Copyright

by

Rachel Elice Mitchell

2009

The Dissertation Committee for Rachel Elice Mitchell certifies thatthis is the approved version of the following dissertation:

An Examination of the Integration of Serial Procedures and

Folkloric Elements in the Music of Roberto Gerhard

(1896–1970)

Committee:

____________________________Edward Pearsall, Supervisor

____________________________Guy Capuzzo

____________________________Virginia Higginbotham

____________________________David Neumeyer

____________________________Marianne Wheeldon

An Examination of the Integration of Serial Procedures and

Folkloric Elements in the Music of Roberto Gerhard

(1896–1970)

by

Rachel Elice Mitchell, B.M.; M.M.

Dissertation

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of

The University of Texas at Austin

in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements

for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

The University of Texas at Austin

May 2009

To Jason

v

Acknowledgements

This dissertation, which serves as the culminating work for my doctoral

degree, would not be possible without the support of everyone around me. I

would like to begin by thanking my husband, Jason, who has stood by me

throughout this entire academic endeavor, in spite of all the difficulties that come

with pursuing a graduate degree. I appreciate his outstanding research skills and

am forever grateful for his unselfish desire to see me succeed. It was actually

through Jason that I discovered the works of Roberto Gerhard for the first time. I

was introduced to Dr. James Bogle, guitar professor emeritus at Texas Tech

University, who had once performed a work by this composer and expressed to

me his enthusiasm for Gerhard’s compositions.

I am also grateful to the members of my dissertation committee. Their

thoughtful critique and attention to detail has enabled me to compose a more

effective document than I had originally proposed. I would also like to thank all

of the people who have listened to parts of this research at music conferences

throughout the US and even in the UK. Based on their comments and feedback, I

have re-evaluated many aspects of my theories and analyses.

I also enjoyed living in Austin for much of this degree as it enabled me to

visit my family with more frequency. Aside from the dive-bombing crop dusters,

the mornings at home were a peaceful retreat from the bustling sounds of the

city. I thank my parents for instilling in me the importance of education and for

offering their love and support when I needed it most. I also thank my

vi

grandmother for giving me my great aunt’s doctoral dissertation, which served as

a concrete reminder that I too could complete this project.

During the middle of the writing process, I made a new home in

Champaign, Illinois. I would like to thank the composition faculty as well as

many of the department’s graduate students at the University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign for being supportive of my endeavors by providing me the

opportunity to teach at the university and for allowing me to share my research

and ideas.

And finally, I could not have made it through this process without the

friendships made with my fellow colleagues in the music-theory hallway at the

University of Texas. I especially enjoyed the daily conversations with my office

partners about nearly everything under the sun. Along with this list of friends, I

thank Michelle for her friendship and for inviting Jason and me into her family,

and Desiree for giving me a home and friendship during the first year of my

degree.

vii

An Examination of the Integration of Serial Procedures and

Folkloric Elements in the Music of Roberto Gerhard

(1896–1970)

Publication No.: __________

Rachel Elice Mitchell, Ph. D.

The University of Texas at Austin, 2009

Supervisor: Edward Pearsall

Roberto Gerhard was a twentieth-century Spanish composer known for his

unique treatment of the twelve-tone system. A student of the Spanish nationalist

composer, Felipe Pedrell in Barcelona and also a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg in

both Vienna and in Berlin, Gerhard’s musical trajectory led to a synthesis of these

disparate compositional traditions.

In this dissertation I will explore the development of Gerhard’s

compositional procedures. Here, his first string quartet, composed between 1950

and 1955, becomes a useful tool to illustrate how he made the transition from one

musical style to another. Gerhard’s first string quartet, composed between 1950

and 1955 exhibits various experimental formal procedures but is governed by a

single twelve-tone row. The work is composed in the twelve-tone idiom, but

viii

nationalist elements decorate the musical surface. The first movement follows

the classical model of sonata-allegro form, while mathematical proportions

govern durations and formal elements in later movements.

I will first investigate Gerhard’s musical language and pitch material and

then consider the challenges raised by implementing sonata form outside of a

tonal idiom. I will then examine his unique mathematical approach to formal

design in the third movement. In addition to the string quartet, I will explore

Gerhard’s treatment of form in such works as his Wind Quintet (1928) and

Metamorphoses – Symphony no. 2 (1957-59).

ix

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................v

Abstract ........................................................................................................... vii

Table of Contents............................................................................................. ix

List of Musical Examples ............................................................................... xii

List of Figures .................................................................................................xvi

Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................1

Chapter 2: Student Years ................................................................................10

Gerhard’s early years and studies with Pedrell ....................................10

Musical studies with Schoenberg ..........................................................16

Synthesis and Reconciliation.................................................................19

Chapter 3: Return to Spain............................................................................20

The Wind Quintet .................................................................................. 23

Reconciling national identity with the twelve-tone method .............. 38

Conclusion.............................................................................................. 50

Chapter 4: Years in Exile, Part I.................................................................... 52

Hexachordal harmony........................................................................... 56

Tonal form in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1...................................... 72

Tonal organization in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1, movement I .. 83

Folkloric rhythms as structural markers in String Quartet no. 1....... 99

Conclusion..............................................................................................111

x

Chapter 5: Years in Exile, Part II ................................................................. 112

Evaluating the twelve-tone method with respect to the temporaldimension ..................................................................................... 113

Derivation of a temporal series from a twelve-tone row ................... 116

Temporal procedures in Metamorphoses ..........................................126

Gerhard’s rendering of the complete serial field in movement III ofString Quartet no. 1......................................................................134

Regarding pitch in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1, movement III .......................................................................................................136

On serializing temporal durations in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1,movement III................................................................................139

Conclusion.............................................................................................149

Chapter 6: Intellectual and Intuitive Dichotomy in Gerhard’s Atonal Tonality............................................................................................................... 150

Appendix A: Categorical and Chronological List of Roberto Gerhard’sCompositions ........................................................................................175

Vocal ......................................................................................................175

Chamber and solo instrumental .......................................................... 177

Orchestral..............................................................................................179

Stage...................................................................................................... 180

Incidental music ...................................................................................181

Theater ..........................................................................................181

Film music ....................................................................................181

Music for radio ............................................................................ 182

Music for television..................................................................... 183

Music for tape ...................................................................................... 183

xi

Arrangements ...................................................................................... 184

Works composed under the pseudonym Juan Serrallonga...............185

Appendix B: Chronological List of Roberto Gerhard’s Writings and Lectures............................................................................................................... 186

Books and articles................................................................................ 186

Translations ..........................................................................................194

Bibliography...................................................................................................196

Vita…. ............................................................................................................. 211

xii

List of Musical Examples

Example 3.1: Opening seven-note row – Wind Quintet, movement I, mm. 1-3................................................................................................................. 24

Example 3.2: Introduction of Theme II – Wind Quintet, movement I, mm. 24-26 ............................................................................................................ 26

Example 3.3: Elision of P11, I6 and R7 row forms in Theme movement II –Wind Quintet, I, mm. 24-26 ................................................................ 27

Example 3.4: Return of Theme movement II at the recapitulation – WindQuintet, I, mm. 103-105 ....................................................................... 29

Example 3.5: Bass ostinato and use of imitative texture –Wind Quintet,movement II, mm. 1-7 ...........................................................................31

Example 3.6: Introduction of SC 7-13 and SC 7-11 in the first movement –Wind Quintet, movement I, mm. 1-6 .................................................. 32

Example 3.7: Appearance of SC 7-13 and SC 7-11 in the finale – Wind Quintet,movement IV, mm. 109-22 .................................................................. 33

Example 3.8: Folkloric melody and rocking accompaniment – Wind Quintet,movement II, mm. 24-27 ..................................................................... 36

Example 3.9: Folk melody accompanied by a rocking ostinato – WindQuintet, movement III, mm. 28-32 ..................................................... 37

Example 3.10: Doubled folk melody accompanied by a rocking ostinato –Wind Quintet, movement III, mm. 33-38 .......................................... 38

Example 4.1: Opening hexachordal division of the row – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 1-11 ........................................57

Example 4.2 (a): Exploitation of whole-tone and chromatic segments –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 28-30 ....60

Example 4.2 (b): Exploitation of whole-tone and chromatic segments –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 78-82 .....61

xiii

Example 4.3: Motion from one row transformation to another via closelyrelated hexachords – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movementI, mm. 125-34 ........................................................................................ 66

Example 4.4: Permutation of the tone row – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartetno. 1, movement I, mm. 9-19 ............................................................... 67

Example 4.5: Primary theme and first melodic appearance of the tone row –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 9-24 ....... 85

Example 4.6: Entrance of the subordinate theme in the exposition – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 41-49 .................... 86

Example 4.7: Pairing P7 of the subordinate theme with P3, P6, and P9 –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 90-96 .....88

Example 4.8: Smooth progression through complementary and closely relatedhexachords – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm.161-67 ..................................................................................................... 92

Example 4.9 (a): Entrance of the primary theme in the exposition – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 8-12 ...................... 93

Example 4.9 (b): Entrance of the primary theme in the recapitulation –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 160-64 ... 94

Example 4.10: Imitative return of primary theme in the recapitulation –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 161-67 .... 98

Example 4.11 (a): Fragmentation of subordinate theme – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 198-206 ............................. 100

Example 4.11 (b): Subordinate theme in the exposition – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 41-44 ...................................101

Example 4.12 (a): Primary theme in the exposition – Roberto Gerhard, StringQuartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 9-19 ................................................ 102

Example 4.12 (b): Fragmentation of the primary theme – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 244-51................................. 103

Example 4.13: Spanish rhythms following the primary theme – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 39-40.................. 105

xiv

Example 4.14: Spanish rhythms following the subordinate theme – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 57-58 .................. 106

Example 4.15: Driving chromatic melody over whole-tone rhythms – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 59-63 ...................107

Example 4.16: Spanish rhythms mark the transition to development section –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, mm. 64-77 .......................... 108

Example 4.17 (a): Closing rhythms – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement I, mm. 229-31.................................................................... 109

Example 4.17 (b): Closing rhythms – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement I, mm. 238-43 ....................................................................110

Example 4.17 (c): Closing rhythms – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement I, mm. 255-57 & mm. 263-68 ...........................................110

Example 5.1: Roberto Gerhard’s example of how to derive a time series froman all-interval twelve-tone row........................................................... 120

Example 5.2: Roberto Gerhard’s example of how to derive a distinctive timeseries from a tone row without using the same series of numbers... 121

Example 5.3: Roberto Gerhard’s division of the pitch series and derived timeseries into time sets ..............................................................................124

Example 5.4: Roberto Gerhard’s example of two hexachordal aggregates,annotated to show the temporal proportion 33:45 or 11:15, that will beused to generate a temporal proportion .............................................126

Example 5.5: Introduction of the tone row and temporal companion series –Metamorphoses (Symphony no. 2), mm. 1-20................................. 128

Example 5.6: The first hexachord of Metamorphoses interpreted as a time setor time aggregate ..................................................................................129

Example 5.7: Pairing of inversionally related R9 and I8 – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement III, mm. 1-8.....................................137

Example 5.8 (a): First appearance of the row in its original order in RobertoGerhard’s String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 8-11.................... 140

Example 5.8 (b): Reproduction of musical examples in Roberto Gerhard’s“Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique” (1956) ......................... 140

xv

Example 5.9: Serialized number of beats – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartetno. 1, movement III, mm. 1-11 .............................................................143

Example 5.10: Metric proportions – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement III .................................................................................. 145-47

xvi

List of Figures

Figure 3.1: Formal division of the first movement of Gerhard’s Wind Quintet................................................................................................................. 25

Figure 3.2: Invariant pcs in SC 7-13 and SC 7-11 in Gerhard’s Wind Quintet................................................................................................................. 34

Figure 3.3: Gerhard’s pitch organization in the Wind Quintet .................. 35

Figure 4.1: Hexachordal structure of set class 6-22 (012468) ................... 59

Figure 4.2 (a): Hexachordal relations in Roberto Gerhard’s String Quartet no.1 – Hexachordal pc-invariance among I5, P6, and RI5 ..................... 62

Figure 4.2 (b): Hexachordal relations in Roberto Gerhard’s String Quartetno. 1 – All transpositions of SC 6-22 that produce parallel pc-invariance ................................................................................................................. 63

Figure 4.3: Formal balance in Schoenberg’s String Quartet no. 3 –Reproduction of Figure 5-2 from Joseph Straus, Remaking the Past(Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1990), 122. .................................................................................................................80

Figure 4.4 (a): All of the possible closely related hexachords for the tone rowof Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1 .........................................................90

Figure 4.4 (b): Closely related hexachords and their dissimilar pcs .........90

Figure 4.5: Formal balance and use of closely related hexachords in Gerhard’sString Quartet no. 1, movement I ........................................................ 96

Figure 4.6: Condensed sonata form road map – Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement I ......................................................................................... 104

Figure 5.1: Theoretical problems with total pitch serialization ................ 119

Figure 5.2: Pitch-class 4 is subtracted from the pitch series to produce thetime series .............................................................................................122

xvii

Figure 5.3: Formal structure of Roberto Gerhard’s Metamorphoses(Symphony no. 2) – Note how the duration values of the large sectionsare derived from the 11:15 ruling proportion .....................................132

Figure 5.4: Serial structure based on inversionally combinatorial relationships– Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement III.................. 138

Figure 5.5: Explanation of proportions based on ordering and employment ofthe horizon tone derived from row form P6....................................... 141

Figure 5.6: Metric proportions – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement III ........................................................................................144

Figure 5.7: Isorhythmic coordination of pitch and time elements – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement III.................................... 148

Chapter 1: Introduction

The fact is, in my opinion, that I have been anti-orthodox from thebeginning. Consult my article, “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music” inthe magazine The Score of May 1952. Serialism was likely toproduce an academicism of the most sterile kind; I already felt it inmy bones fourteen years ago, and I was right. For the first time (asfar as I know), in the article referred to, a minimum of “chance” wasrequired as a vital necessity: it is the basic concept from which“indeterminacy” and the idea of aleatory music have emerged. Butif Cage, Boulez or Stockhausen were to read me, they would notunderstand. They repeated the same error, almost exactly, as theyhad fallen into when applying Schoenberg’s twelve-tone serial idea(an exclusively tonal idea) to rhythm, that is, to the temporaldomain; they applied it literally, not translated, transported,imaginatively adapted to the temporal dimension. This is at theroot of the infantile nature of the first book of [Boulez’s]Structures’, as an experiment as music tout court it is much better,but we know that, with imagination, an artist can create goodworks, even if he believes in absurd theories. We will talk about it...

— Roberto Gerhard, 19661

Roberto Gerhard played an important role in the history of twentieth-

century music. As a cosmopolitan and well-read intellectual, he was influenced

by his diverse cultural and political background and musical education. A person

of Swiss-German ancestry, Gerhard considered himself a Spaniard of Catalan

culture. At the same time, he was exceedingly interested in the changes taking

place in the arts in Europe during the early 1920s. Gerhard is often described as

a nationalist composer, yet he wrote a significant number of works in the twelve-

1 Letter from Roberto Gerhard to his student and friend, Joaquim Homs, 27 July 1966.

Quoted in Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen(Sheffield, UK: Hallamshire Press, Anglo-Catalan Society, 2000), 74-75. 1

2

tone idiom. Because of his involvement in both of these camps, an investigation

of his life and works may lead to a deeper understanding of these distinct musical

styles.

Dramatic changes in the arts and sciences occurred during Gerhard’s

lifetime, both in his native country and abroad, of which he was distinctly aware.

Artists such as Gaudi and Miró were changing the artistic landscape of Spain.

Further artistic changes were reflected in the works of Picasso, Klee, Kandinsky,

Cézanne, and countless others. In France, Satie, Les Six, and nationalist

composers in every country across the European continent brought fresh new

sounds to the musical forefront. Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg proclaimed the

emancipation of the dissonance, while composers such as Debussy and

Stravinsky wrote new music that incorporated more familiar scales and

harmonies. Impressionism, expressionism, modernism, cubism, and abstraction

were just a few of the new artistic movements of the era and Gerhard remained a

staunch supporter of all such trends. In a 1960 lecture given at the University of

Michigan titled “Is Modern Music Growing Old?,” he stated:

It would seem a poor show if an epoch does not manage to developits ‘contemporary’ ideas fully in all directions, to the utmost limitsof contradiction…If truly contradictory terms are not achieved; thecase betokens a half-hearted spirit of adventure in an epoch.2

Throughout his lifetime, Roberto Gerhard continued to incorporate elements

from his own cultural milieu. At the same time, he was intimately associated with

the musical developments of the Second Viennese School, and he later defended

his mentor and teacher, Arnold Schoenberg. Yet, as Julian White points out,

2 Roberto Gerhard, “Is Modern Music Growing Old? (1960),” in Gerhard on Music:Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 206.

3

“Gerhard was a self-confessed heretic in Schoenbergian circles, predisposed

against conforming to any established orthodoxy by a catholic Catalan

temperament.”3 Nevertheless, Gerhard studied the compositions of his

colleagues, writing numerous articles about their works and inviting Schoenberg,

Webern, Bartók, and others to perform in his native Spain. He criticized the

works of the “calculating Darmstadt boys”4 and composed many counterclaims to

the flaws he found in their compositions and theoretical systems. Gerhard also

wrote counter-arguments in response to the opinions of such authors as Lluís

Millet, George Perle, and Milton Babbitt.

Gerhard’s expansive knowledge and infatuation with the developments of

the modern musical scene and art in general motivated him to engage fully in the

intellectual debates about music that emerged in the early to mid twentieth

century. This is a sentiment echoed by his student, Joaquim Homs:

Gerhard was someone with a broad culture, particularly interestedin arts, philosophy, and sciences. He knew how to get to the heartof any issue using his very personal mixture of profound knowledgeand brilliant improvisation…He possessed to a high degree thepower to analyze and illuminate problems in a fundamental way,suggesting to whoever was listening that he was uncoveringmarvelous truths of great consequence.5

3 Julian White, “National Traditions in the Music of Roberto Gerhard,” Tempo 184

(March 1993): 4.

4 This is a typical Gerhard expression and he used it in his writings in a derogatory senseon numerous occasions, though he did not limit himself to only one description of thesecomposers. In a letter addressed to Joaquim Homs, Gerhard stated,” Notice I say Darmstadt as ifI were talking of Cromagnon or Neanderthal Man.” Quoted in Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhardand his Music, 59.

5 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, 33.

4

Gerhard was well known by his peers, yet mention of his own accomplishments,

however revealing, has typically been relegated to endnotes in long-standing

research. One should realize “that in his chosen field he was someone of

enduring international stature and quality,” and this dissertation celebrates just

that. 6

Over the course of his career, Gerhard engaged many of the most

important developments in western twentieth-century music. As Arnold Whittall

notes:

Gerhard’s music progressed from the impressionistic nationalism …through preliminary essays in serialism…to more radical twelve-note works of the 1950s, until the final period in which serialism,while pervasive, is used with sovereign flexibility to encompass astyle of the widest resonance.7

Gerhard’s early works show his wide range of musical style and also show a

composer searching for a unique personal style. As he approached the 1950s,

Gerhard began thinking more academically about his works, constructing pre-

compositional plans and elaborate theoretical paradigms. The last two decades

of his life witness some of his most adventurous music coming out this creative

process.

Only in recent years have researchers begun examining Gerhard’s

compositional and literary oeuvre. In addition to his serial works, Gerhard

produced non-serial, incidental music. As demonstrated by the listing of his

works in Appendix A, he composed the music for two full-evening operas, as well

6 Meirion Bowen, trans. and ed., introduction to Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings(Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 6.

7 Arnold Whittall, Music Since the First World War (London: J. M. Dent and Co., 1977),184.

5

as incidental music for more than two feature films, six documentary films, one

cartoon, ten theater productions, twenty-two radio programs, and three

television shows. These commissions and collaborations allowed Gerhard and

his wife to live in relative comfort in Cambridge, England without the security of

a teaching position.

In addition to composing for traditional instruments and ensembles,

Gerhard also experimented with the electronic medium. He saw this as a means

for projecting a new voice that could be incorporated into traditional musical

ensembles. Gerhard also integrated new pitch and timbral concepts inspired by

the electronic medium into his music. During the last years of his life, Gerhard

wrote the incidental music for several documentaries including his Audiomobiles

I-IV (1958-59); the second of which, subtitled DNA, later became the basis for his

work Ten Pieces for Tape (1961) as well as a soundtrack for a short film titled

DNA in Reflection (1963). He also composed Lament for the Death of a

Bullfighter for voice and electronic tape. In this composition, the poem is recited

rather than sung and it is accompanied by electronic sound.8

8 Speaking of his use of electronic medium, Gerhard had this to say in a BBC radio talk in

January 1960:

My materials here consisted of pure electronic sound and of sounds from othersources recorded with a microphone. This raw material was then processed inmany ways in order to metamorphose it, as it were, and make it flexible enoughto be used as a strand or thread in the total sound fabric. That fabric is made upof many threads: in other words, of many tape-loops run together, sometimes asmany as ten.

Quoted in Roberto Gerhard, “Introduction to Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter(1960),” in Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK:Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 185-86.

6

Due to Gerhard’s integration of a wide variety of twentieth-century

techniques and methods, the study of his music and theoretical writings may

provide important insight into the intellectual content and musical ramifications

of the century’s disparate trends. In this dissertation, I will undertake a detailed

study of several of Gerhard’s most important compositions and controversial

theories in order to gain a deeper understanding of Gerhard’s contributions to

twentieth-century musical thought. Although Gerhard adopted numerous

stylistic approaches throughout his prodigious career, I will mainly concentrate

on his serial works, in particular, his String Quartet No. 1. This quartet is of

particular interest because the various movements were composed at different

stages in his compositional development and incorporate many of the

compositional ideas he mentions in his writings. In addition, I will investigate

the social and artistic context for Gerhard’s views and demonstrate the impact his

teachers and aesthetic ideals had on his compositional output. Questions of

intellectualism and academicism in music become passionate issues in Gerhard’s

writings, as do nationalism and its place in twelve-tone composition, atonality,

total serialization, audience reception, and musical aesthetics in modern society.

These discussions entail a number of contradictions, as I will show. That

Gerhard himself recognized his contradictory nature is revealed in his

pronouncement to his student Joaquim Homs in the opening quote of this

chapter.9

Chapter 2 will be devoted to an examination of Gerhard’s life and

education and to the exploration of his views on the state of music composition at

9 See Chapter 1, n. 1.

7

the dawn of the modern era. In this chapter, I will describe how the events and

crises in Gerhard’s personal and professional life during his student years had a

profound effect on his thinking and compositional output. I will especially focus

on his studies with Felipe Pedrell and Arnold Schoenberg and describe the ways

in which Gerhard responded to their influence.

Following his studies with Schoenberg, Gerhard returned to Spain where

he met sharp resistance to his own music and modernist music in general. This

ultimately led to a personal crisis that had a profound effect on his thinking about

music. This crisis and its influence on his approach to composition is the focus of

Chapter 3. Like many modernist composers, Gerhard cared deeply about music

as an aesthetic experience. At the same time, however, he felt there was also

room for the intellect. Indeed, in Gerhard’s view, these ideals were not

diametrically opposed and he spent a great deal of time and energy defending his

ideas in published essays. These essays led him to think about music in new ways

that are reflected in his compositional output. I will especially concentrate on

Gerhard’s debate with Lluís Millet in El Mirador regarding the differences and

similarities between tonal and atonal music. I will also analyze Gerhard’s Wind

Quintet, which was written at the end of his studies with Schoenberg. This work

is significant since its Spanish premiere was met with criticism, causing Gerhard

to abandon the twelve-tone method for over two decades. The analysis of this

quintet, then, provides a basis for comparing Gerhard’s pre-crisis works to his

later output.

Chapters 4 and 5 of this dissertation focus on Gerhard’s life in exile. Due

to a hostile political climate in Spain, Gerhard relocated to England in 1939. His

8

isolation during his first years in exile gave him room to re-evaluate the twelve-

tone method in light of the ideas that had occupied him in Spain following his

studies with Schoenberg. While in England Gerhard began to devise new

compositional theories rather than continuing to address the philosophical issues

that had preoccupied him in Spain. Of particular interest is how Gerhard

incorporated sonata form into his works. The question of whether or not sonata

form can be successfully adapted to a non-tonal context is one that sparked

ongoing debate among a number of composers and theorists in the mid-twentieth

century and this debate continues today. Hence, I will devote much of Chapter 4

to defining the various positions in this debate and describe Gerhard’s

contributions to it. In addition, I will examine how Gerhard’s theories led to new

pitch structures and relations that emerge in the first movement of his first String

Quartet. I will also explain how he uses these structures to create “tonal” effects

in his sonata-form movements.

Chapter 5 continues with an examination of Gerhard’s life and work after

establishing himself in England as a modernist composer. Still in exile, he

continued his theoretical working out of the twelve-tone method. Moving beyond

the realm of pitch, Gerhard spent the final decades of his life developing his ideas

on the serialization of other musical parameters, a subject of debate among many

modernist composers during the 1950s and 60s. In reaction to the music of

composers such as those associated with the Darmstadt School, Gerhard devised

a unique approach to the serialization of form. In a series of articles and lectures

written around the late 1950s, he introduced and explained his theory of

mathematical proportions, which he used to generate formal divisions in his

9

compositions. In Chapter 5, I will explain this theory and show how it operates in

several of Gerhard’s compositions. Through an analysis of his Metamorphoses

(Symphony no. 2) and the third movement of his first string quartet, I will

examine how Gerhard’s theories allowed him to compose highly elaborate

structures while still allowing room for creative responses.

I will end my investigation of Gerhard’s life and works with a concluding

chapter in which I will draw the various strands of my research together, discuss

the role of intellect within a broader context, and make suggestions for further

research. I will close by discussing the final years of Gerhard’s life and briefly lay

out his legacy.

10

Chapter 2: Student Years

One of the most predominant features of Roberto Gerhard’s compositional

technique is his ability to combine folkloric elements from his homeland with a

highly developed serial style. To better understand this modus operandi, one

may examine his educational background and early upbringing. Gerhard studied

music composition with two teachers who represented polar opposites of the

compositional spectrum during the early years of the twentieth century, Felipe

Pedrell and Arnold Schoenberg. Felipe Pedrell was known as the father of

modern Spanish nationalism while Arnold Schoenberg is recognized as the

undisputed master of the twelve-tone technique. Gerhard’s student years are

therefore an important area of study because the knowledge he gained from his

teachers led him to fashion a unique approach to composition that incorporated

techniques from both compositional points of view. In this section, I will explore

Gerhard’s early student years and discuss how the personal and professional

events that occurred during this period laid the groundwork for his complex ideas

about music.

Gerhard’s early years and studies with Pedrell

Born Robert Juan Rene Gerhard in Valls, Catalonia on 25 September 1896,

to a Swiss father and a French-Alsatian mother, Gerhard began his scholastic

studies in commerce to appease his parents. He left for Switzerland at the age of

twelve to pursue these studies, but soon found himself spending all of his savings

to pay for music lessons with Hugo Strauss. Upon failing his commercial studies

11

exams in 1913, Gerhard decided to reject his parents’ wishes and devote himself

to music. The following year, Gerhard enrolled in the Royal Academy of Music in

Munich where he studied piano with Karl Roesger and counterpoint with Walter

Courvoisier.

His studies abroad were interrupted by the outbreak of the First World

War; Gerhard subsequently returned to Barcelona in 1915, continuing his musical

training there. In Barcelona he studied piano with both Enrique Granados and

Frank Marshall, but his lessons with the former were cut short when Granados

died in 1916 in a German U-boat attack within a year of Gerhard’s return to

Barcelona.

In addition to piano, Gerhard studied composition with Felipe Pedrell,

who was also the teacher of such Spanish nationalists as Isaac Albéniz, Enrique

Granados, and Manuel de Falla. Through Pedrell, Gerhard received a firm

foundation in past Spanish masters as well as some rudimentary instruction in

musical composition. These composition lessons with Pedrell lasted until

Pedrell’s death in 1922.

Felipe Pedrell himself was known mainly for his transcriptions of Iberian

folksongs; his research is comparable to that of Béla Bartók in Hungary. He was

also famous for his musicological chronicles of Spanish music, resulting in

modern editions of the works of Tomas Luis de Victoria, Cristobal de Morales,

and Antonio de Cabezón. According to Gerhard, “what Pedrell considered to be

his main purpose in life was the re-awakening of Spanish consciousness as a

musical nation: and to this end he would have us regard equally his work as a

12

scholar and a creative artist.”1 Pedrell’s other famous student, Manuel de Falla,

echoes this opinion.

Pedrell was a master in the highest sense of the word. His adviceand work opened a secure road for the musicians of Spain, one thatwould lead them to the creation of a noble and profoundly nationalart…his theories were based on the axiom put forth by PadreAntonio Eximeno in the eighteenth century: each nation shouldbuild its musical-artistic system on the foundation of its owntraditional music.2

Gerhard held his teacher in high regard, but mainly for his musicological

research. It was Pedrell who convinced Gerhard to turn his attention to the

music of the sixteenth-century Spanish polyphonists, as well as to sixteenth- and

seventeenth-century Spanish lute music, and to the widely popular eighteenth-

century tonadilla composers.3 Pedrell helped solidify Gerhard’s respect for his

Spanish culture and Gerhard continued to include Spanish elements in his music

throughout his career even after he adopted the twelve-tone technique.

One work that evokes a distinctly Spanish character is his Two Sardanas

(1928-29) for wind ensemble. The Sardana is commonly viewed as the national

dance of Catalonia. According to the Spanish composer Enrich Morera, “the

Sardana is a Dance, a Hymn, a Song: It is Catalonia.”4 These compositions

1 Roberto Gerhard, “A Note on Felipe Pedrell (c. 1940),” in Gerhard on Music: SelectedWritings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 40.

2 Gilbert Chase and Andrew Budwig, Manuel de Falla: A Bibliography and ResearchGuide (New York: Garland, 1986), 9.

3 Tonadilla is a diminutive of tonada, which is Spanish for song. These were typicallyshort songs sung between operatic acts and were popular in Spain during the 18th and 19th

centuries.

4 Quoted in Ates Orga, “The Works,” in The London Sinfonietta Programme Book:Schoenberg/ Gerhard Series, David Atherton, ed. (Sinfonietta Productions: London England:Shenval Press, 1973), 78.

13

closely adhere to the instrumentation of the traditional Spanish cobla or band,

which typically consists of eleven instruments featuring woodwinds, brass, and

percussion.5 By far, the most important instrumental feature of the ensemble is a

pair of shawms or double-reed instruments; here Gerhard employs the oboe and

English horn in their place. Because Sardanas are typically danced outdoors,

Gerhard’s two examples are light and playful, and invoke a sense of simplicity

and rawness. Folk and nationalist elements such as this abound; this is especially

noted in the insistent, exotic melody that is tossed around by various solo

woodwind instruments throughout the entirety of Sardana no. 2. Material from

these pieces reappear in such later works as his film score for The Secret People

(1952) and at the end of his ballet score Soirées de Barcelona (1938) as well as in

his Violin Concerto (1942-43). Gerhard also arranged his Sardana no. 1 for

various ensembles and in multiple keys even as late as the 1950s. Though

Gerhard’s Sardanas were not dodecaphonic, they had a fresh and modern sound

and were contemporary in design. That Gerhard could meld traditional concert

instruments and folk instruments with ease is a testament to his compositional

skill and this feature becomes a recurring characteristic of his music.

In a letter Gerhard wrote to Schoenberg just prior to leaving Spain, he said

of Pedrell: “I have him to thank for almost all of the best in me; he revealed to me

the wonderful neglected treasure of our true folk music, but he could give me no

5 The typical assortment of instruments in a traditional cobla is as follows: 1 small flute

and drum, 2 treble xirimias or shawms, 2 tenor xirimias, 2 cornets, 2 flugelhorns, 1 trombone,and 1 double bass. Every large town in Catalonia had a cobla. There was no traditional repertoireso cobla directors typically had the task of composing or arranging works for their group. Most ofthe music was based largely on traditional tunes collected by Josep Ventura (1817-75).

