Contredances Stepping Stones |
Anton Webern, one of
the great innovative
voices for 20th-century
music, was born in
Vienna, Austria on
December 3, 1883. He
was a student of Arnold
Schoenberg at the
University in Vienna,
and received his
doctorate in research
in 1906. All of
Webern's works show the
influence of Schoenberg;
both he and Alban Berg
worked with Schoenberg
at a crucial time in the
master's creative life
-- an experience that
would permanently color
the works of both young
composers. After
graduation, Webern
conducted in various
provincial theatres in
Germany and in Prague,
and supervised
performances of
Schoenberg's Society for
Private Performances in
Vienna in November of
1918. He then became
principal conductor of
the Vienna Workers'
Symphony Concerts and
took the opportunity to
conduct first
performances of several
of Schoenberg and his
followers' compositions.
He formed the
Kunststelle, a very able
amateur choir, which
took part in many of his
orchestral concerts, and
during this time, showed
himself to be a fine
interpreter of the
classic repertory.
Overall, however, Webern
was not a prominent
figure in Viennese
performing circles, for
he preferred to lead a
quiet life, and, after
the First World War
ended in 1918, he
settled at Modling and
began to devote his time
to composition and
teaching.
With the onset of the
Second World War,
Webern's life became
complicated when his
works were banned as
"cultural Bolshevism" in
Germany and all
German-occupied
countries. He was not
allowed to teach or to
lecture and was forced
to rely on income from
proof-reading for a
Viennese publishing
concern. He moved with
his family to the
Salzburg countryside in
1945, and it was there,
on September 15, 1945,
that he was accidentally
shot by a member of the
occupying
troops.
Because of the quiet
lifestyle that Webern
led, his life was
relatively free from
incident before that
final tragedy. That
lifestyle is reflected
in his creative output,
which is, above all,
stylistically
consistent, and,
categorically, can be
called "extreme
modernist" from beginning
to end. In some
instances, performances
of his works brought
about severe audience
reaction and, on several
occasions, provoked
fights among members of
the public. All of his
compositions demonstrate
what may be considered
his most obvious
characteristics: angular,
leaping melody, beautiful
soaring effects, a
contrapuntal texture
broken up into thematic
bits and pieces which, as
a whole, suggests the
influence of Debussy. He
was perhaps the purest
exponent of the
twelve-tone technique and
used it within a very
strong "classical" style.
Webern was a great
teacher and demanded
perfection from his
pupils, and his charming,
yet simple and direct
personality was one of
the characteristics that
enabled him to be in
great demand as a
lecturer. Among his works
are compositions for
chorus and orchestra, for
orchestra, chamber and
voice, chamber groups,
violin and piano, cello
and piano, piano solo,
and for
voice. |
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