The Musical Idea And the Logic, Technique,

The Musical Ideais one of the most important documents in 20th-century musical thought. The Gedanke manuscripts, from whichThe Musical Ideais compiled, are legendary writings of Arnold Schoenberg. Central to his concern was his concept of the "musical idea," which represents the wholeness of the musical work and embraces Schoenberg's notions of motive, gestalt, phrase, theme, rhythm, harmony, and form. Ultimately, the musical idea is the vision of the composer by which a musical work achieves unity in relation to the means by which the work is comprehended in its unity by the listener.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874--1951) is one of the most prominent figures in 20th-century music and musical thought, perhaps best known for his development of Twelve Tone theory.

Patricia Carpenter (1923--2000) was Professor Emerita, Barnard College, and former Vice President of the Society for Music Theory.

Severine Neff is currently Eugene Falk Distinguished Professor in the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Foreword (2006)

xi

Walter Frisch

List of Abbreviations of Cited Sources

xv

Editors' Preface

xix

Acknowledgments

xxvii

Commentary

1

(86)

Schoenberg's View of Art

3

(5)

Schoenberg's Preface

8

(7)

The Musical Idea

15

(6)

Comprehensibility and Coherence

21

(23)

Theory of Form

44

(16)

The Constructive Function of Harmony

60

(13)

Conclusion

73

(14)

The Musical Idea and the Logic, Technique, and Art of Its Presentation

87

(198)

Preface and Overview

89

(37)

Preface

89

(3)

Title Page

92

(1)

Principles of the Presentation of the Idea

93

(2)

Plan of the Book

95

(1)

The Profundity of the Idea and Its Realization as a Standard

96

(1)

The Musical Idea and the Logic, Technique, and Art of Its Presentation

96

(1)

Idea (1 and 2)

96

(4)

The Idea in the Contrapuntal Art of Composition and Its Presentation

100

(2)

Principles of Construction

102

(8)

Comprehensibility

110

(1)

Laws of Comprehensibility

111

(6)

Coherence

117

(1)

The Laws of Musical Coherence

118

(8)

Elements of Form

126

(20)

The Parts of a Piece

126

(1)

Part

127

(1)

Elements of Form

127

(1)

Phrase

128

(1)

Gestalt

129

(1)

Grundgestalt and Motive

129

(1)

The Difference Between Gestalt and Phrase

130

(1)

Features of the Motive

130

(1)

Statement

131

(2)

Stable Formation

133

(1)

Loose Formation

134

(1)

Theme

135

(1)

Melody

135

(10)

Sonority as a Formative Element

145

(1)

Rhythm

146

(13)

Rhythm

146

(2)

Classification of Rhythms

148

(5)

Accentuation and Nonaccentuation

153

(6)

Formal Procedures

159

(36)

[Formal Procedures]

159

(1)

Articulation

160

(1)

Change, Variation, Variant, Varying

161

(2)

Kinds of Variation

163

(4)

Coherence of ``New Components''

167

(5)

Mirror Forms

172

(1)

Close

172

(1)

Cadencing

172

(1)

Cadential Fall

173

(1)

Kinds of Connection

173

(1)

Technique of Joining

174

(1)

Condensation

174

(1)

Dissolution, Liquidation

175

(3)

Tendency of the Smallest Notes

178

(1)

The Structural Capacities of the Scale

179

(1)

Wave-shaped Progression

180

(1)

Contrasts (Contrasting Themes)

181

(1)

Digression from the Main Idea

182

(1)

Principal Idea, Subsidiary Idea

182

(1)

Subordinate Theme

182

(1)

Secondary, Tertiary, etc. Gestalten and Motives

182

(1)

The Shaping of Principal and Subordinate (Accompanying) Voices

183

(1)

Development Section

184

(1)

Sequences

185

(1)

Intensification

186

(1)

Does Repetition Have an Intensifying Effect?

186

(1)

Voice (Independent)

186

(1)

Introduction (1 and 2)

186

(7)

Preparation

193

(1)

Extramusical Means of Coherence

193

(1)

Fantasy

193

(1)

Description of All Forms

194

(1)

Miscellaneous

195

(12)

Performance and Gestalt

195

(3)

The Sense of Rit. and Accel.

198

(1)

Relaxation

198

(1)

Symmetry

198

(1)

Origin of Repetitions

199

(1)

Primitive Principles

199

(1)

Popular Music and Melody

200

(7)

Harmony

207

(20)

The Constructive Function of Harmony

207

(20)

Addendum

227

(6)

Keywords Still to Be Indexed

229

(2)

Keywords

231

(2)

Concordance of Terms

233

(52)

Appendix 1 Descriptions of the Gedanke Manuscripts

285

(6)

Appendix 2 Contents of Manuscript No. 10, Listed in Their Original Order

291

(4)

Appendix 3 German Texts of Unpublished Gedanke Manuscripts Referred to in the Commentary

295

(14)

Notes

309

(24)

Bibliography

333

(4)

Index of Musical Examples

337

(2)

Name Index

339

(2)

Subject Index

341

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The Musical Idea And the Logic, Technique, And Art of Its Presentation

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Table of Contents

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