14

technique or discipline.”6 This becomes an important point, because while

Pedrell was a first-rate musicologist, he was still a self-taught musician.

According to Edward Sackville-West, in terms of composition, Pedrell’s

“technical abilities lagged considerably behind his inspiration.”7

As a result of the pedantic nature of his studies with Pedrell, Gerhard’s

compositional output was slow and tedious. During his studies with Pedrell he

wrote less than ten works. Four of these were published. These include his opus

1, which was a song cycle titled L’infantament meravellós de Schahrazada [The

marvelous birth of Scheherazade] (1918), which was published by Unión Musical

Española,8 as well as his Trio for violin, cello, and piano (1918)9, his Dos apunts

[Two sketches] (1921-22) for piano, and his Sept Haiku [Seven haiku] (1922), for

voice and ensemble.10

That Gerhard recognized a deficiency in his compositional technique is

reflected in a comment he made about his Piano Trio, referring to it as “a work

which was written during the most shallow period of my life.” This revelation

was made in a letter to Schoenberg only after Gerhard mentioned that with

regard to his Trio it would be surprising to note that “I can no longer be tempted

6 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen

(Sheffield, UK: Hallamshire Press, Anglo-Catalan Society, 2000), 92-93.

7 Edward Sackville-West, “The Music of Roberto Gerhard,” in The Arts, ed. DesmondShawe-Taylor (New York: Arno Press, 1968), 2:20.

8 Gerhard used opus numbers early on but later discontinued their use because heclaimed to detest them.

9 This was the third and most successful of three trios he wrote within a two-year periodfor violin, cello, and piano.

10 Gerhard’s Seven Haiku was revised in 1958.

15

to try and discover my identity sous l’influence conjugée de Stravinsky et de

Ravel [under the joint influence of Stravinsky and Ravel].”11

Gerhard’s letter portrays a young composer grappling to find his own

voice. He writes candidly of his difficulties in searching for knowledge and

appropriate influence. Furthermore, he writes that, “drawn back to my country

home, I decided to give up composition temporarily—and to plug the gaps in my

education with iron diligence.”12 As a result of this decision, following the 1918

Piano Trio, there are no other pieces composed by Gerhard for nearly four years.

During his time in artistic exile, Gerhard studied the music of J. S. Bach

and the early Spanish polyphonists, but interestingly, his next work, Dos Apunts

[Two sketches] (1921-22), was radically different from his earlier oeuvre and from

the music he spent so much time studying. Rather than exhibiting the influence

of French impressionism, like his Piano Trio, Dos Apunts resembles the early

pre-twelve-tone works of Schoenberg in terms of its pitch content and rhythmic

complexity.13 Moving away from the distinctly Spanish romanticism of his

predecessors, Gerhard was now undoubtedly heading in a different direction.

11 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, 93-94. Both quotes above are takenfrom Gerhard’s letter to Schoenberg, written on 21 October 1923. Schoenberg replied on 4November 1923; his letter can be found on p. 95 of Homs’s book and also in Arnold SchoenbergLetters, Erwin Stein, comp., Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser, trans. (London: Faber and Faber,1964), letter 76.

To put this into perspective, Gerhard’s Trio of 1918 is full of influences of Claude Debussy,Maurice Ravel, and Manuel de Falla. Considered to be his first chamber work, it uses animpressionistic sound palette and even includes movement titles in French, which are labeled (1)Modere, (2) Tres calme, and (3) Vif.

12 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, 93.

13 This change is noted by Ates Orga, who claimed that, “one can only agree with DavidDrew and conclude that in the period between the Piano Trio and the Sketches, a radicalreorientation of Gerhard’s aesthetic must have taken place.” Ates Orga, “The Works,” in TheLondon Sinfonietta Programme Book, 76.

16

Gerhard sent several of his compositions to Schoenberg as examples of

what he was capable of composing, in addition to a lengthy letter explaining his

compositional predicament in order to be accepted as his student. Schoenberg

claimed to have not looked very critically at Gerhard’s compositions, but he did,

nevertheless, admit him as a student.

Musical studies with Schoenberg

After the death of Pedrell in 1922, Gerhard took some time to determine

his next step. He had achieved some recognition as a composer, but at the age of

26, and in light of recent advances being made in the arts, he felt he needed to

advance his musical education.14 Shortly thereafter, Arnold Schoenberg accepted

Gerhard as a student and enrolled him in master classes from 1923 to 1928.

Gerhard arrived in Vienna just as Schoenberg’s own musical style was evolving in

the direction of the twelve-tone system. Schoenberg had just composed his Five

Piano Pieces, op. 23 as well as his Serenade and Suite for Piano, op. 25.

While in Vienna, Gerhard obtained his tuition fees by giving lessons in

Castilian and Catalan.15 One student of note included his future wife, Leopoldina

(Poldi) Feichtegger, whom he married upon his return to Spain. After

Schoenberg was offered a position as professor of composition at the Prussian

Academy of Arts in 1925, Gerhard followed his teacher to Berlin and continued

14 According to Edward Sackville-West, Gerhard’s early music was quite successful in

Spain because “it was sensuously beautiful without being harmonically rebarbative.” Quotedfrom Edward Sackville-West, “The Music of Roberto Gerhard,” 2:20.

15 Gerhard even used the pseudonym, Dr. Castell, to appear more qualified.

17

his studies. While in Berlin, Schoenberg taught advanced composition, leaving

Joseph Rufer to teach the more elementary subjects, and Gerhard served as

Rufer’s secretary during this time.

Once in Berlin, the structure of his composition lessons changed. In

Vienna, Gerhard was able to study with Schoenberg privately; in Berlin,

Schoenberg had lectured only to small classes in his home. It was during the time

in Berlin that Schoenberg attracted students who took interest in and who

wanted to compose twelve-note music. Yet as Joan Allen Smith writes, “although

he [Schoenberg] carefully scrutinized student twelve-tone works and made

helpful suggestions, he did not lecture on the subject. He still stressed knowledge

of classic and romantic literature, but contemporary pieces were also

discussed.”16

Gerhard had originally intended to study only classical harmony and

counterpoint with Schoenberg. This is discussed by Edward Sackville, who

observes that during Gerhard’s artistic crisis in Valls following his tenure with

Pedrell, he came across Schoenberg’s score of Pierrot Lunaire. As Sackville goes

on to note, “Gerhard was attracted to him [Schoenberg] primarily by his obvious

mastery of composition, of contrapuntal writing, of instrumentation—in fact of all

those elements of a finished musical technique which Pedrell had failed to

impart, because he did not possess them himself.”17

16 Joan Allen Smith, Schoenberg and his Circle: A Viennese Portrait (New York:

Schirmer Books, 1986), 225.

17 Edward Sackville-West, “The Music of Roberto Gerhard,” 2:21.

18

This illustrates a marked difference between Gerhard and many of

Schoenberg’s other students, who wanted only to learn how to compose modern

music. Gerhard soon discovered that though Schoenberg taught classical

harmony and counterpoint and honestly critiqued twelve-note works, he

expected only “the greatest artistic honesty”18 from his students. Nevertheless,

Gerhard also became a disciple of the twelve-tone method, but adjusted it to suit

his own musical needs. Indeed, it was through his idiosyncratic use of

Schoenberg’s method that Gerhard found his compositional voice. Moreover, he

sought to move beyond Schoenberg’s exclusively pitch-based use of the twelve-

tone method. Hence, as I will discuss in Chapter 4, not only did Gerhard

experiment with the permutation of individual hexachords, he also used the

system to govern rhythm and form as well.19

During his time spent with Schoenberg in Vienna and Berlin, Gerhard

wrote only études but his compositional output so impressed his teacher that

Gerhard was one of the very few who was eventually granted permission to teach

students the twelve-tone method. At the end of his tenure with Schoenberg,

Gerhard composed two serial pieces. One was a set of Catalan folk songs titled 14

cançons populars catalanes [14 popular Catalan songs] (1928) and the other was

his Wind Quintet (1928) based on a seven rather than a twelve note series, the

latter of which will be discussed in Chapter 3.

18 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, 27.

19 Chapter 4 of this dissertation examines Gerhard’s experimentation with pitch elementsand his use of hexachordal permutations. Chapter 5 investigates his serialization of non-pitchparameters.

19

Synthesis and Reconciliation

Roberto Gerhard was a twentieth-century Spanish composer known for his

unique treatment of the twelve-tone system. A student of Felipe Pedrell and also

Arnold Schoenberg, Gerhard’s musical trajectory became a synthesis of the

disparate compositional traditions each of his teachers possessed. Gerhard’s

aspiration to maintain his cultural identity in spite of his familial heritage and

status as an exile was quite strong. Gerhard was not of Spanish or Catalan

descent nor did he even live the last half of his life in Spain, yet his music portrays

a deep-seated, robust Spanish character. Furthermore, Gerhard’s desire to

combine this identity with his love of the avant-garde and the cosmopolitan

European sentiment led to a distinctly personal style.

Gerhard’s fascination with new ideas may be seen as early as his student

years and later on when he experimented with electronic tape and unusual

instrumental combinations and extended techniques. As a result, Gerhard

became a staunch advocate of the Second Viennese School after his studies with

Schoenberg, yet in extending Schoenberg’s method to non-pitch parameters and

incorporating folk elements into his serial music, he reveals the true depth of his

unique musical personality. More than anything else, it is the merging of what

many musicians of his day, including Schoenberg and Pedrell, felt were

diametrically opposed idioms that most distinguishes Gerhard among his peers.

20

Chapter 3: Return to Spain

Upon completing his musical education, Roberto Gerhard returned to

Spain in 1929 with his fiancé, Poldi Feichtegger, and found his country in the

middle of a political upheaval. Spain was in the process of moving from a

political dictatorship to a Republic, which was finally established after multiple

interim governments in 1931. Shortly after arriving back in Spain, Gerhard

presented a concert of his music in his native Barcelona. The concert was

organized by the Associació de Música da Camera and it was presented in the

conservative, bourgeois venue, the Palau de la Música Catalana.1

The performance triggered a public debate between “the young upstart

Gerhard, with his new-fangled Schoenbergian atonalism,” and Lluís Millet, who

was regarded as “the locally revered guardian of traditional musical values.”2

Millet sought to suppress Gerhard’s introduction of modernist ideas to Barcelona

and published his seething criticism in the pages of the Revista Musical

Catalana, a journal founded in 1904 by Millet to promote the agenda of the Orfeó

1 The Palau de la Música Catalana [Palace of Catalan Music], designed by architect Lluís

Domènech i Montaner, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 due to its status as amasterpiece of Modernisme, or Art Nouveau, in twentieth-century Barcelona. The Palau wascommissioned for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891.

2 Meirion Bowen, trans. and ed., introduction to Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings(Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 4. Lluís Millet (Catalonian, 1867-1941) was a leadingfigure of an older generation of folklorists and also the founding editor of Revista MusicalCatalana, which promoted the agenda of his choral society, the Orfeó Català. The aim of hischoral society was to elevate and perform the folk music of Catalonia and the “universal” artmusic of Mozart, Beethoven, and Wagner.

21

Català.3 In Millet’s opinion, Gerhard’s music undermined the traditional values

embodied by the organization. For Millet, any composition written by a Catalan

composer that did not elevate Catalan folk art music or uphold universal art

music, as represented by Beethoven and Wagner, fell short.

Owing, perhaps, to the sharp criticism of his music along with the political

unrest in Spain at the time of his return, Gerhard entered a period of intense self-

scrutiny and his compositional output from 1929 to 1939 was quite limited.

During this period, he produced only a few works, including L’alta naixença del

rei en Jaume [The Noble Birth of the Sovereign Lord King James] (1932), a

cantata in five parts based on a poem by Josep Carner which won first prize in a

Universal Edition competition, Albada, Interludi i Dansa (1937), an orchestral

work written for a BBC series in response to public concern for Spain during the

civil war, and several arrangements of his ballet, Ariel (1934), based on the

character in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.4 He also composed a ritualistic

ballet in the tradition of Stravinsky entitled Soirées de Barcelone between 1936

and 1938 for Colonel de Basil’s Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.5 Gerhard

3 Revista Musical Catalana published over 390 issues until its circulation ended in 1936at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. It was, however, reintroduced in 1984 and is publishedmonthly to this date under the name Catalunya Música/Revista Musical Catalana.

4 Composers such as Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and Ernst Krenek served on the judgingpanel for the Universal Edition contest.

5 Incidentally, Soirées de Barcelone remains one of very few works in which Gerharddrew on authentic folk melodies. As noted by Julian White:

Gerhard’s music for the ballet is ‘deliberately Catalan’ in sentiment and drawsheavily on Catalan folk traditions. It is clear that had the ballet been completed,it could have become as important a document of Catalan culture as Stravinsky’sPetrushka and Rite of Spring are of Russian culture.

Julian White, “Roberto Gerhard: Piano Music,” liner notes for Roberto GerhardPiano Music – Complete (Marco Polo 8.223867), 1996, p. 3.

22

completed the ballet in Paris, but it was never performed since the company

dissolved following the outbreak of World War II nearly three years later. He did,

however, extract a suite of dances from the music in the 1950s; this shortened

concert version was later performed and recorded under the direction of David

Atherton. In 1930, Gerhard published a series of commentaries in the newly

created Catalan journal, El Mirador, which quickly became the mouthpiece for

the literary and artistic avant-garde.6 These essays set the stage for the rest of his

literary musings, showing his penchant for allegorical explanations as well as his

wit, which remained with him throughout his lifetime.7

While his approach to composition was certainly less provincial than those

of Millet and his sympathizers, Gerhard did not eschew cultural influences

altogether. Indeed, as Joaquim Homs notes, Gerhard’s music incorporates two

important components, “the ethnic and the semi-serial, one or the other

uppermost depending on the nature of the individual piece.”8 This inclination

emerges early in Gerhard’s career. The Wind Quintet presented at the Barcelona

concert of his music in December 1929, for example, includes Phrygian folk-like

6 El Mirador was founded by lawyer and politician, Amadeu Hurtado in 1929 and the

articles within its pages focused on literary, artistic, and political issues of a liberal andprogressive nature. The magazine’s 380th and final issue came in 1936 at the onset of the SpanishCivil War.

7 For example, Gerhard sarcastically framed his El Mirador essays in a musical setting;each of his counterattacks was titled Prelude, Chorale, Fugue, Fugue (Ending), Coda, Variationsand Functional Music. For further bibliographic information regarding these articles, refer toAppendix B, which is a chronological list of Gerhard’s writings and lectures. Additionally, theessays have been translated in Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” in Gerhard onMusic: Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing,2000), 41-52.

8 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen(Sheffield, UK: Hallamshire Press, Anglo-Catalan Society, 2000), 36.

23

melodies based on various row transformations.9 In fact, Millet, found this

particular work “more successful” than the other works on the program primarily

because of its inclusion of folkloric elements.10 A closer examination of this

quintet may thus help us gain insight into Gerhard’s multi-faceted approach to

composition and provide a basis for understanding how Gerhard’s theoretical

musing in the early 1930s affected his later works.

The Wind Quintet

Gerhard’s Wind Quintet, written in 1928, represents his first essay in the

serial technique, and it was composed just after completing his formal musical

training with Schoenberg. The Wind Quintet is also significant because in it, we

see the early stages of two procedures that become unique features of Gerhard’s

music. 1) Even though the work is serial in design, folkloric melodies emerge

from the musical texture. This combination of nationalist elements and serial

technique becomes a signature of Gerhard’s music from this point forward. 2)

The spontaneous way in which Gerhard organizes his pitch material foreshadows

later techniques he uses in such works as his String Quartet no. 1 and

compositions of his later period. An analysis of his pitch language reveals a code

to his organizational and generating technique. It emerges here in my analysis of

Gerhard’s Wind Quintet in an intuitive way.

9 The Wind Quintet was not published until after his exile over 30 years later. It was

published by Belwin-Mills in 1960. This quintet, according to Peter Paul Nash, “stands among theforemost of the first generation of post-Viennese-school serial works. See Peter Paul Nash, “TheWind Quintet,” Tempo 139 (December 1981): 5.

10 Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” 46.

24

Composed of four movements, the quintet is based on the seven-note

series, B-E-D-C-Bb-D#-F#, which appears in the bassoon line as the first

sounding pitches. This pitch collection is boxed in Example 3.1. Following the

bassoon’s opening statement, the remaining instruments, which continue the

first musical idea, complete the twelve-note chromatic aggregate. The remaining

notes of the row played by these instruments are circled in Example 3.1.

Although the total chromatic is presented in the opening three bars, the seven-

note row is the only recurring motive throughout this (and the second)

movement. The third and fourth movements are also built on seven-note rows,

but each of these is unrelated to the series presented in Example 3.1. In all four

movements, the remaining pitches of the complete aggregate often appear

following the presentation of the movement’s seven-note series, but Gerhard’s

treatment of these additional pitches is not subjected to the same systematic

processes as the row itself.

Example 3.1: Opening seven-note row – Wind Quintet, movement I, mm. 1-3.Music by Roberto Gerhard, © Copyright 1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. All Rights Assigned to and Controlled byAlfred Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used byPermission.

25

The first movement, marked Moderato, is laid out in a sonata-allegro

form, complete with first and second themes, a development, and a

recapitulation. Figure 3.1 shows the breakdown of the movement into its formal

sections.

Exposition – Theme I mm. 1-23

Exposition – Theme II mm. 24-35

Transition mm. 36-51

Development – Part I mm. 52-60

Development – Part II mm. 61-75

Recapitulation – Theme I mm. 76-102

Recapitulation – Theme II mm. 103-10

Coda mm. 111-30 (end)

Figure 3.1: Formal division of the first movement of Gerhard’s Wind Quintet

The first theme consists of 23 bars. The principal seven-note series

presented at P11, enclosed in the box in Example 3.1, is played three times; first

by the bassoon, then by the clarinet in m. 6 and finally by the oboe in m. 13. Each

reiteration of the thematic material grows longer and more rhythmically

complex. Following a brief two-measure stentato section, the second theme takes

over in m. 24. This slower theme is marked poco meno mosso and is introduced

by the oboe, playing a melodic line composed of the row at P11, the same

26

transposition as the row appearing in mm. 1-2. The oboe melody is accompanied

by the clarinet, which plays the first five pcs of the row at I3. The clarinet line

later sounds pc11 (the sixth note of the row) before the bassoon joins the

ensemble in m. 25 and ultimately completes the row with the entrance of the A-

flat on the third eighth-note beat. Gerhard’s bassoon line is significant here as it

foreshadows the permutational techniques that become a signature feature of his

music by the time he composed his string quartet in 1950-55. This early example

of Gerhard’s penchant for reordering row segments appears consistently in his

music and will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 4. It is seen here in the

Wind Quintet in Example 3.2:

Example 3.2: Introduction of Theme II – Wind Quintet, movement I, mm. 24-26.Music by Roberto Gerhard, © Copyright 1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. All Rights Assigned to and Controlled byAlfred Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used byPermission.

27

Theme II begins with a statement of the row in its original order. This P11

row form is then elided with I6, making a smooth connection between them.

However, before this transition can be completed, three pitches, A, B, and C#,

interrupt the row before the final two tones of the I6 transformation can sound.

Following this brief interruption, the ensemble articulates the final two pitches of

I6, but then moves on to a new row, R7, to complete the melodic idea. The first

two notes of R7 are the same as the last two in I6, allowing the two rows to

overlap as shown in Example 3.3. Shared pitches among the three permutations

are circled on the example. This sharing of certain pitches (or pcs) ultimately

becomes a hallmark of Gerhard’s compositional approach. In later works, this

overlapping of row segments with mutual pcs becomes a way for Gerhard to

define “tonal areas” that are essential to his formal designs.

Example 3.3: Elision of P11, I6 and R7 row forms in Theme II – Wind Quintet,movement I, mm. 24-26. Music by Roberto Gerhard, © Copyright1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. All Rights Assignedto and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All RightsReserved. Used by Permission.

28

The theme, this time expressing I6, returns once more in its entirety at m.

29, drawing the exposition to a close. A vivace transition of driving triplet figures

and sustained tones takes over in mm. 36-51 before the development section

enters, where the original tempo resumes. This section reiterates the original

material from the first nine measures and then introduces a new theme at the

shift to poco più mosso in m. 61. The oboe brings back the melodic material of

Theme I at P11 in m. 76, marking the beginning of the recapitulation. Theme II

returns in m. 76. This section articulates row forms P6, P3, and P9 as shown in

Example 3.4.

29

Example 3.4: Return of Theme II at the recapitulation – Wind Quintet,movement I, mm. 103-105. Music by Roberto Gerhard, ©Copyright 1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. AllRights Assigned to and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. AllRights Reserved. Used by Permission.

What is gained from this analysis is the recognition that even very early

on, Gerhard took an unconventional approach to Schoenberg’s method. For

example, the Wind Quintet shows Gerhard’s penchant for reordering his rows,

indicating that he associates rows with their pc-content, and not necessarily their

order. He also applied multiple transpositions to the same melodic line.

Furthermore, Gerhard’s use of a less-than-twelve-note series is a common feature

in his late works, though this particular characterization may be somewhat

30

misleading. Many of Gerhard’s twelve-tone works, for example, center on

hexachords, which are treated as independent elements, rather than the row as a

whole. Just as in the Wind Quintet, Gerhard was also fond of freely ordering the

elements in his pitch series when he returned to twelve-tone composition over

twenty years later. Furthermore, in Gerhard’s late works he progressed through

various transpositions and inversions of rows that were related in ways that also

defined “tonal areas.” Gerhard’s transposition of the melody in mm. 24-26 to T4,

T6, and T9 in Example 3.4 foreshadows the more elegant way he eventually

progresses through closely related hexachords in serial works written in the

1940s and 50s, a topic I will take up in Chapter 4.

In the second movement, marked Andante cantabile, sostenuto, Gerhard

treats the seven-note row much like an ostinato or ground bass and uses this to

provide structural unification for the movement. Peter Paul Nash echoes this

analogy, describing the movement’s slow, baroque, aria-style main theme and

fast sections.11 As seen in Example 3.5, the upper voices enter imitatively and

then shift into descending melodic lines typical of baroque canons, shown on the

example with downward arrows.12 The bassoon line provides the ground,

repeating two different seven-note patterns for nearly the entire movement. One

11 Peter Paul Nash, “The Wind Quintet,” 7. Colin Mason likewise continues this parallel,

calling the movement a “free passacaglia.” Quoted in Ates Orga, “The Works,” in The LondonSinfonietta Programme Book: Schoenberg-Gerhard Series, David Atherton, ed. (SinfoniettaProductions: London, England: Shenval Press, 1973), 78.asdfjkl

12 It is possible that the incorporation of these compositional techniques was influencedby his years of studying Renaissance and Baroque scores of Spanish composers while living inBarcelona. These techniques also show the influence of his former teacher Felipe Pedrell, who, asdiscussed in Chapter 2, was known for his critical editions of sixteenth-century Spanishpolyphonists.

31

seven-note pattern is based on the original P11 row, marked on the example by

solid-line boxes. The second pattern is derived from an entirely different row

form, indicated on the example by dashed-line boxes.

Example 3.5: Bass ostinato and use of imitative texture – Wind Quintet,movement II, mm. 1-7. Music by Roberto Gerhard, © Copyright1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. All Rights Assignedto and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All RightsReserved. Used by Permission.

32

The two alternating sets of pitches played by the bassoon belong to SC 7-13

(0124568) and SC 7-11 (0134568), respectively, and instances of their usage are

not limited to only the second movement. As seen in Example 3.6 and 3.7, these

two row forms occur in multiple orderings and are subjected to rhythmic

variation. Example 3.6 shows the two seven-note sets as they are introduced by

the bassoon in the opening bars of the first movement and Example 3.7 provides

yet another example of the sets as they appear in the middle of the finale. This

principle of reordering is an emergent technique that Gerhard ultimately

formalizes in his post-exile period. Indeed, my use of set-class labels here, which

are by definition unordered, rather than row labels, which are naturally ordered,

reflects Gerhard’s inclination for freely reordering the pcs within each seven-note

segment.

Example 3.6: Introduction of SC 7-13 and SC 7-11 in the first movement – WindQuintet, movement I, mm. 1-6. Music by Roberto Gerhard, ©Copyright 1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. AllRights Assigned to and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. AllRights Reserved. Used by Permission.

33

Example 3.7: Appearance of SC 7-13 and SC 7-11 in the finale – Wind Quintet,movement IV, mm. 109-22. Music by Roberto Gerhard, ©Copyright 1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. AllRights Assigned to and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. AllRights Reserved. Used by Permission.

It should be noted that in the final movement of the Wind Quintet, the row

is used quite sparingly. In this movement, which is composed as a fast rondo,

much of the melodic material is derived from the music of previous movements,

yet a complete iteration of the seven-note row does not make an appearance until

nearly halfway through the movement. The first occurrence of the row, as well as

its companion SC 7-11 in the finale is found at m. 109, as seen in Example 3.7.

Here, the oboe and horn each play the row in its prime form, but their rhythms

are quite different. The row appears again in various transformations at mm.

125, 136, 164, and 250. Gerhard later abandons the practice of using multiple

row forms and their various permutations in the same piece, but in the Wind

Quintet his two unrelated sets exhibit similar characteristics. His combination of

unrelated but aurally similar row forms and sets becomes a key feature of his

34

music for the remainder of his life. In this instance, the two seven-note row

forms contain five invariant pitches.

SC 7-13 0 2 3 4 6 10 11

SC 7-11 0 1 3 4 8 10 11

Figure 3.2: Invariant pcs in SC 7-13 and SC 7-11 in Gerhard’s Wind Quintet

Throughout the piece, Gerhard preserves a small collection of invariant

pcs, which create continuity between the two seven-note series. Figure 3.3

illustrates the note-against-note invariance that occurs between the two set

classes with regard to pc11. Because each of these rows begins with the same pc,

Gerhard creates a sense of structural continuity, especially in the second

movement, where each of these collections function as a ground bass.

Additionally, pcs 0, 10, and 3 are also preserved between the two rows. This

three-note collection is easily identifiable in the music because it is among these

three pcs that Gerhard often inserts a melodic ornament (refer to Examples 3.6

and 3.7). This is a particularly interesting feature because in his Wind Quintet, it

appears in a rather spontaneous way. This technique is later subjected to more

direct and rigorous treatment.

35

Row based on SC 7-13: 11 4 2 0 10 3 6

Row based on SC 7-11: 11 8 0 10 3 4 1

Example 3.3: Gerhard’s pitch organization in the Wind Quintet

A hallmark of Gerhard’s compositional style is the successful integration of

serial pitch structures with folk elements and his Wind Quintet serves as one of

his first works to marry these two disparate characteristics. In the second

movement, Spanish elements emerge as Gerhard weaves folkloric melodies into

the musical texture. Following the first fast section and its subsequent slow

segment, the second fast section consists of a folk-like melody played by the flute

with a ‘rocking’ ostinato accompaniment. Here the flute melody alternates

between the same aforementioned seven-note sets, as seen in Example 3.8.

Because the two row forms appear as a structural ground in the bassoon line for

much of the second movement, Gerhard’s decision to compose a folk melody

derived from this same pitch material is an unexpected change.

36

Example 3.8: Folkloric melody and rocking accompaniment – Wind Quintet,movement II, mm. 24-27. Music by Roberto Gerhard, © Copyright1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. All Rights Assignedto and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All RightsReserved. Used by Permission.

Here and throughout the second movement, the row forms control both

the formal design as well as melodic elements. In the third movement of the

Wind Quintet, which is composed as a scherzo with a middle section similar to a

trio, Gerhard uses the seven-note row forms primarily as a basis for melodic

material. The treatment of the row in the trio section, which begins in m. 21, is

particularly interesting. Example 3.9 illustrates a new folkloric melody that

materializes in the oboe line at m. 28. This melody is accompanied by another

rocking ostinato line, much like that of the second movement, played by the

clarinet and bassoon.

37

Example 3.9: Folk melody accompanied by a rocking ostinato – Wind Quintet,movement III, mm. 28-32. Music by Roberto Gerhard, ©Copyright 1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. AllRights Assigned to and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. AllRights Reserved. Used by Permission.

As shown in Example 3.10, the oboe melody continues in mm. 33-38,

where it is doubled by the flute a third above. This doubling of the melody is a

common folkloric characteristic. Gerhard’s use of it here is reminiscent of the

Sardanas he heard in his youth and foreshadows the many other Spanish dances

he composed during his exile.

38

Example 3.10: Doubled folk melody accompanied by a rocking ostinato – WindQuintet, movement III, mm. 33-38. Music by Roberto Gerhard, ©Copyright 1960 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. AllRights Assigned to and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. AllRights Reserved. Used by Permission.

Reconciling national identity with the twelve-tone method

Gerhard’s Wind Quintet marks one of his first attempts to merge atonal

with folkloristic elements. This was to become a pervasive feature; as Gerhard

began to write more and more compositions using the serial technique, he

continued to include “elements clearly derived from his Spanish background.”13

These elements, of course, added to his idiosyncratic compositional vocabulary

since the marriage of nationalist characteristics and twelve-tone composition

13 Julian White, “National Traditions in the Music of Roberto Gerhard,” Tempo 184

(March 1993), 4.

39

clearly went against Schoenberg’s teachings. Schoenberg argued on more than

one occasion that folk elements had no place in “great” music and “point[ed] to

the absurdity of ‘trying to apply to the ideas of folk-music, which are primitive by

nature, a technique that corresponds only to a complicated way of thinking’.”14

This practice of combining the serial and folkloric was at odds with the

principles espoused by his teachers, but it also apparently went against Gerhard’s

own position with respect to nationalism in music. In a BBC documentary aired

shortly after his death, Gerhard’s wife, Poldi exclaimed that Gerhard “abhorred

nationalism, and, although he had strong roots in the country, for him the whole

world was of one piece.” Harold Meltzer expands upon this sentiment, adding:

Unlike Boulez and Stockhausen and their groups of followers,Gerhard did not work to eradicate all traces of his heritage in hismusic. It is true that, beginning with his serial works, Catalan andAndalusian tunes and rhythms appeared less frequently and inever-greater degrees of abstraction. But during these years, heopposed nationalism politically rather than musically.15

To understand the apparent dichotomy between Gerhard’s stated opinions

and his compositional practice, one must confront the intellectual climate in

Europe during the early twentieth century. Gerhard’s wariness of nationalism

was directed more toward the compositional output of the “first Spanish school,”

rather than at the synthesized influence of nationalist ideals employed in a more

cosmopolitan or contemporary manner. In his book, La Música Contemporanea

en España, Adolfo Salazar writes that this aforementioned “first Spanish school,”

14 Arnold Schoenberg, “Why No Great American Music (1934)?,” in Style and Idea:

Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg, ed. by Erwin Stein (London: Faber and Faber, 1975),176-77.

15 Both quotes taken from Harold Meltzer, “Roberto Gerhard,” 156.

40

including such composers as Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla, Joaquín

Turina, and Isaac Albéniz, “did not follow the European trends and in general

resisted progression.”16 For these reasons, Gerhard and other modernist artists

looked elsewhere for compositional inspiration. This sentiment is also shared by

Richard Paine, who claims that because of Catalonia’s tendency to identify itself

more with modern Europe than with the rest of Spain, “twentieth-century

Catalan music is not provincial.”17

Gerhard’s incorporation of folkloristic elements into his serial music

speaks not only to the idiosyncratic character of his music, but to his own

personality as well. Although Gerhard remained a staunch defender of

modernism throughout his life, he also believed that the formal techniques of the

second Viennese school were not at odds with the intuitive side of music. That

Gerhard felt that his Catalan heritage did not conflict with his newfound interest

in modernist techniques is revealed by the fact that he became active in

promoting both of these upon his return to Spain. One of the precepts of the

newly formed autonomous Catalan government, for example, was the designation

of Catalan, in addition to Castilian, as an official language of the region.18

16 Laura Jean Klugherz, “A Performer’s Analysis of Three Works for Violin and Piano by

Contemporary Spanish Composers” (D.M.A. treatise, University of Texas at Austin, 1981), 11; Seealso Adolfo Salazar, La Música Contemporanea en España: Desde el Siglo XVI a Manuel de Falla(Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S. A., 1972).

