonic book-keeping. A great deal of this century's musical pro-
ducts are not much more than just that; when we listen to them our
yearnings for an obscene tango or the voice of Edith Piaf becomes a
legitimate affair of the heart ...
170 Schonberg and Kandinsky
The misconception that there is a dichotomy of rationality and emotion
(that is: irrationality) has its historical roots in a growing need to explain
music, a need which is itself an expression of the chasm which began to
yawn between the bourgeois public and progressive serious music at the
beginning of the 19th century. The entire "historicism" which has been
spreading wider and wider since the 1820s, qualifies as one of the many
reactions to the progressive music of that period: it resurrected the bones
of composers long since decomposed and, to the accompaniment of
vociferous verbality, rattled them against the modernists of the day.
However appealing the retro-expansion of our historical consciousness
may be, it has been catastrophic for every generation of contemporary
music. The reason for this is that composers suffered increasingly under
the psychic pressure of that "historical consciousness" and felt they had
to achieve something "historical" instead of living music. What is more,
they were sucked into the maelstrom of a compulsion to verbalize
induced by historicism, a compulsion which generated the 19th century
phenomenon of a "description of music" tending towards the philoso-
phical and the 20th century reduction of music to its numerical "sub-
strates". Two abortive attempts, then, to evade the musical issue. The
shocking thing is the extent to which music subjects itself to its "explana-
tion models". No sooner has a composer failed yet again to have an idea
than he is already working on a lecture about what he has in mind. I have
actually heard twenty-year-olds- in Darmstadt, for instance- expound-
ing on the historical dimensions of works they had not even written yet,
claiming that without an understanding of these unwritten works it
would be impossible to grasp that already existing little piece for oboe
and piano ...
Please don't get me wrong. A composer as verbally active as myself,
and who moreover regards the construction of the musical discourse as
vital to the development of musical ideas today, is well aware of the
relationship between musical expression and the desire for verbal expres-
sion. Nobody can ignore that contradiction today; but composers should
beware of becoming willing victims of the latest variant of musical"his-
toricism", which I would briefly term the musical"explanation industry"
in order to indicate an industry with Golem-like pretensions, becoming
increasingly bogged down in musical creation. Even today' s popular
music is infected with the disease, having assumed truly industrial
dimensions.
If musical production- with its inherent risk of being produced into the
void - and musical verbalization have made a marriage of convenience
whose two partners were originally deadly enemies, their union is based
 Expressionism and Rationality 171
on a totally false notion of rationality versus emotion. Without subjecting
the history of the two concepts to an analysis which would go back to the
primeval history of musical articulation, I do wish to point out that the
contradiction between "reason" and "discourse" is a complete fiction, a
historical artefact, caused by the "compulsion to verbalize" that is gener-
ated by historicism. Under that compulsion, music which cannot be
described in words or numbers has skidded off the historical track. This
notion is so very dubious because of proceeding from the unfounded
premiss that rationality is only expressed in two forms of language:
verbal and mathematical. To assume that thinking in pure sound or
color, thinking in gesture or movement, is less "rational" than thinking
in words or numbers is conventional nonsense which we repeat parrot-
fashion without summoning up the necessary will-power to confute it. A
bare three generations after the expressionist phase of the Vienna School,
the thing behind the concept of musical rationale has finally turned
against musical rationality. Today this kind of misunderstood rationale
is celebrated entirely beyond the true musical issue, and even claims to
act as a corrective of musical production, but - in my opinion - as a
corrective which is even more of a constraint than the most constricting
forms of musical bookkeeping of neo-classical provenance. It seems a
good idea to look back from this situation to that of musical expression-
ism in an endeavor to trace the rational core of that seemingly so irra-
tional epoch of music.
People have usually tried to describe expressionism as a period in
which an old order (so-called "tonality") was definitively abandoned
and a new one (serial) had not yet crystallized. According to this view,
expressionist music is thus "a music of transition", a phenomenon exist-
ing only in theory, but certainly not in reality. Music theory's difficulties
with expressionist music lie chiefly in music theory's traditional incapa-
city to take the object of its considerations for what that object really is,
instead of judging it by the very standards it has been making the most
strenuous compositional efforts to discard. To be sure, it is easy to
observe, in the case of, say, Schonberg the expressionist, the moment of
boundless subjectivity that defies all rationalization. However, the pre-
miss of such observations is fundamentally false. Things are quite the
other way round: Schonberg, seeking the constraint of a musical logic
which was unable to develop any further within the convention of musi-
cal language, was forced to resort to a subjectivity which was the necessary
point of departure for making musical decisions which actually enriched the
rationality content of music. This is first apparent in his handling of the
material, a compositional act down to the tiniest detail. There is no
172 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
question of vaguely wandering chords in Schonberg the expressionist,
simply because they are composed with regard to one another and not- as
reactions suggest to this very day - selected from the established arsenal
and concocted into a "modern" artefact. The intent to compose even the
most sublime details of the musical process, presupposes a degree of
rational control over the musical material that was unprecedented prior
to Schonberg. What people call"subjectivity" is simply the loneliness in
which the necessary compositional decisions had to be taken. By no
means whatsoever may this loneliness be equated with musical anarchy
(which would be a poor freedom); it is rather the price to be paid for a
cogent musical logic. The nature of this logic - and hence of expressionist
music- is that it jettisons all heterogony, working only with the material
contexts which it has produced itself.
Schonberg, then, in the most intensive and expressive works of that
epoch, mistrusted not only all given material constellations whose expres-
sive content had become obsolete, and not only to himself. He also
mistrusted every traditional concept of form, very likely realizing that
the concept of "closed form" about which Wagner had already had his
doubts was inconsistent with the extension of the composer's right of
disposal and hence with all further development of the logic of musical
language (which as we all know has nothing to do with formal logic).
Schonberg's expressionist works succeed in resolving the contradiction
between material and form- a contradiction inherent in serious western
music since its earliest beginnings - into an all-embracing composition. The
fact that this aspect was not developed further in the course of musical
history (not even by Schonberg) is due, I think, to social factors. Their
nature is complex, and together they heralded the refunctionalization that
has become increasingly apparent in serious music since Stravinsky's
neo-classicism. This refunctionality has long since degraded the compo-
sers of commercial music to the status of feudal subalternity that forces
them into musically heterogeneous behavior patterns (the feudal lords are
no princelings today, incidentally, but captains of the culture and media
industry!). It has also left its mark on the conception of serious music,
although there seems to have been an unprecedented thrust towards
rationalization since expressionism. Let me clarify this a little, for this
contradiction leads us back to that selfsame area of false musical ration-
ality that I mentioned before. From an aesthetic viewpoint too, function-
ality, whose external aspect insidiously invades our ears from every point
of "civilization", can present itself as pure internalization. When it does,
it is a mimicry of administered society and becomes a kind of self-admin-
istering music. This internalization is particularly apparent in a few forms
 Expressionism and Rationality 173

of extremely rudimentary "serial" music and its most deplorable deriva-

tives. While the "driving force of the sounds" and compositional logic
were identical to Schonberg the expressionist, they separated again after-
wards, to behave as if the eternal bickerings of ancient Greek acousmati-
cians and mathematicians had to start all over again. The more the
conviction grew that the sound's inner life - the compositional penetra-
tion of which was an extraordinarily courageous act - could only be
mastered by administrative means - by which I mean the devising of
totally incongruent series for the various dimensions of the sound, some-
thing which the Cologne School consistently denied from the very begin-
ning- the sonic process was invaded by an "internalized" functionality,
mercilessly exposed- on a social level- by people like Adorno, Horkhei-
mer and Habermas. The sound, divided into its various "parameters"
and henceforth "administered" on a variety of levels, rapidly became a
prime example of functional "internalization". Not only the pseudo-serial
organization of its individual aspects but also the individual rows'
mutual indifference meant a lapse into scholastic mental patterns inherent
to feudalism as a primitive system of rule. There, too, the interdepen-
dency of different social groups was only technically administered, with-
out any thought for balancing their inherent potential. No wonder that a
conception like Peter Schat's "Tone Clock" is more like the construction
of a mechanical timepiece from the Middle Ages than a sensitive, post-
Cartesian logic of connected sounds ...
It seems to me that in their continued resistance towards the forms of
false, merely mechanical "rationalization", Schonberg's expressionist
works are the writing on the wall, in that they make us wonder what
musical rationality really means. Seeing that musical "rationale" has
deteriorated into a ritual which is hostile to art, one might reflect upon
on how inalienable, compositional rationality must not only reconstitute
the musical elements which "harsh world-use has rent apart", but also on
how to derive compositional logic from them instead of continuing to
force upon them the forms of an established, long since untenable logic
which is completely alien to them.
Assuming the increase of compositional intervention in the musical
material stems from a more urgent need for expression, its sole artistic
legitimacy, Schonberg's expressionist work reveals the extent to which the
opening up of the sound's inner world depends on dramaturgical con-
siderations and not in the slightest on pure calculus. The latter would not
make compositional sense anyhow: only the already existing, known
sound can be (re-) constructed numerically, but not the sound which
only exists in the composer's mind and cannot yet be formulated. There
174 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
are good reasons for the long periods of research and experiment that
invariably preceded the most radical pieces of electronic music. The sole
purpose was to find, for a product dwelling entirely in the mind, a
formulation that would lead to composition, so as to prevent that compo-
sition from becoming an experiment itself. It is interesting to see how
Schonberg tackled the contradiction of pure imagination and necessary
formalization. The orchestral piece "Farben" from opus 16, all 44 bars of
it, demonstrates, the extent to which Schonberg transfers what used to be
called motivic work into the coloristic sphere, thus linking the musical
texture and its constituent elements as never before. The first signs of this
procedure could be observed in Debussy (the last movement of "La Mer",
for example), but here the tectonics contrast sharply with the sediments.
In composing a continuous relationship between the two levels, Schon-
berg created a completely new musical morphology. He stripped the
sound of its object-like character and conceived it as a process. In "Farben"
the development of this process is identical with the macro-form. Here,
and not in so-called "atonality" as such, lies the break with the past. Even
in earlier epochs, differentiation in motivic work often conflicted with the
standard means of composition; indeed, perhaps this conflict is the driv-
ing force in the development of western serious music. All differentiation
on the motivic level was followed by a refinement of the musical "mate-
rial". One might also say that through every act of composition which
boosted that motivic differentiation, the material itself acquired motivic
qualities. What we see in this respect in Ockeghem, Bach, Mozart or
Wagner culminates in Schonberg's expressionist phase, which constituted
both the fulfillment of tradition and the break with it. It was a break
inasmuch as motivic work was no longer confronted by the material as
something objective, but enveloped it entirely. Music had found itself.
Exactly at this point in Schonberg's work begins what might be termed
"functional rationalism" in music. The means are prepared for an aes-
thetic end, for the purpose of serving it. The means of the classicals and
romantics were still isolated from that end and could consequently serve
various purposes. A certain chord could perform different harmonic or
formal functions. This was no longer the case with Schonberg for the
simple reason that the composition of the sonic components embraces their
goal. Motivic work had always been intended to produce musical mean-
ing. In that respect it differs fundamentally from the "meaning" which
some people claim to hear in "tonal" chord progressions. More precisely,
such progressions could themselves be called a compositional act, verti-
cally conceived motivic work. Only ideological soyabean eaters still envi-
sage tonality as a natural product, and their pieces sound accordingly
 Expressionism and Rationality 175

