Tension and relaxation (do not) exist in dodecaphonic music of Webern

Abstract

Observing tension in music is generally a very sensitive research field. Authors like Wallace Berry and Joseph Swain believe that this is a principle which is the most fundamental aspect of music experience through its history, no matter which music language or compositional system it is. Starting from such general assumptions that it is possible to determine the parameters which affect the feeling of tension and relaxation in dodecaphonic music as well, the possibility of recording the closures that are the basis for the structural delineation of the sections and the determination of phrases and sentences in the musical flow is imposed. The system surely exists, the only question is whether we are able to perceive it in a new, dodecaphonic music flow? Is it possible in a dodecaphonically organized work to find dissonant and consonant harmonies, and thus demonstrate the elements of tension and resolution, or do some other musical components have the primacy in organizing and establishing hierarchical levels in the definition of closures in dodecaphonic music? Relying on the writings of authors who have dealt with this or similar theme (Babbitt 1949, Forte 1973, Lerdahl 1989, Boss 1994, Rothgeb 1997, Farbood 2006, Granot and Eithan 2011, Zatkalik 2016), this work will illustrate the systematization and ranking of closures at the hierarchical level at which they operate in the examples of Webern’s dodecaphonic music (op. 20, op. 21, op. 22, op. 24, op. 27, op. 28 i op. 30). Also, this work deals at a certain extent with the terminology of the cadence-closure. The parameters that are most important for the construction of the closures in Webern’s dodecaphony works are determined, and terminology is proposed: perfect closure – closure – semiclosure. The application of these ideas was demonstrated in the third movement of Webern’s String Quartet op. 28.

Keywords

• dodecaphony
• closure
• Webern
• String quartet op. 28