17 Richard Paine, “Hispanic Traditions in Twentieth Century Catalan Music: WithParticular Reference to Gerhard, Mompou, and Montsalvatge,” in Outstanding Dissertations inMusic From British Universities, ed. John Caldwell (New York and London: Garland Publishing,1989), 29.

18 The political state of affairs is likewise pointed out by Richard Herr in An HistoricalEssay on Modern Spain (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1971), 161:

Under the statute Catalonia got a government known as the Generalitat with apresident, prime minister, and a parliament, almost like the national

41

Gerhard embraced this idea, even writing multiple essays in his native language

as well as composing a song cycle with Catalan texts. Additionally, he spent time

translating theory texts into Spanish and revising editions of Spanish Baroque

music. Gerhard became actively involved in government affairs as well, serving

as the director of the music department of the national library (the Biblioteca di

Catalunya), and a professor of music at the Escola Normal de la Generalitat in

Barcelona. He was a member of both the Advisory Council to the Minister of Fine

Arts and the Central Music Council of the Spanish Republican Government. He

also joined the Independent Composers of Catalunya (CIC).

At the same time, Gerhard became a founding member of Amics de L’Art

Nou (ADLAN)19 along with artists Joan Miró and Salvador Dali, architect Lluís

Sert, and Joan Prats. As its title implies, ADLAN was an organization founded to

promote new artistic ideas. In addition, he became actively involved in the

International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM), a society in which he

remained involved for the rest of his life. In 1936, Gerhard hosted the annual

ISCM conference in Barcelona, which premiered Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto

and fragments from Wozzeck, as well as Béla Bartók’s Fifth String Quartet.

Gerhard worked tirelessly to expose the Spanish public to the music of

notable foreign contemporary composers by bringing such modern works as

Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1, Berg’s Lyric Suite, and a stage production of

government. The Generalitat had authority over local finances andcommunications. In effect Catalonia also got its own school system with classesin Catalan, even in the University of Barcelona...the Cortes [the parliament]ratified the statute in September 1932 by a nearly unanimous vote.

19 The acronym ADLAN translates to Friends of New Art.

42

Igor Stravinsky’s Histoire du soldat to his city. Between 1931 and 1932,

Schoenberg and his wife came to visit Barcelona for nine months as guests of the

Gerhards. Their host was able to procure several performance opportunities for

Schoenberg as well as for fellow student, Anton Webern. Gerhard arranged

several concerts during the 1932 season, which premiered new music by

Schoenberg and Webern. In this creative environment, Schoenberg was able to

compose a significant portion of Moses und Aaron as well as his Klavierstück no.

2, op. 33b. Joaquim Homs writes that for Schoenberg, “these circumstances and

the constant attentions he received from the Gerhards contributed decisively to

his being able to develop his life and creative work in a serene and stimulating

environment.”20 The Schoenbergs repaid the Gerhards for their kindness and

hospitality by naming their daughter, who was born in Barcelona, the popular

Catalan name of Núrina. When Schoenberg was expelled from his job in Berlin in

1933 by the Anti-Semitic regime, Gerhard sought to arrange a permanent

position for his mentor in Barcelona. Because Gerhard could only offer the

meager opportunity of a few lectures, Schoenberg opted to reside in Paris just

before moving to America.

All of this, of course, brings us to the very heart of what makes Gerhard’s

music so interesting. Malcolm MacDonald explains that Gerhard’s rich musical

vocabulary is, in fact, directly attributable to his multi-cultural background. He

claims that this:

...naturally influenced his musical language, which embraced twoapparently disparate traditions: the colorful, folkloric music ofSpain and strict Austro-German classicism including the 12-note

20 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, 35.

43

compositional methods of Schoenberg’s Second Viennese School.For much of Gerhard’s career the ‘Spanish’ tradition appeared to bethe dominant one... But long mediation on Schoenbergian preceptsled to the creative epiphany of Gerhard’s last 20 years: a series ofworks (including 4 symphonies, a concerto for orchestra, stringquartets, and electronic scores) as radical and challenging as any byhis younger contemporaries. Even these pieces never lost touchwith a definitively ‘Spanish’ sense of rhythm.21

As Malcolm MacDonald writes, Spanish elements clearly color Gerhard’s music,

but his incorporation of these elements is not part of his pre-compositional

planning. These elements are present in the music as part of Gerhard’s artistic

self; the communication of his Spanish background was not something he

consciously composed into everything he wrote. 22

Gerhard’s incorporation of folk elements into his twelve-tone music is not

just the consequence of his compositional maturity. As Bernard Benoliel writes,

it is rather the result of his modernist agenda and admiration for his Catalan

heritage. “He is a central descendant of ‘modernisme’, intimately involved in the

21 Malcolm MacDonald, liner notes for “Roberto Gerhard: Schahrazada/Cancionero de

Pedrell” (Etcetera KTC 1060, 1988).

22 This opinion is at odds with multiple scholars. Edmon Colomer believes that Gerhard’scombining of twelve-tone writing with folk elements is clearly taken from his Spanishbackground, and offers this opposing sentiment:

[Gerhard] developed a language...that in its essence was linked to the expressivecharacteristics of the indigenous melodic or rhythmic sources, but that was alsoopen to the influence of tendencies coming from the European avant-garde of thetime…This reconciliation of profoundly Spanish elements with the mostsophisticated techniques associated with the European tradition was to be aconstant and fascinating aspect of his creative process.

Edmon Colomer, liner notes for Roberto Gerhard 6: L’Alta Naixeça del Rei enJaume/Seis Cançons Populars Catalanes/Cancionero de Pedrell/Dues Sardanes, trans. AngelaBuxton (Montaigne Auvidis MO 782106, 1997), 9. Julian White, in writing about Gerhard’s firststring quartet, claims that Gerhard “successfully combines Schoenbergian structural techniqueswith Spanish rhythmic elements.” Julian White, “Roberto Gerhard String Quartets 1 and 2,” linernotes for Roberto Gerhard String Quartets 1 and 2 (Metier MSV CD92032), 1999, par. 1.

44

revival of Catalan folk art and a committed member of the European musical

avant-garde…He wanted his style to be indigenous to Catalan Spain, to be

international, and above all to be personal.”23

This position is further justified by Gerhard’s own words in describing the

music of the Hungarian, Béla Bartók. In an El Mirador article written in 1931,

Gerhard wrote:

This marvelous process of transubstantiation through whichBartók’s music absorbs the folk-culture of his home country andturns it into musical essences representative of modern art-musicand its sonorities, responding at the same time to the advancedideas in the unstoppable evolution of our Western tradition is, inmy opinion, the most significant lesson that Catalan musiciansshould extrapolate from this Hungarian master.24

So if this was Gerhard’s opinion in 1931, at a time when he had returned to his

native country after completing several years of studies abroad, why is it that

after his death his wife later claimed that Gerhard abhorred nationalism?

Gerhard apparently advocated only the synthesis of folkloric elements into art

music, suggesting that he felt one should not simply insert authentic folk

melodies into a composition, but rather use them as compositional material. This

was, of course, Gerhard’s complaint with Pedrell as a teacher of composition.

Gerhard respected Pedrell as a musicologist, but could not learn from him as a

composer. Pedrell literally incorporated folk tunes into his music. Gerhard

preferred to add Spanish elements in a less transparent fashion.

23 Bernard Benoliel, liner notes for “Gerhard Symphony No. 3 etc.” (Chandos CHAN

9556, 1997).

24 Roberto Gerhard, “Bartók,” El Mirador (5 February 1931), quoted in Roberto Gerhard,“Bartók,” Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK:Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 63.

45

While Gerhard never wrote overtly nationalist compositions, then, he

frequently incorporated Spanish elements into his works. David Drew echoes

this sentiment, claiming, “During the 1950s, [Gerhard’s] musical language

became increasingly “abstract” in a post-Schoenbergian sense, though it was

never to lose touch with its Spanish roots.”25 In addition to composing folkloric

melodies like those that appear in his Wind Quintet, another way Gerhard

introduces the folk element in his music is by incorporating Spanish rhythms. As

Harold Meltzer writes of Gerhard in the text, Music of the Twentieth-Century

Avant-Garde, “Spanish elements appear in his work increasingly only in subtle

and non-melodic ways, [such as] in his String Quartet no. 1 (1950–1955) with

ostinatos reminiscent of Spanish dance rhythms.”26 Gerhard uses these folk-

inspired rhythmic elements as structural markers throughout that work, but their

presence are most pronounced in the first movement, as will be discussed further

in Chapter 4.

Using rhythmic motives as a structural device is a common feature of

Spanish music throughout history, as noted by John Trend. In his text The Music

of Spanish History to 1600, Trend “discusses rhythm as being the one thing

which holds the fabric together….[it] impresses on the mind the feeling of a

balanced construction, a rational conquest of time as it passes.”27 Indeed, it

25 David Drew, liner notes to “Roberto Gerhard 4: Don Quixote/Pedrelliana/Albada,

Interludi i Dansa” (Montaigne Auvidis MO 782104, 1996).

26 Harold Meltzer, “Roberto Gerhard,” in Music of the Twentieth-Century Avant-Garde,ed. Larry Sitsky (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002), 153.

27 John Brande Trend, The Music of Spanish History to 1600 (Oxford University Press:Humphrey Milford, 1926), 17. Quoted in Maria B. Selleck-Harrison, “A Pedagogical andAnalytical Study of “Granada” (“Serenata”), “Sevilla” (“Sevillanas”), “Asturias” (“Leyenda”) and

46

would be second nature for Gerhard to incorporate rhythmic elements influenced

by his Spanish background.

While it may be tempting to view the ethnic and atonal aspects of

Gerhard’s music as contradictory elements, it should be pointed out that Gerhard

himself, like many of his modernist peers, did not. Indeed, as the following quote

reveals, Gerhard saw little difference between music composed traditionally and

that which incorporated so-called atonal techniques.

One of the most confusing words that have been “thrown” into asmall arena of new music during these last few years hasundoubtedly been the word “atonal.” Who is responsible for this?Useless question! I confess that, in general, all these words, allthese “-isms”, make no difference to me. These battle-cries are theideological signs that give the discussions of critics and aestheticssome force. The Germans say Schlagworte, which means “slogans.I think it is very good. One cannot ask for a better definition.However, I am not so indifferent to the atonal “ism.” Could itpossibly be because someone has wanted to appoint me its“representative” in Barcelona? I do not think so. My feebleindifference is more unselfish in this case.28

In this statement, Gerhard makes it clear he was not concerned with defending

his own music, but rather with defending Schoenberg and his teachings. Over the

course of the next several months, Gerhard cited numerous examples and

aphorisms not only from Schoenberg, but also from much earlier sources dating

back to the Medieval and Renaissance eras. Finally, Gerhard admitted his new

role of the unwelcome modern music ambassador of Spain. Though it was a role

“Castilla” (“Seguidillas”) from the Suite Española, Opus 47 by Isaac Albéniz,” D.M.A. diss.(University of Miami, 1992), 149-50.

28 Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” 43.

47

he did not actively seek, it is important to note that Gerhard was the first

Spaniard to publicize Schoenberg’s teachings in his home country.29

In his early writings, Gerhard joked that atonality was not the “accidental

personal invention of an unashamed innovator.”30 Instead, he claimed that it

was part of a larger sequence of events in the European musical tradition. In

Gerhard's view, pre-tonal music existed prior to tonal music, and this tonal

system, as we know it, was constantly under revision and transformation.

Gerhard supported his defense of “atonality” with musical excerpts from a

wide variety of sources, including those of the pre-atonal era. He cited examples

by Schoenberg, Rameau, and Zarlino, and even by Machaut, Dufay, and Binchois.

That Gerhard could draw on musical examples spanning numerous centuries is

evidence of his belief that tonal and atonal music share common processes.

Schoenberg taught his students to compose “tonally” rather than “atonally,” and

Gerhard claimed that Schoenberg did not teach his students to compose any

other way. Schoenberg stressed the importance of the old masters with a

“severity to which 99 percent of his disciples have succumbed.”31 Building on this

foundation, Gerhard reasoned that Rameau provided a rational set of laws to

account for the music of composers as far back as Dunstable. Gerhard too

contemplated the pre-tonal music of Machaut, Dufay, and Binchois and

29 This was something that Gerhard literally took to heart, since he was one of only a

select few responsible for introducing both Schoenberg and Webern to Barcelona throughout the1920s and 1930s. In one of his El Mirador articles, he even stated of these new ideas: “let usbring them to Catalonia, for they are truly worthwhile.” Quoted from “New Musical Methods(1930),” 42.

30 Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” 44.

31 Ibid., 47.

48

concluded that non-tonal music was nothing new to European musical tradition.

To prove this point, Gerhard pointed out that composers of Belgian, Dutch,

French, German, English, Italian, and even Spanish descent all wrote non-tonal

works built on the cantus firmus “L’homme armé.”32 Ultimately, Gerhard

considered all music to be tonal, including the so-called pre-tonal music of

Machaut, Dufay, and Binchois. The fact that Rameau's theories could be applied

both to Dufay's music and his own was evidence that all this music was cut from

the same cloth.

According to Gerhard, the only reason that atonal music was hard to

understand was because people weren’t used to it.33 He also argued that most of

the musicians associated with atonality were the ones with “the deepest respect

for a good musical tradition” and also the ones proclaiming to have “conservative

ambitions.”34 One can readily recognize Gerhard’s defense of Schoenberg in this

statement. As Gerhard put it to his readership, “I have immense satisfaction in

informing you that ‘tonality’ is in splendid health” and that Schoenberg and

others have had great success with works that would be labeled by conservatives

as “tonal” compositions.35 But how did these aforementioned “respectable”

composers go from having “conservative ambitions” to abandoning tonality?

32 Gerhard’s comment was full of sarcasm as he wrote, “ “Can you not tell, Sir, emerging

from the foundations once again in the latent society of a new period? Can’t you feel it? – ‘theman, the man, the armed man’ - L’homme armé?” Ibid., 48.

33 Ibid,. 50. He equates the public’s reaction to atonalism here with the public’s firstreaction to the chromatic music of Wagner. Gerhard states elsewhere that following Wagner’sTristan, tonality “had its foot in the grave.” Ibid., 43.

34 Ibid., 43, both quotes.

35 Ibid., 43.

49

For Gerhard, finding the most accurate definition of atonality was

something he returned to time and time again over the course of his career. In

his 1952 article, “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music,” he offered not his own

definition of atonality, but instead recounted Schoenberg’s explanation of the

loaded term. In a lengthy footnote included in the revised version of his text

Harmonielehre, Schoenberg described “atonal” as such:

The word ‘atonal’ could only signify something entirely inconsistentwith the nature of the tone . . . Everything implied from a series oftones (Tonereihe) constitutes tonality, whether it be broughttogether by means of direct reference to a single fundamental or bymore complicated connections. That from this single correctdefinition no reasonable opposite corresponding to the word‘atonality’ can be formed must be evident.36

Here Schoenberg argued more against the ill-fated word choice than the principle

it implied. He surmised that because all music was composed of tones, the whole

premise of “a-tonality”, to him, made little sense. It is also interesting to note

that whereas Gerhard never provided his own definition of the term “atonal” in

the aforementioned 1952 article, we can assume that he agreed with the one

provided by Schoenberg. Indeed, Gerhard, on this occasion and on others, often

made his own point by using Schoenberg’s words.

Gerhard finally decided, sharing his mentor’s sentiments, that “atonal-

ism” was a purely speculative concept. He even went as far as to state, “I find that

this question of the tonal or “atonal” order of the materials, at heart, has no

artistic interest; it is an essentially theoretical question, almost of acoustics and

not of morphology.” Clearly, Gerhard saw the concept of tonality and “atonality”

36 Arnold Schoenberg, Theory of Harmony, 3rd edition, trans. Roy E. Carter (Berkeley

and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1978), 432.

50

as a theoretical issue, finding that the tonal/atonal distinction led to

misconceptions more than to clarifications.

Conclusion

The idiosyncratic nature of Gerhard’s music is revealed by the presence of

folk elements in his twelve-tone composition. While this allowed him to express

his individuality, his marriage of these elements contradicted Schoenberg’s

teachings. Thus, Gerhard’s music is unique because his incorporation of Spanish

elements adds an expressive side to a structural compositional technique. His

musical vocabulary was naturally influenced by his background, which was

shaped by his upbringing in Catalonia. This expression of his culture and

background was not something he set out to achieve as a matter of purpose, but

rather something that emerged from his compositional process. Eschewing

blatant Spanish folk tunes and melodies, Gerhard instead composed his own

themes and harmonies, but infused them with driving Spanish rhythms. Indeed,

these rhythmic motives evoke his Spanish background, though it is his synthesis

of these folkloric elements that gives his music a nationalist character, while still

remaining both cosmopolitan and contemporary.

It is most important to note that in spite of the criticism directed toward

his music upon his return to Barcelona, Gerhard seized an opportunity to become

a mouthpiece for new artistic ideas while at the same time fully embracing his

Catalan heritage. Rather than suppress his modernist ideas and conform to a

more traditionalist agenda so as to be accepted by the Spanish musical

community, Gerhard used the pages in El Mirador to address not only the attacks

51

meted out by his conservative critics, but also to defend musical modernism for

the Barcelona public. His articles were the first to publicize the teachings of

Schoenberg in Spain, which won him both friends and enemies. While many

readers found his articles progressive and thought provoking, those associated

with the opposing government thought otherwise. Franco’s regime sought to

suppress all signs of artistic modernism as well as Catalan identity, including its

written and spoken language.37 While none of these censures were personally

directed at Gerhard, he held his nationality and cultural identity in high regard.

Because he and his fellow compatriots were forced to denounce their Catalan

identity, Gerhard made the choice to flee the country. Subsequent political

turmoil led to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, and the ensuing dictatorship

continued well beyond the Second World War.

37 See Richard Herr, An Historical Essay on Modern Spain, 216:

On April 5, 1938 Franco abolished the Catalan statute of 1932 with its provisionsfor an autonomous government, the Generalitat. Subsequent decrees prohibitedthe use of the Catalan language in school, in government, or in the press, andabolished all laws passed by the Generalitat.

52

Chapter 4: Years in Exile, Part I

Following the defeat of the Republicans and Barcelona’s occupation by

Franco’s military forces in 1939, the Gerhards left Spain and never returned.1

Their self-imposed exile took them first to Paris, where they lived close to many

other exiled Catalans. Robert Graham discusses this mass exodus of Spanish

liberals following the Revolution in his book, Spain: Change of a Nation:

Between 350,000 and 400,000 people fled from Spain in 1939,mostly across the border to France, a few by crossing to FrenchNorth Africa or by boat direct to Latin America. These numbers areonly approximations, like all the others relating to the CivilWar...However, at least 150,000 went into longer term orpermanent exile. All were crucial members of a modern democraticstate: academics, artists, liberal members of the professions,politicians, teachers, and trade unionists. The exodus was a seriousdrain on Spain’s human resources.2, 3

The Gerhards temporarily relocated to France, but shortly thereafter moved to

England, where he accepted a small position at King’s College in Cambridge

1 It was only after Gerhard exiled from Spain that he adopted the name “Roberto,” being

that his given name was Robert.

2 Robert Graham, Spain: Change of a Nation (London: Michael Joseph, 1984), 35.

3 The mass exodus of Spanish liberals is also discussed in John A. Crow, Spain: The Rootand the Flower: An Interpretation of Spain and the Spanish People, 3rd ed. (Berkeley and LosAngeles: University of California Press, 1985), 344-345:

Thousands of liberals fled from Spain in order to escape from Franco’s newchurch-state. Almost the entire publishing industry left; along with the bestwriters, university professors, artists, and scientists...These men simply could notstomach General Franco. Not one of them [was] an extremist; they [were] allhonorable liberals, who believe[d] in justice and freedom...A total of three to fourhundred thousand crossed the border into France; about half of these remainedin that country while the other half scattered widely.

53

arranged by his friend Edward J. Dent. Dent was a professor at Cambridge

University and the current president of ISCM. He was able to procure a small

stipend from the college for Gerhard with no teaching requirements.4 To offset

their strained financial situation, Dent secured additional stipends for Gerhard

through the Cambridge University Musical Society and from the Society for the

Protection of Science and Learning so Gerhard could continue his musicological

and archival research in early Spanish music.

While most of Gerhard’s early works were composed in a non-serial idiom,

a shift in his aesthetic in the direction of twelve-tone composition becomes quite

noticeable toward the end of the 1940s. For example, Gerhard composed his

1949 Capriccio for solo flute primarily in a serial idiom, rather than in the

folkloric, traditional Catalonian style.5 The compositional plan upon which this

work is based is the same as that used by Gerhard in his String Quartet no.1,

which is discussed in more detail in later sections of this chapter. Eventually

Gerhard shifted completely toward serialism; from 1950 onward, his pieces were

composed in single movement structures, exhibiting such elements as rhythmic

source sets and combinatorial principles. Gerhard’s physical and emotional

isolation from his homeland led him to reexamine the teachings of his former

mentors and actively pursue new compositional theories and ideas. From this

4 Because Gerhard held no teaching appointment, he remained virtually unknown outside

of England, and his existence there was greatly assisted by the support of such figures as EdwardDent and William Glock. With the exception of a very small number of private students, his onlyteaching opportunities came to him in the U.S., where he taught for a year at the University ofMichigan and a summer at Tanglewood.

5 Capriccio exhibits two hexachordal segments that combine to create a twelve-note row.The second of the hexachords is a transposed retrograde-inversion of the first.

54

process came Gerhard’s ideas on the tonal aspects of the twelve-tone method.

Gerhard’s student, Joaquim Homs sums up the shift in Gerhard’s approach to

composition in the following way:

1. Consolidation of the practice of twelve-tone method along linesestablished in his earlier period: that is, using it more as acombinatory code than in a thematic sense, and making use ofpermutations and segmentations of the series.

2. Extension of the method to temporal relations, meter, rhythm,duration of the sequences, sections and the intrinsic form of thepiece.

3. Exploration of the compositional possibilities of concrete andelectronic music, and their influence on composition usingtraditional instruments, either separately or combining bothmeans of sound production.6

According to Homs, “[t]he works he [Gerhard] composed between 1940

and 1947 revealed overtly his Hispanic character and had already won him a high

reputation as a musical nationalist—comparable, indeed, to Falla.”7 As Homs

goes on to observe, however, Gerhard’s “creative aspirations and frustrations

demanded from him the evolution of a more individual technique and this, in the

1950s, led to profound developments in his music.”8 Nevertheless, Gerhard

continued to incorporate tonal features into his music even after he turned

exclusively to twelve-tone composition.

In this chapter I will flesh out Gerhard’s ideas with respect to the issue of

tonality vs. atonality and will discuss some of the specific compositional

6 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen(Sheffield, UK: Hallamshire Press, Anglo-Catalan Society, 2000), 62-63.

7 Ibid., 47.

8 Ibid., 47.

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consequences of these ideas. In particular, I will discuss Gerhard’s idiosyncratic

method of composing with hexachords as well as how he incorporates sonata

form, a tonal construct, into the atonal idiom. These ideas will be explored

through an investigation of Gerhard’s theoretical writings as well as an analysis of

a characteristic work from this period, the first movement of his String Quartet,

no. 1.

Gerhard’s first quartet premiered in August of 1956 at the Dartington

Summer Music School in England, and was dedicated to the Parrenin String

Quartet. Its nineteen-minute duration consists of four separate movements and

incorporates widely disparate compositional ideas. The first movement was

composed in 1950 while the second, third, and fourth movements were not

completed until 1955. This gap in completion is quite pronounced; the first

movement recalls many of the string quartet movements of the Second Viennese

School, while the final two movements represent some of Gerhard’s first

explorations into the serialism of multiple parameters.9 Gerhard’s first string

quartet is noteworthy because: 1) it functioned as a blank canvas and became a

springboard for his future compositional innovations during this period, 2) it

marked his return to the twelve-note method following a period of reflection

lasting more than twenty years, and 3) it showcased his innovative theory of

serially controlled proportions, which will be explored in detail in Chapter 5.

9 The second movement is episodic and improvisatory in nature, yet, as a whole, it

functions as a uniting movement, marrying the first movement to the latter two sections of thecomposition. Because the formal structure of the second movement departs from the hyper-formalism used in the first and final movements, and does not possess the temporal innovationsexhibited in the final two movements, it will not receive a detailed examination in this study.

56

Hexachordal harmony

Only one row and its permutations govern the pitch content of Gerhard’s

string quartet. Hence the composition follows the principle espoused by

Schoenberg excluding the use of more than one row in a work.10 This is a

principle Gerhard felt strongly about and followed consistently in his serial

compositions. Given the limited resources such an approach affords, Gerhard

was careful to construct interesting row orderings. In Gerhard’s view, once the

row order was established, the composer needed to study its properties in order

to understand the “nature” of the series so that its “genius” could be

appreciated.11

It must be realized that the internal structure peculiar to the serieswill favor certain lines of development, while discountenancing oreven effectively barring others; this individual quality of theseries—its grain as it were—has a far-reaching influence upon mysubject matter and mode of treatment.12

Once this internal structure was established, one could then examine the

complementary relationships created by its construction. Gerhard typically did

10 Schoenberg repeatedly advocates using a single row for a composition as noted in his

1941 article, “Composition with Twelve Tones (1).” On pp. 219-20, he writes, “The use of morethan one set was excluded because in every following set one or more tones would have beenrepeated too soon. Again there would arise the danger of interpreting the repeated tone as atonic. Besides, the effect of unity would be lessened.” Later in the same article (p. 223) he writes,“The restrictions imposed on a composer by the obligation to use only one set in a compositionare so severe that they can only be overcome by an imagination which has survived a tremendousnumber of adventures.” Finally, as if to add proof to this claim, he states, “I was not yet convincedthat the exclusive use of one set would not result in monotony…but soon I discovered that…Icould even base a whole opera, Moses and Aaron, solely on one set” (p. 224). Arnold Schoenberg,“Composition with Twelve Tones (1),” in Style and Idea, Edward Stein, ed. (London, UK: Faber &Faber, 1975).

11 Roberto Gerhard, “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music (1952),” 123. One can recognize theGrundgestalt influence in this statement.

12 Ibid., 123.

57

this by routinely parsing his twelve-tone row into two independently functioning

hexachords. The row in mm. 1-8 in Example 4.1, for instance, is expressed as two

distinct six-note chords enclosed in boxes. A melodic version of the row at P6,

also boxed, occurs in mm. 8-11.

Example 4.1: Opening hexachordal division of the row – Roberto Gerhard, StringQuartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 1-11. © 1958 by Boosey & HawkesMusic Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

58

The parsing of rows into hexachords in this work was of great importance to

Gerhard.13 In the following quote from his article on “Tonality in Twelve-Tone

Music,” for example, Gerhard meticulously documents hexachordal

combinatoriality.

According to its structure, a series can be shown to belong to one ofthree possible types: (a) series whose antecedent (notes 1-6) isreproduced by transposition in the consequent (notes 7-12) eitherin the same order or in crab-form, or else in a new permutationalform (this is a comparatively rare type: about one series in tenbelongs to it): (b) series whose antecedent is inverted in theconsequent, again either in the original or in the reverse order, orelse in permutation (about one series in four belongs to this secondtype): (c) asymmetrical series, that is, series whose antecedent andconsequent are structurally different (more than half belong to thislast type).14

The first type of hexachordal relationship in this description expresses a relation

commonly referred to as P-combinatoriality, the second to I- and RI-

combinatoriality, and the third to non-combinatorial hexachords. According to

Gerhard, Schoenberg favored the second type, which Gerhard likewise used in

the construction of his String Quartet no. 1.

13 Roman Vlad also notes this, writing, “the hexachordal dichotomy of the fundamental

series becomes established soon after the opening, in the successive exposition of the harmonictotal of the two hexachords.” Roman Vlad, “My First Impressions of Roberto Gerhard’s Music,”The Score 17 (September 1956), 32.

14 Roberto Gerhard, “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music (1952),” 123. In a discussion ofWebern’s row forms, Theodor Adorno comes to the same conclusion. He writes, “The rows arestructured as if they were already a composition—for example, in such a way that one row isdivided into four groups of triads whose interrelationship, in turn, is definable in terms of thebasic presentation of the row, its inversion, its crab, and the crab inversion.” Theodor W. Adorno,Philosophy of Music, Anne G, Mitchell and Wesley V. Blomster, trans. (New York and London:Continuum International Publishing, 2003), 110.

59

The original ordering of the row in String Quartet no. 1, as shown in

Example 4.1, is P6, <6-1-2-8-0-4-3-5-t-e-7-9>.15 Dividing the row into two

hexachords and arranging these from the lowest to highest pcs yields the pc-sets

{0-1-2-4-6-8} and {3-5-7-9-t-e}, which, in this case, also happens to be their

normal order. These inversionally related hexachords belong to set class 6-22

(012468) and embed a whole-tone pentachord as well as a chromatic trichord.16

These are bracketed in Example 4.1.

Hexachord 1 Hexachord 2

Whole Tones Whole Tones

0 1 2 4 6 8 3 5 7 9 t e

Chromatic Tones Chromatic Tones

Figure 4.1: Hexachordal structure of set class 6-22 (012468)

15 Pitch-classes 10 and 11 will be labeled t and e throughout. I also label the first

presentation of the row according to the number of the row’s first sounding pc.

16 Dave Headlam labels SC 6-22 a “whole-tone +” collection in Dave Headlam, The Musicof Alban Berg (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996), 68, 70. Gerhard’s decisionto favor hexachords belonging to SC 6-22 is reminiscent of Berg, whose music features cyclic-based pitch collections with added dissonant elements.

60

Examples 4.2 (a) and (b) illustrate Gerhard’s manipulation of whole-tone and

chromatic segmentations; in these examples, whole-tone segments are enclosed

in solid-line boxes. Dashed-line boxes denote chromatic segments.

(a)

Example 4.2: (a) Exploitation of whole-tone and chromatic segments – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 28-30. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

61

(b)

Example 4.2: (b) Exploitation of whole-tone and chromatic segments – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 78-82. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

Gerhard often created a reduced network of related rows (from the

original forty-eight) based on hexachordal relations. While in some cases these

networks were derived from the combinatorial properties of the hexachords in a

row, he exploited other properties as well, most particularly complete or partial

pc-invariance between parallel rather than complementary hexachords.

Complete pc-invariance between hexachords occurs when the combinatorial

process is reversed. Where, for example, inversion produces pc-invariance

between complementary hexachords, retrograde inversion produces pc-

invariance between corresponding hexachords. The dashed-line boxes in Figure

4.2 (a) illustrate the complementary pc-invariance that occurs when P6 is

62

coupled with I5. Parallel pc-invariance is shown on the figure with solid-line

boxes. Figure 4.2 (b) shows the specific transpositional levels that produce pc-

invariance between parallel hexachords in rows whose hexachords instance SC 6-

22 like that Gerhard uses in his string quartet.

(a)

I5 5 t 9 3 e 7 8 6 1 0 4 2

P6 6 1 2 8 0 4 3 5 t e 7 9

RI5 2 4 0 1 6 8 7 e 3 9 t 5

Figure 4.2: (a) Hexachordal relations in Roberto Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1 –Hexachordal pc-invariance among I5, P6, and RI5

63

(b)

Hexachord 1 Hexachord 2P0 H1 RI11 P0 H2 RI11P1 H1 RI0 P1 H2 RI0P2 H1 RI1 P2 H2 RI1P3 H1 RI2 P3 H2 RI2P4 H1 RI3 P4 H2 RI3P5 H1 RI4 P5 H2 RI4P6 H1 RI5 P6 H2 RI5P7 H1 RI6 P7 H2 RI6P8 H1 RI7 P8 H2 RI7P9 H1 RI8 P9 H2 RI8P10 H1 RI9 P10 H2 RI9P11 H1 RI10 P11 H2 RI10

Figure 4.2: (b) Hexachordal relations in Roberto Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1 –All transpositions of SC 6-22 that produce parallel pc-invariance17

Other row combinations produce only partial pc-invariance between

hexachords. Of these, Gerhard was most interested in those that held five tones

in common. I will refer to hexachords exhibiting this relationship as being

closely related. While each I-combinatorial hexachord in the row from Gerhard’s

string quartet has only one inversionally related companion that shares all six

17 Joseph Straus uses the labels H1 and H2 for hexachords belonging to a twelve-tone row

in his book, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. See Joseph Straus, Introduction to Post-TonalTheory, 3rd. ed. (Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall, 2005). Because there is no method forlabeling hexachords in relation to their derived row form, I will combine Straus’s H1 or H2 labelswith a row transformation label to specifically identify a given hexachord, i.e. P6-H2 or I7-H1.