macroidiotic. In a composition class Pousseur once played us a dominant

seventh chord on the piano, walked away and remarked sardonically:
"Let's wait and see whether it resolves into the tonic." It didn't. Every
musical construct, all products of serious music, are products of a ratio-
nalization process in which, to paraphrase Norbert Elias, the composer's
dreams must be converted into a precise code. The same applies to even
the simplest Mozart minuet. The important thing, however, is how this
rationalization is accomplished, and I cannot help suspecting that in a lot
of contemporary music - especially that which so vociferously insists on
its rational foundations and procedures - it has led to a mesalliance of
misunderstood rationalism and handicraft. I say this because such music is
a bad analogy, an acoustic servant of science, naively assuming that its
mathematical formulas per se guarantee some meaningful musical context
or other. The fact that such music is invariably composed by people
without the slightest idea of the nature of musical context - to a growing
extent by studio engineers or computer specialists with barely a smatter-
ing of what it's all about - renders the entire rationalization strategy
dubious: a mountain of expensive and sophisticated technical gadgetry
brings forth a tiny musical Mickey Mouse which the simplest imaginable
artefact of, say, the Mannheim School could put to flight in a trice. This
misunderstood rationality boils down to the fact that you can add apples
and pears with impunity as long as the books balance.
To reflect on Schonberg's compositional rationality also means seeing
such naive fallacies for what they are: an attempt to upgrade unabashed
amateurism into a new theology of composition. The functional rational-
ism of Schonberg's method is quite the opposite, because it places the
smallest particles of the musical structure in a direct relationship to one
another. Stuckenschmidt, in his biography of Schonberg, cites "Erwar-
tung", op. 17, as an example of this. For a long time the piece was
regarded as impossible to analyse, because nobody was prepared to
examine this subcutaneous relationship. It exists not only- as Stucken-
schmidt pointed out - on the level of a quite extraordinarily stringent
motivic conception, but also on the level below - the level of the concep-
tion of the sound as the vehicle for all musical processuality. Let me elaborate
on what I was saying about the third piece of opus 16, taking "Erwar-
tung" as an example. On the very first pages of the score we notice how
finely woven the fabric of the parts is; listening to them, it is hard to tell
whether they are pursuing contrapuntal-motivic or coloristic goals. Closer
scrutiny reveals that neither is the case, but that they eliminate the
difference between the two established dimensions. Because the sound
is composed as a process, thus banishing heterogenous elements, new
176 Schonberg and Kandinsky
sound-types emerge. They draw sustenance from their development in time
in the way that a thematic, harmonic or rhythmic development formerly
did. What was still relatively monolithic in "Farben" is fully-fledged in
"Erwartung". The specific thing about this work is that it is not a ratio-
nalization of a vision in the usual sense but its direct materialization. What
action was in opera is a dream in "Erwartung". The place of action is not
objectively stated; "the edge of a forest" suffices. The only figure is not
endowed with any individual characteristics except for jewellery and a
white garment, attributes which have no bearing on the course of the
piece, however. We do not know whether the sketchily indicated events
are enacted on the level of reality or merely in the woman's mind, as a
dream. In search of "the man", of whom we are told nothing at all, the
woman gets into a state of psychotic panic which topples her inner and
outer world: the borderline between psyche and reality disappears. This
inner panic is reflected in all "nature". A similar impulse can only be
found in Edward Munch's "Cry". It seems natural to speak of intensified
irrationality in connection with this composition of Schonberg's, which I
regard as the sublimate of musical expressionism. In terms of music,
however, the situation is quite the other way round. The nightmare's
musical psychogramme develops into an acoustic Armageddon because
of the efforts of extreme rationality. This intermingling of reality and
imagination can only be achieved by the music, which itself thus becomes
part of the dream. In translating these two fluctuating levels into a
compositional strategy, Schonberg runs the gamut of all historically
evolved musical dimensions: on the "reality" side are musical textures
in which melodic, harmonic and rhythmic components can be clearly
distinguished. On the side of the psychic projection are complex struc-
tures in which these historical dimensions are so closely entangled as to
produce an extremely dense, virtually impenetrable coalescence of sound.
In it, the organizational principles of all traditional music merge: the
grounds for the events in the melodrama are to be found in the music,
but not for a single moment is the music a mere duplicate, a pleonasm. In
"Erwartung", the functional rationalism of Schonberg's composition aims
at integrating the music into the dream-structure instead of deriving the
former from the latter. The technical substratum of this functional ration-
alism is a highly sophisticated counterpoint- the most rational composi-
tional method imaginable. A true harbinger of the most highly developed
serial thought, it determines all the dimensions, ranging from the hori-
zontal-melodic (where it appears as the finest motivic work) to the color-
istic, even in the most complex cascades of sound. The counterpoint in
"Erwartung" may be termed polyvalent, because it links the most
 Expressionism and Rationality 177
disparate musical dimensions without forcing them into the same
pleonastic strai~acket, as is so often the case with bad serial or computer
music. The pseudo-rationalism of such false analogies is not to be found
in Schonberg's music.
Nor can it be found in the conception of "Die Gliickliche Hand", op. 15,
whose dramaturgy adds to the dimensions of sound and gesture the
dimension of multiply refracted light. This example - especially when
compared with Scriabin's "Prometheus" (1911) - clearly shows how
firmly Schonberg's polyvalent counterpoint resists such feeble, false ana-
logies as those encountered in Scriabin's conception of a purely mechan-
ical correspondence of light and sound values. Schonberg counters
Scriabin's totally ridiculous pseudo-rationalism, which pedantically
assigns to each tone "its own" color, with a conception in which the
light-forms are not the equivalent of musical processes but become a
secondary parameter, meaning only one of the components of a time-space
conception embracing more than just sound. What is expressed on the
aesthetic level here is also the work's utopian programme: the suspension
of the division of labour, meaning the product of capitalist industrial
civilization. In this respect "Die Gliickliche Hand" may be regarded as
an expressionistically compressed reflection on Wagner's "Ring of the
Nibelungs". While Wagner's ring - the epitome of the precious object
with added value in the capitalist sense - is fashioned from the natural
substance of gold with a few hammer-strokes Schonberg's "man" (the
counterpart of the "woman" in "Erwartung") enters the murky cave of
capitalist manufacture in order to show the workers, with a single power-
ful stroke of the hammer on the anvil, how things can be done "better",
that is more rationally. Lo and behold, from the depths of the cloven anvil
(shades of Wagner's ring!) he retrieves a piece of diamond jewellery, not a
pragmatic industrial product. While Wagner's ring- as an item of jew-
ellery, an idealized object of value - embodies infinite power and, because
of the quest for power it signifies, causes the catastrophe, Schonberg's
jewellery, fashioned in an equally rational way, generates nothing but
impotence. This is because in Schonberg's concept the jewel is used as a
direct means to an end: like today's pompous managers, Schonberg's
"man" intends to buy his beloved with it, failing to notice that she has
already transferred her affections to a dandy. It takes a choir to bring him
back to his senses. The key problem in "Die Gliickliche Hand" is fright-
eningly modern. The utmost rationality is sought for the purpose of a
seemingly quite irrational goal: sensual satisfaction. If I had had to com-
pose Schonberg's closing chorus, I would have at least pointed out this
paradox in the text: the rationality of the capitalist production process
178 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
aims at satisfying emotions whose foundations have long since been
destroyed by that selfsame capitalism. It would perhaps have been better
if Schonberg, an idealistic socialist at that time, had consulted Marx about
the antinomy that is inherent to every capitalistic economical and social
order, for Marx had formulated it concisely back in 1848. But that is not
our concern right now. Our concern is the rationality of the aesthetic
design.
Studying the score of "Die Gliickliche Hand", we shall not find any
mechanical analogy of sound, word and light. As in "Erwartung", the
heterogenous elements behave in a dialectic-contrapuntal manner
towards one another. This means that their diverse qualities are not
squeezed into a corset of pseudo-rational analogues but played off against
each other in a highly sophisticated game of counterpoint, only thus
merging into dialectic unity. In his "Breslau Speech" (1928) on "Die
Gliickliche Hand", in which he dwelt on "the art of representing inner
processes"\ Schonberg opposed a conception of non-musical parameters
in analogy to musical ones: " ... it would be completely arbitrary to
construct, say, a scale of facial expressions or a rhythm of light". This is
a firm rejection of purely mechanical rationalism, long before it got its
disastrous hold on the technical arts. Schonberg demanded the same of
the organizational principles for extra-musical parameters as for the
musical ones: without negating their material meaning they ought to be
combined into forms and figures independently of that meaning; indeed, it
ought to be possible, after measuring them in terms of time, height,
width, intensity and many other dimensions, to relate them in accordance
with laws more profound than the laws of the material, laws of a world
built by its creator on the basis of measure and number. Schonberg stated
that in this respect he simply relied on his imagination, without a theory.
These remarks should be scrutinized carefully, for on a first reading
everything seems to be contradictory. How can a composition be orga-
nized without negating its material meaning independently of that mean-
ing? The contradiction is resolved by the hypothesis that the artistic
material can only be organized on a certain level of abstraction. Better
than Schonberg's rather unfortunate formulation might be "qualities
inherent to the material" and "the meaning" of its combination into
forms and figures, for Schonberg was undoubtedly referring to two
different levels of meaning; he was demanding that the material qualities
be respected as the basis of artistic organization but not be made the goal
of that organization. I regard Schonberg's evocation of a divine world
order governed by "measure and number" as his own business. Person-
ally, I have my doubts about that ...
 Expressionism and Rationality 179

Applied to the score of "Die Ghickliche Hand", Schonberg's observa-

tions mean that sound and light-color are connected by internally con-
gruent plans, but that this connection does not imply any direct causality.
As the monodrama unfolds between desire and renunciation, and the
development of the music follows this "asymptotic" symmetry, we see
how the color changes in cycles from green to blood-red and back again
(not literally!) to a greenish hue (grey-blue with a slight addition of red).
In these cycles their various phases of development are indeed associated
"without theory", but by no means arbitrarily, for they derive their
meaning from their interdependency. Sound, gesture, word and color
become the attributes of something else; their interaction generates that
"internal process", the content, whose articulation is made up of the
various dimensions that follow. It sounds paradoxical, but it perfectly
describes the reality of the process of artistic creation. Not only does the
artist think in the categories of the material itself- his logic is based on
association, there being no scientific law for the production of art.
I have endeavored to voice my thoughts about a few aesthetic and
compositional premisses in Arnold Schonberg's expressionist oeuvre
here. It seems appropriate to close with a brief look at the historical
situation in which he composed the works in question. It is not so very
surprising that the decomposition of the syntactic-tonal foundations of
the bourgeois era took place at a time when that era, which claimed to be
an age of reason, was producing monsters at a rapidly increasing pace.
Nor is it all that surprising, that the chief motives of the artists in whose
works that process of decomposition was taking place were panic, isola-
tion and the desire to epater le bourgeois" that dated from the height of
II

the Romantic period. What is surprising is the grovelling attitude of the

post-expressionist generation of artists who, despite the hideous miens of
the monsters produced by abortive bourgeois rationality, concealed their
fickleness under a pseudo-rationalistic cloak called Neo-Classicism then
and computer music today. They all seem to have had the same physics
teacher, who did his bit for Auschwitz and Hiroshima too, for Chernobyl
and the Gulf War - all those abortions of human existence which obey -
to quote Schonberg's ugliest metaphor- "the law of measure and num-
ber". In "A Survivor from Warsaw" - to some extent an expressionist
work - the most horrifying moment is arithmetically rational. It occurs
when the Nazi corporal makes the ghetto-dwellers count themselves, tell-
ing them why with mathematical precision: "In five minutes' time I want
to know how many to send to the gas chamber." The forms of artistic
rationalism devised by Schonberg in his expressionist works firmly resist
such a rationality of organized apocalypse. Once tonality, that syntax of
180 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
musical illusion, had been stripped of its roots, Schonberg focused on two
possibilities which he thought would safeguard meaning under the con-
ditions of a socially determined, hypertrophic rationality aimed at attain-
ing completely irrational goals. These two possibilities are extension (as
expressed in the use of extra-musical means in "Die Gliickliche Hand",
for example) and motivic-contrapuntal concentration, which appeared to
him to be a guarantee for meaning on the abstract-musical level. Having
completely lost his faith in the (tonal) sympathy and antipathy of the
harmonies once propounded by Descartes, he saw only one possibility of
investing music with meaning and innovation. It was motivic, "durch-
brochene" work, described by Adorno, a kind of tracery affecting the very
last detail, no longer confined to the horizontal but applied to the vertical
and all areas in between. When else is a "motif" but the aforementioned
union of "material meaning" with the "forms and figures" which are
"independent of this meaning"? What else- and this question applies to
all serious western music - is the motif but the subjective introduction of
musical meaning? In that respect all Schonberg did - and he often flirted
with the idea- was think a tendency of European composing through to
the final consequence, right into the historical situation which forced art
to fall from the heaven of ideas onto horrible, mortally wounded human
soil.
Just over a quarter of a century ago (in 1966), I addressed the curious
dialectics of rationale and discourse in Schonberg's work. Surprisingly,
the remarks I made on that occasion (in a late-night talk for West German
Radio), remarks which caused all the pseudo-serial rationalists to declare
me Public Enemy Number One, do not substantially differ from what I
have been saying today about Schonberg's compositional dialectics? I
have a reason for not discussing Schonberg's "serial" phase today: I
wanted to explain a new aesthetic logic, not to formalize it, with all the
consequences entailed by what is certainly a problematic undertaking.
Perhaps we could discuss it at a future "ratio" symposium addressing
real problems instead of pseudo-intellectual "chinoiseries" .... There is no
doubt that Schonberg shed a new light on musical time and space. I think
that it will take a little longer for his syntax and language to erase the
appalling adaptation strategies of the generation that followed him from
the pages of musical history. History must credit him with responding in
his expressionist works to the chimera of bourgeois rationality with a
completely new, aesthetically justified rationality prompted by the historical
situation of the human subject itself. To immerse oneself in the human
subject at a time when this subject is in danger of extinction at the hands
of rationality is a typically Schonbergian tour-de-force. May it be a lesson
 Expressionism and Rationality 181

to today's rationalists: when they resort to numerical tables, modes or

parametrical book-keeping for the musical articulation of their inability to
cope with the world, the only thing expressed in terms of music is handi-
craft. I have my problems with Schonberg. But faced with the algorithms,
tone cuckoo clocks and other rational cop-outs so far below the standards
even of advanced tonality, I still think that Schonberg's expressionist
oeuvre has revolutionary potential as a signal of a new musical human-
ism for future generations fed up with all this neo-Biedermeier self-
mutilation. We must keep this in mind, summoning up all the rational
and intuitive powers of our spirit, which thank goodness has survived the
slings and arrows of modem history. Schonberg's achievements in the
field of composition technique are still a thorn in music's flesh. And so
they should be.

NOTES

1. See: Arnold Schonberg - Wassily Kandinsky: Briefe, Bilder und Dokumente einer
aussergewohnlichen Begegnung, ed. Jelena Hahl-Koch, dtv-Kunst, Munich 1983.
2. The text "Schonberg lebt" - containing a polemic against Boulez' Schonberg reception
of the fifties (Boulez, 1952: "Schoenberg est mort") has been published in Konrad
Boehmer: "Das Bose Ohr", DuMont Verlag, Koln 1993, p. 51-68.
 Schonberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth:
Truth as a Central Category in
Expressionism
JOB IJZERMAN

In 1912 Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc edited the almanac "Der
Blaue Reiter"1 . This is regarded as one of the most important documents
of avant-garde art of the time. Schonberg's contribution was the essay
"Das Verhaltnis zum Text". In this he starts from Schopenhauer's postu-
late, that music "reveals the inmost essence of the world" 2 . There can be
made a connection between Schopenhauer's metaphysics and Freud's
theory of the unconscious. In this case the "inmost essence of the
world" must be translated in the unconscious inner life, the instinct of
the composer. Indeed we can understand Schonberg's essay in this way.
He writes about his first experiences with songs of Schubert and poems of
Stefan George which he completely understood from the sound. Schon-
berg has in mind the unconscious understanding, of a perfection which
can never be attained by the conscious.
The accentuation of the instincts, more than the intellect can be found
in a lot of Schonberg texts, for instance in his essay about Franz Liszt of
the same time. Therein he regards the artist as someone who is guided by
his belies and his instincts: "The work, the perfected work of the great
artist, is produced, above all, by his instincts; and the sharper ear he has
for what they say, and the more immediate the expression he can give
them, the greater his work is .... A true feeling must not let itself be
prevented from going constantly down, ever and anew, into the dark
region of the unconscious, in order to bring up content and form as a
unity."4 The latter, the unity of content and form is of main importance in
Schonberg's aesthetics.
Schonberg makes a clear distinction between the artist and the crafts-
man. A craftsman "can" produce whatever he wants. An artist "must",
he feels an inner compulsion. "He has no say in the matter, it has nothing
to do with what he wants; but since he must, he also can." His technique
is no more than an effect, a by-product: "Expressive content wishes to
make itself understood; its upheaval produces a form." 5 In other words,
musical structure arises from the expression of an inner musical thought.
Here again Schonberg mentions the connection between form and content.
184 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
Theodor W. Adorno argues, that Schonberg's attitude to musical
expression is a turning point in the history of the "espressivo" in Western
art music. Never before did there exist a direct and complete expression
of the psychology6 . Indeed expressions of emotion were always filtered
by the musical material. This material was controlled by several conven-
tions. There were theories of pitch-organisation, modal or tonal; there
were theories of rhythm, concerning the division of the bar in strong
and weak; there were theories of form, concerning sonataform, rondo
and dacapoform; there were even theories of musical expression, as is
witnessed by the baroque" Affektenlehre". Wagner's "Unendliche Melo-
die" gave up most of the traditional conventions; but the tonality
remained and with the tonal system the musical continuity. Tonality
can be regarded as a movement away from the tonic and back to the
tonic; as a movement from consonance into dissonance and again into
consonance. This continuous movement was the final obstacle to over-
come to attain an art of expression unrestrained by any external conven-
tion. Schonberg did overcome this obstacle in his so-called free-atonal
style. The only absolute law which remained, was the law of the inner
necessity; no single tone could withdraw from it. Schonberg put the new
attainment as a demand for composition: "Die Musik soll nicht
schmiicken, sie soll wahr sein." 7
This sentence can be regarded as a motto for Schonberg's complete
work and his theoretical thoughts. We experience a moral undertone: it is
not about writing a "beautiful" piece, it is about "true" art. Differently,
the aesthetics of musical beauty have been changed into the ethics of
musical truth. Schonberg's motto includes the contradiction between
"schmiicken" and "wahr sein". The word "schmiicken" points to a critic
on the ornament in art. Simply formulated, Schonberg pursued an econ-
omy of composition, in which there is no space for superfluities.
In the "Harmonielehre"8 - Schonberg's main theoretical work - the
ornament is criticized in several places. This book is not only a theory of
harmony, but also an art-theoretical dissertation and a polemic against
the traditional theories. One of his main reproaches concerns the fact that
most of the traditional harmony books were concentrated on the stylistic
devices instead of the meaning of a composition. For instance, Schonberg
rejects excercises with an ornamented voice-leading; a voice-leading with
neighboring and passing tones, suspensions and anticipations. "Die
Erkenntnis, dass die einzige Veranlassung, der einzige Motor fiir die
selbstandige Stimmenbewegung nur die Triebkraft des Motivs, nicht
aber die billige Freude am billigen Ornament, an der billigen Verzierung
sein darf, zwingt mich, eine Aufgabe zu verponen, deren Losung hoch-
 Schonberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth 185