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pcs, there are two hexachordal transformations for every closely related six-note

segment.18

This concept is quite valuable because it offers a new way to compare row

segments. Traditionally, segments are labeled according to how they relate to

surrounding segments or to the row or theme as a whole. Forte’s R1 and R2

relations, for example, provide a way to compare sets of varying cardinality while

other methods concentrate on the transformation by which one set maps onto

another.19 It is less common to analyze the hexachords or any row segment

according to the number of shared pcs. While it is also true that the hexachords

in question, along with their shared pentachords, may be classified as members

18 More specifically, for Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1, closely related hexachords are

those hexachords (specifically SC 6-22) that share the inclusion of either SC 5-15 (01268) or SC 5-33 (02468).

19 See Allen Forte, The Structure of Atonal Music (New Haven and London: Yale UniversityPress, 1973), 46-49. In Gerhard’s String Quartet no, 1, closely related hexachords are thosehexachords (specifically SC 6-22) that share the inclusion of either SC 5-15 or SC 5-33. WhileAllen Forte’s R1 and R2 relations compare interval vectors of sets, SCs 6-22, and its two includedsets, 5-15 and 5-33, do not have at least four interval vector columns in common. In addition,Forte’s Rp relation compares different set classes of the same cardinality. It should be noted thatbecause all of the hexachords in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1 are all transpositions andinversions of SC 6-22, then Allen Forte’s Rp relation would not be applicable since I amcomparing the same rather than differing set classes. Moreover, if the hexachords that I amcalling “closely related” are those that share five common pcs (which in this case are composed ofSCs 5-15 and 5-33), then I still would not be able to apply Forte’s Rp relation because that wouldrequire comparing set classes of different cardinalities. The close relationship that I have foundbetween SCs 6-22, 5-15, and 5-33 is based on their pc content rather than their interval content.Indeed, the sets are not comparable by any of Forte’s R relations. While more recentdevelopments have been made in similarity relations, such as those by Buchler, Isaacson, Lewin,Lord, Morris, and Rahn, only Forte’s Rp relation focuses on maximum similarity with respect topitch class. His early theory is the only one that specifically bases similarity on shard pcs.Furthermore, according to Ian Quinn, “the music theory community has borne witness over thelast decade to a proliferation of ‘similarity relations,’ [and] as it turns out, most of these measuresagree with one another about the basic topography of the world of pitch-class sets, in practice ifnot in theory, and what is more, they agree to a large extent with Allen Forte's theory of pitch-class set genera.” See Ian Quinn, “On Similarity, Relations, and Similarity Relations,” Paperpresented at the Society for Music Theory Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, 30 October, 1997,abstract.

65

of Forte's Supragenus I, this classification does little to explain the "tonal"

implications Gerhard derives from their relationship.20

In his String Quartet no. 1, Gerhard exploits this relation frequently in the

opening movement by associating row hexachords that share a five-note subset.

In Example 4.3, for instance, Gerhard moves from the first hexachord of P6 to its

complement in mm. 125-126. He then progresses seamlessly between the six pcs

of P6-H2 to P3-H1. Thus, the pcs 5, 9, 10, 3, 11 and 7 of P6-H2 move to the pcs 5, 9,

2, 3, 11 and 10 of P3-H1. Note how in Example 4.3 the violoncello and viola

reiterate the same pitches in mm. 125-28. Because these hexachords are closely

related, the transition from the first hexachord to the second is exceptionally

efficient.21

20 SC 6-22 shares membership in Genus 1 with SC 5-15. SC 6-22 shares membership with

SC 5-33 in Genera 2 and 4. See Allen Forte, "Pitch-Class Set Genera and the Origin of ModernHarmonic Species," Journal of Music Theory 32/2 (Autumn 1988): 187-270.

21 Gerhard was not the only composer to exploit this concept of closely relatedhexachords, implying that this theory has applications outside the music of Gerhard. Forexample, Stravinsky breaks his rows into hexachords and combines them with closely relatedhexachords in the second movement of Canticum Sacrum.

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Example 4.3: Motion from one row transformation to another via closely relatedhexachords – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I,mm. 125-34. © 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.Reprinted by permission.

One of the most controversial techniques Gerhard employed during this

period was that of reordering the pcs of the hexachords in a twelve-tone row.

This technique is a direct outgrowth of Gerhard’s ideas about what he felt were

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essentially the tonal characteristics of atonal music and can help to shed light on

this important aspect of his compositions. In his String Quartet no. 1, Gerhard

begins the process of reordering the pcs of the hexachord immediately following

the first melodic statement of the row. In the passage played by the first violin

shown in Example 4.4, the three permutations of the row following the

presentation of the row in its original order in mm. 9-11, present the pcs of each

hexachord in a different temporal order. Reordering does not occur across the

row as a whole, then, but is limited to the pcs within each hexachord

independently.

Example 4.4: Permutation of the tone row – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no.1, movement I, mm. 9-19. © 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes MusicPublishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

Hexachords were not the only segments that could be subjected to

permutation for Gerhard. Those consisting of three or four members, as well as

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asymmetrical divisions of the row could also be manipulated in this way. Recall

that Gerhard even reordered seven-note segments as early as 1928 in his Wind

Quintet, though in an unsophisticated and rudimentary form.22 Gerhard

rationalizes this practice by noting that:

…the identity of the series will be maintained in spite ofpermutation, provided that this takes place exclusively within theconstituent units (hexachord, tetrachord, etc.), in other words, aslong as these constituent units maintain their identity and place.23

Gerhard provided support for his ideas by analyzing the late works of

Schoenberg. For example, Gerhard observed that in Von Heute auf Morgen,

“…the rule of the inviolability of the consecutive order of the twelve notes of the

series was being deliberately disregarded by Schoenberg.”24 Gerhard goes on to

note that Schoenberg “is not just taking liberties with the serial order [in Von

Heute auf Morgen]: what he is doing is something quite different.”25 Because

Schoenberg treats the two hexachords of the tone row independently and

interchangeably, Gerhard suggests that there is “a relation of identity [emphasis

mine] between the two interchangeable units.”26

Gerhard’s views on this subject become clearer when we consider his

rationale for hexachordal interchangeability. For Gerhard, the identity of

22 Refer to Chapter 3 for further discussion on Gerhard’s reordering of segments in the

Wind Quintet.

23 Roberto Gerhard, “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music (1952),” 126.

24 Ibid., 126.

25 Ibid., 126.

26 Ibid., 126.

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hexachords rested on the same principle in which Rameau claimed the identity of

the triad and its inversion.27 Gerhard cites Rameau’s principle of harmonic

identity as proof of the legitimacy of this new theory. It was Rameau who wrote

that different inversions of a triad do not change its being or identity. Building

on this foundation, Gerhard asserted that free permutations of predetermined

subdivisions of a twelve-tone row could also maintain their identity. For

Gerhard, that is, the reordering of the pcs within a hexachord was equivalent to

Rameau’s principle of triadic inversion.

On giving himself the freedom to manipulate rows in this way, Gerhard

states:

Mutatis mutandis, this is how my code is meant to operate… Myrigid series begins to throw up images. They are, of course, hiddenimages or metamorphoses already of bare interval relations. Thesimple spelling of the twelve-note series forwards and backwards inthe correct order seems to me too much like copying the flower ofmy wallpaper-pattern. I attend only to its metamorphoses.28

The use of his “code” allowed Gerhard to gain compositional freedom and, hence,

find his own voice. This was very important to him, for he often claimed that

Schoenberg’s twelve-tone method, or any other technique for that matter should

always serve as a means, not an end.

A careful balance is maintained between the separate compositionalelements of basic row material, theme, gesture, and form—abalance that could well rest fundamentally on a close observation ofSchoenberg’s dictum that a basic series, despite its importance, isnot in itself music; and should remain in the composer’s mind as a

27 Ibid., 126.

28 Roberto Gerhard, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” in Gerhard onMusic: Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing,2000), 135-6.

70

reservoir from which themes, as independent entities, may bedrawn.29

Gerhard’s practice of freely rearranging the pcs of the hexachord or any

other segmentation is, according to Allan F. Moore, “diametrically opposed” to

the theories set forth by another one of Gerhard’s contemporaries, Milton

Babbitt.30 Babbitt’s ideas were opposed to Gerhard’s preference for reordering

the tone row, even within hexachords, because Babbitt believed that it was the

temporal manipulation of all twelve pcs of the complete row that made a work a

twelve-tone composition in the first place. Babbitt expresses this idea in his 1960

article, “Twelve-Tone Invariants as Compositional Determinants”:

Given a collection of available elements, the choice of a sub-collection of these as a referential norm provides a norm that isdistinguishable by content alone; such a system, and the traditionaltonal system is such, is therefore combinatorial. But if thereferential norm is the totality of elements, there is but one suchnorm in terms of content, and deviations from this norm cannotexist within the system. But if an ordering is imposed upon thistotality, and taken as a norm, this norm is so distinguished, the caseof twelve pitch class elements, from the 12!-1 other possibleorderings, that is, other possible permutations. Any considerationof the operations of the system must proceed from an awareness oftheir permutational nature.31

29 Peter Paul Nash, “The Wind Quintet,” Tempo 139 (December 1981): 7.

30 Before continuing, it should be explained here that Gerhard and Babbitt were mostlikely aware of each other’s music and research during this time. In addition, they were bothstudents of Schoenberg, in Europe and the United States, respectively, and as Moore points out,they are both composers “whose music is conventionally understood, both by themselves and byothers, to be ‘serial’.” Quoted in Allan F. Moore, “On the Late Chamber Works of RobertoGerhard,” Ph.D. diss. (University of Southampton, 1995), 79.

31 Milton Babbitt, “Twelve-Tone Invariants as Compositional Determinants,” The MusicalQuarterly 46/2 (April 1960), 247-48.

71

For Babbitt, “the constraints of twelve-tone writing [were] nothing more

than a principle of formation of the most characteristic, the most physical

materials—the twelve pitch classes of the usual chromatic scale—and certain

principles of transformation which [were] interval preserving” in the melodic

dimension.32 This further confirms Babbitt’s position that a guiding principle of

the twelve-tone method was the application of transformational operations to the

entire series. On the other hand, a lone hexachord by itself could be deemed a

referential collection that could be reordered without losing its identity because

the pcs in the collection were the identifiers.33

Gerhard, then, treated the row as a referential collection or Grundgestalt

from which local ideas could be drawn. He maintained that twelve-tone rows

were mainly a way to generate hexachords, and were not immutable entities in

themselves. Consequently, for Gerhard, the twelve-tone row was an almost

virtual basis for tonal expression with hexachords functioning more like chords in

tonal music than temporally ordered sequences. The crucial feature of this

approach is the preservation of harmonic identity, rather than melodic identity.

Treating hexachords as tonal entities allowed Gerhard to create music with a

32 Milton Babbitt, Words About Music: The Madison Lectures, eds. Stephen Dembski

and Joseph N. Straus. (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1987), 170. Quoted in ElliottAntokoletz, Twentieth Century Music (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998),388.

33 If the hexachord was part of an ordered pair and the totality of the row in a particularorder is the referential norm (as it would be if the hexachord was part of a twelve-tone series),then changing this order would affect its identity. Babbitt, of course, took a more serial approachto his music, whereas Gerhard preferred to maintain the “tonal” aspect of his twelve-tone method(remembering that Gerhard considered the twelve-tone method a new formation of the principleof tonality with the hexachord being congruent to a triad in tonal music).

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quasi-tonal character.34 This idea points to a critical difference between Gerhard

and many of his peers. While Schoenberg and others occasionally employed

various permutations of the row and its hexachordal segments, none appears to

have treated these permutations as “tonal” entities.

Tonal form in Gerhard’s String Quartet, no. 1

Gerhard composed the first movement of his String Quartet no. 1 in 1950

before developing his theory of serially controlled proportions.35 Although this

movement was composed using the twelve-tone method, then, the pre-

compositional constraints placed on rhythm developed in his later years are

absent. In addition, even though the quartet is a twelve-tone work, Gerhard

follows the classical model of sonata-allegro form for the composition’s opening

movement, which contains an exposition, complete with two themes, a

development section, and a reversed recapitulation.36 Gerhard’s merging of tonal

and atonal elements on the surface helps to reinforce the traditional features of

this design.

34 Just as chords in tonal music are recognized by their content—regardless of how that

content is ordered—so too are Gerhard’s hexachords.

35 This theory will be discussed further in Chapter 5.

36 William E. Caplin refers to the reversed recapitulation in Classical Form: A Theory ofFormal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 1998), 173-74. James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy do not recognize this typeof recapitulation with a label. They would instead call this a “deformed” sonata form. See JamesHepokoski and Warren Darcy, Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations inthe Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006),232.

73

Gerhard’s implementation of the sonata-form principle, like those of other

twelve-tone composers, is at odds with the views of those theorists who adhere to

a definition of sonata form that emphasizes key relations since non-tonal music,

by definition, contains no keys. According to William Caplin, for example, sonata

form centers around either a “tour of keys” model or on the initial conflict and

resolution of contrasting keys.37 The latter of these ideas is echoed by John

Michael Randel who writes that the “crucial feature of sonata form is the tension

created by the tonal contrast in the first section and the resolution of this tension

by means of a return to both the original tonality and the original theme in the

second section.”38 So, in the absence of common-practice tonality, a key part of

this formal structure is missing.

In his book, Materials and Techniques of Twentieth Century Music, Stefan

Kostka writes that many musicians claim “it can be argued that once that conflict

of tonalities loses its impact, to the point that it seems to make little difference to

the listener at what pitch level the piece ends, the drama of the sonata is lost.”39

Milton Babbitt communicated a similar view even as early as 1950 in his review

of René Leibowitz’s Schoenberg et son école. In this review Babbitt wrote that,

“once removed from its tonal motivations and from the assumptions which

underlie them…such a term [sonata form] becomes the description of a mere

37 Caplin refers to this view as the “tonal-polarity model.” William Caplin, Classical

Form, 257. His “tour of keys” model is introduced on p. 196.

38 John Michael Randel, “Sonata Form,” in Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music(Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978), 474-75.

39 Stefan Kostka, Materials and Techniques of Twentieth Century Music, 2nd ed. (UpperSaddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999), 138. See additionally n. 40.

74

formalism of thematic arrangement, entirely divorced from the specifically

musical phenomena.”40 Even a decade later, composers such as Humphrey

Searle wrote of sonata form’s fate, claiming that, “people argue that the classical

symphony was so bound up with contrasts of tonality that when key-feeling is

abolished the form cannot stand on its own feet.”41

In spite of these protests, Gerhard and many other twelve-tone composers

found ways to adapt the sonata form to the twelve-tone idiom. In an article

written for The Listener magazine, for example, Humphrey Searle counters that

traditional notion regarding sonata form, noting that:

…classical forms are still usable even if tonality has disappeared…Naturally there will be differences from classical models: a thememay appear in inversion at its reprise, for instance, and variationsmay follow the principles of the twelve-note method rather than theolder ideas of elaborating on a theme—but there are still a numberof links with the past which should make it possible to write asymphony even today.42

Note that Searle makes no mention here of tonal issues—he instead chooses to

cite only themes. Furthermore, given that this article was published in 1962, one

may consider two significant points: 1) even with all of the early discussion,

composers still continued to meet resistance from the academic community

40 Milton Babbitt, review of Schoenberg et son école and Ou’est ce que la musique de

douze sons? by René Leibowitz, in The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt, Stephen Peles, ed.(Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003), 11. I do not wish to imply that eitherKostka or Babbitt agreed with the abovementioned quotations (see also n. 39); these were simplyincluded to rationalize how musicians of that period (and even now) felt about the manipulationof classical forms in a contemporary, non-tonal fashion.

41 Humphrey Searle, “Are twelve-note symphonies possible?” The Listener 68/1757 (29November 1962): 941.

42 Ibid., 941.

75

regarding the use of tonal forms for atonal compositions well beyond the post-

war period, and 2) Gerhard’s compositions may have had an influence on Searle’s

position, since Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1 premiered in 1955, well before the

publication of this article and Searle would have been aware of Gerhard since

each was a regular contributor to the BBC.

One could claim that Gerhard considered the sonata form to be a

thematically based structure. Rather than emphasizing key relations, he instead

focused on the conflict and resolution of thematic material. In this sense,

Gerhard’s approach loosely follows that communicated in recent years by James

Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, who write that sonata form is “neither a set of

‘textbook’ rules nor a fixed scheme. Rather, it is a constellation of normative and

optional procedures that are flexible in their realization.”43 While Hepokoski and

Darcy do not mean for their descriptions to be used outside of a tonal context, I

find that their broad definitions account nicely for Gerhard’s approach. Gerhard

considered the use of sonata form in the first movement of his string quartet as a

mere template. Hepokoski and Darcy note:

From a compositional point of view sonata form was an orderedsystem of generically available options permitting the spanning ofever-larger expanses of time. A sonata-form project was a feat ofengineering…a task of modular assembly: the forging of asuccession of short, section-specific musical units linked togetherinto an ongoing linear chain.44

43 James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, Elements of Sonata Theory, 15.

44 Ibid., 15-16.

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Gerhard apparently shared this sentiment; his sonata form served only as a mold

into which he could pour his ideas.45 His themes, marked by specific harmonic

and melodic material, are easily identifiable as units that join together to create a

complete musical composition.46

Christopher Ballantine also explores the use of sonata form in non-tonal

works in an article published shortly after Gerhard’s death and offers different

solutions to the question at hand. For example, Ballantine suggests that in the

serially organized Sinfonia for Two Orchestras (1959) by Iain Hamilton, the use

of the dualistic principle of conflict-resolution plays out among the tessitura of

various instrumental groupings throughout the work. In his analysis of the Little

Symphony (1963) by Alexander Goehr, Ballantine invokes this same principle to

describe the opposition between lines and textures. He also notes that this

principle is established by “opposing contradictory musical tendencies” in the

Seventh Symphony (1924) by Jean Sibelius.47 So, for Ballantine, “this discovery

of the underlying unity between opposites is in the mainstream of symphonic

thinking.”48 Ballantine suggests that the composers he cites tend to focus more

45 Gerhard himself referred to the sonata form as “really nothing but a constructiveschemata...a mold...not a driving, shaping power which creates its own harmonies or clashingproportions ever anew in the very flow of origination.” Roberto Gerhard, “Functions of the Seriesin Twelve-Note Composition (1960),” in Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings, trans. and ed.Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 168.

46 The thematic approach to sonata form in atonal music too has its detractors. GeorgePerle, for example, writes that Schoenberg and others “ignore the harmonic [emphasis mine]basis of the conventional forms and grossly exaggerate the formal function of traditional motivicoperations.” George Perle, Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music ofSchoenberg, Berg, and Webern (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972),111, n. 1. See additionally n. 60.

47 Christopher Ballantine, “The Symphony in the Twentieth Century: Some Aspects of itsTradition and Innovation,” The Music Review 32/3 (August 1971), 226.

48 Ibid., 225.

77

on the resolution of large-scale conflicts of a textural, thematic, or rhythmic

variety than on the departure and return to a tonic key.

Joseph Straus, in his book Remaking the Past, agrees that “it is possible to

write a work in sonata form that nonetheless ignores the central structural issues

raised by the form” and he contends that “many twentieth-century composers

have done just this.”49 This may even be seen in the music of Gerhard’s teacher

and mentor, Arnold Schoenberg, whose twelve-tone compositions include quite a

few sonata-form movements. The first movements of such works as his Wind

Quintet and his Third and Fourth String Quartets each exhibit sonata form

structures.50 The Wind Quintet reveals a repeated exposition containing both a

primary and subordinate theme, which return in the recapitulation in ways

expected of typical tonal sonatas. 51 Moreover, the primary theme returns at the

original pitch level and the subordinate theme is transposed up a perfect fourth,

which is, as Andrew Mead points out, “the appropriate interval had this indeed

been a tonal work with the second key area the dominant.”52 The first movement

49 Both quotes may be found in Joseph Straus, Remaking the Past: Musical Modernism

and the Influence of the Tonal Tradition (Cambridge, Mass. And London: Harvard UniversityPress, 1990), 132.

50 In lieu of these examples, I should mention here that Gerhard was obviously aware ofSchoenberg’s organizational techniques; his own wind quintet was modeled after Schoenberg’sand, furthermore, Gerhard wrote of Schoenberg’s decision to return to the sonata form in hisessay “Reminiscences of Schoenberg” in the early 1950s. See Roberto Gerhard, “Reminiscences ofSchoenberg,” Perspectives of New Music 13/2 (Spring/Summer 1975): 57-65. Also published inRoberto Gerhard, Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen(Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), pp. 106-12.

51 The use of the terms primary and subordinate themes are taken from William Caplin,Classical Form. More on how these themes emphasize Gerhard’s penchant for closely relatedhexachords is noted in the section of this chapter devoted to the first movement.

52 Andrew Mead, “‘Tonal’ Forms in Arnold Schoenberg’s Twelve-Tone Music,” MusicTheory Spectrum 9/1 (Spring 1987), 73.

78

of Schoenberg’s Fourth String Quartet is a sonata form, but when the primary

theme presented at P2 returns in the recapitulation, it is transposed six

semitones to P8; the theme does not return to its original pitch level until nearly

seventy-five measures later.53

Schoenberg’s Third String Quartet also follows the sonata form principle.

Martha Hyde describes the quartet as a “dialectical imitation” of Franz Schubert’s

String Quartet in A minor. She claims that:

Schoenberg makes the stylistic similarity of Schubert's principalthemes a structural principle of his piece through the partitioning ofhis 12-tone row54…. In place of tonal keys he substitutes twelve-toneareas delineated by inversional axes…[and] harmonic progressionwithin these areas now depends not on tonal norms, but oninversional symmetry and balance.55

This idea of symmetrical equilibrium, which is also outlined by David

Lewin in his article “Inversional Balance as an Organizing Force in Schoenberg’s

Music and Thought,” becomes a critical feature of both Hyde’s and Straus’s

interpretation of Schonberg’s third quartet.56 In the third quartet, Schoenberg

reverses the two themes of the exposition in the recapitulation, creating, “a

symmetrical thematic design” flanking either side of a central development

53 The recapitulation begins in m. 165 and the original P2 row form returns in m. 239.

54 Martha M. Hyde, “Neoclassic and Anachronistic Impulses in Twentieth-CenturyMusic,” Music Theory Spectrum 18/2 (Autumn, 1996), 226.

55 Ibid., 230.

56 Joseph Straus, Remaking the Past, 121. See also David Lewin, “Inversional Balance asan Organizing Force in Schoenberg’s Music and Thought,” Perspectives of New Music 6/2 (1968),1-21. Subsequently, this idea of formal balance is evident in Gerhard’s first quartet as well.Observe how his use of formal balance is reminiscent of that in Schoenberg’s String Quartet no. 3.A similar formal diagram of Gerhard’s First String Quartet may be seen later in this chapter inFigure 4.5.

79

section.57 An example of the symmetrical layout of the first movement of

Schoenberg’s Third String Quartet may be seen in the reproduction of Straus’s

Figure 5-2 as my Figure 4.3.58

57 Martha M. Hyde, "Neoclassic and Anachronistic Impulses in Twentieth-Century

Music," 231.

58 Joseph Straus, Remaking the Past, 122.

80

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81

While these aforementioned works offer only a small number of atonal pieces

exhibiting the sonata form principle, it is clear that the process of composing a

twelve-tone sonata intrigued composers during the first half of the twentieth

century. In his concluding statements on sonata form in his book, Remaking the

Past, Straus offers the following:

Although twentieth-century sonatas share no single commonpractice, therefore, they do share a revisionary impulse, a tendencyto reshape the form in accordance with post-tonal concerns. Theyshare also a deep and ineradicable sense of tension, of thetraditional shape locked in the firm embrace of a new musicalstructure.59

How the idea of tension could shape a twentieth-century atonal sonata was

a popular topic of discussion among Gerhard’s peers in the early part of the

century. Most of these musings centered on harmonic details (rather than

themes) in consideration of the apparent absence of tonality. For example,

Milton Babbitt compares the way sets fit into the hierarchy of the twelve-tone

system with the way triads fit into the hierarchy of the tonal system and then

ponders whether one can replace the other.

May it not be then that the hierarchically derived concept of a set“can replace the structural differentiation provided by tonalharmonic structure” in that the twelve pitch class set, like a “tonic,”is distinguished from other aggregates not simply by internalcontent or even interval relations just as a “tonic” is determined notsufficiently by its triadic structures within and over acomposition?60

59 Ibid., 132.

60 Milton Babbitt, “Since Schoenberg,” in The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt,Stephen Peles, ed. (Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003), 314. It is interesting tonote that this issue is also a major cause for concern in Perle’s view. The aforementioned claimthat Schoenberg, et al. “grossly exaggerate the formal function of traditional motivic operations”(see n. 46) while ignoring the harmonic implications with their use of sets is the very thing thatBabbitt uses as his claim for its legitimacy.

82

Babbitt continues by explaining how Schoenberg’s division of the row into

hexachords allows him to achieve his “harmonic” goals within the framework of

the sonata-allegro form. Gerhard was obviously aware of these organizational

techniques; his own wind quintet was modeled after Schoenberg’s and,

furthermore, Gerhard wrote of the issues surrounding Schoenberg’s decision to

return to the sonata form in that particular work in his essay, “Reminiscences of

Schoenberg” in the early 1950s.61

In the absence of tonal relations, composers had to find other ways to

build connections and relationships in their large-scale compositions.62

Gerhard’s strategy for creating formal coherence was to move from one closely

related hexachord to another. Because of Gerhard’s penchant for hexachordal

reordering, these six-note segments are treated much like chordal entities. By

grouping chordal entities together that are also closely related, Gerhard’s music,

then, begins to develop related regions suggestive of “tonal” or “key” areas.

This process resembles how tonal composers move through closely related

keys in a tonal composition. Gerhard’s hexachord groupings, that is, function in

much the same way as tonal regions in conventional sonata-allegro movements.

Indeed, his twelve-tone quartet follows the traditional model of a sonata-form

61 Roberto Gerhard, “Reminiscences of Schoenberg,” Perspectives of New Music 13/2

(Spring/Summer 1975): 57-65. Also published in Roberto Gerhard, Gerhard on Music: SelectedWritings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), pp. 106-12.Hilary Tann, who wrote a brief introduction to Gerhard’s Perspectives article, cites that thisarticle was originally written c. 1951, but Meirion Bowen gives it the date of 1955. It was notfound until after his death and was published posthumously.

62 Straus considers this dilemma, though from a harmonic perspective, writing, “Even inthe strongest and most interesting twentieth-century sonatas, the fit between the form and thedeeper levels of harmonic structure is never seamless.” See Joseph Straus, Remaking the Past,97.

83

first movement, but in the absence of tonality, the harmonic connections created

by his closely related hexachords become a necessary feature of his formal design.

In lieu of the conflict and resolution generated by opposing keys in a tonal sonata,

Gerhard instead employs progressions of closely related hexachords in place of

keys. Thus, his choice of hexachords replaces tonal relations in his sonata-form

movement. In the following section, the analysis of the first movement of

Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1 will make use of these ideas to illustrate his unique

approach to this traditional form.

Tonal organization in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1, movement I

According to Joseph Straus, the most refined examples of twentieth-

century sonata form are those that synthesize the formal practices of both the

eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.63 While eighteenth-century composers

focused on harmonic contrast and nineteenth-century composers emphasized

thematic development, those twentieth-century composers who could combine

the significant elements of both eras and address the harmonic and thematic

struggle presented by the nature of the form were, in Straus’s opinion, most

successful.

In my view, Gerhard accomplishes such a merging of thematic and

harmonic organization in the first movement of his String Quartet no. 1. Because

there is no traditional “tonal” backbone in the composition, Gerhard relies on his

63 See Joseph Straus, Remaking the Past, 96-97. On p. 132 he writes, “The most

interesting twentieth-century sonatas are those that struggle most profoundly with the tradition,neither ignoring the structural implications of the form nor vainly attempting to regain a period oflost innocence, when the sonata form emerged organically from the musical language.”

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row transformations to provide a structural foundation for the movement. For

Gerhard, hexachords constitute harmonic units and motion is achieved through

the progression from one hexachordal transformation to another. Thus, as

Joaquim Homs eloquently explains, the first movement “presents a similar

structure to the classic sonata, in which the function of traditional tonality is

replaced by a play of tensions, which generates what we could call ‘serial

tonality’.”64

In the exposition, Gerhard relies exclusively on various re-orderings of the

home “key” or tone row to convey the “tonal area” of the given theme, rather than

on groupings of closely related hexachords. For example, the primary theme, as

it appears in the exposition, is composed of P6, <6-1-2-8-0-4-3-5-10-11-7-9>.

The first statement of the row, shown in Example 4.6, occurs in mm. 9-11. This is

followed by several permutations of the row in mm. 12-24. It is these reiterations

of the same transposition of the tone row, albeit in different orderings, that

expresses this “tonal area.” Both the dolce melody and its accompaniment freely

alternate between the first and second hexachords, but never move outside of the

prime form of the row.

64 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, 57. Both Roman Vlad and Julian

White also back this reading. Vlad writes, “In contrast to the Symphony and the other parts ofthe Quartet, this first movement retains a vestige of tripartite classical sonata-form and asymmetrical recapitulation.” White agrees, stating, “The opening movement, dating from 1950,successfully combines Schoenbergian structural techniques with Spanish rhythmic elements.Cast in a quasi-sonata form, though reversing the traditional succession of themes in therecapitulation, it employs Gerhard’s idiosyncratic, permutational 12-note technique, withhexachordal areas.” Roman Vlad, “My First Impressions of Roberto Gerhard’s Music,” 33; JulianWhite, “Roberto Gerhard String Quartets 1 and 2,” liner notes for Roberto Gerhard StringQuartets 1 and 2 (Metier MSV CD92032), 1999, par. 1.

85

Example 4.5: Primary theme and first melodic appearance of the tone row –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 9-24.© 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted bypermission.

Example 4.6 shows the arrival of the subordinate theme in m. 41. Marked

leggiero in the score, this new theme expresses P7 rather than P6, which is

reserved for the primary theme. This example shows the descending arpeggiated

figure in mm. 41 and 42 that is one of the two identifying motivic features of the

subordinate theme. This figure appears four more times before the development

section arrives in m. 77. The other distinguishable figures of the subordinate

theme are the sixteenth-note triplet figures, which occur in nearly every measure

of Example 4.6. This example shows how the first violin and violoncello enter in

imitation. Example 4.6 also marks where the second violin takes over in m. 47.

Note also how the pitch material in this example continually alternates between

the two hexachords of P7, conveying the “key area” of this theme.

86

Example 4.6: Entrance of the subordinate theme in the exposition – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 41-49. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

Gerhard’s primary and subordinate themes, which can be identified by

their rhythmic, melodic, and textural similarity to those in the exposition, return

in the recapitulation in reverse order. In addition, each of the themes articulates

the original pitch content, expressed as hexachords, found in the exposition. This

means that the subordinate theme is not presented in the main “tonality” of the

87

piece, in this case, P6/R6, as one would expect in the recapitulation; instead it

reappears in its identifying “key” of P7.65 The “home tonality” of the piece, P6,

however, is represented by the added accompaniment, which is composed of the

row forms P3, P6, and P9. P3 and P9 are associated with P6 because the

hexachords in all three rows are closely related. Example 4.7 illustrates how these

hexachords are distributed in mm. 90-96 of the recapitulation. This progression

of closely related hexachords accompanying the subordinate theme highlights the

main “tonality” of the movement, which centers on P6.