stens jene kitschige Scheinkunst erzielt, die jeder hassen muss, der Wahr-
haftigkeit anstrebt." 9
In the chapter on modulations to removed keys, Schonberg continues
his polemics. In the traditional theories usually an enormous variety of
devices of modulation are given. The sense, the structural and composi-
tional sense of these modulations remains undiscussed. "Fiir sie sind
Formeln das Wichtige, deshalb geben sie als Endresultat, was nur Hand-
griff ist." 10 In this way they simplify on the one side, because only the
form is given, without sense, without content; on the other side they
complicate, because the form, the envelope without content is ornamen-
ted without any reason. In common, Schonberg concludes that good taste
is perverted by the ornament, on each field - not only in music. The
ornament can be defined as a form, in whatever field, which does not
correspond with the sense. The main point of a composition is, according
to Schonberg, the subject itself, the "what it is". Less important are the
devices, the "how it is done". This is the reason why Schonberg doesn't
recommend the devices of the modern, atonal music to his students.
In his Harmonielehre Schonberg is on his guard against giving aesthetic
judgements. The resolution of an exercise is never "beautiful" or "ugly";
it is only good or not, according to its response to the aim of the exercise.
Beauty only exists in the mind of the listener and can therefore never be
the subject of a theory. Again he makes a clear distinction between
craftmanship and composition: " ... Kunst und Handwerk (haben) mitei-
nander soviel zu tun ... , wie Wein mit Wasser. Im Wein ist wohl Wasser
drin, aber wer vom Wasser ausgeht, ist ein Pantscher." 11
In the opening chapter, "Theorie oder Darstellungssystem", Schonberg
puts a theory with normative claims behind him. The sense of a theory
can only be descriptive; the only law, the standard, is the work of art
itself. (By this conclusion Schonberg implicitly laid the foundation for the
phenomenological music theory.) Thus art cannot be learned; only a
deeper understanding in art. Schonberg finishes this chapter with the
well-known words: "Ich habe den Kompositionsschiilern eine schlechte
Asthetik genommen, ihnen dafiir eine gute Handwerkslehre gegeben." 12

The separation between craft and art is quite in the spirit of the architect
Adolf Loos (1870-1933). During his whole life Loos fought against the
ornament in Viennese society. His buildings and his interiors are char-
acterized by an extremely sober design, which completely coincides with
the demands for practical use. He lived in a time in which each object was
ornamented in such a way as to obscure the real function. The private-
houses of the bourgeoisie had been built in a showy, neo-renaissancistic
186 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
style; the main goal was to look like the palaces of the aristocracy. This
historical style is typical for the architecture of the sixties and seventies of
the 19th century.l 3
Loos' criticism did not only concern this historic style, but also the new
style of the "Wiener Sezession" and the connected "Wiener Werkstatte".
The Wiener Sezession was a movement around the turn of the century,
which protested against the lack of any personality in the older style. But
in the vision of Loos' the artists of the Sezession only managed to change
the older ornament for the newer. The main criticism concerned the
Wiener Werkstatte, an institute for the so-called applied-art. By such a
connection of objects for daily use and objects of art, humanity lost both
an eye for the practical and a feeling for the art. Loos puts forward that
architecture is not one of the arts: "Das Haus hat allen zu gefallen. Zum
Unterschiede vom Kunstwerk, das niemandem zu gefallen hat. ... Das
Kunstwerk will die Menschen aus ihrer Bequemlichkeit reissen. Das
Haus hat der Bequemlichkeit zu dienen. Das Kunstwerk is revolutionar,
das Haus konservativ." 14 The fierceness of Loos' polemics can be
explained from the meaning which was assigned to the art by the
avant-garde of the time. "Wer ... weiss, dass die Kunst da ist, urn die
Menschen immer weiter und weiter, immer hoher und hoher zu fiihren,
sie gottahnlicher zu machen, der empfindet die Verquickung von materi-
ellen Zweck mit Kunst als Profanation des Hochsten." 15
Criticism on the ornament runs through all the essays of Loos. He
provided this criticism with a foundation in his essay "Ornament und
Verbrechen" 16. Herein he describes, how in earlier stages of humanity the
ornament- as an erotic symbol- was organically connected with life. The
first (erotic) ornaments have been painted with a similar inner force as
Beethoven's "ninth"; therefore they were good. Also with for instance the
"papua-negroes", as with young children, we find a natural inclination to
the erotic ornament. For adults, on the contrary, the "plastering of walls"
is a symptom of degeneration. "Man kann die Kultur eines Landes an
dem Grade messen, in dem die Abortwande beschmiert sind." Loos
regards the ornament as criminal and immoral; he ascertains that 80%
of the prisoners have tatoos on their body: "Die TatOwierten, die nicht in
Haft sind, sind latente Verbrecher oder degenerierte Aristokraten. Wenn
ein Tatowierter in Freiheit stirbt, so ist er eben einige Jahre bevor er einen
Mord veriibt hat, gestorben." 17
The ornament is not only nourished by criminals, it is criminal itself
because of the economic waste: the ornament costs work, money and
material. The ornament disturbs the proportions of productivity: a chi-
nese wood-carver works 16 hours a day, a workman in America- the
 Schonberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth 187

promised land- works 8 hours. "Und gabe es uberhaupt kein Ornament,

- ein Zustand, der vielleicht in Jahrtausenden eintreten wird - brauchte
der Mensch statt acht Stunden nur vier zu arbeiten, denn die Halfte der
Arbeit entfallt heute noch auf Ornamente"18 . For Loos the evolution of
culture is the same as the removal of the ornament from the objects for
daily use. Above all by the lack of ornament, art has reached the great
heights of today. The individuality of the artist is so strong, that he does
not waste his time at the ornament. As Loos wrote: "Ornamentlosigkeit
ist ein Zeichen Geistiger Kraft." 19 (In a postscript Loos mocks the artists
of the Wiener Sezession: "Und ich sage dir, es wird die Zeit kommen, in
der die Einrichtung einer Zelle vom Hoftapezierer Schulze oder Professor
Van de Velde als Strafverscharfung gelten wird." 20)

As Schonberg wrote his Harmonielehre, so in 1912 did Kandinsky by

writing his treatise "Ober das Geistige in der Kunst"? 1 This work con-
tains not only his own poetics, but also a more general art-theoretical
explanation. Like Schonberg and Loos, Kandinsky speaks of the "holy
art"; of the artists as its prophets. He makes a stand against the principle
of ''l'art pour l'art". "Die Malerei ist eine Kunst und die Kunst im Ganzen
ist nicht ein zweckloses Schaffen der Dinge, die im Leeren zerfliessen,
sondern eine Macht, die zweckvoll ist, und muss der Entwicklung und
Verfeinerung der menschlichen Seele dienen .... " 22 From this sentence
we learn, that art isn't an ornament of life anymore - as Kandinsky
reproaches l'art pour l'art- but an absolute essence. Kandinsky formu-
lates a claim for unity of form and content and with that a criticism on the
ornament. "Der Kiinstler muss etwas zu sagen haben, da nicht die
Beherrschung der Form seine Aufgabe ist, sondern das Anpassen dieser
Form dem Inhalt."23
Thus the form is subordinate to the content. This he explained very
clearly in his essay "Ober die Formfrage"?4 In this he argues that the
evolution of art is a constant development of forms. A form, which was
revolutionary yesterday and subverted old principles, becomes common
and becomes itself the principle which will be subverted by the forms of
tomorrow. The driving-force behind this movement is the human spirit.
Form is only a device in which the spirit reveals: "Die Form ist den
aussere Ausdruck des inneren Inhaltes." 25
This point of view is of revolutionary importance for painting art. In
"Ober das Geistige in der Kunst" Kandinsky describes the history of art
as a development from the subject, the "what it is", towards the way in
which the subject is reproduced, the "how it is done". By the "what it is"
is meant the material subject, which was painted only for reason of the
188 Schonberg and Kandinsky
reproduction. As art developed, the "how it is done" came ever more to
the foreground. Not anymore was the subject itself the main thing, but the
way in which it was painted and the technique which was used. But in
modem times we'll return to the "what it is"; not in a material meaning,
but in the meaning of a pure artistic content. "Dieses Was ist der
Inhalt, welchen nur die Kunst in sich fassen kann, und welchen nur die
Kunst zum klaren Ausdruck bringen kann durch die nur ihr gehorenden
Mitte1." 26
I recall from memory Schonberg's motto: "Die Musik soll nicht
schmiicken, sie soll wahr sein". When we compare this sentence with
Kandinsky's thoughts, we can explain it in this way: the musical content-
that is the typically musical which can only be expressed by its own
devices - has to correspond with the musical structure. Only then can it
be spoken of as true art, which answers to its holy call. It is quite under-
standable that Schonberg was a great inspiration for Kandinsky and vice
versa. "Schonbergsche Musik fiihrt uns in ein neues Reich ein, wo die
musikalischen Erlebnisse keine akustischen sind, sondem rein seelische.
Hier beginnt die 'Zukunftsmusik'." 27 The experience of the soul is the
effect of the "inner sound" of an object, a word, a sound or a thought. The
revelation of the inner sound is the aim of the modem painter. He
liberates the object from its coincidentat external envelope, so that
the inner sound is revealed. Thus the exterior is concidentat the inner is
essential.

The satirist Karl Kraus (1874-1936) is regarded as one of the leading

personalities in artistic and intellectual Vienna. 28 Above all Kraus became
well-known by his periodical "Die Fackel'', which he edited almost
weekly from 1899 until his death in 1936. In this anti-paper Kraus polemi-
zed in sarcastic satires against what he called the hypocrisy of the
Viennese society. Especially the press, namely the influential "Neue
Freie Presse" had to suffer for this. Kraus held this newspaper respon-
sible for the spiritual and moral decay of the society. His sharpest criti-
cism concerned the so-called feuilleton; this is a column in which
journalistic information was colored by a pseudo-artistic use of language.
The fact was ornamented by the fantasy of the author in such a degree,
that the difference between fiction and reality became obscured or even
disappeared. Kraus' criticism on this way of using language, on this
connection between journalism and literature, can be compared with
Adolf Loos' criticism on the connection between design and art.
In 1910 Kraus wrote his polemic "Heine und die Folgen"?9 This essay
startled the literary world, because he had attacked a famous poet like
 SchOnberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth 189
Heinrich Heine. In a later justification Kraus wrote, that he had not in
mind to do the popular poet unjustice, although he also did not mean to
do him justice. He had in mind to criticize an attitude of life, which aimed
at ease and comfort. But above all he wanted to return language the place
it belongs: "Hier ist irgendwie die Sprache von allem, was sie einzu-
wickeln verpflichtet wurde, gelost, und ihr die Kraft, sich einen besseren
Inhalt zu schaffen, zuerkannt."30
The heated reproaches apparently concern Heine himself, but in reality
they concern the Viennese world of journalism and literature; they con-
cern the separation of form and content, which is, according to Kraus,
Heine's inheritance to journalism. Language was regarded only as a
technical device to cover a lack of content. Language was treated as an
ornament! Nowhere is Heine's language the natural expression of a
thought; nowhere for instance is it obvious, why Heine's poems had
necessarily to be poems and not prose. " ... Diese Reime sind Papilloten,
nicht Schmetterlinge."31 According to Heine and his imitators an artist is
the master of the word; according to Kraus it is just the opposite: in deep
respect the artist's eyes fell in front of the language. It is not the word
which obeys him, but it is the artist who obeys the word. Only such
words answer to the highest, which haven't been written with the lan-
guage, but from the language. Kraus regarded the language as the natural
expression of the thought.
In Heine und die Folgen Kraus implicitly associated himself with the
metaphysics of Schopenhauer. Kraus was convinced of the metaphysical
nature of the thoughts. He was confident that thoughts have always
existed and are c,nly manifested by the medium of the thinker. In other
words: " ... dass die Gedanken und die Gedichte da waren vor den
Dichtern und Denkern." Only by the language can these thoughts come
through: "Und nur in der Wonne sprachlicher Zeugung wird aus dem
Chaos eine Welt." The thought only belongs to the one who is really
seeking. Not the primate of the thought is the main thing, but the think-
er's integrity. "Der Gedanke ist ein Gefundenes, ein Wiedergefundenes.
Und wer ihn sucht, ist ein ehrlicher Finder, ihm gehort er, auch wenn ihn
vor ihm schon ein anderer gefunden hatte." 32
In the Harmonielehre Schonberg associates with the latter. Kraus
explained the phenomenon of the thought as something metaphysical,
Schonberg sought an explanation in the theory of instincts. For the com-
poser the main thing is the ability to hear himself, to look deep inside,
Schonberg writes in the final chapter. In the unconscious he'll find the
musical thoughts, preformed - to use the word of Karl Kraus -but not yet
manifest. The artist of language, the poet, the author, forms his thoughts
190 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
by the language; the composer does the same by the music. But the
musical technique shows us a continuous evolution: the devices of
today are not the same as those of yesterday, because: "Alles ist nur
Vorbereitung zu einer hoheren Stufe der Entwickelung." 33 It is the same
evolution of art which was described by Kandinsky. The developing
tendency of the musical material can be translated as a compository
urge for the seeking for ever new possibilities of expression. Schonberg
illustrates this by the example of the diminished seventh chord. In the
time of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, this chord had enormous expressiv-
ity: it was experienced as extremely dissonant and was always connected
with the most violent emotions. But, in the 19th century the chord became
ever more common and thus lost its expressive meaning. Even more, the
chord became stereotyped and only of value in the sentimentality of the
light music. Instead of the diminished seventh chord appeared other,
more dissonant chords, which overtook the force of expression. These
too became common in the long run and their expressivity faded away.
New chords were introduced, ... etcetera, etcetera?4
The ever higher degree of dissonance stimulated Schonberg to his
revolution of the emancipation of dissonance. Emancipation of the dis-
sonance means: the liberation of the dissonance from its conventional
preparation and solution. Emancipation of dissonance also means that
the principal difference between consonance and dissonance has been
abolished. On this matter Schonberg has been attacked most. His critics,
not only the critics of the paper, but also famous theorists like Heinrich
Schenker and later Paul Hindemith, appealed to the naturalness of the
tonal system, by common consent; and for this reason Schonberg's atonal
music had to be rejected. Schonberg agreed with his critics, that tonality
starts from nature. But he relativated its naturalness by pointing out the
tempered system as a compromise between naturalness and artistic use-
fulness. A little curious is Schonberg's apology of atonal music: he does
not doubt of the necessity of a natural system, but - on the contrary - he
tries to prove the naturalness of his own atonal music. Schonberg parti-
cularly reproaches Heinrich Schenker for ending with the first five over-
tones, by pointing out the relative difference between a consonance and a
dissonance: the first reflecting the simpler vibration number and the latter
reflecting the complexer one. According to Schonberg the evermore
"exploitating" of the overtone series is responsible for the continuous
movement of the musical material: "Diese Bewegung ... (kann) nicht
aufhoren ... , ehe sie den Willen der Natur erfiillt, ehe wir in der Nachah-
mung nicht die ausserste Vollendung erreicht haben." 35 This is the ulti-
mate goal of the musical development. Schonberg regards this restless
 SchOnberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth 191