65 Because Gerhard ultimately reverses the order of the hexachords of the primary theme

in the recapitulation, I will refer to this pitch collection as P6/R6.

88

Example 4.7: Pairing P7 of the subordinate theme with P3, P6, and P9 – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 90-96. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

In this case, Gerhard satisfies the sonata principle by supplementing the

P7 subordinate theme with material derived from three hexachordal

transpositions closely related to the pitch material of the P6 primary theme. This

89

suggests that the most defining feature of Gerhard’s themes is not their melodic

content, but rather, their pitch-class content. Thus, his use (and manipulation)

of closely related hexachords becomes a tool for creating structural unity since,

ultimately, these hexachords function in the same manner as tonal regions in

traditional sonata-form movements.

The “tonal” relations between hexachords in the movement are illustrated

in Figure 4.4. Part (a) of this figure presents a “hexachordal matrix,” rather than

the more familiar traditional Babbitt square. In this “hexachordal matrix,” each

prime form of the row is reordered from the lowest to highest pcs within each of

its two complementary hexachords. Lines drawn from each hexachord to the

other are matched with the line’s closest relative. Following the two darkened

lines, note how P3-H2 and P9-H2 each share five common pcs with P6-H1. Figure

4.4 (b) displays all of the closely related hexachords for each transposition of H1

of P0. The numbers shown in parentheses immediately following each related

transformation denote the two pcs not shared by the two closely related

hexachords. For example, hexachord 2 (H2) of P3 (at the top of the second

column) replaces pc1 from the first hexachord (H1) of P6 with pc 7 and pc4 of P6-

H1 is replaced by pc10 of P9-H2. Thus, the invariant pcs among P6-H1, P3-H2, and

P9-H2 are 0, 2, 6, and 8.

90

(a)

Hexachord 1 Hexachord 2

P0 0 – 2 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 10 1 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 9 – 11 I11

P1 1 – 3 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 11 0 – 2 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 10 I0

P2 0 – 2 – 4 – 8 – 9 – 10 1 – 3 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 11 I1

P3 1 – 3 – 5 – 9 – 10 – 11 0 – 2 – 4 – 6 – 7 – 8 I2

P4 0 – 2 – 4 – 6 – 10 – 11 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 – 8 – 9 I3

P5 0 – 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 – 11 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 – 9 – 10 I4

P6 0 – 1 – 2 – 4 – 6 – 8 3 – 5 – 7 – 9 – 10 – 11 I5

P7 1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 7 – 9 0 – 4 – 6 – 8 – 10 – 11 I6

P8 2 – 3 – 4 – 6 – 8 – 10 0 – 1 – 5 – 7 – 9 – 11 I7

P9 3 – 4 – 5 – 7 – 9 – 11 0 – 1 – 2 – 6 – 8 – 10 I8

P10 0 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 8 – 10 1 – 2 – 3 – 7 – 9 – 11 I9

P11 1 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 9 – 11 0 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 8 – 10 I10

(b)

P0-H1 = P9-H2 (7/1) & P3-H2 (10/4) P6-H1 = P3-H2 (1/7) & P9-H2 (4/10)

P1-H1 = P10-H2 (8/2) & P4-H2 (11/5) P7-H1= P4-H2 (2/8) & P10-H2 (5/11)

P2-H1 = P11-H2 (9/3) & P5-H2 (0/6) P8-H1 = P5-H2 (3/9) & P11-H2 (6/0)

P3-H1 = P0-H2 (10/4) & P6-H2 (1/7) P9-H1 = P6-H2 (4/10) & P0-H2 (7/1)

P4-H1 = P1-H2 (11/5) & P7-H2 (2/8) P10-H1 = P7-H2 (5/11) & P1-H2 (8/2)

P5-H1 = P2-H2 (0/6) & P8-H2 (3/9) P11-H1 = P8-H2 (6/0) & P2-H2 (9/3)

Figure 4.4: (a) All of the possible closely related hexachords for the tone row ofGerhard’s String Quartet no. 1; (b) Closely related hexachords andtheir dissimilar pcs

91

The chart in Figure 4.4 shows the hexachords that occur at the beginning of

the recapitulation, P6-H1 {0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8}, P3-H2 {0, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8}, and P9-H2 {0, 1, 2,

6, 8, t}. The pairing of the subordinate theme’s P7 row with the hexachords of the

primary theme allows the subordinate theme to maintain its pitch identity while

satisfying the sonata principle by including “tonic-like” elements.66,67

Following the restatement of the subordinate theme, the primary theme is

announced in the recapitulation by the return to the tempo da prima, and is

composed entirely of P6, the “home tonality” of the composition. The first violin

re-introduces the primary theme in m. 161, beginning with P6-H2, as shown in

Example 4.8. Rather than progressing directly to its complement P6-H1, Gerhard

instead moves to P3-H2. P3-H2, although closely related to P6-H1, is followed, then,

by its complement P3-H1. The hexachords in the violoncello part (marked by the

dashed-line boxes) in Example 4.8 receive similar treatment. Here, P6-H2

progresses to a series of tones that could be labeled P6-H1 or P3-H2 (only pcs 0, 2,

4, 6, and 8 are present). While the former is the complement of P6-H1, the latter

is closely related. Following this segment of five pcs, Gerhard completes the

melodic line with pitches derived from P3-H1. Thus, because P6-H2 and P3-H1 are

closely related, it is the five common pcs (3, 5, 9, 10, and 11) between these two

hexachordal permutations that serve as the identifiers for the tonality in this

section.

66 P7-H1 contains the pcs {1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9} and P7-H2 contains the pcs {1, 4, 6, 9, t, e}.

67 I use “tonic-like” in this sense to suggest that the listener may recognize the pitch (orpitch-class) material from primary theme as it is re-introduced with material from thesubordinate theme.

92

Example 4.8: Smooth progression through complementary and closely relatedhexachords – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I,mm. 161-67. © 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.Reprinted by permission.

In the recapitulation, Gerhard makes use of both complementary and

closely related hexachords to achieve smooth voice leading among hexachords

and Example 4.8 illustrates this efficient process. It should also be noted that

when the primary theme returns in the recapitulation, Gerhard reverses the order

of the hexachords of P6. As shown in Example 4.9 (b), when the primary theme

enters in the exposition, its first six pitches comprise the first hexachord of P6.

93

However, in the recapitulation, the theme is introduced by the second hexachord

while being accompanied by the first. Example 4.9 exhibits how this plays out in

the music. Example 4.9 (a) shows the entrance of the primary theme in the

exposition; Example 4.9 (b) shows the entrance of primary theme in the

recapitulation. Note how the P6 “tonality” is maintained in both instances due to

the shared pcs.

(a)

Example 4.9: (a) Entrance of the primary theme in the exposition – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 8-12; mm. 160-64.© 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted bypermission.

94

(b)

Example 4.9: (b) Entrance of the primary theme in the recapitulation – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 8-12; mm. 160-64.© 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted bypermission.

Because the P6 hexachords of the primary theme are reversed in the

recapitulation, one may refer to these hexachordal collections as belonging to R6

rather than P6.68 Gerhard’s use of R6 in the recapitulation brings a deeper level

of formal symmetry to the movement. A graphical representation of this formal

balance is illustrated in Figure 4.5. Observe in Figure 4.5 how Gerhard reverses

the order of the primary and subordinate themes in the recapitulation to create a

long-range sense of balance. By also reversing the order of the identifying

68 R6 is derived from reading P6-H2 followed by P6-H1.

95

hexachords in the primary theme of the recapitulation, Gerhard amplifies this

sense of symmetry. Gerhard’s decision to follow this symmetrical formal plan is

likely due to the influence of his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg. All of this apparent

symmetry and balance is reminiscent of Schoenberg’s aforementioned Third

Quartet, of which Gerhard would have most likely been aware.

96

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97

The return of the primary theme’s “tonic” pitch material is further

strengthened by Gerhard’s decision to compose the two voices carrying the

melody of the primary theme in imitation. Example 4.10 illustrates how the cello

is offset by three beats while the inner voices repeat a rhythmic seven-note figure

in a homophonic setting. In this example, the cello pitches, marked with solid-

line boxes are those that differ from the violin line. Dashed-line boxes indicate a

difference in rhythmic value between the two voices. Gerhard defines his

primary and subordinate themes both by their melodic material and by their

pitch material. This is significant because in the recapitulation, he reverses the

order of the hexachords of the primary theme. By allowing the melody of the

primary theme (now composed at P6-H2/R6-H1 instead of P6-H1) to enter in

imitation, Gerhard establishes a melodic connection before the tonal connection,

thus fulfilling the sonata principle on more than one level.

98

Example 4.10: Imitative return of primary theme in the recapitulation – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 161-67. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

99

Folkloric rhythms as structural markers in String Quartet no. 1

Gerhard’s use of folk-inspired rhythms helps to emphasize the structural

elements of his sonata form. These Spanish rhythms appear frequently

throughout the movement, essentially establishing long-range connections. Most

importantly, Gerhard incorporates these rhythms into the musical texture as

structural markers, which help to define the various sections of his sonata-form

movement.

The first movement of Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1 comes to a close with

fragments of both themes returning in various forms before driving rhythms take

over the thematic material, bringing the movement to a climactic close. Example

4.11 (a) shows this fragmentation of the subordinate theme, beginning in mm.

198. Here the subordinate theme enters in the second violin, but the remaining

parts are broken up into smaller segments. Example 4.11 (b) illustrates the

subordinate theme as it appears in the exposition. The main elements of this

theme are a descending, disjunct eighth-note line and a sixteenth-note triplet

figure. This is marked on the example with solid-line boxes. Gerhard fragments

this into two smaller motivic elements: 1) a descending, disjunct eighth-note

pattern, marked on Example 4.11 (b) with dashed-line boxes, and 2) the

sixteenth-note triplet figure, which is circled on the example. As previously

mentioned, these two motivic elements along with pitch material derived from

the hexachords of the P7 row form are what define the subordinate theme.

Example 4.11 (a) shows how Gerhard draws from these defining elements,

composing multiple fragments of the descending eighth-note motive and then

repeating the triplet figure at various pitch levels. These fragmented sections are

100

marked on Example 4.11 (a) with solid-line boxes. Note also in Example 4.11 (a)

the persistent presence of Spanish rhythms in mm. 201-02.

(a)

Example 4.11: (a) Fragmentation of subordinate theme – Roberto Gerhard, StringQuartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 198-206. © 1958 by Boosey &Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

101

(b)

Example 4.11: (b) Subordinate theme in the exposition – Roberto Gerhard, StringQuartet no. 1, mm. 41-44. © 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes MusicPublishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

As the movement comes to a close, Gerhard fragments elements of the

primary theme as well. Gerhard derives his first fragment from the double-

dotted quarter note figure marked by solid-line boxes in Example 4.12 (a). Note

how in Example 4.12 (b), he repeats that rhythm twice rather than continue with

the single-dotted quarter note figure as it appears in the exposition. The half

note slurred to a rising or descending eighth-note figure marked in 4.12 (a) by the

dotted-line boxes, also emerges in the accompanying voices of Example 4.12 (b).

In addition, observe how the first and second violins in mm. 249-51 of this latter

example appear as a slightly varied augmentation of the primary theme in m. 9,

m. 11, and m. 16. In example 4.12 (b), the opening pitches of the first violin line

are composed of the pcs <11, 0, 6, 8, 10, 4>. Transposed at T2, this line would

appear as <1, 2, 8, 10, 0, 6>. The first three of these pcs appear in m. 9 of

Example 4.12 (a).

102

(a)

Example 4.12: (a) Primary theme in the exposition – Roberto Gerhard, StringQuartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 9-19. © 1958 by Boosey & HawkesMusic Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

103

(b)

Example 4.12: (b) Fragmentation of the primary theme – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 244-51. © 1958 by Boosey &Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

The folkloric rhythmic elements present in Examples 4.11 and 4.12 are

derived from Gerhard’s Spanish background and provide another kind of tonal

reference. In the first string quartet, Gerhard combines themes composed of a

variety of related row transformations and then bookends them with driving

Spanish rhythms that stand out against the surrounding texture. These rhythms

appear in all four voices following the close of each theme or presiding section.

The chart in Figure 4.5 illustrates the sonata form’s structural divisions as

defined by these rhythmic markers.

104

SECTION mm. ROW FORM(S)INTRODUCTION mm. 1-8 P6EXPOSITIONPrimary Theme m. 9 P6 Spanish rhythms m. 39Subordinate Theme m. 41 P7 (P6 and P5 enter after m. 53) Spanish rhythms m. 57, 64Transition m. 66 Spanish rhythms m. 68DEVELOPMENT m. 77 Multiple row forms articulated here. Spanish rhythms m. 87RECAPITULATIONSubordinate Theme m. 90 P7 (accompanied by P3, P6, and P9 *) Spanish rhythms m. 109, 125Primary Theme m. 161 P6 Spanish rhythms m. 192, 201Subordinate Theme(again)

m. 204 P0 **

Spanish rhythms m. 229 Spanish rhythms m. 238 Spanish rhythms m. 255, 263

* Recall that P3 and P9 are closely related to P6 as seen in Figure 4.5

** P0 is closely related to P7, which is the row form Gerhard used for thesubordinate theme.

Figure 4.6: Condensed sonata form road map – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartetno. 1, movement I

The primary theme comes to an end with the introduction of the first

pronouncement of distinctly Spanish rhythmic figures in mm. 39-40. As seen in

Example 4.13, all four voices share the same rhythms and articulations. These

105

rhythms are reminiscent of Flamenco guitar rasgueados.69 Because these

folkloric rhythmic markers occur in multiple places throughout the movement,

Julian White refers to them as “echoes of Spanish ‘primitive’ rhythms.” He goes

on to say that “several of the movement’s polyrhythmic ostinatos recall the

accompaniment patterns of the Charradas of Salamanca, while there are also

overt references to the rhythms of the Fandango.”70

Example 4.13: Spanish rhythms following the primary theme – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 39-40. © 1958 by Boosey &Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

69 A rasgueado is a strummed arpeggio with a marked percussive effect that is one of the

defining characteristics of Flamenco music.

70 Julian White, “National Traditions in the Music of Roberto Gerhard,” Tempo 184(March 1993): 10. While White believes that Gerhard incorporated overt references of folkelements in his music, I, on the other hand, would suggest that Gerhard incorporated theseelements unconsciously.

106

The subordinate theme immediately follows this two-measure rhythmic

interlude. Rhythmic figures again interrupt the progress of the theme in mm. 57-

58. In Example 4.14, these rhythms appear in only three voices, while the first

violin, independent of the other parts, continues to fragment the subordinate

theme before coming to an end in m. 59.

Example 4.14: Spanish rhythms following the subordinate theme – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 57-58. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

The rhythmic activity intensifies in mm. 57-58. By m. 59, these rhythms

spin out into a static figure composed of whole-tone clusters, which accompany a

highly chromatic staccato melody consisting of driving of eighth notes. Example

4.15 illustrates this latter section, which mirrors the hexachordal construction of

the original row form.

107

Example 4.15: Driving chromatic melody over whole-tone rhythms – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 59-63. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

After the presentation of both a primary and subordinate theme composed

of various closely related hexachordal transformations, a brief transition follows

in m. 66. This is clearly marked in the score by the recurrence of the same

Spanish rhythms just two measure before.71 Here, the rhythms usher in a

transitory section linking the exposition to the development section. This

transition section, marked by folk-inspired rhythms, is seen in Example 4.16.

71 Note that the first occurrence of these particular folkloric rhythms in Gerhard’s String

Quartet no. 1 is shown in Example 4.13. These same rhythms are also noted in Example 4.14.

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Example 4.16: Spanish rhythms mark the transition to the development section –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, mm. 64-77. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

As the movement comes to a close, driving rhythmic activity again begins

to overtake the constrained rhythms of the main body of the theme. These

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rhythms first appear in mm. 229, as seen in Example 4.17 (a). The first violin

articulates eighth-note chords, accompanied by the cello playing the same pitches

an octave lower. The second violin and viola repeat accented, dotted-quarter

notes until segueing into the rhythmic section illustrated in 4.17 (b). Here, the

first violin and cello continue their repeated eighth-note pattern (now on

different pitches), but the dotted-quartet notes are likewise subdivided into

eighth notes as well. All of this rhythmic activity is immediately followed by the

fragmentation of the primary theme material as seen in Example 4.12 (b) before

the entire texture evolves into homophonic, driving sixteenth notes that carry the

movement to its end. This latter change is noted in Example 4.17 (c).

(a)

Example 4.17: (a) Closing rhythms – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement I, mm. 229-31. © 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes MusicPublishers Ltd. Reprinted by permission.

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(b)

(c)

Example 4.17: Closing rhythms – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement I, (b) mm. 238-43; (c) mm. 255-57 & mm. 263-68. ©1958 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted bypermission.

111

Conclusion

Perhaps more than any of his peers, Gerhard incorporated tonal features

into his twelve-tone music. The classical sonata is generally understood as a

harmonically driven, thematically based structure. Though the latter is based on

the conflict and resolution of thematic groups in contrasting keys within a tonal

idiom, Gerhard employed closely related hexachordal segments to create large-

scale tonal connections in his sonata-from movement. In addition to these

harmonic connections, Gerhard also incorporated folkloric rhythmic elements to

mark important structural areas, a compositional decision that contradicted the

teachings of his mentor, Arnold Schoenberg, who was against combining the

“complicated” and “academic” twelve-tone technique with the “primitive” ideas of

folk music.

Gerhard’s First String Quartet provided the theoretical framework for the

numerous compositional innovations he developed during the early 1950s. He

fleshed out many of these ideas in a series of articles he wrote during this same

time period. Gerhard, ever the practical composer, did not merely write of these

ideas; he incorporated them into his own compositions. As a result, his String

Quartet no. 1 is not just one of his first large-scale explorations in twelve-note

composition; it also sheds light on his somewhat abstract philosophical musings

about twelve-tone tonality. Gerhard’s idiosyncratic approach to twelve-note

composition, coupled with his desire to express his Spanish identity in his art

resulted in a string quartet movement that contradicts the norm, yet maintains

the structural integrity of the twelve-tone system, while also incorporating a new

kind of hexachordal tonality.

112

Chapter 5: Years in Exile, Part II

After spending over a decade in exile, Gerhard began to concern himself

with the temporal aspect of music composition. His ideas on the serialization of

non-pitch parameters may be found in a series of lectures and articles he wrote

during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Of particular interest is his discussion of

how to derive a temporal series from the twelve-tone row. He later expanded on

this idea to create a theory of mathematical proportions, which he used to

generate formal divisions in his compositions. To shed light on this aspect of

Gerhard’s work, I will draw from his 1956 article, “Developments in Twelve-Tone

Technique,” as well as from two lectures he presented in the spring of 1960 while

teaching as a composer-in-residence at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.1

Because Gerhard incorporated many of his new ideas into his musical

compositions, I will examine the compositional issues introduced by Gerhard in

these essays, and I will also discuss how these issues relate to the experimental

1 Gerhard’s article “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” was published

shortly after he completed his first string quartet. In it, he discusses the theory behind many ofthe new musical innovations found in the composition. Additionally, Meirion Bowen combinedGerhard’s Michigan lecture papers under the title “Functions of the Series in Twelve-Note Music(1960),” in his book of Gerhard’s writings. Both articles may be found in Gerhard on Music:Selected Writings (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000): 157-73.

It should be noted here that even though most of the musical examples included in his1956 and 1960 essays were taken directly from the quartet as well as from his Metamorphoses(Symphony no. 2), he never mentioned the sources. In fact, while Gerhard often discussed howhe manipulated the serial method in his compositions, he never cited his own work to legitimizethem, choosing instead to use examples composed by Schoenberg. Other composers do get anoccasional mention, but this is characteristically only when the article is about that particularcomposer. For example, Gerhard does in fact refer to Stravinsky, Bartók, Berg, and Webern, buthe does this only when their names appear in the titles of the articles. For these and other articlesabout composers other than Schoenberg, refer to Appendix B, which contains a chronological listof Gerhard’s writings and lectures.

113

procedures that Gerhard first applied in his second numbered symphony,

Metamorphoses, as well as in the third movement of his String Quartet no. 1.

Evaluating the twelve-tone method with respect to the temporaldimension

In his 1956 article, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique,” published

shortly after the premiere of his first string quartet, Gerhard proclaimed that

composers such as Schoenberg and Webern had produced remarkable

achievement in their works by employing the twelve-tone technique.

Nevertheless, Gerhard found that duration was conspicuously absent from

Schoenberg’s writings on the twelve-tone method.2 Gerhard set out to correct

this oversight by addressing how, in his words, music “eventuates” in a serial

composition. In his early writings Gerhard declared that the twelve-tone row was

first and foremost a tonal construct and, hence, unrelated to temporal matters.

As Gerhard points out, Schoenberg and Webern were primarily concerned with

pitch and gave free reign to such elements as rhythm and form. Schoenberg even

went as far as to claim that, rhythm and phrasing were incidental to pitch.3

Though Schoenberg didn’t apply his twelve-tone theory to rhythm and

meter, Gerhard believed the theory was fully capable of doing so. Gerhard

expressed his disagreement with Schoenberg’s method as follows:

2 Schoenberg does actually discuss duration once in all of his twelve-tone writings. In his

article, “Compositions with Twelve Tones (1),” he writes, “A musical idea, accordingly, thoughconsisting of melody, rhythm, and harmony, is neither the one nor the other alone, but all threetogether.” Arnold Schoenberg, “Composition with Twelve Tones (1),” in Style and Idea, EdwardStein, ed. (London, UK: Faber & Faber, 1975), 220.

3 Ibid., 227.

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To my mind the claim put forward by Schoenberg that the series “ismeant to function in the manner of a motif” raises a conceptualdifficulty. If “motif” be understood according to its currentmeaning in the musician’s vocabulary, then the claim is tooconcrete, and by prejudging the possibilities of the method’sfunctioning, it reduces its degree of generality. Method imposescommon relationships to all that happens, but cannot impose whatthat relationship shall be.4

While Gerhard respected Schoenberg and his teachings, he stopped short of

idolatry. Nevertheless, he softened his statement with the pronouncement: “No

one man can do or see everything. It seems rather unintelligent to criticize

Schoenberg for what he did not do.”5 Gerhard appreciated the many elegant

features of Schoenberg’s theory of twelve-tone composition because these

features, in his view, permitted composers to make their own creative decisions;

too many restrictions might limit artistic creativity. Hence, Gerhard did not

believe he was disregarding the tenets established by Schoenberg when he

adjusted them to suit his needs.

The period dating from 1956, when Gerhard first wrote about these ideas,

marks the beginning of a significant shift in his approach to twelve-tone

composition. In his 1952 and 1954 articles on twelve-tone procedures, Gerhard

4 Roberto Gerhard, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” in Gerhard on

Music: Selected Writings (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 134. Schoenberg’s fullquotation may be found in Arnold Schoenberg, “Composition with Twelve-Tones (1) (1941),” 219.Incidentally, George Perle also found Schoenberg’s statement contradictory. Perle found thatinstead of considering the function of the twelve-tone series as a ground or ostinato from whichcompositional ideas may be drawn, it should be considered a thematic entity that may be repeatedon the surface level of the musical work. This suggestion led Perle to establish his own theory oftwelve-tone tonality, which may be found in his articles, “Evolution of the Tone Row: The Twelve-Tone Modal System,” Music Review 2/4 (November 1941): 273-87, and “Twelve-Tone Tonality,”Monthly Musical Record 73 (1943): 175-79, the latter of which was expanded into a book with thesame title in 1977. See also George Perle, Twelve-Tone Tonality (Berkeley and Los Angeles:University of California Press, 1977).

5 Roberto Gerhard, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” 134.

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had once claimed that the row should be employed exclusively for determining

pitch, independent of rhythm and meter.6 By 1956, however, Gerhard proposed

that it was “possible to derive from any given twelve-tone series a correlated set

of duration values.”7 Continuing in this vein, he stated:

The two, pitch-set and time-set, will stand in equivalence relation.Jointly they constitute the necessary basis on which the integrationof pitch-structure and time-structure becomes possible. This is tosay that the time-set in addition to being the source for allrhythmical or poly-rhythmical configuration – in the same way thatthe pitch-set is the source of all melodic, harmonic, or polyphonicconfiguration – must also rule articulation at all levels of formorganization.8

Based on this revelation, it is evident that Gerhard’s stance on this issue was

fundamentally different from that of Schoenberg. It is also apparent that

Gerhard was clearly moving in a new direction. He established his new

theoretical hypothesis on the reasoning that “both pitch values and duration

values are based on numbers, since they are measurable” in view of the fact that

“…number is the common basis of pitch and time.”9

6 See Chapter 4 for more discussion on Gerhard’s articles “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music

(1952)” and “On Composition with Twelve Notes (1954),” both in Gerhard on Music: SelectedWritings (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000).

7 Roberto Gerhard, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” 130. As will bediscussed later in this chapter, Gerhard demonstrated this shift in position in his music as early as1955 as evidenced by his use of serialized temporal elements based on a twelve-tone row in thethird movement of his String Quartet no. 1. Furthermore, Gerhard argued that his revisedposition on this state of affairs was the result of a natural progression of events; one that was notenvisioned by earlier composers such as Schoenberg and, apparently, himself.

8 Ibid., 130.

9 Ibid., 130.

116

Much of Gerhard’s effort during the mid-1950s went into developing this

time series, which, according to Francis Routh, he “intended should do in the

field of time what Schoenberg’s note-row did in the field of pitch; and the pivot

work in which he first worked out his idea was the First String Quartet.”10

Indeed, after composing the first movement of his String Quartet no. 1, Gerhard

set the piece aside to re-evaluate these issues. Gerhard finally returned to the

quartet nearly five years later and the final two movements exhibit the practical

application of many of the new ideas he formulated during that period.

Derivation of a temporal series from a twelve-tone row

Once Gerhard established that the twelve-tone technique could be

expanded to include temporal elements, he set out to determine how this could

be done. There were two significant concerns: Schoenberg’s dictum that a

composition should be based on only one tone row and the hierarchical nature of

musical time. Gerhard wanted to find a way to organize both of these features.

Gerhard explains the inherent problems with using the twelve-tone

method to serialize non-pitch elements in his article, “Developments in Twelve-

Tone Technique.” These arguments are mainly directed at the post-Webernists at

Darmstadt with several of whom Gerhard was in close contact. Many of the new,

avant-garde composers at Darmstadt, for example, had begun applying the serial

method to rhythm and dynamics. But, as Elliott Antokoletz has observed,

Messiaen and others “exploited these [non-pitch parameters] in an idiom that

10 Francis Routh, “Roberto Gerhard,” in Contemporary British Music: The Twenty-five

Years from 1945 to 1970 (London: MacDonald and Co., 1972), 181.

117

had little to do with the styles and aesthetics of the Viennese composers.”11

Gerhard took issue with this practice because he believed that the twelve-tone

row was meant to apply only to pitch parameters and that pitch was not

interchangeable with other parameters such as rhythm and dynamics.12

For Gerhard, using a single series to govern every aspect of the musical

surface, as the Darmstadt composers did, lead to absurdities in their music.13

This is because, unlike durations and dynamics, pitch space is cyclical.

11 Elliott Antokoletz, Twentieth Century Music (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,1998), 370.

12 Gerhard writes of this in an essay titled, The Composer and his Audience,” inTwentieth Century Music, Rollo Myers, ed. (New York, NY: The Orion Press, 1968), 8o:

It appears that among young serialist composers today—a certain amount ofdeliberate humbugging is practiced on the innocent listener in the claims which itis now the fashion to put forward as to how many aspects of a composition, howmany ‘parameters’ are being serialized. For some dark reason this is supposed toimpress the listener or, more likely perhaps, a certain type of critic. I would havesaid that what this amounts to is an implicit admission that it matters little ifeverything is lost, bar some sort of ‘intellectual’ prestige, even though this shouldhave been faced on false pretenses. In point of the fact the composer who isadvancing such spurious claims can feel quite safe against detection, since noneof them can possibly be checked in direct audition and very few people will go tothe length of checking by analysis of the score, which is immensely arduous butthe only possible means of establishing the truth.

13 Gerhard is not alone in his criticism. George Perle discusses these same issues in hiswritings. In one of his lectures, he states the following, which sums up Gerhard’s stance as well:

Even assuming that the performers are capable of realizing and the listener ofapprehending such an extended, precise, and refined scale of dynamic values, cana given dynamic value be judged independently of mode of attack, timbre,texture, register, and its relation to adjacent dynamic values? … the explicit andabsolute differentiation of twelve dynamic levels which this music…requires, isbased on an untenable analogy with pitch-class differentiation— most obviouslyuntenable because, unlike the latter, it is beyond the range of ‘obvious construal,”but for other obvious reasons as well. The pitch scale, for example, is cyclical: theinterval between pitch-numbers 11 and 0 is the same as that between 0 and 1; thedynamic scale is not cyclical: the interval between fffff and ppppp is not the sameas that between ppppp and pppp.

George Perle, “Lecture 4,” The Listening Composer (Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress, 1990): 93-121; quoted in Elliott Antokoletz, Twentieth Century Music, 396. I should

118

Figure 5.1 graphically represents Gerhard’s reasoning behind this protest. The

distance between any two adjacent pcs is a half step in a mod12 model. Hence,

the distance from pc 0 to pc1 is the same as the distance from pc 1 to pc 2. This is

significant because the measurable element between a serialized set of rhythms

or dynamics does not remain the same as it cycles. Figure 5.1 incorporates a

mod5 model to show that while pitch sets have cyclical properties, rhythmic and

dynamic sets do not; the distance between the first and second element of the

dynamic and rhythm series is not the same as the distance between the last

element and first element of each series.14

mention here that some of the composers associated with the summer school at Darmstadt, suchas Boulez, did rethink this issue at a later date. According to Leonard Meyer, “Afterexperimenting with the serialization of secondary qualities, Boulez has concluded, ‘pitch andduration…form the basis of a compositional dialectic, while intensity and timbre belong tosecondary categories’ (Boulez, p. 37).” Leonard B. Meyer, Music, the Arts, and Ideas: Patternsand Predictions in Twentieth-Century Culture (Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 1967), 247.

14 That Gerhard considers the pitch dimension to be cyclic assumes that he recognizesoctave equivalence, for it is on this principle that he apparently bases his protest against thosewho use cyclic series to control non-pitch elements. In 1960 he claimed:

The Schoenbergian construct lacks also determination with regard to position ofthe notes in the scale of frequencies; in other words, it gives us relative notabsolute pitch. The precise octave-location of the notes is not prescribed. Theoctave-location is optional by definition. We are at liberty to take any note at anyoctave transposition we choose, up or down.

Roberto Gerhard, “Functions of the Series in Twelve-Note Music (1960),” in Gerhard onMusic: Selected Writings (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 158. Gerhard also goes onto note that Josef Mathias Hauer in his Tongeschlechter disagreed with Schoenberg’s principle ofoctave equivalence. See p. 159 of the same article.

119

Pitch (mod5) Dynamics (mod5) Rhythm (mod5)

Figure 5.1: Theoretical problems with total pitch serialization

In his series of lectures on temporal issues presented while on the faculty

at the University of Michigan, Gerhard discussed how some composers have tried

to implement one series to govern both the pitch and time dimensions in an

attempt to coordinate the two. One way of accomplishing this would be to

implement an all-interval series. That way, composers could govern pitch with

the row itself and derive a time series from the intervals created between each pc

of the row. The benefit of basing all temporal considerations on this type of row

is that Schoenberg’s dictum of using one row and its related transformations

could be upheld. All-interval rows, however, are greatly limiting, as relatively few

rows have this property.15 But to explain how some composers did derive their

time series from a single pitch series, Gerhard provided an example of how this

could be accomplished.