seeking of new possibilities, situated in nature, as a condition for artistic

integrity.
Probably Schonberg's apology is in this case influenced by his critics,
who accentuated the naturalness of tonality. But we have to take Schon-
berg very seriously on the case of the historical musical development. In
this he is part of the long tradition of "Enlightement", of the belief in a
continuous improvement of mankind. For Schonberg there is no choice:
the artists duty is to push humanity forward. This is his main reproach to
the common aesthetics: they only looked for explanations of the pheno-
mena which already existed, without looking for those of the future.
"Hier die Wahrheit, das Suchen - dort die Asthetik, das vermeintlich
Gefundende, die Reduktion des Erstrebenswerten aufs Erreichbare."36
Integrity, according to Schonberg, is the endeavor for the highest truth;
in the same time he hopes, that this truth will never be attained, that the
movement will never be attained that the movement will never end:
"Dass die Wahrhaftigkeit nie zur Wahrheit wird; denn es ware kaum
zu ertragen, wenn wir die Wahrheit wiissten." 37

The climax of musical expressionism is in the period 1908-1909. In these

years Schonberg wrote a great number of works in the so-called free-
atonal style. These works are: the Klavierstiicke op. 11, the George Lieder
op. 15, the Orchesterstiicke op. 16 and the monodrama Erwartung op. 17.
These works are generally mentioned in one breath, because in these
works Schonberg renounced tonality for expressive aims. Of course
there is no discussion about this; there is also no discussion about the
smooth transition between the last tonal works and the first atonal works.
At this time I would like to discuss the development within this period of
atonality.
This development doesn't concern the abandoning of tonality, but the
gradual renunciation of an emphatic form-conception. We experience this
evolution immediately when we compare the first atonal compositions -
the George Lieder and the first two piano pieces op. 11- with Erwartung,
which is an extreme work in all its aspects. The piano pieces numbers. 1
and 2 - like some of the George Lieder - can be strongly associated with
the late romantic style. The piano pieces are written in the tradition of the
later Liszt works, even of Brahms' Klavierstiicke.
The second piece of op. 11- Schonberg's "Lugubre Gondola"?- shows
a kind of a closed rondo-"Lied" form. The structure is determined by
thematic development. Thematic development - so characteristic for clas-
sical and romantic music - can also be found in the first piece of this opus
and in the George Lieder. It is interesting that the last number of op. 11
192 Schonberg and Kandinsky
doesn't show this kind of development; the piece was written later, at the
time of the last orchestral piece of op. 16.
The monodrama Erwartung shows us almost the opposite of the earlier
atonal compositions. It is of overwhelming complexity; there is no clear
musical course, because of a collapse of musical continuity. There are no
themes; there are even no motifs which determine the structure for more
than a few bars. And last but not least, there are no main "characters",
which could be described as, for instance allegretto grazioso or presto
furioso. Also in its expression the music is extreme; for moderate emo-
tions there is no space. Adorno interpreted this formal crisis as an aboli-
tion of the work of art itself. In Western culture the work of art always
had a kind of unassailability; there was always a certain distance between
man and work. According to Adorno, Erwartung is a psychoanalytical
protocol of a nightmare. The music registrates - like a psychiatrist - the
shocks; it reflects the discontinuous emotional course. This course is
going to determine the musical structure. "Die seismographische Auf-
zeichnun~ traumatischer Schocks wird ... das technische Formgesetz der
Musik." 3 Although Adorno's postulate of loss of the work of art, in an
emphatic sense is partly debatable - in our time Erwartung was given its
place in music history, in some way comparable with Beethoven's
"ninth" - it is true that Erwartung seems to contradict perhaps the
most important feature of Western music: the idea of a form, more or
less presented as being consciously constructed. At least we experience
the suggestion of a musical piece not being determined by structure but
by emotion.
The bridge between the earlier atonal works and Erwartung is consti-
tuted by the orchestral pieces op. 16. This work can be regarded as a
symphony in five movements. In these pieces Schonberg seems to say
good-bye to the older forms and to the traditional music in general. The
first piece, titled "Vorgefiihle", is the opening "allegro" movement;
the second, "Vergangenes", is an "andante" in a clear dacapo liedform;
the third piece, "Farben", a kind of intermezzo in slow tempo; the fourth,
"Peripetie", is a real scherzo; and the last piece, "Das obligate Rezitativ",
is the symphony's "Finale".
The first piece is in some way comparable with a sonata form. It
contains an exposition (bars 1-25), a development section in two parts
(26-78; 79-103) and a rudimentary reprise and coda in one (103-128). But
only by these outlines can the structure be associated with a classical
sonata form. The exposition shows us several thematic gestures. There are
no connections between the themes; and although some are more or less
related, most of them are characterized by contrast. The result is a dis-
 SchOnberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth 193

t!f I...
27 .. . 38 39 ... 49 vL ~ 50

I - I* • I0

Figure 1

Figure 2a

.p- I_

Figure 2b
194 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
continuity which had hardly ever been heard before. The first part of the
development section is mainly determined by two processes. The first one
is the introduction and fugal development of a new pattern (Fig. 1) in the
strings, resulting in a three to five part ostinato.
The second process is a development of the main theme of the exposi-
tion (Fig. 2a). The several phases of this development are not connected in
a traditional melodic or harmonic way; on the contrary, it shows a
discontinuous course comparable with the exposition. There is an increas-
ing complexity, leading into a double canon (Fig. 2b). We experience,
together with the ostinato of the first process, an emotional outburst,
which is a superlative of all espressivo in Western music.
The second part of the development starts from this total "crisis"- of
form and expression- and begins with the seeming chaos of a six part(!)
counterpoint of the pattern shown in Figure 1. (This is a problematic
aspect of this piece: by the immense quantity of not always audible
musical "events" Schonberg seems to lose the control over the form.)
The musical tension of the development is completely nullified by the
following reprise and coda: after some reminiscences of the exposition a
static closing ostinato is built up.
The third piece can be regarded as an example of the so-called "Klang-
farbenmelodi e". But the orchestral piece "Farben" is in no sense an
impressionist ic characterpiece: it is a fugue in five voices. There is a
theme - though rudimental - there is even a counterpoint. After this
fugue-exposition (Fig. 3a) there is a development of the three notes
fugue-theme. The end is a final part including a stretto, "in motu contra-
rio" (Fig. 3b ).

t:: 1:: lr 1~
I 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II

1' 1U lb lh lb lr:: h

Figure 3a
 SchOnberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth 195
39

II
~I
~E !r I/11~.11J I~ I~ 1J ~J l~l ~j IJ 1; II

II
•
II

Figure 3b

It is a fugue; at the same time it has nothing to do with a fugue. As in

the first piece, the outline remembers the old form, but the inner structure
seems to contradict it: the moving voices have been fossilized into a static
chord progression. It is a fugue in the same way that Ravel's "La Valse" is
a waltz. La Valse is not a real waltz, it is about a waltz, it tells us the story
of Viennese waltz. Schonberg here reflects the history of the fugue, he is
burying the fugue after a last salute.
Behind this salute- to sonata form, to lied-form, to fugue and scherzo-
the new world begins. In the fifth orchestral piece Schonberg definitely
abandoned all form-conventions, to create a totally expressive and perso-
nal style. It is true, musical continuity is restored, regarding the Haupt-
stimme, indicated in the score by Schonberg himself (Fig. 4). But here the
"thematische Arbeit" has been completely abolished. The piece shows a
series of connected, but not clearl~ related musical ideas. Schonberg
called this device "musical prose", 9 that is a free, irregular course of

o •r
2

ob.(J • (via.)

-rw·r

Figure 4
196 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
musical thoughts; it is Schonberg's answer to Wagner's Unendliche Melo-
die. The last orchestra piece is not constructed anymore in a traditional
sense. It has lost the closed and rounded form of the traditional composi-
tion. It has no beginning, no "once upon a time" and no ending, happy or
not.
Whether this work is a result of the conscious or the unconscious -
when we look at the very complex and worked-out polyphony, as for
instance the double canon in the development section of the first piece or
the fugal techniques in the third, it is rather difficult to believe Schonberg
when proclamating the primate of the unconscious - this piece has
bridged over, by abolishing all outer conventions, the distance between
the work of art and the inner composer. Music has become emotion itself;
form and content are presented as a unity.

NOTES

1. Der Blaue Reiter, ed. by W. Kandinsky and F. Marc, 1912. Dokumentarische neuaus-
gabe von K. Lankheit. Miinchen/Ziirich 1984.
2. Ibid., p. 60.
3. Carl Dahlhaus draws this conclusion in: Schonberg's aesthetic theology (orig. Schon-
bergs asthetische Theologie, 1984), in: Schonberg and the new music; essays by Carl
Dahlhaus, transl. by D. Puffet and A. Clayton, New York 1987, p. 85.
4. Schonberg; Franz Liszt's Work and Being (orig. Franz Liszts Werk und Wesen, 1911).
In: Style and Idea, selected writings of Arnold Schonberg, ed. by L. Stein, London
1975, p. 442.
5. Schonberg: Problems of teaching art (orig. Probleme des Kunstunterrichtes, 1911), in:
Style and Idea, p. 367.
6. Adorno: Philosophie der Neuen Musik (1949), Suhrkamp Frankfurt a. M. 1976, see the
chapter Schonbergs Kritik an Schein und Spiel, pp. 42-46.
7. Quoted in: Adorno, p. 46.
8. Schonberg: Harmonielehre, Vienna 1911 (7th, new edition, 1966).
9. Ibid., p. 243.
10. Ibid., p. 325.
11. Ibid., p. 490.
12. Ibid., p. 6.
13. This has been described by Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmin in: Wittgenstein's
Vienna, New York 1973.
14. Loos: Architektur, in: Trotzdem, Innsbruck, 1931, new edition Vienna 1982, p. 101. It
is remarkable that Loos omits capitals in the substantives: without doubt this German
use was for Loos nothing more than an ornament.
15. Ibid., p. 102.
16. Loos: Ornament und Verbrechen, in: Trotzdem.
17. lbi4., pp. 78-79.
18. Ibid., p. 83.
19. Ibid., p. 88.
20. Loos: An den Ulk, in: Trotzdem, p. 89.
21. Kandinsky: Dber das Geistige in der Kunst, Miinchen 1912, new edition Bern 1959.
 SchOnberg's Pursuit of Musical Truth 197
22. Ibid., p. 134.
23. Ibid., p. 135...
24. Kandinsky: Uber die Formfrage, in: Der Blaue Reiter.
25. Ibid., p. 137...
26. Kandinsky: Uber das Geistige in der Kunst, p. 34.
27. Ibid., p. 49.
28. Janik and Toulmin: Wittgenstein's Vienna.
29. Kraus: Heine und die Folgen (1910), Reclam, Stuttgart 1986.
30. Ibid., p. 66.
31. Ibid., p. 50.
32. Ibid., pp. 53-54.
33. SchOnberg: Harmonielehre, p. 112.
34. The same explanation has been given by Adorno in the chapter Tendenz des
Materials, pp. 38-42.
35. Schonberg: Harmonielehre, p. 288.
36. Ibid., p. 386.
37. Ibid., p. 394.
38. Adorno, p. 47.
39. SchOnberg: Brahms the progressive (orig. Brahms der Fortschrittliche, 1947), in: Style
and Idea.
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity:
Some Aspects of Theoretic Reflection
in Arnold Schonberg and Wassily
Kandinsky.
LAURENS VANDER HEIJDEN

Introduction.
In the comparison between painting and music different levels of inter-
pretation can be distinguished. The simultaneous developments in both
arts that led to abstraction and atonality can also be approached in
divergent ways.
The relation between both arts and their mutual influences have
inspired many artists into making pictoral translations of musical con-
cepts, as for example 'counterpoint', 'rhythm' and 'dissonance'. Theore-
tical reflections underlying artistic developments in abstraction and
atonality, show a similar variety of approaches of comparable artistic
phenomena in these two realms of aesthetic experience, in a decisive
period of idiomatic transition.
In the interdisciplinary search for common characteristics in the arts,
specific qualities belonging either to painting or to music became appli-
cable to both areas of artistic expression. Time or temporality is thus
connected to painting, whereas the aspect of space and spatiality is
articulated in relation to music.
When attempting to relate painting and music on the basis of assumed
common features it is important, however, to realize that commonly used
terms do actually have their own specific significance in their own aes-
thetic realm. The same holds true for the inherent qualities of the artistic
means themselves. The fact that in painting and music color and harmony
are emancipated in the same span of time is in fact a remarkable phe-
nomenon, but may all too easily lead to the assumption that identical
aesthetic implications based these artistic developments. One should bear
in mind, that the art-theoretic and formal motivation at the basis of this
autonomization of sound and color in the works of Schonberg and
Kandinsky, to a large extent do have their own unique artistic context.
A distinction between the level of art-theoretic considerations (histori-
cal, philosophical and ideological) and that of technical craftmanship has
200 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
to be taken into account, in order not to interpret art in a gratuitous and
too speculative way.
A more theoretical field of research studies the abstract-philosophic
implications of the interdisciplinary discourse. Philosophic reflections
on the relation between art and nature, objectivity and subjectivity, or
the role of the rational and the unconscious in artistic creation belong to
this more abstract category of approach.
Many publications, primarily based on philologic research, have
already sketched out extensively the biographic history of the artistic
kinship of Arnold Schonberg and Wassily Kandinsky and placed their
artistic productivity and mutual influence against the historical back-
ground of contemporary developments in the arts. In this essay, I will
primarily focus on a few theoretical and philosophical issues related to
the paragon of abstraction and atonality. Central conceptions in the work
and theoretic notions of Arnold Schonberg and Wassily Kandinsky will
be my main references.