15 Gerhard maintains that it was rare for Schoenberg to use an all-interval row and that

Webern had a proclivity for using rows with very little interval variety.

x

e

q

h

w1

2

3

4

5 pp

p

mp

mf

f X X

120

Example 5.1: Roberto Gerhard’s example of how to derive a time series from anall-interval twelve-tone row 16

The pitch sequence in Example 5.1 was described by Gerhard as “an

abstract structure” or “a code with a fantastically high number of combinatorial

possibilities.”17 It contains all twelve pcs of the chromatic scale as well as all

eleven pitch-class intervals in a specific order. For Gerhard, all-interval rows had

the same problems other rows did in that they were tonal constructs and not

meant to be used as a temporal determinant. In addition, they contain only

eleven intervals rather than an even twelve. While it is entirely feasible to employ

a time series derived from the eleven intervals of the twelve-tone row, Gerhard

was concerned with the direct correspondence that would result from

implementing two series of numbers with the same number of elements. That is,

Gerhard wanted the number of durations to match the number of tones in the

row, in which case there would be a “direct correspondence” between the number

of pcs and the number of durations assigned to them.

For these reasons, Gerhard chose to create a companion series in addition

to the tone row—one that could be used to control the temporal parameter in his

16 This example is reproduced from Roberto Gerhard, “Functions of the Series in Twelve-

Note Composition (1960),” 158.

17 Ibid., 158.

121

music. For Gerhard, this idea of a companion series did not contradict

Schoenberg’s fundamental tenet that the series controls the pitch dimension and

no other.18 Gerhard reasoned that because the companion series was constructed

solely for the temporal dimension, Schoenberg’s principle was not violated.

Gerhard specified that composers who use a companion time series should

base it on a duodecimal scale of durations whose durations remain constant. As a

result, a composer could decide whether or not to coordinate the time series,

which could be ordered in any way, with the order of the pitch series. As part of

his Michigan lectures, Gerhard showed how this could be accomplished using an

abstract example, reproduced as Example 5.2.

Example 5.2: Roberto Gerhard’s example of how to derive a distinctive timeseries from a tone row without using the same series of numbers 19

The pitches on the staff in Example 5.2 combine to create the twelve-tone

series <11-7-0-6-4-5-9-10-1-2-8-3>. Gerhard uses this particular series as the

18 Gerhard states this rather forcefully, stating, “We adopt one and only one.

(Incidentally, Schoenberg regarded it as unmethodical to have two different species operating inthe same work, and he was critical of Berg in this respect.)” Ibid., 157-58.

19 This example is reproduced from Roberto Gerhard, “Functions of the Series in Twelve-Note Composition (1960),” 160.

122

basis for his Metamorphoses (Symphony no. 2), though this is not mentioned in

the published version of his lecture. Below the notated pitches are the series of

numbers, 7-3-8-2-12 (0)-1-5-6-9-10-4-11, which are derived by subtracting the

pc-integer of the lowest pitch of the row (4) from every tone in the series.20 This

produces the series shown in Figure 5.2.

11 7 0 6 4 5 9 10 1 2 8 3

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

7 3 8 2 (0) 1 5 6 9 10 4 11

(12)

Figure 5.2: Pitch-class 4 is subtracted from the pitch series (top row) to producethe time series (bottom row)

Gerhard referred to the lowest tone as the “horizon tone.” This was not

necessarily the lowest pitch, however. Gerhard discusses this concept in his 1956

article, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique.”

The sky-line of the series is measured as successive point-elevationsabove the lowest note taken as a horizon, as it were...the lowest orhorizon note is not necessarily the one which to the eye appears tobe the lowest on the stave on which the series is written out. A

20 As illustrated in Example 5.2 and Figure 5.1, Gerhard combined operations in pitch-

class space with those in pitch space in order to derive a unique series of numbers. For example,found the lowest tone of the pitch series in pitch space, converted it to its pc number, and thensubtracted it from the pc numbers of the original series.

123

purely theoretical concept, namely a couple of complementaryhexachords (what Milton Babbitt calls a source set) underlie theactual series. The sky-line is then simply one of the possiblepermutational unfoldings or deployments of the underlying coupleof hexachords.21

The horizon tone is “a purely theoretical concept” in that Gerhard may choose

any note of a given row, label it as such, and then subtract its pitch-class number

from all of the remaining row members to create a “new” series that may be used

to govern the temporal dimension of a particular composition. While Gerhard

typically chooses the lowest sounding tone in p-space, he does on some occasions

select the smallest number in pc-space.

One may also note that the time series in Example 5.2 is not really a “new”

series at all; it is, in fact, a transposition of the row, P7. This suggests that

Gerhard may have only been searching for a conceptual remedy rather than a

practical one to organize his pitch and durational parameters. The practical

outcome of his maneuvers may have been that having two sets of numbers helped

him to keep track of the permutations in each domain as well as to think of each

parameter as a separate element. The two series (pitch and time) generally

appear together in the opening measures of a composition. After this initial

declaration, the pitch and time series operate independently of each other. That

is to say that once the time series is established, it does not adhere to the various

orderings of the pitch series.

That the pitch dimension could be serialized in both vertical and

horizontal space suggested to Gerhard that time-spans could be ordered this way

as well. For Gerhard, time—like pitch—is hierarchical in that small temporal

21 Roberto Gerhard, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” 131.

124

units can be grouped together into larger ones. What Gerhard tried to do was to

devise a way of serializing the temporal dimension in the same fashion as a pitch

series. This meant he had to find a way to serialize time spatially as well as

temporally.22

Gerhard used the time series to control broader time-spans by deriving a

proportion from it. To do this he parsed the times series into two six-member

segments called time sets, reflecting his preference for hexachordal

arrangements. In Example 5.3, the first six numbers appearing below the

notated pitches represent the first time set; the last six make up the second time

set. Gerhard adds the pc-integers in each segment to create the two values of a

proportion. In Example 5.3, the proportion of the time sets is 33:45, which can

be reduced to 11:15.23

Example 5.3: Roberto Gerhard’s division of the pitch series and derived timeseries into time sets

22 While the notion of time existing in vertical space is commonplace in the electronic

medium, Gerhard’s adaptation of this concept to the acoustic-instrumental domain speaks to hisidiosyncratic creative/intellectual nature.

23 Gerhard referred to this concept as a proportion, though it is in fact a ratio. I willcontinue to use Gerhard’s term for the remainder of this study. Furthermore, all of thetranspositions of the row produce the same proportion, which is another indication that this is aconceptual solution rather than an actual one.

125

Gerhard considered the idea of proportion to be a key concept in the

matter of form and he referred to the two parts of his proportion as “time

aggregates,” reflecting its tone row origins.24 With this proportion, Gerhard

could present the time series in seriatim to govern durations like note values or

attack points within a pitch series, or he could use the proportion derived from

the time set to control larger temporal spans such as phrases, formal sections, or

entire movements.

As seen in Example 5.4, Gerhard combines the times series with the pitch

series, ultimately reconciling these two parameters. In this example, the pcs of

each chord are added together to produce a temporal harmonic analogue in

temporal space. Thus, Gerhard’s proportions govern organization within time

spans at various levels, creating spatial depth with respect to the composition’s

temporal organization.

24 By today’s standards, Gerhard’s use of the term “time aggregate” is somewhat

misleading. While aggregates are generally defined as a series in its entirety, Gerhard used theterm to describe his time sets (which are predetermined segments of the time series) employed assimultaneities. So for Gerhard, if the notes of a hexachord could be presented as a simultaneity,so too could the durations of a time set. This also explains why Example 5.4 is labeled as twohexachordal aggregates, rather than as an aggregate divided into two hexachordal segments.

126

Example 5.4: Roberto Gerhard’s example of two hexachordal aggregates,annotated to show the temporal proportion 33:45 or 11:15, that willbe used to generate a temporal proportion

Temporal procedures in Metamorphoses

Gerhard used proportions to make a multitude of compositional decisions

regarding the hierarchical nature of the temporal elements in the composition.

On the background level, his proportions, or time aggregates, governed the

overall length and structure, while on the middleground level they affected the

rate of change and the construction of comprising sections. On the foreground

level, these proportions controlled the length and repetition of themes and

phrases. As Susan Bradshaw notes, “[Gerhard’s] fascination with simple

numerical relationships was to become inseparable from his concern for the

proportional balance of harmonic rhythm as an essential means of defining

structure.”25, 26

25 Susan Bradshaw, “Symphony No. 2/Metamorphoses: The Compositional Background,”

Tempo 139 (December 1981), 28. Furthermore, Malcolm MacDonald discusses this concept in hisliner notes as such:

127

Example 5.5 shows the pitch and time series of Gerhard’s Metamorphoses

(Symphony no. 2).27 The symphony begins with an introduction that David Drew

describes as “a kind of cryptogram” and Gerhard calls an “index” or a “code.”28

Its function is to lay out the tone row with each tone articulating a specific

[Gerhard’s Metamorphoses] was his first large composition wholly conceivedthrough the interaction of a 12-note pitch-series, governing the music’s durationand proportions–from note-values and metronome markings, through rhythm,meter and phrase-lengths, to the length of paragraphs, of movements and theentire work (something he had only achieved in parts of previous compositions).

Malcolm MacDonald, liner notes for Roberto Gerhard 2: Symphony no. 4, NewYork/Metamorphoses (Symphony no. 2) (Montaigne Auvidis MO 782102), 1996, p. 12.

26 Harmonic rhythm here refers to the time series Gerhard employs in Metamorphoses.

27 Gerhard composed Symphony no. 2, “Metamorphoses” for the BBC between 1957-59.Dedicated to the memory of Rafael Paxot i Jubert, an important patron of music in Cataloniabefore the civil war, it premiered in London in October 1959. While Gerhard’s original renderingof the symphony remains unpublished, Gerhard began an extensive rewrite in October 1967. Hethen put the symphony aside in January 1968 to complete other projects, even though it wasabout ninety percent complete. This latter version was left unfinished at his death, but Gerhardleft a note with his intentions attached to the unfinished score that stated: “What is heremetamorphosed are materials—so-called for want of a better word—which went into thecomposition of my Second Symphony. The changes—from slight to complete—take place at alllevels: in the writing, in the orchestration, in the orderings, in the dis-orderings...”

Quoted in Malcolm MacDonald, liner notes for Roberto Gerhard 2: Symphony no. 4,New York/Metamorphoses (Symphony no. 2) (Montaigne Auvidis MO 782102), 1996, p. 12.

Alan Boustead completed the symphony after Gerhard’s death and this definitive examplewas premiered in June of 1973. Because Gerhard extensively revised his Symphony no. 2“Metamorphoses” in 1967 and changed its name by reversing the title, for brevity’s sake I willrefer to this work throughout simply as Metamorphoses. It is this revised version that I will referto in the following analysis.

28 In describing this pre-compositional method, Gerhard writes:

I use, together with the twelve-tone series, a correlated set of proportionsexpressed in numbers. The series is regarded as a miniature code forcombinatorial operations concerned with pitch structure. The proportion set isthe steering device for all time structural operations. In this capacity it is thesource of rhythm and articulation at all levels of form organization and, in thelast result, it rules form as a whole.

Roberto Gerhard, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” 129.

128

duration. As seen in Example 5.5, the tone row begins with a low B3 played by

the bassoon and accordion. The other instruments enter in succession,

presenting all twelve pitches during the introductory Poco sostenuto section.

Gerhard incorporates his new temporal series in Metamorphoses to determine

inter-onset durations of pitches in the excerpt.29 The integers correspond to the

length of each note measured in eighth notes. The first note of the series lasts

seven eighths, the second, three eighths and so on.

Tone row = < 11 – 7 – 0 – 6 – 4 – 5 – 9 – 10 – 1 – 2 – 8 – 3 >

Time series = < 7 – 3 – 8 – 2 – 12 – 1 – 5 – 6 – 9 – 10 – 4 – 11 >

Example 5.5: Introduction of the tone row and temporal companion series –Metamorphoses (Symphony no. 2), mm. 1-20. Music by RobertoGerhard. © 1973 (Renewed) Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. AllRights Assigned to and Controlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. AllRights Reserved. Used by Permission.

29 My use of the term inter-onset durations here corresponds to that of Edward Pearsall,

“Interpreting Music Durationally: A Set-Theory Approach to Rhythm,” Perspectives of NewMusic 35/1 (Winter, 1997), 206, who defines them as “durations between attack points.”

129

Applying Gerhard’s theory to only the first time set (the first six tones and

durations) of Example 5.5, Example 5.6 illustrates how his time aggregates

function. Here, the durations, like the tones, are added together, producing a 33-

beat duration. Approaching temporal values in this way allows Gerhard to create

a hierarchy of durations ranging from individual note lengths to longer spans.

Example 5.6: The first hexachord of Metamorphoses interpreted as a time set ortime aggregate. Music by Roberto Gerhard. © 1973 (Renewed)Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp. All Rights Assigned to andControlled by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. Usedby Permission.

Gerhard’s Metamorphoses is controlled on one level by the pitch and time

series shown in Examples 5.5 & 5.6, but the 11:15 proportion illustrated in

Example 5.4 governs the work’s large formal divisions. For example,

Metamorphoses is composed in one continuous movement divided into two

separate sections. As seen in Figure 5.3, the duration of the entire symphony is

130

about 26 minutes; the first large section lasts about 11 minutes and the final

section about 15 minutes, which are the two values of the ruling proportion.30

The second half is about four minutes longer than the first and may be

divided into distinct sections. Beginning at rehearsal no. 49, the second half

opens with a six-minute slow rondo, titled Lento, for percussion alone. Gerhard’s

treatment of percussion in this section, as well as in the entire work, is

particularly interesting. He originally composed twelve different percussion

parts to be played for the introduction of the second segment of the symphony.

While this number was later reduced to only seven parts in his extensive revision

of the work, it is clear that Gerhard wanted the percussion section to serve as an

integral part of the work’s structure, rather than serving solely as rhythmic

accompaniment.31

Following the percussion soli, a scherzo interlude enters at rehearsal no.

72. This section, labeled Comodamente, is about five minutes in length. The

final section, marked Molto vivace, begins at rehearsal no. 90. This latter section

30 Because Gerhard used his theory of temporal proportions to govern multiple

parameters, he called this the “ruling proportion.” Furthermore, he claimed that the “[rulingproportion was] to be found at all structural levels, from the ground level up; it [was] really thekey to the super-ordination of the span or category of temporal events.” Thus, Gerhard used theproportion derived from his time aggregates to govern everything from the length of a given work,its further division into large formal sections, themes, and phrases, and he could even use it toregulate how many cycles his tone rows could make. Ultimately, he could use the system to hisadvantage, creating what he called a “storehouse of potentiality.” He also proposed that acomposer could use more than one ruling proportion to lead a composition, but he maintainedthat he was “doing fine with one only.” All quotes are taken from Roberto Gerhard, “Functions ofthe Series in Twelve-Note Composition (1960),” 170.

31 Even in his revised version, Gerhard’s percussion section included such unusualsymphonic instruments as Chinese and Korean blocks, and antique cymbals. In fact, thissymphony required a much larger ensemble than the medium-sized orchestra called for inSymphony no. 1 and Metamorphoses is also noted for its use of accordion. Gerhard had apenchant for composing parts for accordion; he wrote for the instrument in the Nonet, Concertfor Eight, and The Plague.

131

of four minutes is composed as a palindrome in the manner of a waltz. The

overall structure of Metamorphoses is diagrammed in Figure 5.3. Note how in

the second section of the symphony, parts A and B combine to create a duration

of 11 minutes, which is the governing length of Part I of the complete symphony.

Furthermore, part C of the second section is four minutes in length, which may

be derived by subtracting 15 from 11—the duration in minutes of the symphony’s

two major sections, Part II and Part I, respectively.

132

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133

By devising a way to serialize the temporal aspects of a composition along with

the pitch structure, Gerhard was able to control what he came to call the

“complete serial field,” or the entire formal organization for a musical

composition. This idea differs from the idea of total serialism associated with the

Darmstadt School. Whereas the music generated by these latter composers was

controlled primarily by the order of the series, Gerhard allowed his temporal

elements to be governed by the series both in sequence and as a simultaneity.

Gerhard referred to the multiple applications of his time series as a field order

based on the model of his original series, allowing him to govern the sequence of

transpositions, super-ordinate time levels, and interval structures. His use of the

“complete serial field” could now account for every aspect of a composition.

Gerhard summarized this by claiming:

If we envisage now a composition as a whole in progress, we realizethat it is to be understood as a train of events, a “becoming,”Geschehen (as the Germans call it), which “stratifies” time intosuper-ordinate “layers” of time levels. The layers open up fan-wisefrom the start, each articulating itself within its proper range, andcontributing (as a whole) to the articulation of the next higher level,where it becomes simply a member of the super-ordinate structure;and so forth, up to the highest level which is the whole in the lightof which the arts achieve their proper meaning.32

Though Gerhard presented his research on temporal serialization several

years after the premieres of his String Quartet no. 1 and Metamorphoses, it is

highly likely that he began formulating these theories as early as the mid-1950s.

Many of the ideas proposed by this essay, as well as those discussed in his other

32 Roberto Gerhard, “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956),” 137.

134

aforementioned articles on serialism, are also found in the construction of his

first string quartet.33

Gerhard’s rendering of the complete serial field in movement III ofString Quartet no. 1

The most important characteristic of Gerhard’s musical output during the

1950s was his use of the twelve-tone method as a combinatory code. Under this

code, rows could be segmented and reordered. Gerhard applied this same code to

rhythm, meter, duration, and form.34 Roman Vlad recognized the application of

the theory in Gerhard’s first string quartet in the essay, “My First Introduction to

Roberto Gerhard’s Music.”

In the final two movements of the Quartet, Gerhard tries torationalize such correspondences and to establish between thepitch- and time-dimensions of the music precise connections, whichderive from a preconceived constructive plan. Thus, to every notein the series measured in semitones from a ‘root-note’ in thehexachordal system, a number is made to correspond which canequally refer to a scale of time or of metrical values. Such a plan oforganization may appear extremely rigid. But Roberto Gerhard isno pedant. He always knows how to preserve his freedom of actionin confronting any musical problem.35

33 According to Arnold Whittall, Gerhard “explains how time sets can govern the

durational organization of every aspect of a given work by means of relative proportions withinand between phrases.” Clearly this is an accurate description of Gerhard’s method, but Gerhardemploys it in a rather arbitrary fashion. While he supplies multiple figures to explain his theoriesoutside of any sort of musical context, he never provides a single example of how his theories areactually articulated in the quartet itself. It is enough for him to only hint at their existence; herefrains from ever marking them clearly on the page for the reader or performer. See ArnoldWhittall, Music Since the First World War, 185.

34 See Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, 62-63.

35 Roman Vlad, “My First Impressions of Roberto Gerhard’s Music,” The Score 17(September 1956), 33.

135

Gerhard’s handling of the twelve-tone row and its corresponding time

series is reflected in his rendering of the complete serial field in the final two

movements of his String Quartet no. 1. The third movement of the first string

quartet, titled Grave, constitutes Gerhard’s ‘first radical application’ of his

serially derived proportion theory and it is clear that Gerhard approached the

third movement as a concentrated study or a compositional etude.36

Thus, in addition to a tone row, Gerhard employs a rhythmic series in the

third movement of the first quartet to govern, as Julian White puts it, “the

movement, duration, and temporal succession of the total sound events.”37 This

same theory is also applied to the fourth movement, which is labeled Molto

allegro. While Gerhard would probably disagree that a detailed study of the

compositional design of his first string quartet would uncover musical meaning

and shed light upon the details of his creative individuality, I will nonetheless

proceed with an examination the structure of his twelve-tone row and

accompanying temporal series, scrutinizing the elements of their organization. I

think that Gerhard would allow me to “follow the ways in which [these are]

woven into the sound fabric,”38 since I am no longer a “listener,” but an “analyst”

of this piece. Following the series is something that, according to Gerhard,

“incidentally can only be discovered by analysis and although listening and

36 The third movement provides a very abbreviated study of Gerhard’s proportion theory.

The movement is 45 measures in length. By contrast, the same proportions are also in play in thefinal movement as well, but evolve over the course of 395 (419 mm. counting the repeatedsection) measures.

37 Julian White, “Roberto Gerhard String Quartets 1 and 2,” liner notes for RobertoGerhard String Quartets 1 and 2 (Metier MSV CD92032), 1999, par. 1.

38 Roberto Gerhard, “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music (1952),” 121.

136

analysis have certainly something in common, they are basically antithetical

mental operations.”39

Regarding pitch in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1, movement III

The hexachord plays an important role in the third and fourth movements

of Gerhard’s first string quartet as it does in every other movement of the work.

But in these movements he not only employs hexachordal combinatoriality to

provide formal structure by serializing not only the pitch content, but also each

row’s order within the framework of the movement. Gerhard’s approach to these

latter movements marks a return to the more formalistic approach used in the

first movement. He begins the third movement by pairing each tone row with its

inversionally related complement. For example, the opening row of the

movement, R9, is paired with its inversional complement, I8. These two

transpositions are related through hexachordal combinatoriality and they appear

in the score separated by rests in m. 5 as shown in Example 5.7.

39 Ibid., 121.

137

Example 5.7: Pairing of inversionally related R9 and I8 – Roberto Gerhard,String Quartet no. 1, movement III, mm. 1-8. © 1958 by Boosey &Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by Permission.

Continuing this pattern, Gerhard provides a formal framework by

arranging each pair of inversionally related combinatorial rows in such a way that

they are also governed by the predetermined pitch collection. Thus, the pitch

material for the entire movement is serialized by ordering the row transpositions

according to the row itself. Gerhard exploits these combinatorial relations in the

manner shown in Figure 5.4.

138

m.#

P/R P/R row forms I/RI row forms I/RI

m.1

R9 0-10-2-1-8-6-7-3-11-5-4-9 8-1-0-6-2-10-11-9-4-3-7-5 I8

m.9

P7 7-2-3-9-1-5-4-6-11-0-8-10 3-5-1-2-7-9-8-0-4-10-11-6 RI6

m.12

R11 2-0-4-3-10-8-9-5-1-7-6-11 10-3-2-8-4-0-1-11-6-5-9-7 I10

m.18

P10 10-5-6-0-4-8-7-9-2-3-11-1 9-2-1-7-3-11-0-10-5-4-8-6 I9

m.21

P5 5-0-1-7-11-3-2-4-9-10-6-8 1-3-11-0-5-7-6-10-2-8-9-4 RI4

m.23 P3 3-10-11-5-9-1-0-2-7-8-4-6 2-7-6-0-8-4-5-3-10-9-1-11 I2

m.26

R4 7-5-9-8-3-1-2-10-6-0-11-4 0-2-10-11-4-6-5-9-1-7-8-3 RI3

m.28

P8 8-3-4-10-2-6-5-7-0-1-9-11 7-0-11-5-1-9-10-8-3-2-6-4 I7

m.31 P2 2-9-10-4-8-0-11-1-6-7-3-5 10-0-8-9-2-4-3-7-11-5-6-1 RI1

m.34

R1 4-2-6-5-0-10-11-7-3-9-8-1 0-5-4-10-6-2-3-1-8-7-11-9 I0

m.38

P6 6-1-2-8-0-4-3-5-10-11-7-9 5-10-9-3-11-7-8-6-1-0-4-2 I5

m.41

P0 0-7-8-2-6-10-9-11-4-5-1-3 11-4-3-9-5-1-2-0-7-6-10-8 I11

P/R column = R6 <9-7-11-10-5-3-4-0-8-2-1-6> (Note that pc0 is out of order.)

I/RI column = R5 <8-6-10-9-4-2-3-11-7-1-0-5> (Note that pc11 is out of order.)40

Figure 5.4: Serial structure based on inversionally combinatorial relationships –Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement III

40 The identifying pcs of the row forms resulting from reading down the P/R (R6) and

I/RI (R5) columns are shown on the example in bold typeface.

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As illustrated in Figure 5.4, the order created by the arrangement of each

pair, beginning with its prime or retrograde realization, is <9-7-11-10-5-3-4-8-2-

1-6-0>. If the final pair of rows in Figure 5.4, P0 and I11, were actually placed

between the pairs beginning with R4 and P8, the order of rows in the movement

would follow the permutation R6 (according to each row’s identifying pitches),

which is the retrograde of the original row first presented in movement I of the

quartet. Additionally, the row created by the arrangement of the I/RI

transformational pairs produces R5. Hence, Gerhard serializes the pitches based

on the twelve-tone row, but also the approximate order in which the rows appear

throughout the movement.

On serializing temporal durations in Gerhard’s String Quartet no. 1,movement III

Gerhard’s time series for the third movement is derived from the P6 tone

row. This row is first presented in the opening movement of the quartet, as seen

in Example 5.8 (a). Example 5.8 (b) provides a reproduction of this same row as

it appears in Gerhard’s article “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique,” in

which he first introduces his theory of time sets. The second line of part (b)

shows the row divided into two hexachords and arranged in their closest packing

(in terms of pcs, not pitches).41

41 It should be noted that though this particular tone row was taken directly from his

String Quartet no. 1, which, as usual for Gerhard, he did not disclose this detail in the article.

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(a)

(b)

Example 5.8: (a) First appearance of the row in its original order in RobertoGerhard’s String Quartet no. 1, movement I, mm. 8-11. © 1958 byBoosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd. Reprinted by Permission;(b) Reproduction of musical examples in Roberto Gerhard’s“Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique” (1956)

Based on this close packing, Gerhard chose C5 (pc0) as his horizon tone.42

As illustrated in Figure 5.5, this set matches the pc-row, illustrating more

forcefully than ever that Gerhard’s manipulations have more to do with

addressing a conceptual need rather than a practical one.43 After manipulating

the P6 transformation by subtracting the horizon tone from it, Gerhard adds the

42 Note how C5 in this case is not the lowest pitch of the first hexachord in p-space.Instead, it is the first note of the hexachord when placed in normal order.

43 Only because the horizon tone in the above example is pc0 does the resulting string ofintegers resemble the original P6 ordering. As seen in the aforementioned Figure 5.2, this maynot always be the case.

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pcs of each hexachord to produce a ruling proportion for this movement of his

string quartet. The resulting proportion, as noted in Figure 5.5, is 33:45 (the

same as the symphony), which may be reduced to 11:15. 44, 45

6 1 2 8 0 4 3 5 10 11 7 9

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

6 1 2 8 12 4 3 5 10 11 7 9

33 45

Figure 5.5: Explanation of proportions based on ordering and employment of thehorizon tone derived from row form P6

Gerhard’s time sets and theory of proportions are clearly articulated in the

final movements of his first string quartet. Beginning with the opening measures

of the third movement, Gerhard introduces the pitch series in conjunction with

the time series. Unlike the poly-metric fourth movement, which shifts among

44 Recall that Gerhard used the same ruling proportion 11:15 to control temporal

parameters in his Metamorphoses (Symphony no. 2) as well.

45 A different time series, however, governs the fourth movement of the String Quartetno. 1. In movement IV, Gerhard employs the P0 transposition of the original twelve-tone row,which is <0-7-8-2-6-10-9-11-4-5-1-3>. When this row is divided into two hexachords andarranged in normal order, Gerhard chooses pc6 as the horizon tone. Subtracting this numberfrom the P0 row form to generates a new ordering, but not one that is unique. This resultingstring of integers produces P6, or <6-1-2-8-12-4-3-5-10-11-7-9>. Nevertheless, Gerhard dividesthis resulting row of numbers into two time sets and adds the integers together to create the same33:45 proportion used earlier in movement III.

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various simple and compound meters, the third movement of the first string

quartet is unmeasured. Gerhard’s use of durations in the third movement

governs, not individual note values, but the values of beats per measure. This

particular serialization of durations allows Gerhard to manipulate rhythmic

content freely, rather than commit to a series of rhythmic durations. Example

5.9, illustrates how the length of each measure is based on the number of eighth

notes it contains. The time series is determined by counting the number of

eighth-note beats in each measure, creating the ordering <6-3-8-12-4-3-5-10-11-

7-9>. As shown in Example 5.9, the second measure of three beats is divided

arbitrarily into a one-plus-two eighth-note pattern in accordance with the order

of the time series. The order of the time series is derived from the original tone

row of the quartet and may be labeled P6.

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Example 5.9: Serialized number of beats – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement III, mm. 1-11. © 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes MusicPublishers Ltd. Reprinted by Permission.

This temporal series has large-scale formal implications as well. For

Gerhard, the 33:45 (or 11:15) proportion derived from the series becomes a

controlling feature for the overall form of the movement. The entire third

movement is forty-five measures in length. The movement is further divided into

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four sections: three sections of 11 measures each (arrived at by dividing 33 by 11)

and a final section of twelve measures (arrived at by subtracting 33 from 45).

This division of the movement into four sections is illustrated in Figure 5.6 and

also in Example 5.10. As seen in Figure 5.6, a new time series derived from the

33:45 proportion begins every eleven measures. Note that Gerhard further

exploits this idea by not only implementing all four types of transformations, but

by limiting himself to only transpositions at T6. Thus, as noted in Figure 5.6, he

bases the specific temporal durations of the entire third movement on the

transformations P6, RI6, R6, and I6. This is also shown in Example 5.10.

m. 1-11 P6 6-3(1+2)-8-12-4-3-5-10-11-7-9

m. 12-22 RI6 3-5-3(1+2)-7-9-8-12-4-10-11-6

m. 23-33 R6 9-7-11-10-5-3-4-12-8-3(2+1)-6

m. 34-45 I6 6-11-10-4-12-8-9-7-3(2+1)-5-3

Figure 5.6: Metric proportions – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement III

Example 5.10 illustrates how the transformations shown in Figure 5.7

combine to create the formal framework of the movement. Shown on the

complete score of the third movement, each temporal transformation of the

series is eleven measures in length with the exception of the fourth I6

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transformation. This final row form actually extends to twelve measures only

because its final chord is held over for an extra measure. The time-series labels

are noted in large bold letters below the staves. The P/RI and R/I pairs of the

pitch series are underlined and italicized above the staves.

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147

Example 5.10: Metric proportions – Roberto Gerhard, String Quartet no. 1,movement III. © 1958 by Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.Reprinted by Permission.

It may be apparent from Example 5.10, that Gerhard’s coordination of

tone and temporal elements creates an isorhythmic structure. Each tone row is

paired with its inversionally related complement, but these pairings do not

necessarily match up with the four eleven-measure time series realizations.

Figure 5.7 illustrates this lack of coordination between pitch and time. Gerhard

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synchronizes both series at the starting point of each time series, but within each

time series, two, three, or four inversionally related pitch pairs may occur. In

Figure 5.7, the first column shows the four time series and their T6 realizations.

The second column shows the P/R and I/RI pairs that occur within the eleven

measures of each time series.

Time Series Pitch Series

mm. 1-11 [P6] 1-8 [R9/I8]

9-11 [P7/RI6]

mm. 12-22 [RI6] 12-17 [R11/I10]

18-20 [P10/I9]

21-22 [P5/RI4]

mm. 23-33 [R6] 23-25 [P3/I2]

26-27 [R4/RI3]

28-30 [P8/I7]

31-33 [P2/RI1]

mm. 34-45 [RI6] 34-37 [R1/I0]

38-40 [P6/I5]

41-45 [P0/I1]

Figure 5.7: Isorhythmic coordination of pitch and time elements – RobertoGerhard, String Quartet no. 1, movement III

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Conclusion

As evidenced by the analyses presented in this chapter, Gerhard’s

experimentation with temporal parameters led to a unique approach to serial

composition. It should be noted that Gerhard’s thoughts on the compositional

purpose of the twelve-tone method were, for the most part, similar to that of his

last teacher. Like Schoenberg, Gerhard stated in his writings on more than one

occasion that the row should be of little importance to the listener. It is simply a

guide for the composer, and if the listener can discern it from the music, his

appreciation would most likely remain unchanged. At the same time, Gerhard’s

use of the twelve-tone method varied from Schoenberg as well. Through his

handling of the twelve-tone series, we see a composer grappling to find his own

voice. Gerhard does not allow his theoretical regulations to govern every aspect

of his composition. He simply uses a pitch series and all of its derivations as

compositional tools. As tools, his various rows do not dictate what happens next;

instead, they provide him with a multitude of possibilities that allow him to rely

on his imagination. Gerhard’s musicological writings and serial compositions

provide a small glimpse of a man greatly influenced by the contemporary music

world. Although he is unknown by many, his distinctive and idiosyncratic

compositional design and his forward-thinking thoughts on music have

influenced many musicians of the twentieth century.

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Chapter 6: Intellectual and Intuitive Dichotomy inGerhard’s Atonal Tonality

In this dissertation, I have focused on the synthesis of Gerhard’s disparate

compositional influences. By examining his student years and life in exile, I have

shown the importance his teachers and colleagues had on his compositional

output. This influence is evident in such works as his Wind Quintet, String

Quartet no. 1, and Metamorphoses, where he merges folkloric, Spanish elements

with his idiosyncratic approach to twelve-tone composition. In addition to this

unlikely dialectic, I have also hinted at Gerhard’s fascination with the

intuition/intellectualism dichotomy. For Gerhard, these ideas were not mutually

exclusive, and, as will be discussed in this chapter, he spent a much of his career

dealing with this issue.

Following the premiere of his first string quartet in 1956, Roberto Gerhard

reached a turning point in his career. His first symphony and string quartet

garnered considerable success and he was honored with a sixtieth-birthday

Festschrift in the September 1956 issue of The Score and I.M.A. Magazine. For

the first time since his exile, Gerhard could live comfortably as an artist.1

Furthermore, Gerhard began to receive numerous commissions in England and

abroad.

In addition to traveling the European continent, Gerhard traveled to the

United States in 1960-61 where he taught at the University of Michigan as a

1 Ates Orga additionally supports this assertion in an article written shortly afterGerhard’s death. See Ates Orga, “Roberto Gerhard: 1896-1970,” Music and Musicians 19/2(October 1970): 36.

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sabbatical replacement for Ross Lee Finney and also at the Berkshire Music

Center at Tanglewood. This trip also resulted in multiple commissions and

attractive employment proposals from American universities, but rather than

accepting these teaching opportunities, Gerhard returned to Europe where he

composed what scholars consider to be the most mature music of his career in

the final decade of his life. The composition commissions resulting from these

trans-Atlantic trips include his String Quartet no. 2 (1960–1962) for the

University of Michigan’s Stanley Quartet, Gerhard’s Symphony no. 4, “New York”

(1967), so named for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and his zodiac-

inspired chamber work, Leo (1967), written for the Dartmouth College Hopkins

Center.

Upon returning to England, Gerhard began to receive recognition among

his peers in Europe in addition to the aforementioned Festschrift and other

celebratory issues. In his adopted country, he was even honored with the

prestigious CBE award (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) and was

awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Cambridge University. It was also

during this time that his failing health began to take a toll. He died in his home

on 5 January 1970.

Gerhard is recognized as an exceptionally versatile composer of both serial

and non-serial chamber works and symphonies as well as music for film, and

electro-acoustic music. Influenced by many sources, he developed a voice that

was entirely his own. As a student of Felipe Pedrell and Arnold Schoenberg, he

learned the twelve-tone method, yet continued to write distinctly Spanish music.

Throughout his life, Gerhard felt that modern compositional systems posed many

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contradictions and problems and dedicated his life to finding solutions to these in

both his writings and compositions.

Gerhard lived in Catalonia during a time when all of Spain was nearing the

end of an artistic and political Renaixença or Renaissance. Though artists such

as Gaudí were associated with the height of the Catalan Modernisme style, known

elsewhere as Art Nouveau, the advancement of music in Spain during this time

was still lagging far behind the rest of the European community. Gerhard,

however, who had just returned from studying in Vienna and Berlin, originally

had no intention of teaching or publicly spreading his new ideas. He wanted to

uphold the ideals of the Catalan Renaixença, but soon found himself moving in a

different direction. While his essays in El Mirador, as discussed in Chapter 3,

were all written in Catalan rather than Spanish to promote the ideals of an

autonomous Catalonia, they were also noticeably progressive and welcomed the

increase of global influence in the artistic community. Through his music and

articles, Gerhard opened the eyes and ears of the Spanish musical community to

new works by modern European composers and gained support for his own

music as well.2

After returning to Spain from his studies abroad, Gerhard became a

founding member of Amics de L’Art Nou (ADLAN), and keeping in step with his

less favorable supporters, he joined the ultra-conservative Independent

2 As mentioned in Chapter 3, Gerhard's membership in both ISCM and the Associació

Íntima de Concerts enabled him to bring new modern composers and their music to hishomeland. He managed to bring Schoenberg and Webern to Spain, procuring both conductingand performance opportunities for them as well. Subsequently, it was in Barcelona thatSchoenberg completed most of his Moses und Aaron and Klavierstück no. 2, op. 33b. Likewise,Gerhard hosted the 1936 ISCM festival in Barcelona that presented the premiere of Berg’s ViolinConcerto and fragments from Wozzeck as well as Bartók’s Fifth String Quartet.

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Composers of Catalunya (CIC). In contrast, as an active member of the

International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM), Gerhard continued to gain

exposure to new and avant-garde music as well as musical theories and ideas

proposed by composers and theorists of experimental schools and studios

throughout Europe.

Gerhard’s synthesis of these musical trends enabled him to maintain his

penchant for individuality. Indeed, through his idiosyncratic use of the twelve-

tone idiom, Gerhard defied the prescribed conventions followed by Schoenberg

and other members of the Second Viennese School and likewise ignored those set

by other pioneers such as Milton Babbitt and Joseph Hauer. Gerhard’s ideas

contradicted the writings of his fellow Catalans, such as conductor and

musicologist, Lluís Millet, and Gerhard’s unconventional practices also reflected

his disillusionment with the music by composers at Darmstadt.

Gerhard’s theoretical writings were motivated to a large extent by attacks

on the twelve-tone method and so-called atonal music in general by other

composers, theorists, and performers. While at first Gerhard defended the views

of his teacher and mentor Arnold Schoenberg, he soon found himself expressing

his own views about music. Indeed, it would appear that to a large extent,

Gerhard uncovered what he may have only had a vague notion of in his early

thinking by responding to his critics. At the heart of Gerhard’s mature

compositional philosophy is a dialectical relation between intellect and intuition.

Over and over again in his writings, Gerhard asserts his position on the limits of

intellect and the importance of intuition in the compositional process. Yet, as I

have shown throughout, he was not consistent in how he defined these limits and

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never fully resolved the conflict between intellect and intuition, choosing to treat

these as separate aspects of the compositional process.3 This is why he claims

late in life that analysis isn’t necessary for the listener. At best, one can say that

while Gerhard was drawn to pre-compositional models; the models he himself

employed were always directed toward some type of aural experience and, thus,

constrained by what he felt were the practical limits of human perception. More

importantly for the purposes of this dissertation is the fact that his theoretical

musings had a direct impact on his compositional output and it is this impact

that I have investigated in my analysis of his wind quintet (Chapter 3), second

symphony (Chapter 5), and first string quartet (Chapters 4 and 5).

Some of these musings were developed in dialogue with the conservative

musical community in 1930s Barcelona. As discussed in Chapter 3, Gerhard

criticized the conservative musical establishment for their narrow-minded view

of modern music. Within the context of his arguments, Gerhard posited that

there was no special “formula” or “recipe” for composing non-tonal music. In

fact, he stated on numerous occasions that the tone row was not the be-all, end-

all, of the compositional process. “What matters is the understanding of a

creative process, not the copying of a ‘procedure.’”4 Gerhard asks of those who

3 This is clearly noted in his response to Lluís Millet, published in El Mirador and quotedin Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” in Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings, ed.Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 45:

All the systemization in my works that annoys you, still seem minute compared tothe desire I feel always to make the genesis of the work more ordered andconscious, independent of all suggestions of comfortable emotion and thedictates of absolute fantasy…We are not questioning the fact of inspiration, whichis private to the composer. What we are questioning is the artistic fact thatbegins where inspiration ends.

4 Roberto Gerhard, “On Composition with Twelve Notes (1954),” in Gerhard on Music:Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 114.

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would be against the twelve-tone method the following question: “Does it concern

you that the intellectual techniques of the Schoenberg School can provide such

ample space for intuition? Does it upset you that not everything can be analyzed

into theoretical concepts?”5

Here we see why Gerhard felt the need to argue his point in the first place.

His opponents claimed that musical modernism, the very idea they believed

Gerhard was championing, had had a weak theoretical basis or framework.

Gerhard, on the other hand, argued that his critics were missing the point,

claiming that “it seems peculiarly wrong that an art should come to believe in a

sort of raison de système, which imagination knows nothing of, in other words,

that the artist should come to hold—as is the case in certain circles

nowadays—that method in and by itself can validate a work of art.”6 Gerhard

maintained that throughout history, theory has always followed practice; theory

has never come first. Thus, he declared that “the musician-creator is not a

theoretician: therefore he has no obligation towards nor any interest in the

possibility of establishing a collective, conventional and impersonal ‘system.’”7

Instead, inspiration, rather than rules or laws, should be what governs the

composer.8

5 Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” 49.

6 Roberto Gerhard, “Functions of the Series in Twelve-Note Composition (1960),” inGerhard on Music: Selected Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: AshgatePublishing, 2000), 173.

7 Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” 47.

8 To further assert his claim, Gerhard wrote: “The composer fights for his ideals withmusic. The dialectical fight, theory, analysis, must be entrusted to a different person – the“creative critic”, the schöpferischer Kritiker of the Germans.” Quoted in Roberto Gerhard, “NewMusical Methods (1930),” 42.

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Gerhard also pondered the amount of creativity twelve-tone composers

exercised, which seemed to contradict the standard view that such methods

constrained the act of composition. Many of these composers used the twelve-

tone method in a variety of ways, and these ways often differed from those of

Gerhard. Gerhard’s disagreement with many of the opposing trends may have

been with those composers and writers who didn’t seem to understand the

creative potential of the method, but his dispute was never with the method itself.

Nevertheless, Gerhard was passionate about his own views, which became

the basis for many of his theories. Gerhard’s defense of the twelve-tone method

as a compositional technique, found him at odds with the musicologist and critic,

Peter Stadlen. Stadlen (1910-1996), born and educated in Vienna, was a well-

known pianist who was noted for his interpretation of works by Austrian classical

composers such as Beethoven and Schubert as well as by contemporary

composers of the Second Viennese School.9 Though he was closely associated

with the Second Viennese School—primarily with Webern, he later became

disillusioned with what he felt was the over-intellectualism of serialism. His

views on this subject appeared in an article he wrote for the 1958 issue of The

Score, titled “Serialism Reconsidered.”

9 He premiered such works as Webern’s op. 27 Piano Variations and also conducted a

memorable performance of Schoenberg’s op. 29 Septet from the piano. Following a hand injuryin 1956, Stadlen devoted the remainder of his life to research and writing, holding lecturepositions in music at the University of Reading, All Souls College in Oxford, and even atDarmstadt. Stadlen became a music critic for the Daily Telegraph in 1959, becoming the paper’schief critic in 1977, a position he held until his retirement in 1985.

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Stadlen’s article caused a great stir and Gerhard was among several

“eminent contributors” who challenged Stadlen’s opinions.10 The main point of

Stadlen’s article was to posit that, when playing the music of the Second Viennese

School, “an authentic performance…is impossible without direct tradition,”11 or

rather, the intended interpretation would be unachievable without working

directly with the composer.12 While Gerhard admitted that Stadlen had the

authority to speak on such matters of interpretation due to his reputation as a

pianist and because of his prior association with Webern, Gerhard did object to

Stadlen using this authority to criticize “serialism” as a compositional

technique.13

Stadlen’s biggest problem with serialism was that there was so little

consistency among composers who used the compositional method. This was a

moot issue for Gerhard, who claimed as early as 1954 in his article, “On

Composition with Twelve Tones,” that “there will probably always be as many

different ways of handling the twelve-tone technique as there are original

composers who use it.”14 While this statement was far from groundbreaking, it

nonetheless situates Gerhard as an independent thinker rather than a devoted

10 Peter Stadlen, “No Real Casualties?” The Score 24 (November 1958), 65. These include

Stadlen’s “Serialism Reconsidered” article and his later reply, “No Real Casualties?” in addition tothe contributing commentary by Gerhard, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston, and George Perle.

11 Peter Stadlen, “Serialism Reconsidered,” The Score 22 (February 1958), 14.

12 Stadlen explained how he had to work closely with Webern while preparing for thepremiere of the composer’s op. 27 Piano Variations because there were no indications of Webern’srequired performance details expressed in the score.

13 Roberto Gerhard, “Apropos Mr. Stadlen,” The Score 23 (July 1958), 54.

14 Roberto Gerhard, “On Composition with Twelve Notes,” 114.

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follower, and also helps to support his idea that the twelve-tone method did not

rule out intuition. In spite of this, many musicians during this period found that

all of the variety and originality pointed to inherent flaws in the technique.

Stadlen speculates about whether this has anything to do with Schoenberg’s

vague pronouncements about the twelve-tone method in the first place.15 Stadlen

questions Schoenberg’s definition of his method because of its ambiguous nature.

Does his series evolve from the actual notes, or does it arise from the intervals

created between the notes? Arguing that this problem was never addressed or

even acknowledged by Schoenberg, Stadlen approaches it in the following way:

Here, then, the system meets defeat on its home ground. It fails toachieve what it sets out to do not so much because of anincompatibility of its procedures with the nature of music, butbecause of contradictions between its own definitions and practices.Confusion of a sequence with its terms leads to claims of non-existent correspondences between chords and sequences; failure todistinguish between the name of a note and its function, betweenserial and tonal concepts and between notes and intervals, leads tocalling things the same that are not the same, to claiming series asidentical, which are really different.

These fundamental errors and contradictions have been hidingbehind Schoenberg’s vague and misleading formulation:‘Composition with twelve notes related only to one another’. Hisidea would have been more accurately expressed by the wording:‘Composition with sequences of eleven intervals of fixed direction’.That formulation, however, would have precluded some of thesystem’s most characteristic procedures—and so serialism mightconceivably never have happened.16

15 Schoenberg first described his procedure as a “Method of Composing with Twelve

Tones Which are Related Only with One Another.” Schoenberg writes that all twelve notes of thechromatic scale are used, only in a different order, and that no tones should be repeated withinthe series. Composers of twelve-tone works have settled on these additional details: First of all,the twelve-tone work must be based on a specific ordering of the twelve tones of the chromaticscale, and second—any segment of this twelve tone set may be stated as a chord.

16 Peter Stadlen, “Serialism Reconsidered,” 23-24.

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This critique of Schoenberg’s method encouraged a healthy debate regarding

pertinent issues concerning the twelve-tone technique and consequently inspired

such composers as Gerhard, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston and George Perle to

defend their compositional practices and aesthetics.

Gerhard found the premise on which Stadlen based his arguments

pointless, and wrote that the distinction between notes and intervals was merely

“hair-splitting.”17 On the matter of the dismissal of the repetition of tones within

a twelve-tone sequence, Gerhard matter-of-factly claimed that it was “logically

necessary to postulate the exclusion of repeated notes for the theoretical

definition of what we are to understand by a series quâ series. It would be a

monstrosity to exclude note repetitions in music-making.”18

In regard to finding a more precise description of the twelve-tone method,

Sessions takes another approach. He finds that the so-called rules themselves are

not as important as their evolution over time through the varied use of the

method itself. He argues that “its nature—like that of any persistent artistic

movement—lies not in principles or rules laid down at its inception, but in the

aspects which reveal themselves in prolonged and varied practice.”19 Sessions

finds that a compositional method begins as a movement or idea, and its laws and

formulas emerge over time with continued use. He too is concerned with the

definitions of “tonality” and “atonality,” and Sessions’s response to Stadlen

echoes Gerhard’s:

17 Roberto Gerhard, “Apropos Mr. Stadlen,” 55.

18 Ibid., 56.

19 Roger Sessions, “To the Editor,” The Score 23 (July 1958), 59.

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Viewed in this light, what is the role of serialism? What does itrepresent, for the composer, in practice? It seems to me that itrepresents first of all a means of organizing his vocabulary in termsof a conscious choice...Once the initial choice has been made, theseries will determine the composer’s vocabulary; but once thevocabulary has been so determined, the larger questions of tonalorganization remain...The series governs the composer’s choice ofmaterials; only the composer’s ear and his conception determinethe manner or the effect of their usage.20

So for Sessions, the terms of use for the twelve-tone method do, in fact, seem

vague, but this lack of clarity should not, according to him, deter the composer

from making his usual artistic decisions. As pointed out by such composers as

Gerhard, Sessions, Perle, and Piston, the method serves only as a compositional

tool. It is a method that offers a certain amount of artistic restraint, but, at the

same time, does not necessarily require a prescribed set of rigid laws or rules.

This of course, brings us to the other point Stadlen finds issue with—the tenet

20 Ibid., 62-63. Sessions makes another important point within this statement. This

quote also appears on p. 63:

My own strong feeling is that, while these questions must certainly be answeredin terms no alien to the nature of the series, it is not serialism as such that canever be made to account for them. I do not mean at all that I am opposed inprinciple to the idea of basing the structure entirely on the series itself, asWebern and others have tried to do. What I am saying is that even in structuresso based, the acoustical effect seems to me to derive in the last analysis not fromthe manipulation for the series as such, but from the relationships between notes,as the composer has by these means set them up. It is for this reason, of course,that neither the performer nor the listener need be expected to ‘follow’ the seriesthrough all its adventures; it is the sense, and not the rationale behind this, thatis of primary and overwhelming importance.

In addition to stating that the role of serialism in a twelve-tone work is merely a means oforganization and a way of building a composer’s musical vocabulary, Sessions also finds thatserialism can be used to govern formal features as well. While he does not use the method in thisway, he notes that many other composers do. Like Gerhard, Sessions believes that the ear shouldhave the final say, thus reiterating the position that the listener and performer should not concernthemselves with the composition’s construction.

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that any segment of the twelve-tone row may be stated as a chord.21 He discusses

his problems with this issue in the following statement:

It seems incredible that in all these years no one (including myself,of course) should have objected to the basic assumption of thetwelve-note system, which distinguishes it most fundamentally anduncompromisingly from all previous compositional practice: theassumption that chords can be derived from a sequence of notes soas to represent it and be identical with it—simply by sounding thenotes simultaneously instead of successively. It is both the mostrevolutionary and the most erroneous claim made by the twelve-note system that such a sequence and such a chord are merely twostates of the same thing, namely of the identity of the series asconceived by Schoenberg.22

Stadlen believes that the horizontal ordering of pitches precludes their inclusion

in vertical sonorities, which is contradictory to Gerhard’s opinion. As pointed out

by Perle in “Theory and Practice in Twelve-Tone Music,” Stadlen is undoubtedly

correct when he claims that pitches that sound simultaneously cannot be defined

by order. But, at the same time, he is incorrect when he claims that the identity

of the set relies on that particular order. This gives Perle reason to state: “it

would seem that a meaningful and consistent relationship between the non-serial

and the serial linear aspects of a twelve-tone composition would be required.”

This also brings us to another of Stadlen’s problems with serialism in

twelve-tone works. For Stadlen, it is not enough to recognize that some vertical

sonorities belong to a sequence of tones when others do not. Why are the chords

21 Stadlen argues that there are several inherent problems with serialism as a

compositional technique, the first of these being its failure to survive its use in composition. This“failure to distinguish between the terms of a series and their sequence,” is disquieting forStadlen, especially upon his examination of vertical sonorities in twelve-tone compositions.Quoted in Peter Stadlen, “Serialism Reconsidered,” 23.

22 Ibid., 20.

162

that are created as part of a sequence deemed relevant to the formal structure

when chords produced as a result of colliding row forms are not? It was

Schoenberg’s belief that “whatever sounds together (harmonies, chords, the

result of part-writing) plays its part in expression and in the presentation of the

musical idea in just the same way as does all that sounds successively (motive,

shape, phrase, sentence, melody, etc.), and it is equally subject to the law of

comprehensibility.”23 Perle, on the other hand, finds that this is not a matter of

relevancy, but a matter of artistic creation. He states:

In a ‘successful serial composition’ the chords, however they may bederived, are never ‘disregarded’. The relevance of the composer’sserial activity to his composition is determined by the evidence ofthe work itself and not by the consistency and internal logic of hisor anyone else’s verbal formulations about the nature of thisactivity.24

So for Perle, the properties that distinguish a particular twelve-tone row

cannot be determined apart from a concrete musical situation. The fact that the

row can be derived from any number of serial choices means nothing if the

determining factor is not an auditory one. Whereas Stadlen expects all

compositional outcomes to happen as expected if based on a “serially significant”

set of pitches, Perle expects nothing of the sort. Perle believes that compositional

decisions, whether serially derived or not, are the result of artistic judgment, with

the “understanding [that] audition plays the ultimate deciding role.”25

23 Arnold Schoenberg, “Twelve-Tone Composition (1923),” in Style and Idea: Selected

Writings of Arnold Schoenberg, ed. by Edward Stein (London: Faber and Faber, 1975), 208.

24 George Perle, “Theory and Practice in Twelve-Tone Music (Stadlen Reconsidered),”The Score 25 (June 1959), 63.

25 Ibid., 62.

163

As we have seen, Gerhard largely agrees with Perle and Sessions. Gerhard

treats his row permutations as compositional tools, not as mandates. As a

method of pre-compositional planning, it offers some amount of constraint in

limiting his choice of pitch or any other parameter he finds necessary. Whatever

particular ordering he chooses to use will have no bearing on the musical

meaning of the finished composition. To reiterate, for Gerhard, the serial

technique is a composer’s tool and it is not, in any way, a concern of the listener

or performer.26

It is likely that a composer wants to create a “successful work” that stands

on its own merits. But at the same time, a performer of that work can’t help but

wonder if learning about the theoretical framework might illuminate his or her

interpretation of the composition. Gerhard insists that knowledge of the

compositional design is meaningless, arguing that Stadlen’s question of “serial

significance” is impertinent. But what exactly, is “serial significance” anyway?

I have already pointed out that Perle has explained Stadlen’s faulty

reasoning regarding vertical sonorities in twelve-tone compositions. But it is

Stadlen’s incorrect assumption that the particular permutation of the row is what

gives meaning to the composition, what Gerhard calls “serial significance,” that

Gerhard takes issue with:

26 This is a mantra he repeats with frequency throughout his career and it is something

from which he never wavers. One gets the idea that Gerhard finds Stadlen’s insistence of askingWebern about the “serial significance” of his work rather insulting. Must a composer divulge thesecrets of his composition for a performer or listener to better appreciate it? This insistence,according to Gerhard, is likened to asking, “We are not satisfied with the musical result of thecomposer’s work; we want to know the processes by which it comes about.” Quoted in RobertoGerhard, “Apropos Mr. Stadlen,” 51.

164

I suggest that at the bottom of the reigning confusion as to thenature and the merits of ‘serialism’ there is this simplemisconception: it is sometimes thought that the series is meant tobe ‘significant’ per se. Stadlen makes this abundantly clear. Heseems so obsessed with the notion of ‘serial significance’ that...in allhis argumentation he hardly ever touches upon one solitary musicalaspect of music...Stadlen asks that “if ‘serial manipulation’ is notaudible, can serialism be of any ‘significance’ whatever? Theanswer is evidently: not to you as a listener or as a performer, since‘knowledge of serial implications is not required for the fullappreciation of the music’.”27

Because Gerhard views the twelve-tone method as a tool, he does not grant it any

more importance than he would any other compositional method. He does not

give any “significance” to the particular permutation of the twelve-note row nor

does he require it to possess some sort of hidden agenda. For these reasons,

Gerhard finds that the whole concept of “serial significance” is pointless, one that

should matter little to the listener or performer.

Another of Stadlen’s arguments was that the twelve-tone method was

created solely to impose conditions on only the pitch element of composition. He

believed that it failed in this regard because it didn’t “set up a compelling

standard of identity.”28 Rather than limiting one’s choices through a prescribed

amount of artistic restraint, it instead created an infinite number of possibilities.

So whereas the original idea of twelve-tone composition was to impose

compositional restrictions, it ended up offering more possibilities than it barred.

While many a composer would not consider this a problem, Stadlen found that

this made the method useless. For Stadlen, the method was indifferent and

unexceptional; it was neither good nor bad. Stadlen ended his criticism with the

27 Ibid., 50-51.

28 Peter Stadlen, “Serialism Reconsidered,” 26.

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pronouncement that twelve-tone composition would achieve significance “not

through, but in spite of, its insignificant serial detour.”29

As these responses indicate, Stadlen apparently did not understand the

objectives of the twelve-tone composers with respect to their creative impulses,

mistaking vagueness in the theory for weakness in its compositional potential.

Thus, while it may be true that “Mr. Stadlen’s attack on the twelve-tone system

contains errors and inconsistencies and reveals certain prejudices on his part,”

one should also be fair and point out that “it also contains some valuable

insights.”30 It was these insights that prompted Gerhard, as well as Perle, Piston,

and Sessions, to defend their compositional method and, by extension, their

music. This, in turn, helped them clarify their own views on their art form.

According to Gerhard, however, one who is not a composer has no right to

criticize the twelve-note technique if he has had no “direct experience [with its]

creative handling.”31

But even if, as Stadlen claims, a composer such as Webern “never once

touched on the serial aspect” of his piece, should it have only been important that

Stadlen “know how the work should be played, not how it was made?”32 It seems

that Stadlen believes that a performer would be able to better interpret a musical

work if he or she knew the compositional details needed to achieve a more

convincing performance of the musical work. Gerhard, however, agrees with

29 Ibid., 27.

30 George Perle, “Theory and Practice in Twelve-Tone Music (Stadlen Reconsidered),” 58.

31 Roberto Gerhard, “Apropos Mr. Stadlen,” 54.

32 Peter Stadlen, “Serialism Reconsidered,” 16.

166

Webern’s position that the awareness of the serial technique would offer little

illumination and would be unnecessary for appreciation of the work. This idea is

in direct contrast to the position taken by Schoenberg who implied that the

performer’s knowledge of the basic series would, in fact, be a helpful tool.33

Nevertheless, Gerhard believes that whatever method is used to compose a work,

that method should be considered little more than “intellectual scaffolding;”

something that may help to create the piece, but not something to be studied

with the piece. Furthermore, he argues that serialism serves the composer much

like any other compositional tool. Its purpose is to help with the creation of the

piece of music, and, as with all tools or techniques, it matters little in comparison

to what one does with it. For this reason Gerhard repeatedly argued that a

“composer” rather than a “system” creates a composition.

Sessions also agrees that it is not necessary for the listener to understand

the means by which a composer writes his music in order to gain appreciation for

it or to perform it effectively. He finds that the “systematic organization of tones

is no new thing...” and that whatever compositional method he follows needs not

be “detected and followed in detail by the listener.”34 In his reply to Stadlen,

33 Schoenberg suggested that during the rehearsals for his opera, Von Heute auf Morgen,

he noticed that the technique, rhythm, and intonation of the various parts were difficult for thesingers to perfect, even though all of the singers had absolute pitch. He then stated: “Suddenlyone of the singers came and told me that since he had become familiar with the basic set,everything seemed easier for him. At short intervals all the other singers told me the same thingindependently. I was very pleased with this...” Surely Schoenberg implied by this statement thatknowledge of the basic set was essential for the performers’ understanding of the musical context.

The above quote was taken from Arnold Schoenberg, “Composition with Twelve-Tones(2) (1941),” in Style and Idea: Selected Writings of Arnold Schoenberg, ed. by Edward Stein(London: Faber and Faber, 1975), 244.

34 Roger Sessions, “To the Editor,” 46.

167

Sessions claims that, by nature, music theory is abstract and that the musical

work is concrete. Thus the two are “incommensurable, and neither can be

validated or the reverse, by the other.”35 So for Sessions, one cannot judge a work

by its construction; it must be judged by its musical effect. In spite of this, a

problem still remains, which Perle addresses over a year later. In his reply to

Stadlen and others in The Score, Perle raises the following questions: “Does not a

professional musician have a right to ask...in what way is this ‘intellectual

scaffolding’ useful? What is its relation to the ‘correspondences and

structures...as they are made to sound’?”36 These are, of course, the questions

Stadlen was hinting at but never actually asked.

Piston responded to Perle by claiming that there could only be one of two

results derived from music analysis: One could analyze a work to discover its

musical meaning, or one could analyze a work to discover the composer’s

intention. For Piston, “the significance of a composer’s message does not depend

upon the technical methods employed,” but “learning the composer’s intentions

… [can lead to] … an understanding of his message.”37 He wrote that the point of

analysis was to uncover multiple explanations, some of which may not have been

an original consideration. Though, if a thorough examination of the score is to

uncover the composer’s intentions, then quite rightly, the composer may justify

his stance that the “intellectual scaffolding” is of little importance. But, if the

purpose of analysis is to uncover musical meaning, then understanding the

35 Ibid., 58.

36 George Perle, “Theory and Practice in Twelve-Tone Music (Stadlen Reconsidered),” 58.

37 Walter Piston, “More Views on Serialism,” The Score 23 (July 1958), 49.

168

compositional framework of the composition may offer some illumination.

In this dissertation I have attempted to address both of these issues. By

examining Gerhard’s writings on theoretical issues and compositional practice, I

have uncovered many of his compositional procedures. Likewise, through the

analyses of his String Quartet no. 1, Wind Quintet, and Metamorphoses, I have

also discovered musical meaning hidden within the “intellectual scaffolding” of

the compositions. Gerhard’s use of the twelve-tone technique within the context

of the sonata form as well as his handling of the complete serial field for the first

time in his String Quartet no. 1 were unique aspects of his own personal approach

to composition, as was his incorporation of folk elements into his twelve-tone

compositions. Nevertheless, his premises regarding the compositional

implications of the twelve-tone method were often similar to that of his teacher.

Like Schoenberg, Gerhard stated in his writings on more than one occasion that

the tone row should be of little importance to the listener. For Gerhard, the row

was simply a guide for the composer, not an indispensable aspect of the listening

experience. Gerhard summarizes this view by stating:

It cannot, therefore, be too strongly emphasized that it [the row] isentirely and exclusively the concern of the composer. It does notconcern the listener at all. Above all, the listener must not believethat, if only he knew more about it theoretically, he might findtwelve-tone music less difficult.38

While Gerhard was in complete agreement with his teacher on this point,

Gerhard’s use of the twelve-tone method varied from Schoenberg’s. Even so,

Gerhard claimed that a composer could not begin to think of a work without

38 Roberto Gerhard, “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music,” in Gerhard on Music: Selected

Writings, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 121.

169

having a strict plan in place. He frequently insisted on the necessity of a method,

which could “serve...as a stimulus for new experience, and as a guard against the

erratic nature of thought; imposing freely selected boundaries upon the unlimited

scope available to the composer today, and thus avoiding the impression that

when everything is possible, nothing seems necessary.”39

Through Gerhard’s handling of the twelve-tone series, we see a composer

grappling to find his own voice. A disciple of Schoenberg, he was not easily

swayed by the experimentation with rhythmic and dynamic series undertaken by

composers at Darmstadt. For Gerhard, the twelve-tone method was simply a

helpful tool. He always relied on his ear to make a final decision. This is well-

noted by his student, Joaquim Homs:

In relation to this, it was essential to Gerhard’s anti-dogmatictemperament that one should use a method only as a means, not asan end. The principles contribute to ‘form’ the work, but not to‘predetermine’ it. Regarding the twelve-tone method, despiteSchoenberg’s teaching, Gerhard always preserved hisindependence; the proof is that only about a quarter of his worksare fully serial. He had already demonstrated in 1952 that theliteral application, at all costs, of serial technique to all musicalparameters would lead to an absurd academicism.40

It is Gerhard’s thoughts on intellectualism and that of audience reception

that governed his compositional design. While many other composers may have

shared these concerns, Gerhard’s prolific writing and argumentative stance on

these issues make them especially important where his music is concerned. Even

though he claimed to be inspired by his system, he also noted that the system

39 Joaquim Homs, Roberto Gerhard and his Music, trans. and ed. Meirion Bowen

(Sheffield, UK: Hallamshire Press, Anglo-Catalan Society, 2000), 85-6.