Objectivity and Subjectivity.

In Uber das Geistige in der Kunst (1912) Kandinsky ponders on the 'Inner
Necessity' of the creative spirit. The concept of Inner Necessity, under-
stood as the inner urge to create, is a key-concept in Kandinsky' s justifi-
cation of abstract art. In his exposure on the Inner Necessity, Kandinsky
uses a tripartite division. At first he distinguishes the duty of the artist to
give shape to his personality. Next to this individual motive, the artist has
to take into account that he is an exponent of his time and social milieu.
As a third factor finally, the artist has the responsibility to make his art
transcend time and space1 .
Also in Schonbeg' s aesthetic theory of art there is a similar tripartite
division. In the first place here, there is the compelling element of the
individual expression. In the Harmonielehre (1911) Schonberg goes into
this conviction:

"Ich entscheide beim Komponieren nur durch das Gefohl, durch das Formgefohl. Dieses
sagt mir, was ich schreiben muss, alles andere ist ausgeschlossen. Jeder Akkord, den ich
hinsetze, entspricht einem Zwang: einem Zwang meines Ausdruckbedi1rfnisses."2

In another passage in the Harmonielehre Schonberg notices that each

period has a specific notion of form 3 . This "Formgefiihl" however, is
partly limited by the restrictions that time imposes on artistic freedom.
The third element, Kandinsky calls it "pure and eternally artistic", can be
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity 201
discerned in Schonberg's conception of an absolute, abstract world of
sounds.
Considering both the subjective element of the Inner Necessity and the
third level of the 'pure and eternally artistic', one becomes aware of a
paradox which characterizes artistic reflection in the art-theory of expres-
sionism in general; On the one hand the work of art is looked upon as the
result of a subjective expression of the artist, while on the other hand the
individual expression has an objective and timeless value. Thus, there is
the tendency to exclude the personal and to regard the origin of the work
of art as a process that takes place outside the free will of the artist.
The relation between artistic subjectivity and objectivity takes different
forms through partly divergent philosophic notions and influences.
Along different paths the absolute - as objective dimension - is reached
through the artist. In his explanation of the tripartite division of the Inner
Necessity, Kandinsky reflects about the way through which the subjective
and the objective level relate to one another. Point of departure is an
interaction between both levels. The first two personal and time-related
factors of the Inner Necessity are in Kandinsky's view, of a relative
nature. The individual and temporal components of the creative process,
constitute in this conception a subjective nature. Kandinsky explains the
development of art from the ability of the artist to transcend these first
two levels to reach the 'pure and eternally artistic':

"The process of the development of art consists to a certain extent in the ability of the
pure and eternally artistic to free itself from the elements of personality and temporal
style."4

The dialectic relation between the subjective and objective is an ever-

present factor. It is the dynamic character of the .tension between both
levels that determines the evolution in art. In this dialectic model, art
obtains the significance of a synthesis between the subjective and the
objective:

"In short, then, the effect of inner necessity, and thus the development of art, is the
advancing expression of the external-objective in terms of the temporal-subjective. Thus,
again, the struggle of the objective against the subjective. "5

With the notion of a cosmic mission of the artist, the idea is put forward
that the work of art is not exclusively the result of a subjective expression.
In this conception of the artist as a prophet, art is regarded as a reflection
of an objective nature. As was pointed out by Klaus Lankheit, this idea -
not uncommon with many other abstract painters - can be traced back to
202 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
the early romantic philosophy of identity. According to this philosophic
notion, nature- as an objective dimension- can be found within Man
itself. Amongst others through Schelling's doctrine of the unity of Nature
and Spirit, these philosophic notions have been one of the cornerstones of
the theory of 20th century abstract painting6 .
Also in the art-theoretical and philosophical reflections of Schonberg
there is the explicit awareness of a tension between subjective creativity
and artistic objectivity. In this context, it is interesting to quote the
philosopher Ernst Bloch. In his Geist der Utopie (1918) we find a passage
describing the significance of the new harmonies in Schonberg's early
atonal works. Bloch notices "selbstandige harmonische Ausdruck-relatio-
nen" and refers to Schonberg's dictum that the new sound in music is an
"unconsciously found symbolic expression of a new man and his new
world of feelings" 7 . Further on Bloch mentions "dieser Zusammenfall
von Audruckwahrheit und Konstruktionswahrheit" and introduces in
this context the concept of 'Expressionslogik'. In the concept of the
'Expressionslogik', subjective expression and the objective component of
artistic logic are paradoxically related.
This coinciding of 'Ausdruckwahrheit' and 'Konstruktionswahrheit'
seems to contradict or deny a tension between the subjective and objec-
tive. In Schonberg's free atonality, subjective intentional content and
artistic-constructive form coincide. Bloch refers to "the subjective
musical genius" as justification and ultimate instance. The harmonic
system constitutes no restrictions by which the genius can be limited.
Bloch mentions "das subjektiv Irrationele ... das sich iiber Regeln, letzthin
auch iiber Taktstrich, Dissonanz, Harmonie und Tonalitat hinwegsetzen
dar£."8
In Kandinsky's theoretical foundation of abstraction, form and color
had likewise been absolute. Against this background, the new relation
between emancipated forms and colors in the early abstract work of
Kandinsky, can be considered as the pictorial counterpart of what Bloch
indicated in music as "selbstandige Audruckrelationen".
In Schonberg's philosophic notions and artistic argumentations, theo-
retical concepts are closely related. As regard to the issue of the subjective
and objective, it is relevant here to shed a light on the concept of 'Idea'
with Schonberg. In his interpretation of the Idea, as with the Inner
Necessity, three levels can be discerned. The musical technical Idea con-
sists of two levels. The totality of a musical composition reveals itself with
the composer in a vision. During this moment of artistic inspiration, the
composer surveys the totality of tonal relations that he wants to fix. In
the next stage of compositional creation Schonberg works at what he
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity 203
indicates as the "reconstruction" of his vision. At this stage, themes,
motives and tone-rows are invented. Here, inspiration does not play a
decisive role.
The second level of Schonberg's division of the compositional process
refers to the issue of self-expression. Schonberg adopts Schopenhauer's
notion that the artistic genius- as musical medium- has the ability to
intermediate between the 'essence of the cosmos' and the domain of
human experience. This revelation of the 'cosmic' or 'absolute', is the
third level of meaning in the concept of Idea in the process of composi-
tional construction9 •
Overviewing the three levels of Schonberg's Idea, we become aware
that, although through divergent philosophic perspectives, a connection
has been made between the levels of subjectivity and objectivity. As in
Schopenhauer's philosophy, the subjective mind objectivates itself
through its acts. With Schonberg, the artist is the vessel between the
absolute and human experience.
Also in Kandinsky's theoretical speculations, the artist has a visionary
prophetic power, even a cosmic mission. Through this train of thought
self-expression transcends the exclusive individual. The coinciding of
Bloch's 'Ausdruckwahrheit' and 'Konstruktionswahrheit' can thus be
achieved by this art-theoretic framework. These concepts, refering on
the one hand to the intentional artistic, and on the other hand to the
logic as an objective rational component, can coincide, because through
this speculation expression is connected to the absolute. The act of crea-
tion is no longer exclusively expression-of-the-self. The artist is the ulti-
mate instance for the justification of new sounds and new constellations
of color and forms.

Rationality, Irrationality and Criticism.

In Thomas Mann's novel Doktor Faustus the artistic consciousness of the
composer Adrian Leverkiihn is projected against a broad cultural-historic
background. As is commonly known, through mediation of Theodor
Wiesengrund Adorno, Schonberg's music served as the model for the
musical implications of the fictive oeuvre of Leverkiihn. In Doktor Faustus,
the dialectic relationship between the mathematic and the ultimate sub-
jective is presented as a Faustian dilemma against the background of a
broad cultural panorama. The paradoxical coinciding of rational organ-
ization and emotion is connected by Mann with the concepts of freedom,
subjectivity and objectivity. In a discussion on creative freedom Adrian
Leverkiihn argues:
204 Schonberg and Kandinsky
"Aber Freiheit ist ja ein anderes Wort fiir Subjektivitiit, und eines Tag hiilt die es nicht
mehr mit sich aus, irgendwann verzweifelt sie an der Moglichkeit, von sich aus schopfer-
isch zu sein und sucht Schutz und Sicherheit beim Objektiven. Die Freiheit neigt immer
zum dialektischen Umschlag. Sie erkennt sich selbst sehr bald in der Gebundenheit,
erfiillt sich in der Unterordnung unter Gesetz, Regel, Zwang, System - erfiillt sich
darin, das will sagen: hart darum nicht auf, Freiheit zu sein. "10

Considering this interpretation of the concept of artistic freedom in

relation to art in general, one meets problematic issues that clearly can
be discerned in the succeeding stages of stylistic development with both
Schonberg and Kandinsky.
Apart from simultaneous artistic developments, one notices within
artistic thought of both artists an inner conflict stemming from a tension
between rational creativity and emotional expression. In the justification
of free atonality and dodecaphony as well as in Kandinsky' s .theoretical
foundation of abstraction, there is from time to time a clear need to cope
with that tension between intuition and calculation. Against this back-
ground, the appeal to the Inner Necessity can be explained as an intensi-
fied attempt to defend their achievements for critique from the outside.
After the idiomatic evolution of subsequently the early abstract and early
atonal works, a new explanation of the concept of freedom had become
inevitable.
The conflict between rationality and irrationality in artistic creation
was not an isolated personal issue, but can also be regarded in connection
with objections that were raised against both abstraction and atonality.
The disapproval of the cerebral is one of the most remarkable issues
in this critique on the new artistic achievements. Notions related to the
cerebral as opposed to the emotional are put in antagonistic terms. The
topic of the 'cerebral' as opposed to the 'emotional' was also thematic in a
discussion on two other assumed polarities namely that of the
'conscious' and the 'unconscious'. Before, this problematic notion had
already been explored extensively by the artists themselves. In his
first letter to Schonberg, Kandinsky gives his vision on the future of
painting:

"Ich finde eben, dass unsere heutige Harmonie nicht auf dem 'geometrischen' Wege
zu finden ist, sondern auf dem direkt antigeometrischen, antilogischen. Und dieser
Weg ist der der 'Dissonanzen in der Kunst', also auch in der Malerei ebenso wie in der
Musik." 11

Schonberg's answer to this letter indicates a similar perspective. He

writes:
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity 205
"Ich verstehe das volkommen und bin sicher, dass wir uns da begegnen. Und zwar in dem
wichtigsten. In dem, was Sie das 'Unlogische' nennen, und das ich 'Ausschaltung des
bewussten Willens in der Kunst' nenne. Auch was Sie iiber das konstruktive Element
schreiben, glaube ich. Jede Formung, die traditionelle Wirkungen anstrebt, ist nicht ganz
frei von Bewusstseins-Akten. Und die Kunst gehOrt aber dem Unbewussten/" 12

Artistic expression is not determined by craftmanship and rationality.

Schonberg recapitulates:
"Das unbewusste Formen aber, das die Gleichung: 'Form=Erscheinungsform' setzt, das
allein schafft wirklich Formen. "13

In Kandinsky's remarks on the origination of abstraction, a comparable

relation between the unconscious and the origination of artistic forms is
stipulated. In his essay "Reminiscences" (1913) Kandinsky explains:
"Every form I ever used arrived 'of its own accord', presenting itself fully fledged before
my eyes, so that I had only to copy it, or else constituting itself actually in the course of
work, often to my own suprise. "14

Kandinsky continuously expresses his mistrust of the rational compo-

nent in art. Here, the concept of logic - as objective category - is opposed
against the emotional. Also in the essay "The value of a concrete work",
dated 1938, Kandinsky emphasizes:

"Art forms are not found 'on purpose', by willpower, and nothing is more dangerous in
art than to arrive at a 'manner of expression' by logical conclusions. My advice, then, is
to mistrust logic in art. And perhaps elsewhere too/" 15

In a retrospect of his own artistic career, Kandinsky characterizes his

artistic development as a gradual process starting with a conscious use of
form and color16 . Already in iiber das Geistige in der Kunst Kandinsky had
mentioned three sources and results of artistic creation in progressing
stages of rational organization. At first there are "the direct impressions
of 'external nature' expressed in linear-painterly form". Kandinsky
denotes these pictures as "Impressions". The second category are the
"Improvisations". Kandinsky explains that they are "chiefly unconscious,
for the most part suddenly arising expressions of events of an 'inner
character', hence impressions of 'internal nature"'. The third category
Kandinsky mentions are the "Compositions". Kandinsky clarifies at this
point:
"The expression offeelings that have been forming within me in a similar way (but over a
very long period of time), which, after the first preliminary sketches, I have slowly and
almost pendantically examined and worked out."17
206 Schonberg and Kandinsky
Kandinsky proceeds:

"Here, reason, the conscious, the deliberate, and the purposeful play a dominant role.
Except that I always decide in favor of feeling rather than calculation." 18

In one of the final passages of Uber das Geistige in der Kunst, Kandinsky
prophesizes that in the near future a conscious system of composition will
be achieved. According to this view, painters will be proud to be able to
explain their work in terms of 'construction'. It is typical for the issue we
are dealing with now, that Kandinsky concludes his book placing these
remarks in a mystical context:

"We see already before us an age of purposeful creation, and this spirit in painting stands
in a direct relation to the creation of a new spiritual realm that is already beginning, for
the spirit is the soul of the epoch of the great spiritual." 19

In an article, written for Kroniek van de Hedendaagse Kunst dated 1936,

Kandinsky sums up the most frequently used critical oppositions against
abstract art 20 . At first, he mentions the fact that most critics assert that
criteria for a quality-estimation of abstract art are lacking. Secondly, the
assumed unlimited freedom of morphology is used as an argument for a
negative assessment of the abstract idiom.
Finally, Kandinsky mentions the cliche that abstract painting is a cere-
bral art par excellence21 . This criticism is based on the conviction that the
intuitive capacities of the artist can only be evoked by a material environ-
ment. According to this theory, the artist excludes himself from the outer
world and hence can only produce a rational art. Kandinsky, defending
himself against these arguments, contends that the abstract working artist
receives his stimuli from nature not in a "fragmented manner", but that
the artist is inspirated by "the totality of natural appearances". The
current subdivision in the arts is, in the view of Kandinsky, the result of
a process of specialization dating from the nineteenth century within
artistic as well as in cultural fields. Kandinsky asserts that the exagger-
ated interest in the outer qualities of artistic form can be understood as
the negative output of a cultural and artistic process. The choice of artistic
form, Kandinsky mentions at several places, is primarily a concern of the
artist.
Also Schonberg's succeeding artistic stages of artistic development -
from the late romantic idiom, to free-atonality and, later, dodecaphony-
are connected with distinct stages of intellectual involvement and
increasing rationalization.
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity 207

As in Kandinsky's artistic development, in Schonberg's artistic career,

one can discern the problematic issue of an increasing rationalization in
the use of artistic means. As had been the case in early atonality, also
dodecaphony endured critical comments labelling it as being orderless
and without form. It is understandable that notably dodecaphony suf-
fered most from these accusations.
Also Schonberg defends himself firmly against the cliche that the
dodecaphonal composition is the result of "uninspired construction."22
In the article "Komposition mit zwolf Tonen", he refers to the "unfailing
imagination of the composer" and denies that dodecaphony is a one-
sided cerebral method of composition.Z3
Schonberg explains this critique on the cerebral as a "sentimental" and
"pre-Wagnerian" aversion against the dissonant. Categories such as
'sharpness' or 'mildness' cannot be criteria for aesthetic evaluation. In
Die formbildende Tendenze der Harmonie Schonberg clarifies:

"SchOnheit, ein unerkliirter Begriff, ist als Grundlage fUr iisthetische Unterscheidungen
ganz nutzlos, und dasselbe gilt fUr Gefilhl. Solch eine 'Gefilhlsiisthetik' wurde uns zur
Unzuliinglichkeit einer veralteten Asthetik zuruckbringen. "24

Schonberg clearly rejects a 'GefiihUi.sthetik' that is based on a naive,

hedonistic conception of art.
It is remarkable how Schonberg and Kandinsky, in relation to their later
constructivistic and dodecaphonic work, explicitly point to the fact that
the origin of a picture or musical composition is a balance of rational and
irrational forces. This seems to be not only a defense-system against art-
criticism, but may also indicate the presence of an inner conflict. The
continuous accentuation of the purely emotional origin of artistic creation
may also reveal the artist seeking to hide the rational component of
artistic reality.
In his second theoretical treatise Punkt und Linie zur Fliiche (1926),
Kandinsky contemplates the necessity of a 'science of art'. The need for
such a new branch of study can, according to Kandinsky, be explained
from the need of the painter to achieve a balance between intuitive and
calculative forces. In 1935, in the article" Art Today", Kandinsky empha-
sizes the fact that the painter is guided by his inspiration. The stress on
the irrational and unconscious origin of the creative process is opposed
here to the constructivistic view on the origination of art.
In an indirect way, Kandinsky refers to a controversy that 10 years
before had also played a role at the Bauhaus. Artists such as Kandinsky,
Paul Klee and Johannes Itten emphasized the intuitive qualities in art as
208 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
opposed to a utilitarian conception of art. Artists like El Lissitzky, Vladi-
mir Tatlin and Aleksandr Rodchenko on the other hand, represented a
group who argued that emotionality and intuition were the remains of a
'bourgeois-sentim entality' that soon had to be replaced by calculative
methods of construction. Kandinsky replied:

"Finally, art is never produced by the head alone. We know of great paintings that came
solely from the heart. In general, the ideal balance between the head (conscious moment)
and the heart (unconscious moment-intuition) is a law of creation, a law as old as
humanity. "25

Kandinsky thus stresses the fact that this balance is important for
abstraction as well as for figuration:

"Neither reason nor logic can be excluded from any consideration of art, but perpetual
corrections are necessary from the angle of the irrational. The feeling must correct the
brain. This assertion applies to art in general, without distinction between representa-
tional and concrete art. From this point of view the two kinds are alike. "26

In an interview with the Berlin art-dealer Karl Nierendorf, Kandinsky

defends himself against the accusation that abstract art is of an exclu-
sively rational nature. Asked whether abstract painting is the product of
rational considerations Kandinsky replies:

"Man's 'head' is a necessary and important 'organ', but only if organically linked to the
'heart' or the feeling'- call it what you will. Without this link, one's 'head' is the source
of all kinds of dangers and disasters. In all realms. Hence in art too. In art even more so:
there have been great artists without heads. But never without 'hearts'. During great
periods, and in the case of great artists, there has always been this organic link between
head and heart (jeeling).'m

As has been indicated here before in relation to Schonberg's Idea, inspira-

tion and rational elaboration are distinguishable stages in the creation of
the musical composition. Both aspects are involved in the creation of the
work of art and are not mutually exclusive. Intuition as well as calculation
are essential aspects in the scenario of the musical Idea. In the article
"Brahms, der Fortschrittliche", Schonberg emphasizes this opinion: "Die
Trunkenheit der Phantasie eines Kiinstlers, sei sie dionysisch oder apolli-
nisch, erhoht die Klarheit seiner Vision." 28
As with Kandinsky, the emotional and the rational do co-exist harmo-
niously in the process of artistic creation. In Kandinsky's essay "Thesis-
Antithesis-Synthe sis" the dialetic relationship between emotionality and
rationality is brought to the fore. The painter accentuates that both factors
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity 209
play an equal role in the conception as well as reception of the work of
art. There is however, it cannot be denied, a programmatic emphasis on
the aspect of feeling:
"In conclusion, I would cordially like to advise the transmitter (the artist) and the
receiver (the admirer of art) to keep thought and feeling separate from another ... One's
head is not a bad device. But an 'unfeeling' head is worse than a 'headless' feeling, at least
in art." 29

In 1937, in the French art journal Cahiers d'Arts, we find a summing up

of the most frequent objections against abstract art. According to some
criticism 'plastic rationalism' deprives abstract art of every possibility of a
real evolution. By ignoring physical nature, the artist bans his emotion
and over-estimates his technical abilities in the manipulation of forms and
colors. Looking at things from this angle, abstract art cannot be an
expressive idiom. Kandinsky reports how he had tried several times to
'construct' a picture on a purely rational and mathematic basis. None of
these experiments however, had enabled him to solve adequately any
artistic problems. Once again Kandinsky mentions that intuition is the
common origin of all arts.
Theoretical considerations however, should never play a dominant role
in the act of painting. In this context, Kandinsky quotes his master Anton
Azbe who had said to him "You must know your anatomy, but in front of
your easel you must forget it." 30 In a catalogue of the exhibition
"Abstracte Kunst" in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1938, Kan-
dinsky again refers to the artistic process as a synthesis of rational and
emotional influences:
"To my mind this creative path must be a synthetic one. That is to say, feeling ('intui-
tion') and thought ('calculation') work under mutual 'supervision'. This can happen in
various ways. As for me, I prefer not to 'think' while working. It is not entirely unknown
that I once did some work on the theory of art. But: woe to the artist whose reason
interferes with his 'inner dictates' while he is working." 31

Looking back at his musical development, Schonberg emphasizes that

rational considerations do not interfere with musical ideas that enter the
mind of the artist through his unconscious:
"Ich bin immermehr doch noch mehr Komponist als Theoretiker. Und wenn ich kompo-
niere, trachte ich alle Theorien zu vergessen; und ich setze nur fort, wenn ich meinen
Geist von solchen Einflii.ssen frei gemacht habe. "32

Schonberg warns for a dogmatic interpretation of his method of com-

posing with twelve tones. He regards dodecaphonic composing in the
210 Schonberg and Kandinsky
first place as a method that provides a logical ordering and organization
of tone-material. The composer has to trust his total control of the musical
laws governing a balanced composition, nonwithstanding the idiom.
According to the opinion of Schonberg, craftmanship and professional
mastery over the musical material is developed with the true artist 'from
within'. 33
Schonberg and Kandinsky share the typical expressionistic conviction
that individual expression searches for a form that suits the subjective
intention. Or, in other words, artistic form is not a pre-fixed structure, but
is the result of an unconscious process where form and content coalesce.
This view on form in art implies a relativation of style. But abstraction
and atonality have been severly rejected by art criticism as being formal-
istic. In the Soviet-Russian campaign against atonal composers, as well as
in later polemics against musical serialists, dodecaphony has been
rejected for being formalistic. In painting, the emphasis on formal
means has been regarded as the last stage of a process of formalization
that had started with the Impressionists. According to this criticism,
abstract art has lost all significance because of the fixation on the non-
figurative form. The coinciding of form and content is in this rejection the
negation of the 'objective' content. This so called 'objective content' can,
according to these critics, only be based on optical, mimetic experience.
Kandinsky's concept of a painting of 'purely pictorial means', where non-
representational pictoral means coincide with the intentional content, is
regarded from this viewpoint as a tautologic starting point. 34
Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno situates the origin of the dodecaphonal
method in the context of an increasing tendency of 'Naturbeherrschung'
in Western civilization. 35 Pre-determination of tone-material may impli-
cate the danger of 'system-fetish' that finally can be traced back to a
fundamental doubt of the composer to make music 'from within'.
Through an integral rationalization of musical parameters, the composer
runs the risk of placing himself on the outside and thus becomes a slave
of a cold and mechanical process where technical principles are goals in
themselves.
This increased rationalization had resulted on the artistic level in an
abstraction of musical means and concepts. Up to a certain degree,
through dodecaphonical determination the relationship between compo-
ser and musical material had been revised. At the same time, it should
however be emphasized that this development in musical history origi-
nated from the urge to intensify the expression of music-for-itself. Adorno
describes Schonberg's oeuvre as a "dialectical process" between expres-
sion and construction, and characterizes the composer as a "dialectical
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity 211

composer" because by a far reaching rational organization Schonberg has

paved the way to a new musical freedom? 6
In the article "Ober einige Relationen zwischen Musik und Malerei",
Adorno puts forward a few critical remarks on the rationalization of the
compositional process, but he points at the same time to the irrational
subjective ideology which these artistic developments are actually based
upon. 37
Comparable critique concerning the coincidence of extreme subjecti-
vism and 'rational compulsion' was also aimed against Kandinsky's
painting. In this criticism on his abstract idiom the over-emphasis on
formal means is rejected likewise. At the same time, the critique is
pointed against the artistic rationalization that is regarded as being
incompatible with intuitive artistic creation. According to this argumen-
tation, the abstract-working artist cuts himself out of the assumed 'object-
ive' and 'optic' world and looses himself in a far reaching determination
and systematization of formal means.
From another angle, the gap between artistic-technical conception and
the receptive capabilities, are interpreted as an alienation of the artist with
his social environment.38 This alienation is also interpreted as the result of
social circumstances. In this train of thought the programmatic emphasis
on the subjective-emotional can be regarded as a psychological and
artistic reaction to the 'de-individualization' of Western Society. By with-
drawing into his most individual experience, the artist defends himself
against the threat the individual faces within a technological and bureau-
cratic society. 39

In their later artistic career, both Schonberg and Kandinsky had arrived at
a point where an equilibrium between emotionality and artistic construc-
tivism had become increasingly problematic. This issue was reflected in
their artistic productivity as well as in the art-theoretical writings sup-
porting - and even defending - their artistic decisions.
One might conclude that an essential shift has taken place in the
relation between art-technical decisions on the one hand and the emo-
tional urge to expression on the other hand. It seems as if, with the
gradual autonomization of artististic parameters, the distance between
artist and artwork gradually has been increased and has become problem-
atic. This development can be interpreted as an increased consciousness
of the contrast between 'Gefiihlsasthetik' and 'Materialasthetik'.
The issue of a tension between rationality and spontaneous expression
presented here, points to more than the existence of an academic polemic.
The appearance of an increased awareness of a problematic relation
212 Schonberg and Kandinsky
between the rational mind and emotion cannot be understood as an
isolated or purely artistic phenomenon.
It is my view that advanced research into the simultaneousness of
atonality and abstraction should not be based primarily on the level of
traditional musicological or art-historical philology, but on a wider com-
prehension of contemporary socio-cultural developments. The concept of
the work of art as a monad still has not lost its suggestive power.

NOTES

1. A comparable tri-division can be found in the art-theoretical debate of early Expres-

sionism. Besides the element of the individual artistic vision, artistic vision is
regarded as that what has been determined by external factors. The art-theorist
Riegl mentions the "external" factors of milieu and time as "Kunstwollen". The artist
has a "Weltgefiihl" that is determined by the relation with his environment. Artistic
form or style therefore, is more than the reflection of an inner state of mind. See for
theoretical concepts in expressionism: G. Perkins Contemporary theory of Expressionism,
Bern/Frankfurt.
2. Harmonielehre, Leipzig/Vienna 1911 p. 466.
3. Ibid., p. 144.
4. iiber das Geistige in der Kunst (Translated as On the Spiritual in Art in: Kandinsky.
Complete writings on art. ed. K.C. Lindsay and P. Vergo London 1982 p. 174. Quota-
tions from Kandinsky's complete works are cited from this edition, abbreviated as
KCW.
5. Ibid., (KCW. p. 175).
6. See K. Lankheit, "Die Friihromantik und die Grundlagen der 'gegenstandslosen'
Malerei", in Neue Heidelberger Jahrbiicher, 1951, par. III en IV, pp. 82-90.
7. Harmonielehre, p. 447.
8. Geist der Utopie Gesamtausgabe Vol. 3, second edition 1923, Frankfurt am Main 1964,
pp. 162-163.
9. With regard to the different levels of meaning of the "Idea" with Schonberg see C.M.
Cross in: "Three levels of Idea in Schoenberg's thought and writings", in Current
Musicology, nr. 30 (1980) pp. 24-36.
10. Thomas Mann. Doktor Faustus, das Leben des deutschen Tonsetzers Adrian Leverkiihn,
erziihlt von einem Freunde, Stockholmer Gesamtausgabe der Werke von Thomas
Mann, 1947, p. 295. Thomas Mann describes the main motive of his book as "Die
Niihe der Sterilitiit, die eingeborene und zum Teufelspakt priidisponierende Verzwei-
flung", see: Die Entstehung Dr. Faustus, Berlin 1949, p. 60.
11. Arnold Schonberg. Wassily Kandinsky. Briefe, Bilder und Dokumente einer aussergewohli-
chen Begegnung, ed. J. Hahl-Koch, Salzburg/Vienna 1980, p. 19.
12. Ibid., p. 21.
13. Idem.
14. "Reminiscences" ("Riickblicke" in Kandinsky, 1901-1913, Berlin 1913 (KCW., p. 370).
15. "The value of a concrete work", in XXe Siecle, Paris 1938-39 (KCW., p. 827).
16. See "Cologne lecture" ("Kandinsky iiber seine Entwicklung"), in Kandinsky und
Gabriele Munter, von Urspriingen moderner Kunst, Munich, 1957 (KCW., p. 393).
17. KCW., pp. 218-219.
18. Idem.
 The Dialectics of Artistic Creativity 213
19. Idem.
20. See "Abstract Painting" (" Abstrakte Malerei"), in Kroniek van hedendaagsche kunst en
kultuur, Amsterdam 1936 (KCW., p. 784-789).
21. See for a defense against this criticism "Two suggestions" ("Zwei Ratschlage" in
Berliner Tageblatt; Berlin 1929. (KCW., p. 735-743).
22. "Zeitwende" in Aufsiitze zur Musik. Gesammelte Schriften, Amold Schonberg, ed. I.
Vojtech, Nordlingen 1976, p. 384. Schonberg's complete writings cited here from
this edition are abbreviated as AzM.
23. "Komposition mit zwolf Tonen" in AzM., p. 75.
24. Die formbildenden Tendenzen der Harmonie, New York 1954, p. 190.
25. "Art Today", in Cahiers d'Art, Paris 1935 (KCW., p. 771).
26. "The value of a concrete work", in XXe Siecle, Paris 1938-39 (KCW., p. 827).
27. "Interview with Karl Nierendorf" in Essays iiber Kunst und Kiinstler, Bern/Biimpliz
1963 (KCW., p. 807).
28. "Brahms, der Fortschrittliche" inStil und Gedanke, quoted here from AzM p. 49.
29. "Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis", in Exhibition catalogue "these-antithese-synthese"
Kunstmuseum Luzern 1935 (KCW., pp. 772-773).
30. "Reflections on abstract art" ("Reflexions sur l'art abstract"), in Cahiers d'Art, Paris
1931 (KCW., p. 759).
31. "Abstract or concrete" ("Abstract of concreet?"), in Tentoonstelling abstracte kunst,
Amsterdam 1938 (KCW., p. 832). See for the idea of a synthesis between intuition
and rational analytic thinking with Kandinsky "The value of theoretical instruction in
painting ("Der Wert des theoretischen Unterrichts in der Malerei", in Bauhaus; Des-
sau 1926 (KCW., pp. 701-705).
A comparable explicit discussion on this thematical issue can be found with
Schonberg in his article "Herz und Him in der Musik", in StuG., pp. 104-122.
32. "Riickblicke" in AzM., p. 40.
33. In "Probleme des Kunstunterrichts" Schonberg makes an explicit distinction between
the craftsman and the artist: "Der Kunsthandwerker kann. Was ihm angeboren ist,
hat er ausgebildet; und wenn er nur will, so kann er .... Aber der Kiinstler muss. Er
hat keinen Einfluss darauf, von seinem Willen hangt es nicht ab." AzM., p. 165.
34. A typical example of neo-marxistic criticism on Kandinsky's abstract painting is R.
Korn's book Kandinsky und die Theorie der abstrakten Malerei, Berlin 1960. For a com-
parison relating to this criticism see" Arnold Schonberg im russischen Kulturkeis", in
Bericht iiber den 1. Kongress der Internationalen Schonberg-Gesellschaft, Vienna 1974, pp.
187-195.
35. Philosophie der neuen Musik, Tiibingen, in Philosophie der neuen Musik, Tiibingen
1949, p. 88.
36. "Der dialektische Komponist" in Musikalische Schriften IV, Gesammelte Schriften vol.
17, Frankfurt am Main 1982 pp. 198-204. Compare Adorno in "Arnold Schonberg
und der Fortschritt", in Gesammelte Schriften, vol. 16, Frankfurt am Main 1978, pp.
628-642.
See for aesthetic controversies relating to artistic freedom and music-technical
considerations J. H. Lederer "Pfitzner-Schonberg: Theorie und Gegensatze", in Archiv
fiir Musikwissenschaft, Abl. 35 (1978) pp. 297-309.
C~mpare H. Pfrogner "Das Inhalt-Form-Problem im Schaffen Arnold Schonberg",
in Osterreichische _!vfusikzeitschrift, 2 (1947), pp. 266-269.
37. T. W. Adorno, "Uber einige Relationen zwischen Musik und Malerei", in Gesammelte
Schriften, vol. 16, Frankfurt am Main 1978, pp. 628-642.
38. The German art-critic Wilhelm Worringer opposes in 1908, in his book Abstraktion und
Einfiihlung, the tendency of abstraction against naturalism. "Abstraktionsdrang" is
interpreted here as the reflection of a fundamental distortion in the relation between
humanity and its physical environment.
214 SchOnberg and Kandinsky
39. See for the historical and sociological background R. Brinkmann, "Schonberg und das
expressionistische Audruckskonzept", in Bericht iiber den 1. Kongress der Internationa-
len Schonberg Gesellschaft, Vienna 1974, pp. 13-19.
 Notes on Contributors
Konrad Boehmer studied Composition, Musicology, Philosophy and
Sociology in Cologne, where he completed his degree thesis "Zur Theorie
der offenen Form in der neuen Musik" (published 1967 in Darmstadt).
Professor at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague, since 1972, he has been
director of the Institute of Sonology, the large studio for electroacoustic
music within the Conservatory, since 1994. In 1993 his book Das Bose Ohr
(The Malicious Ear, Writings 1961-1991) was published by DuMont.

Reinhold Brinkmann studied Music, Musicology, German Literature and

Philosophy in Hamburg and Freiburg. He was professor of Musicology in
Marburg 1972-80 and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin 1980-85.
From 1985 he has been professor of Music at Harvard University, where
he has held the James Edward Ditson chair since 1990. His special field of
research is Arnold Schonberg and the Second Viennese School.

Albrecht Diimling studied Music, Musicology, German Literature and

Journalism in Essen and Berlin. In 1978 his "Offentliche Einsamkeit.
Untersuchungen zur Situation von Lied und Lyrik urn 1900 am Beispiel
des 'Buches der Hangenden Garten' von Stefan George und Arnold
Schonberg" was published as a book. He was co-organisor of the exhibi-
tion "Entartete Musik" shown in Germany, The Netherlands and the
U.S.A. He is currently director of the Harms Eisler Archiv in Berlin.

Frans Evers studied psychology with professor N. Frijda in Amsterdam.

He is dean of the Interfaculty Sound and Image, an institute which links
the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal Conservatory of Music in
Den Haag (The Netherlands). He was one of the main initiators of the
Schonberg-Kandinsky Symposium. He is editor-in-chief of a book on
music psychology published by Van Gorcum, Assen, in 1995.

Bulat M. Galeyev is a Russian scholar currently working at the Pro-

metheus Institute in Kazan. Mr Galeyev has done research in the field
of kinetic art and is preparing a book on Scriabin.

}elena Hahl was born in Riga and spent her school years in Germany. She
took her degree in Heidelberg on "Marianne W erefkin and Russian
Symbolism". From 1965 to 1971 she was a university lecturer in Russian
language and literature at Erlangen. In 1976 and 1977 she lectured on
216 Notes on Contributors
"Kandinsky in Tutzing" at Harvard, UCLA, Ann Arbor, Wayne State
University and several other universities in the USA. Her book Arnold
Schonberg/Wassily Kandinsky, Briefe, Bilder und Dokumente einer
auflergewohnlichen Begegnung (dtv, 1983) has been published in England
(Faber & Faber, 1984), France, Japan, Spain and Italy.

Job IJzerman studied piano in Utrecht and music theory at the Royal
Conservatory, The Hague, where he is now professor of Music Theory.
He also lectures at the Conservatories of Hilversum and Amsterdam. His
specialisation is the music of the Second Viennese School. He has pub-
lished "Die Symmetrie in Weberns Orchestersti.ick op. 10 Nr. 1"
(Musiktheorie, Laaber, 1990/2).

Hans Janssen studied art and history in Groningen. He was curator of

Modern Art at the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, from 1987 until1991.
Since 1991 he has been curator of Modern Art at the Municipal Museum,
Den Haag (Haags Gemeentemuseum).

Klaus Kropfinger was until recently professor of Musicology at the Free

University, Berlin. At present he holds the chair of the Music Department
of Kassel University. He is a contributor to the complete editions of
Beethoven's as well as of Hindemith's compositions. He has written
widely on music history and aesthetics from the 18th to the 20th century
(especially about the Second Viennese School, Busoni and Nono). Special
aspects of his research are the perception of music and the relationship
between music and painting - especially between Schonberg and Kan-
dinsky. His book Wagner and Beethoven was recently published in a
revised edition by Cambridge University Press.

Laurens van der Heijden completed doctoral degrees both in musicology

and in art history at Utrecht University. After graduating he studied with
Reinhold Brinkmann in the USA. He has specialised in the interrelation-
ship between the arts, in particular between painting and music. At the
moment he is preparing his dissertation on abstraction and atonality.

Irina L. Vanechkina is a Russian scholar currently working at the Pro-

metheus Institute in Kazan. She has undertaken research in the field of
kinetic art.
 Index

As the names of Arnold Schonberg and Vassily Kandinsky appear

on nearly all pages, they have not been included in this index. The
spelling-especially of Russian names-corresponds to the orthography
of the different articles. Alternative spellings are indicated by [ ].

Adorno, Theodor W. 11, 12, 13, Bauer, Marion 46

14, 47, 48, 53, 55, 154, 173, 180, Bayer,Josef 160
184, 192, 196, 197, 203, 210-212 Beethoven, Ludwig van 14, 15,
Aksakov, A. 5 73, 93, 141, 186, 190, 192, 216
Altenberg, Peter 110, 160 Bely, Andrei 72, 78
Andrews, John Ch. Bond 164 Benjamin, Jean, K. 54, 57
Ansorge, Conrad 110, 114, 133, Benjamin, Walter 42, 59
137 Berg, Alban 53, 60, 63, 159, 160
Arnheim, Rudolf 52 Bergson, Henri 49
Auner, Joseph Henry 51, 55, 58, Berlioz, Hector 48, 147, 149
69, 87 Besant, Annie 60
Azbe, Anton 3, 209 Biba, 0. 58
Bill, Max 47
Bab, Julius 136 Binhorn, Gabriele 166
Bach, Johann Sebastian 14, 93, Birke, Joachim 136
156, 169, 174, 190 Bischoff, Bodo 50
Bachrich, Albert 103, 104 Black, Max 49
Bahle, Julius 40 Blei, Fr. 165
Balzac, Honore de 45 Bloch, Ernst 133, 202, 203
Bantock, Granville 164 Blok, Alexander 149
Banville, Theodore de 150, 164 Blomster, Wesley 47
Baptiste, see: Debureau, J.G. Boehmer, Konrad xv, xvii, 169,
Barlach, Ernst 75 181, 215
Barrault, Jean-Louis 139, 149 Boehringer, Robert 106
Barritt, Clifton 164 Boerman, Jan xii, xiv
Baudelaire, Charles 114, Bogaevskaya, Benja 79
147-150, 153 Boissel, Jessiea 55

217
218 Index

Bonds, Evan 167 Cream [pop group] xvi

Bonner, Eugene M. 165 Cross, C.M. 212
Boulez, Pierre 181 Cytowic, Richard E. 51, 55, 59
Brahms, Johannes 101, 103, 104,
141,191,197,208 ,213 Dahlhaus, Carl 48, 58, 138, 166,
Bratton, Denise 46 196
Brecht, Bertolt 80, 155 Danuser, Hermann 166
Breicha, Otto 125, 137 Daumier, Honore 148, 152
Brinkmann, Reinhold xvii, 53, Dauthendey, Max 105
54, 58, 112, 137, 139, 166, 214, David, Adolphe 163
215, 216 Davies, S. 50
Brisch, Klaus 47, 50, 51, 52, 54, Debureau, Charles 150
56,57 Debureau, Jean-Gaspard 139,
Brodsky, Yosip 79 149-151
Buchanan, George 164 Debussy, Claude 164, 174
Budde, Elmar 137 DeFeciani, Carol 166
Bulow, Hans von 138 Dehmel, Ida, see: Coblenz, Ida
Burckhardt, Jacob 49 Dehmel, Richard 55, 102-105,
Busch, Regina 160, 166 107, 109, 110, 112, 113, 116, 124,
Busoni, Ferruccio 47, 144, 157, 132, 133, 136
159, 216 Delacroix, Eugene 15, 79
Buxbaum, Friedrich 103 dell' Aqua, Eva 163
Byron, Lord 147 Derouet, Christian 55
Descartes, Rene 180
Cahn, Peter 47 Diaghilev, Sergej 75
Carter, Roy E. 47 Dick, Kay 166
Cezanne, Paul 15, 50 Ditson, James Edward 215
Champfleury, Jules 150 Dohring, Sieghart 156, 166
Chevalier, A. 164 Dowson, E. 164
Chopin, Frederic 151, 155, 158, Diimling, Albrecht xvii, 101, 136,
165 137, 138, 215
Cieutat, Henri 163 Dunsby, Jonathan 161, 166
Clayton, A. 196
Coblenz [-Auerbach, -Dehmel], Eggebrecht, Hans Heinrich 48
Ida 105-107, 109, 116, 123, 136 Eichendorff, Joseph Frh. von 141
Columbia Symphony Orchestra Eichner, Johannes 51, 54, 71, 87
xiv Eisenstein, Sergej 90, 100
Corta, Pasquale Mario 163 Eisler, Hanns 215
Craft, Robert xiv Elias, Norbert 175
Crawford, John C. 46, 55, 58, 63, Eliot, T.S. 148
100 Endell, August 42, 59
 Index 219

Endicott Barnett, Vivian 57, 58 Gogh, Vincent van 15, 51, 111
Ensor,James 86 Gombrich, Ernst Hans 49, 59, 60
Eriksen Lindsay, K.C. 49 Gorsen, Peter 80
Evers, Frans x, xvii, 51, 215 Grabbe, Christian Dietrich 147
Gradener, Hermann 103
Faistauer, Anton 63 Graf, Max 110
Falck, Robert 56 Caner, Paul 165
Fechner, Gustav 59 Green, Martin 166
Feld, Leo 160 Grimm, Jakob and Wilhelm 49
Feuerbach, Ludwig 49 Grohmann, Will 2, 3
Finke, Ulrich 166 Gurdjieff, G.I. 77
Fiore, Joachim of 44, 45 Guittart, Henk x, xii, xiii
Fischinger, Elfriede xv, xvi Gutkind, Erich 68
Fischinger, Oscar xvi, 90, 100 Giitlersloh, Albert Paris von 63
Fokin[e], Michai:l 75, 90
Foote, Arthur W. 164 Haber, Helga 59
Frankenstein, Clemens von 110 Habermas, Jiirgen 173
Freud, Sigmund 111, 183 Hahl-Koch, Jelena xvii, 32, 46,
Freudenberg, Dr. 51, 60 48, 52, 54, 57, 58, 60, 63, 87, 137,
Frijda, Nico 215 181, 212, 215
Frisch, Walter 55 Hallwachs, Karl 108, 109, 133
Fuchs, Georg 136 Hanfstaengl, Erika 57, 58
Hartleben, Otto Erich 140, 141,
Galeyev, Bulat xv, xvi, xvii, 89, 144, 149, 152-154, 158, 159, 165,
215 166
Gauguin, Paul 15, 51 Hartmann, Olga von 77, 78
Gautier, Theophile 150 Hartmann, Thomas von 55, 68,
Gaynor, Jessie L. 165 72, 74, 76, 77, 79, 87, 100
George, Stefan 39, 43, 58, 101, Haskell, Francis 49, 150, 166
102, 105-107, 109-114, 116, 118, Haydn, Joseph 14
125, 129-135, 138, 140, 183, 191, Hegel, Georg Wilhelm
215 Friedrich 49
Gerstl, Richard 86, 111, 112, 114, Heibel, Yule F. 52, 59
124-128, 130, 137 Heijden, Laurens van der xvii,
Giesler, Maria 73 199, 216
Giraud, Albert 140, 141, 144, 149, Heine, Heinrich 141, 147, 188,
152-154, 158, 165, 166 189, 197
Goehr, Alexander 58 Heller, Reinhold 52, 60
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Hellmesberger, Joseph 160
von 17, 109, 112, 114 Henckell, Karl 113, 114
Goetzl, Anselm 165 Henius, Carla 138
220 Index
Herbart, Johann Friedrich 59 Kaun, Hugo 164
Hertzka, Emil 140 Kentor-Hullot, Robert 48, 50
Heydenreich, L.H. 60 Kepler, Johannes 60
Heymann, Walter R. 159, 165 Khan-Magomedov, S.D. 93, 94
Hilmar, Ernst 58, 64 Khartman, T. 97
Hindemith, Paul 190, 216 Khartvig, I. 98
Hirsch, E.D. 49 Khirshveld-Mak, L. 98
Hirsch-Reich, Beatrice 60 Kienzl, Wilhelm 110
Hoberg, Annegret 57 Kimball, Edward, J. 59
Hochberg, J. 49 Kirchmeyer, Helmut 166
Hodler, Ferdinand 15 Klee, Paul 31, 59, 148, 207
Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Knab, Armin 133
Amadeus 158, 159 Kokoschka, Oskar 75, 86, 137
Hofmann, Werner 49,53 Koldewey, Robert 115, 116
Hofmannsthal, Hugo von 105, Kolig, Anton 63
110, 133 Kordovsky, D.N. 94
Holbrook, Joseph Charles 163 Kom, R. 213
Hollaender, Friedrich 159, 165 Komer, Theo A. 165
Holz, Amo 105 Komgold, Erich Wolfgang 163
Holzel, Adolf 59 Kowalski, Max 154, 165
Horkheimer, Max 173 Kraus, Karl 130, 137, 188, 197
Hugo, Victor 147, 149 Krebs, Harald 55
Hutchinson, William, M. 154, Krenek, Ernst 11, 12, 47, 48, 50
164 Kroeger, Ernst R. 165
Kropfinger, Klaus xvii, 9, 50, 55,
IJzerman, Job xvii, 183, 216 57, 59, 60, 216
Itten, Johannes 207 Kubin, Alfred 86
Izdebsky, Vladimir 10, 72, 87 Kiigelgen, Helga von 46
Kulbin, Nicolai 68, 73, 79, 87
Janik, Allan 196, 197
Janin, Jules 149 Lagaye, Alexandre 163
Janssen, Hans (J.B.M.) xiii, xvii, Lanciani, Pietro 163
1, 216 Lang,B. 50
Jawlensky, Alexei 9, 86 Langner, Johannes 45, 59
Jelinek, Franz 103, 104 Lankheit, Claus 46, 56, 136, 196,
Jesus Christ 130, 137 201,212
Johnston, Jessie 164 Laszlo, A. 100
Leadbeater, Charles W. 60
Kagel, Mauricio xm Lederer, J.H. 213
Kallir, Jane 125, 137 Legrande, Paul 150
Kant, Immanuel 49, 59 Lehar,Franz 147,155,160,164
 Index 221
Lehmann, A.G. 166 Maur, Karin von 57
Lenhardt, C. 50 McLaren, N. 90
Lepsius, Sabine 107 Metzger, Gustav xv, xvi
Lessing, Gotthold E. 49 Metzger, Heinz-Klaus 133, 138
Levetzow, Karl 160 Meyer, Conrad Ferd. 112
Levin, G. 50 Meyerhold, Vsevolod 139, 149
Lewin, David 156 Meyrovitz, Walter 164
Lilienchron, Detlev von 105, 110 Michelangelo (Buonarotti) 76
Lindsay, Kenneth C. 47, 56, 212 Mitchell, Anne 47
Lipchitz, Jacques 148 Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo xv
Lipps, Theodor 42, 59, 77 Moliere, Jean Baptiste 148, 149
Lissitzky, El 208 Mombert, Alfred 105
Liszt, Franz 76, 110, 183, 191, Monakhova, V.V. 94
196 Mondria[a]n, Piet 1, 54, 59
Livingstone, Helen 164 Monet, Claude 15
Locher, Hans xii, xiii Morgan, David 49, 56, 59
Lockname, Clement 164 Moritz, William xv, xvi, 59
Long, Rose-Carol 3, 5, 7, 49, 59 Morwitz, Ernst 123
Loos, Adolf 185-188, 196 Move, The [pop group] xvi
Lorenz, M. 50 Mozart, Wolfgang A. 14, 17, 174,
Lothar,Mark 165 175, 190
Muir, J. 164
MacDermott, Robert 164 Munch, Edward 176
Mackay, John Henry 132 Miinter, Gabriele 3, 16, 37, 46,
Macke, August 10, 19, 46 51, 54, 65, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 87,
Macke, Wolfgang 46 212
Maeterlinck, Maurice 77 Musil, Robert 149
Mahler, Alma 55, 131 Mussorgsky, Modest 98, 100
Mahler, Gustav 80, 111, 130, 134 Muthesius, Hermann 114
Mallarme, Stephane 118
Manet, Edouard 15 Nachod, Hans 135
Mann, Thomas 203, 212 Nagler, Norbert 138
Marc, Franz 9, 10, 19, 21, 22, 46, Nerval, Gerard de 150
56, 63, 95, 136, 183, 196 Neumann, Peter-Horst 136
Mariette, G.B. Paul 163 Neumann, J.B. 57
Marteau, Henri 104 Newton-de Molina, David 49
Martens, F.H. 165 Nierendorf, Karl 208, 213
Marx, Joseph 165 Nietzsche, Friedrich 49
Marx, Karl 178 Nodier, Charles 150
Matile, Heinz 52 Noetzel, Hermann 163
Matisse, Henri 15, 50 Nono, Luigi 216
222 Index
Nono-Schonberg, Nuria 46, 53, Reger, Max 15,163
58, 63 Reich, Willy 56, 137
Rembrandt, Harmensz van
Oberhuber, Oswald 85 Rijn 52
Ockeghem, Johannes 169, 174 Renieu, Lionel 163
Olbrich, Josef-Maria 114 Reubner de Corval, Dagmar 165
Olsen, S.H. 49 Reuter, Brigitte 57
Osborne, Nigel vii Reuter, Ewald 57
Ricordi, Giulio 164
Palicot, Georges 163 Rider, Jacques le 137
Panofsky, Erwin 13, 45, 49, 60 Riedl, Peter Anselm 49, 51
Pass, Walter 137 Riegl, Alois 49
Pasternak, Boris 92 Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicolai 92
Pecaud, D. 100 Ringbom, Sixten 3, 5, 6, 49, 59,
Perkins, G. 212 60, 77
Pertseva, T.M. 94 Rodchenko, Alexandr 208
Pese, Claus 56 Roessler, Arthur 59
Petrarca, Francesco 110, 136 Roethel, Hans K. 54, 57
Petri, Egon 144, 157 Rogge, Wolfgang 47
Pfrogner, Hermann 213 Ronacher 160
Piaf, Edith 169 Rose, N.C. 164
Picasso, Pablo 15, 50 Rose, Alexander 103
Pike, K.L. 52 Rose, Arnold 103, 104, 130
Pirotta, Nino 153, 166 Rosenkranz, Karl 149
Pohl, Ferdinand 165 Rostand, Alexis 163
Poling, Clare V. 52 Roters, E. 100
Pousseur, Henri 175 Rotonchamp, Jean de 51
Pousseur, Marianne xiii Rovel, Henri 51
Prohaska, Carl 165 Rudenstine, Angelica 7, 19, 59,
Przybyszewski, Stanislaus 105 60
Puccini, Giacomo 147, 155 Ruiter, Frans de x
Puffet, D. 196 Runge, Ph. Otto 17, 52
Pushkin, Alexander 92 Russell, John 137
Ruzitska, Anton 103, 104
Raaijmakers, Dick x, xii, xiii
Rathaus, Karol 163 Sabaneev, Leonid 51,95,99
Rauchhaupt, Ursula 60 Sadler, Michael 49
Ravel, Maurice 100, 195 Sakharov, Alexander 75, 76
Read, Gardner 165 Salisbury, B. 164
Reeve, Norman 164 Sarabjanov, D.V. 94
Reeves, Majorie 60 Schat, Peter 173
 Index 223

Scheerbart, Paul 105 Stang, Gerald 55

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm J. Stanislavsky, Konstantin 77, 91,
von 202 92
Schenker, Heinrich 190 Stefan, Paul 136
Scherchen, Hermann 50 Stein, Erwin 146
Scheuer, Anton x Stein, Leonard 55, 58, 166, 196
Schiele, Egan 63 Steiner, Rudolf 45, 59, 73, 78, 138
Schlegel, Friedrich 57 Stephan Rudolf 58, 156
Schlemmer, Oskar 98 Stevens, Wallace 148/9
Schmalenbach, Fritz 56 Stiedry, Fritz 147, 148
Schmidt, Christian M. 156, 166 Stieglitz, Alfred 50
Schmidt, Franz 103, 104 Stirner, Max 132, 138
Schnittke, Alfred 97 Stockhausen, Karlheinz 169
Schonberg, Mathilde 111, 116, Stokowsky, Leopold 86
124, 130, 137 Storey, Robert E. 151, 166
Schopenhauer, Arthur 49, 183, Strakosch, Alexander 73, 87
189,203 Straus, Oscar 160
Schorske, Carl 137 Strauss, Johann 161, 162
Schreker, Franz 133, 160, 163 Strauss, Richard 113, 126, 138,
Schubert, Franz 141, 183 156
Schultze-Naumburg, Paul 114 Stravinsky, Igor 156, 172
Schumann, Robert 139, 141, 142, Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz 46,
143, 147, 151 100, 137, 175
Schuster, W. 58 Stuppner, Hubert 137
Schweppenhauser, Hermann 59 Swan, John 166
Scott, Cyrill 164
Segantini, Giovanni 15 Taneyev, Sergej 77
Semiramis [Assyrian queen] 105, Tatlin, Vladimir 208
114, 125 Teasdale, Sarah 153, 164, 165
Shakespeare, William 146 Theremin, Lev xv
Shenshin, Alexander 76 Thiel, Friedrich 136
Sidenius, Christian xv Thiirlemann, Felix 49, 50, 55, 57,
Signac, Paul 15, 79 58
Sinn, Anneliese 49 Tiedemann, Rolf 48, 59
Skriabin, Alexander xvi, 74, 90, Tosti, Sir Francesco Paolo 165
93, 95, 96, 99, 177, 215 Toulmin, Stephen 196, 197
Smallwood, W. 164
Smirnov, Mr. 76 Ullmann, Ludwig 62
Sorell, []. 86
Specht, Richard 160 Vanechkina, Irina L. xvii, 95, 216
Stalin, Josef xv Vecchi, Orazio 153
224 Index
Velde, Henry van de 42, 59, 187 Wesendonck, Mathilde 141
Vercken de Vreuschmen, Whitney [brothers] 90
Leon 163 Who, The [pop group] xvi
Vergo, Peter 47, 212 Wilfred, Thomas xv, 100
Verlaine, Paul 118, 148, 151, Willette, Adolphe 150/1
164 Winkler, Walter 51
Vidal, Paul Antonin 163 Winternitz, Arnold 135
Vikturina, M.P. 94 Winternitz-Dorda, Martha 135
Vinci, Leonardo da 95 Wirth, K.-A. 60
Vischer, Theodor 41, 59 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 196, 197
Vise, Stefan Solom 54 Wolf, Hugo 104
Voitech, Ivan 137, 213 Wolfskehl, Karl 110, 136
Vrieslander, Otto 154, 165 Wolzogen, Ernst von 132, 138,
167
Wagner, Nike 137 Worner, Karl H. 58, 100
Wagner, Richard xi, 14, 15, 52, Worringer, Wilhelm 213
59, 74, 101, 108, 136, 141, 157,
172, 174, 177, 177, 184, 196, 207, Yavorsky, Boleslav 77
216 Youens, Susan 166, 167
Wagner-Stiedry, Erika 146, 147
Walther, H. 164 Zakharin-Unkovski [-kaya],
Wangenheim, G. von 159 V.A. 51, 73
Washton, C. 3, 5, 7, 49, 59 Zander Rudenstine, Angelica 54
Watteau, Antoine 139, 148, 149 Zaunschirm, Thomas 55, 63, 86,
Weber, Carl M. von 14 87, 137, 138
Webern, Anton 26, 53, 56, 60, 97, Zehme, Albertine 143
135, 137, 155 Zelinsky, Hartmut 137, 138
Wechsler, Judith 166 Zeiter, Karl Friedrich 109
Weiland, Frits 100 Zemlinsky, Alexander von 110,
Weininger, Otto 111, 130, 137 111, 112, 114, 130, 137, 146, 151,
Weinrich, Rudolf 135 162
Weiss, Peg 3, 59, 60, 136 Zemlinsky, Klara von 63
Wellesz, Egon 111, 133 Zervos, Christian 51, 57
Wendland, Waldemar 160 Zimmermann, Robert 59
Werefkin, Marianne 9, 215 Zuloaga, Ignacio 111
Werkner, Patrick 125, 137 Zweite, Armin 49, 57, 59
Werndorf, Etta 135