40 Ibid., 67.

170

could not be used to dictate every aspect of a composition if one wanted to avoid

producing “academic-sounding” work. He trusted the intellectualism of his pre-

compositional system only to the extent the intuition of his ear would allow.

While these complex ideas shed light on Gerhard’s attitudes toward

composition, they say little regarding how “system” and inspired intellectualism

interrelate. How can Gerhard claim to be inspired by his system, yet, plead “the

ear” as his proof of his compositional mastery? By his own word, “We are not

questioning the fact of inspiration, which is private to the composer. What we are

questioning is the artistic fact that begins where inspiration ends.”41 What

Gerhard seems to be saying, then, is that intellect and inspiration are knowable

quantities and that they exist both mutually and independently of one another

during the actual composing of music.

Expanding on this idea, one could say that modern art music is guided by a

double standard—one for intellect and one for inspiration. Thus, while musical

composition is expected to be intelligent, exude highly developed formal

processes, and fill its listeners with emotion, it must also avoid the pitfalls of

artificiality and pretentiousness. But who is listening to this “modern” music and

do they place the same kind of emphasis on mind and spirit? Milton Babbitt has

claimed that twentieth-century music would “at best, appear to be for, of, and by

specialists.”42 Gerhard, on the other hand, claims that people in general should

listen to more modern music and thereby familiarize themselves with its

41 Roberto Gerhard, “New Musical Methods (1930),” 45.

42 Milton Babbitt, “Who Cares If You Listen?” High Fidelity Magazine (February 1958):38.

171

“newness.” He argues that the often-cold reception of new music is linked to the

fact that modern audiences are familiar with the sonic landscape of the past and

not the present. Albert Borgmann agrees, writing that “the intellectual critique is

essentially backward looking; it regards individualism as the crucial destructive

force.”43 Keith Potter discusses these sentiments with regard to Gerhard in

detail:

We must be careful to distinguish the analyst from the music-lover;the process of analysis and the process of listening must not beconfused. Nevertheless there does not seem to be a certainambiguity in Gerhard’s thinking, which is acceptable in a composer,but not in an intellectual. Gerhard was widely read, in othersubjects as well as music, and he had an intelligent and lively mind.But he was first and foremost a creative musician, a composer, andany attempt at labeling him an ‘intellectual composer’ or, in view ofhis formidable technical knowledge, a ‘composer’s composer’ seemsto me to miss the point entirely.44

The question of intellectualism and academicism in music became

passionate issues in Gerhard’s writings, just as the idea of nationalism and its

place in twelve-tone composition turned out to be a defining feature of Gerhard’s

musical style. Because Gerhard was a prolific writer of his craft, theorists of

today have a way to ascertain where he stood on many pivotal issues regarding

his compositional style. Thus, it is possible to identify Gerhard’s position

concerning such musical matters as free atonality, total serialization, and

audience reception, as well as issues regarding musical aesthetics in a modern

society. Through an investigation of Gerhard’s social, educational, and artistic

43 Albert Borgmann, Crossing the Postmodern Divide (Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 1992), 79.

44 Keith Potter, “Life and Works of Roberto Gerhard,” BMus thesis (University ofBirmingham, 1972), 132.

172

background, I have demonstrated the impact his aesthetic ideals had on his

compositional output. Furthermore, I have provided insight into Gerhard’s

compositional schemes and structures and established the grounds for drawing

conclusions about these motivating issues.

Gerhard’s musicological writings and serial compositions provide a small

glimpse into the character of a man greatly influenced by the contemporary

music world. Although he is virtually unknown outside of Europe, his

idiosyncratic compositional design and his forward-thinking views on music have

influenced many musicians of the twentieth century. His thoughts and ideas

have been preserved in both his writings and his compositional output; thoughts

that demonstrate his idiosyncratic and contradictory approach to music. As

noted by Ates Orga in Gerhard’s obituary, his death “deprived the musical world

of a supreme craftsman with a unique inventive gift and richness of imagination

which commanded respect and admiration and brought him fame on both sides

of the Atlantic.”45 Gerhard’s contributions to modern music offer us a different

perspective communicated via a unique harmonic language and unconventional

musical structure, but these contributions also enhance of our understanding of

the modern but widely distinctive musical views embraced by the individual

members of the Second Viennese School.

The theoretical and artistic issues discussed in these pages are not

necessarily new or exclusive to Gerhard, but are issues of concern to the entire

contemporary musical community in the mid-twentieth century. Through a close

examination of a select number of Gerhard’s compositions, one can demonstrate

45 Ates Orga, “Roberto Gerhard 1896-1970,” 36.

173

the full extent of Gerhard’s artistic ability and creative thinking as compared to

his contemporaries. Beginning with some of his earliest writings, it is interesting

to note the evolution of his musical interests and ideals. Much of his early

writing and musical composition revealed his fondness for the folkloric traditions

of Spain and Catalonia and also showed his unwavering support of his Viennese

teacher. Gerhard’s later output catered to his growing fascination with the latest

developments in twelve-tone composition and some of these theories differed

from those of Schoenberg. Gerhard’s early columns in El Mirador marked the

beginning of what was soon to become an extensive collection of published

musical prose that, in addition to supplementing his meager income, provided

Gerhard a “propaganda vehicle for innovation.”46

Studying composition for five years in both Vienna and Berlin with

Schoenberg marked the turning point Gerhard’s his musical education. While he

held his teacher and mentor in high regard, Gerhard never went so far as to

idolize him. Gerhard defended Schoenberg’s teachings on multiple occasions, yet

at other times he found himself expanding upon Schoenberg’s ideas or

disagreeing with him. For the purpose of this discussion, it is not so important to

point out that some of Gerhard’s ideas and methods contradicted Schoenberg’s;

what is crucial is the fact that Gerhard spent a long time thinking about the

theoretical and artistic implications of Schoenberg’s ideas before ever

incorporating them into his own artistic creations. This becomes apparent when

one bears in mind that Gerhard did not fully embrace the twelve-tone method

46 Meirion Bowen, trans. and ed., introduction to Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings

(Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2000), 4.

174

until nearly ten years after completing his studies with Schoenberg. It is through

an examination of Gerhard’s compositions that we find a composer who was

more than willing to take an anti-dogmatic approach to composing with the

twelve-tone method. Gerhard felt free to develop his own compositional

approach, taking what he liked from Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg, and even

from composers such as Stravinsky and Bartók. As a result, inherent

contradictions to the norm emerge when one attempts to analyze Gerhard’s

music.

Because of the contradictory nature of his works and his anti-dogmatic

approach to composition, we now find a composer relegated to the fringe of

musical society. Nevertheless, through the examination of his writings in

conjunction with his compositional output, we will discover a body of music and

scholarship that is essential to the modern repertoire.

175

Appendix A: Categorical and Chronological List of RobertoGerhard’s Compositions

This list of compositions was compiled from several sources. I have

consulted Meirion Bowen’s book, Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings, as well

as the Grove Music Online. Additionally, the Arnold Schoenberg Center website

provides a comprehensive list of Gerhard’s compositions because he was

intimately involved with Schoenberg as a student, colleague, and friend. A more

authoritative list was compiled by David Drew with the help of the composer, for

the September 1956 issue of The Score and I. M. A. Magazine and was later

revised in February of 1970 after Gerhard’s death. The latter list is also

reproduced in full in Keith Potter’s dissertation, “Life and Works of Roberto

Gerhard.” Unfortunately, Drew’s list is not as comprehensive as some of the

aforementioned sources since it fails to include any of Gerhard’s student pieces,

his compositions that are deemed lost, or any works left incomplete.

* = Unpublished Score

Vocal 1

L’infantament meravellós de Schahrazada (J. M. López-Picó), song-cycle forhigh voice and piano (1916-17, pub. 1918)

Verger de les galanies (J. Carner), song-cycle for high voice and piano (1917-18)*

Lied (German, anon.), for voice and piano (1916-18)*

1 Credit for lyrics, if not by Gerhard, is given in parentheses.

176

3 Cançons (Catalan, anon.), for voice and piano (1918?)*

Cante jondo (Andalusian folk texts), four songs for voice and piano (1918?)*

Seven Haiku (J. Junoy), for high voice, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and piano(1922, rev. 1958) 2

14 Cancons populars, for high voice and piano (1928); arr. for voice andensemble as 6 cançons populars catalanes (1931)3

L’alta naixenca del Rein en Jaume (J. Carner), cantata for soprano, baritone,chorus, and orchestra (1931, rev. 1933) 4

Lassa, mesquina que faré puix mon amant se’n vol partir? (P. Serafi), for voiceand piano (c. 1932)*

El ventall (V. Gassol), song for soprano and piano (1930?)*

Madrigal a Sitges (J. Carner), for soprano and piano (1937)*

Cançons i arietes, for soprano and piano (1936, lost)*

Cançionero de Pedrell, for high voice and 13 instruments, after folksongscollected by Pedrell (1941)

La fulla el mi vol, for voice and piano (1940?)* 5

Sevillanas, for high voice and piano (1943)*

The Akond of Swat (E. Lear), for medium voice and 2 percussionists (1954)

Cantares (Spanish folk texts), seven songs for high voice and guitar (1956) 6

Interludes and Arias from The Duenna, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (1961)*

2 Grove Music Online lists the date as 1923 rather than 1922. It is also titled 7 Hai-Kai.

3 The latter is also published under the title 6 Cancons populars de Catalunya.

4 The Score lists the composition date as 1931.

5 Grove Music Online titles this composition La fulla i el nuvol, and gives a compositiondate of 1942.

6 Grove Music Online gives the date of 1962 rather than 1956.

177

The Plague, cantata based on A. Camus for speaker, mixed chorus, and orchestra(1963-64)

Chamber and solo instrumental

Sonatine a Carlos, for piano (1914)*

Piano Trio no. 1, for violin, cello, and piano (1917? lost)*

Piano Trio no. 2, for violin, cello, and piano (1918)

String Quartet (1918, lost)*

(Dos) Apunts, for piano (1921-22)

3 Piano Trios (1923-24, one trio is incomplete)*

Divertimento, for wind quintet (1926)*

Suite, for wind, strings, and piano (1927, lost)*

El conde sol, for trumpet, horn, bassoon, violin, violoncello, and piano (1927?)* 7

String Quartet (1927-28)*; expanded: Concertino for String Orchestra (1927-28)

Sonata for Clarinet (or bass-clarinet) and Piano (1928, incomplete)*

Wind Quintet (1928) 8

Andantino for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (1928)*

Sardana No. 1 and No. 2, for cobla ensemble (1928-29) 9

Sevillana, for fiscorn, bassoon, and string trio (1936? incomplete)* 10

7 Multiple sources believe that El conde sol is possibly part of the Suite composed in 1927.

8 Gerhard supposedly wrote an optional tenor sax part, which was left incomplete.

9 Gerhard arranged Sardana No. 1 for brass band in 1940, and arranged both SardanasNos. 1-2 for 11 winds and percussion in 1956.

178

Alegrias Suite (based on the ballet), for 2 pianos (1942); arr. for orchestra (1942)

Pandora Suite (based on the ballet), for 2 pianos and percussion (1943-44)

Dances from Don Quixote (based on the ballet), for piano (1940-41, rev. 1956)

Sonata for Viola and Piano (1948)*; rev. as Sonata for Cello and Piano (1956)

Capriccio, for solo flute (1949)

Three Impromptus, for piano (1950)

String Quartet No. 1 (1950-55)

Sardana No. 3, for 8 winds and percussion (1951) 11

Sonata for Cello and Piano (1956)

Nonet, for wind quintet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, accordion (1956-57)

Fantasia for solo guitar: Interlude in Cantares (1957)

Chaconne, for solo violin (1959)

Soirées de Barcelone Suite (based on the ballet), arr. for piano (1938)

String Quartet No. 2 (1960-62)

Concert for Eight, for flute, clarinet, mandolin, guitar, accordion, percussion,piano, and double bass (1962)

Hymnody, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, 2percussionists, and 2 pianos (1963)

Claustrophobia: A Page for John Cage, for harps and radios (1966)* 12

10 A fiscorn is the Spanish equivalent of the three-valved euphonium. It is also referred to

as a flugelhorn.

11 This was music composed for his film score Secret People (1952).

12 Gerhard wrote this as a contribution to Cage’s Notations. While it does not appear inthe book, Gerhard’s Concerto for Orchestra (1965) was included on p. 157. Claustrophobia isarchived in the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts Music Manuscript Collection atthe Northwestern University Music Library.

179

Gemini (“Duo Concertante”), for violin and piano (1966)

Libra, for flute + piccolo, clarinet, guitar, percussion, piano, and violin (1968)

Leo, for flute + piccolo, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, 2 percussionists piano+ celeste, violin, and violoncello (1969)

Orchestral

Concertino for String Orchestra, arr. from String Quartet, (1927-28)

Albada, Interludi e Dansa, for orchestra (1936)

Suite: Soirées de Barcelone (based on the ballet) for orchestra (1938)

Violin Concerto (1940, incomplete and destroyed)*

Symphony: Homenaje a Pedrell (1940-41) 13

Suite No. 1: Don Quixote (based on the ballet), for small orchestra (1941)

Alegrias Suite (based on the ballet), for orchestra [Divertissement-flamenco inone act] (1942)

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1942-43)

Pandora Suite (based on the ballet) for orchestra (1944-45)

Suite (No. 2): Don Quixote (based on the ballet) for large orchestra (1947)

Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra (1951)

Symphony No. 1 (1952-53)

Concerto for Harpsichord, Strings, and Percussion (1955-56)

Lamparilla: Overture to zarzuela El Barberillo de Lavapies by F. A. Barbieri(1956)*

Symphony No. 2 (1957-59); revised as Metamorphoses (1967-68, incomplete) 14

13 The third movement, Allegro giusto (Pedrelliana), may be performed separately as

“Pedrelliana (En memoria).”

180

Dances from Don Quixote (ballet), for orchestra (1940-41, pub. 1957)

Symphony No. 3 (“Collages”), for orchestra and tape (1960)

Concerto for Orchestra (1964-65)

Epithalamion, for orchestra (1965-66, rev. 1968)

Symphony No. 4: “New York” (1967, rev. 1968)

Symphony No. 5 (1968-69, incomplete and unperformed)

Stage

Ballet: Ariel, based on a scenario by Gerhard and J. V. Foix (1934)*

Ballet: Soirées de Barcelone (1938) 15

Ballet (in one-act): Don Quixote, after M. Cervantes (1940-41) 16

Ballet: Alegrias (ballet), Divertissement-flamenco in one act (1942)

Ballet: Pandora, ballet in one-act for 2 pianos and percussion (1943-44); arr. fororchestra (1944-45)*

Opera: The Duenna, opera after R. Sheridan’s play (1945-47)*

14 A. Boustead completed a performance edition in 1973.

15 Soirées de Barcelone was re-orchestrated by M. MacDonald in 1995-96.

16 Gerhard originally wrote the music for his ballet, Don Quixote, for small orchestra in1940-41, but it was left unperformed. He later re-orchestrated the work for a larger ensemble,which was first performed at Covent Garden in 1950.

181

Incidental music

Theater

Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1947)*

Cymbeline (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1949)*

The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1953)*

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1954)*

The Prisoner (Bridget Boland): Music for stage-production (1954)*

King Lear (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1955)*

Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1958)*

Coriolanus (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1959)*

The Cherry Orchard (Chekhov): Music for stage-production (1961)*

Macbeth (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1962)*

Film music

Secret People: Music for a feature film directed by Thorold Dickinson (1952)*

War in the Air: Music for five documentary films for BBC TV (1952)* 17

All Aboard: Music for animated film (1958)*

Your Skin: Music for a Unilever film documentary (1958)*

DNA in Reflection (1963); No. II of Audiomobiles I-IV: Electronic music for tape(1958-59)*

17 The documentaries were titled (a) Battle for Britain, (b) Desert Victory, (c) Wings over

Italy, (d) The Rising Sun, and (e) The Future.

182

This Sporting Life: Music for a feature film directed by Lindsay Anderson (1963)*

Music for radio

The Adventures of Don Quixote: Incidental music for BBC radio (1941)*

Cristobal Colon: Music for a radio play by Salvador de Madariaga (1943)*

Conquistador: Music for a radio play by Archibald McLeish (1953)

L’Etranger (The Outsider): Music for a radio adaptation of a book by AlbertCamus (1954)*

A Leak in the Universe: Music for a radio play by I. A. Richards (1955)*

Good Morning Midnight: Music for a radio production of a play by Jean Rhys(1956)*

Maria Stuart: Music for a radio adaptation of Schiller’s play (1956)*

Revenge for Love: Music for a BBC version of a play by Wyndham Lewis (1957)*

The Unexpected Country: Music for a radio play by Olwen Wymark (1957)*

Asylum Diary: Music for a radio play, directed by Christine Lavant (1959)*

Don Carlos: Music for a radio production of Schiller’s play (1959)*

Caligula: Music for a radio adaptation of a play by Albert Camus (1961)*

The Overcoat: Music for a radio adaptation of Gogol’s story (1961)*

Woyzeck: Music for a radio production of Buchner’s play (1961)*

The Tower: Music for a radio production Hoffmansthal’s play (1962)*

The World’s Great Stage: Music for a radio production of Calderon’s play (1962)*

The Philosopher’s Den: Music for a radio version of Zbigniew Herbert’s play(1963)*

The Anger of Achilles: Music for a orchestra and tape for BBC Radio adaptationof play by Robert Graves (1964)*

183

Funnyhouse of a Negro: Music for a radio play by A. Kennedy (1964)*

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Music for a radio adaptation of Hemingway’s novel(1965)*

The Man Born to be King: Music for a radio play by Dorothy L. Sayers (1966)*

Background Patterns I and II (n.d., lost)*

Music for television

You Know What People Are: Music for a BBC TV production of J. B. Priestley’splay (1955)*

The Count of Monte Cristo: Music for a BBC TV adaptation of the novel byDumas (1964)*

Macbeth: Music for a BBC TV production of Shakespeare’s play (1964)*

Music for tape

The Prisoner (Bridget Boland): Music for stage-production (1954)*

King Lear (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1955)*

A Leak in the Universe: Music for a radio play by I. A. Richards (1955)*

The Unexpected Country: Music for a radio play by Olwen Wymark (1957)*

All Aboard: Music for animated film (1958)*

Your Skin: Music for a Unilever film documentary (1958)*

Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1958)*

Audiomobiles I-IV: Electronic music on tape: I, II “DNA”, III, IV (1958-59)*

Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter (F. García Lorca), for speaker and tape(1959)*

Asylum Diary: Music for a radio play, directed by Christine Lavant (1959)*

184

Coriolanus (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1959)*

Symphony No. 3 (“Collages”), for orchestra and tape (1960)

Ten pieces for tape (c. 1961)* 18

Caligula: Music for a radio adaptation of a play by Albert Camus (1961)*

The Cherry Orchard (Chekhov): Music for stage-production (1961)*

Caligula: Music for a radio adaptation of a play by Albert Camus (1961)*

The Overcoat: Music for a radio adaptation of Gogol’s story (1961)*

Macbeth (Shakespeare): Music for stage-production (1962)*

Sculptures I-V, for tape (1963)* 19

The Anger of Achilles: Music for a orchestra and tape for BBC Radio adaptationof play by Robert Graves (1964)*

Arrangements

(Siete) Canciones de Vihuela (L. de Milán, D. Pisador, E. de Valderrábans, J.Vasquez), for high voice and piano (1942-43) *

Six Tonadillas (Arrangements of songs by Esteve, Laserna, et. al.), for voice andpiano (1942-43)*

Por do pasaré la sierra (anon.), folksong for high voice and piano (1942)*

Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra, arranged from works by Schubert (1943?);arr. for the radio score Cristobal Colón (1943)* 20

6 chansons populaires françaises (anon.), for high voice and piano (1944)*

18 The ten pieces include: 1) Asyndeton, 2) Bubblecade, 3) Campanalog, 4) Dripsonic, 5)

Meteoroids, 6) Speculum, 7) Stridor, 8) Suspension, 9) Telergic, and 10) Uncle Ned.

19 Nos. II-V were assembled in 1963 but probably never edited or performed.

20 These pieces include: Rondo from Sonata D. 850; March Militaire, D. 733, no. 1; andMarche Characheristique, D. 886, no. 1.

185

Jacara a solo (anon.), for voice, chorus, and piano (1940s)*

Boleras (anon.), for soprano and orchestra (1940s, lost)*

El trebole (anon.), for soprano, chorus, orchestra (1940s, lost)*

El Barberillo de Lavapies: Arrangement and orchestration of a zarzuela by F.A.Barbieri (1954)*

Six French Folksongs, for high voice and piano (1956)

Works composed under the pseudonym Juan Serrallonga21

Engheno novo, for high/medium voice and orchestra (ca. 1943)*

Gigantes y cabezudos for orchestra (c. 1943)*

Tres canciones toreras, for medium voice and piano/orchestra (ca. 1943)*

La viejecita for orchestra (c. 1943)*

Cadiz: Fantasia on a zarzuela by F. Chueca and J. Valverde, for orchestra (1943)*

Segiduillas and Tirana from El Barberillo de Lavapies by F.A. Barbieri, (1943)*

“Cancion y Fado” from El Pajaro Azul by R. Milán, orchestrated (c. 1943)*

21 Juan Serrallonga (Joan Sala y Serrallonga) was a famous Catalan bandit who died in

1634.

186

Appendix B: Chronological List of Roberto Gerhard’sWritings and Lectures

The following list provides a chronological record of Roberto Gerhard’s

published writings. It also includes several BBC radio talks and paper

presentations that have subsequently been published at a later date. The list is

divided into two sections: 1) books and articles, and 2) translations. In addition, I

have included citations for all of the current English translations, many of which

have been compiled by Meirion Bowen in Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings.

For ease of reference, it will appear abbreviated as shown below and when

applicable, I have also provided the English translations of the original Catalan,

Spanish, and German titles if not already provided.

• GOM – Gerhard, Roberto. Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings,translated and edited by Meirion Bowen. Aldershot, UK: AshgatePublishing, 2000.

Books and articles

La canco popular catalana. [Popular Catalan music.] Barcelona: CatalunyanArchives of Ethnography and Folklore, 1918, p. 5.

“L’obra de Felipe Pedrell. [The works of Felipe Pedrell.]” Revista MusicalCatalana 19 (September-October 1922): 231-32.

“Prelude.” El Mirador 53 (30 January 1930): 7.• “Prelude.” GOM, pp. 41-43.

“Coral.” El Mirador 54 (6 February 1930): 5.• “Chorale.” GOM, pp. 43-44.

187

“Orquesta Pau Casals. [The Pablo Casals orchestra.]” El Mirador 55 (13 February1930): 5.

“Fuga: al Mestre Millet.” El Mirador 56 (20 February 1930): 5.• “Fugue.” GOM, pp. 44-46.

“Fuga (acabament): al Mestre Millet.” El Mirador 57 (27 February 1930): 5.• “Fugue (Ending).” GOM, pp. 46-48.

“Elogi del Saxofon. [Praise for the saxophone.]” El Mirador 58 (6 March 1930): 5.

“Concert al Liceu. [Concert at the lyceum.]” El Mirador 59 (13 March 1930): 5.1

“La Banda Municipal. [The municipal band.]” El Mirador 60 (20 March 1930): 5.

“Opera.” El Mirador 61 (27 March 1930): 5.• “Opera (1930).” GOM, pp. 77-78.

“Conzertstück. [Concert piece.]” El Mirador 62 (7 April 1930): 5.

“Coda.” El Mirador 63 (10 April 1930): 5.• “Coda.” GOM, pp. 48-49.

“Variacions.” El Mirador 64 (17 April 1930): 5.• “Variations.” GOM, pp. 49- 50.

“Com escolteu musica? I.” El Mirador 65 (7 April 1930): 5 & “Com escolteumusica? II.” El Mirador 66 (24 April 1930): 5.• “Listening to Music (1930).” GOM, pp. 9-10. This is a conflation of the

article (I) and its companion publication (II).

(Untitled). El Mirador 95 (27 November 1930): 5.

“Film sonor.” El Mirador 96 (4 December 1930): 6.• “Music and film (1930).” GOM, pp. 79-80.

“La Música i el film sonor. [Music and film sound.]” El Mirador 97 (11December 1930): 5.

“Un princep fa opera moderna. [Principles of modern opera.]” El Mirador 99(25 December 1930): 5.

1 The Liceu [or Teatro del Liceo] was the name of Barcelona’s opera house.

188

“Hanns Eisler.” El Mirador 101 (8 January 1931): 5.• “Hanns Eisler.” GOM, pp. 59-61.

“L’opera russa de Paris. [The Russian opera of Paris.]” El Mirador 104 (29January 1931): 5.

“Bela Bartók.” El Mirador 105 (5 February 1931): 5.• “Bartók.” GOM, pp. 62-63.

“Bela Bartók a ‘Audicions intimes’.” El Mirador 106 (12 February 1931): 5.• “Bartók at ‘Audicions Intimes’.” GOM, pp. 63-64.

“Els compositors madrilenys.” El Mirador 107 (19 February 1931): 5.• “Some Composers from Madrid.” GOM, pp. 68-70.

“Segon concert Conxita Supervía. [Conchita Supervía’s second concert.]” ElMirador 109 (5 March 1931): 5.2

“Artur Rubinstein.” El Mirador 111 (19 March 1931): 5.

“C. Badia d’Agustí.” El Mirador 112 (26 March 1931): 5.

“Francesc Costa.” El Mirador 114 (9 April 1931): 5. 3

“Pau Casals.” El Mirador 115 (16 April 1931): 5.

“Ildebrando Pizzetti.” El Mirador 118 (7 May 1931): 5.• “Ildebrando Pizzeti.” GOM, pp. 65-66.

“Ernesto Halffter.” El Mirador 119 (14 May 1931): 5.• “Ernesto Halffter.” GOM, pp. 70-71.

“Baltasa Samper.” El Mirador 120 (21 May 1931): 5.• “Baltasa Samper.” GOM, p. 67.

“Música aplicada.” El Mirador 124 (18 June 1931): 5.• “Functional Music.” GOM, pp. 50-52.

2 Conxita [Conchita] Supervía was a notable Spanish mezzo-soprano and a native of

Barcelona.

3 Francesc Costa was the president of the Federació Catalana de Futbol or CataloniaFootball Federation from 1931-34.

189

“Edicions.” El Mirador 129 (23 July 1931): 5.• “New Musical Publications.” GOM, pp. 71-72.

“Edicions de musica: Xavier Gols, Suite pour piano. [Musical publications:Xavier Gols, Suite pour Piano.]” El Mirador 131 (6 August 1931: 5.

“Rodolfo Halffter, ‘Sonatas de El Escorial’.” El Mirador 133 (20 August 1931): 5.• “Roldolfo Halffter: Sonatas de El Escorial (1931).” GOM, pp. 72-73.

“La questió de la radio. [The question of radio.]” El Mirador 140 (8 October1931): 5.

“Un hoste illustre: Arnold Schoenberg. [The illustrious host: ArnoldSchoenberg.]” El Mirador 140 (8 October 1931): 5.

“Conversant amb Schoenberg.” El Mirador 145 (12 November 1931): 5.• “A Conversation with Schoenberg (1931).” GOM, pp. 105-06.

“Arnold Schoenberg.” El Mirador 165 (31 March 1932): 5.• “Schoenberg in Barcelona (1932).” GOM, pp. 103-04.

“Anton Webern (Musica da Camera).” El Mirador 166 (7 April 1932): 5.• “Webern in Barcelona (1932).” GOM, pp. 142-43.

“La SIMC a Viena. [The ISCM in Vienna.]” El Mirador 182 (28 July 1932): 5.

“La SIMC a Viena (continued).” El Mirador 185 (18 August 1932): 5.

“La SIMC a Viena (concluded).” El Mirador 187 (1 September 1932): 5.

“El Mestre Amadeu Vives.” El Mirador 202 (15 December 1932): 5.

“Música i Poesia.” Quaderns de Poesia 1/2 (July 1935): 18-22.• Reprinted in Joaquim Homs: Robert Gerhard i la Seva Obra

(Barcelona, 1991).• Spanish translation by Joaquim Homs. “Música y Poesía.” Pauta:

Cuadernos de Teoría y Crítica Musical 65 (Jan-Mar 1998): 14-18.• “Music and Poetry (1935).” GOM, pp. 53-56.

“La música contemporània (Report from Prague I) [Contemporary music].” ElMirador 348 (17 October 1935): 8.

“‘Suite’ de música contemporània (Report from Prague II). [‘Suite’ ofcontemporary music.]” El Mirador 348 (17 October 1935): 8.

190

“Suite’ de música contemporània (Report from Prague III). [‘Suite’ ofcontemporary music.]” El Mirador 348 (17 October 1935): 8.

“Primer concert de l’Orquesta Pau Casals. [The first concert of the Pablo Casalsorchestra.]” El Mirador 350 (31 October 1935): 8.

“La vida musical [Musical life] (Recent concerts I).” El Mirador 351 (7 November1935): 8.

“Francesc Martorell.” El Mirador 351 (7 November 1935): 8.

“‘Maria del Carmen’ de Granados.” El Mirador 351 (7 November 1935): 8.

“La vida musical [Musical life] (Recent concerts II).” El Mirador 353 (21November 1935): 8.

“Una nova orquesta de ‘camera’. [A new ‘chamber’ orchestra.]” El Mirador 356(12 December 1935): 8.

“Alban Berg.” El Mirador 361 (16 January 1936): 8.• “Alban Berg: Obituary (1936).” GOM, pp. 139-41.

“Al Conferéncia Club: ‘La musica a la cort d’Alfons el Magnanim’.” El Mirador364 (6 February 1936): 8.• “Music at the court of Alfonso V the Magnanimous (1936).” GOM, pp.

37-38.

“A Note on Felipe Pedrell (c. 1940).” GOM, pp. 39-40. This was based on a draftfor a BBC Radio Talk.

Gerhard, Roberto and Matyas Seiber. “England, Spring 1945.” Tempo 100 (July1972): 4-8. Originally published as “English Musical Life: A Symposium.”Tempo 11 (Spring 1945): 2-3.• “England, Spring 1945.” GOM, pp. 177-79. (Only Gerhard’s

commentary is included in this text.)

“The Duenna (1949).” GOM, pp. 81-87.

191

“On Music in Ballet I.” Ballet 3 (April 1951): 19–24; “On Music and Ballet II.”Ballet 4 (May 1951): 29–35.• This was originally presented as two lectures given in 1950 at a London

University vacation course.4

• “Music and Ballet.” GOM, pp. 88-97. (This is a conflation of botharticles.)

“The Heritage of Spain,” Unpublished BBC Radio Talk (1952).

‘Tonality in 12-Tone Music.” The Score and I. M. A. Magazine 6 (May 1952):23–35.• “Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music (1952).” GOM, pp. 116-28.

“Reply to George Perle.” The Score and I. M. A. Magazine 9 (September 1954):59–60.

“On Composition with Twelve Notes.” In Josef Rufer, Composition with TwelveNotes, trans. by Humphrey Searle. London/New York:Rockliff/Macmillan, 1954, pp. 183-85.• “On Composition with Twelve Notes (1954).” GOM, pp. 114-15.

“Twelve-Note Composition Explained,” Unpublished BBC Radio Talk (2 April1955).

“Schoenberg Reminiscences.” Perspectives of New Music 13/2 (Spring-Summer1975): 57-65.• This was the original text for a lecture given at the Dartington Summer

School of Music in 1955. It was published posthumously inPerspectives of New Music.

• “Reminiscences of Schoenberg (1955).” GOM, pp. 106-12.

“Don Quixote.” The Decca Book of Ballet. Edited by David Drew (London, 1958),153–6.• “Don Quixote: A Synopsis (1956).” GOM, pp. 97-100.

“Pau Casals, Símbolo de la Nacionalidad Catalana. [Pablo Casals: Symbol ofCatalan nationality.]” Libro Blanco de Cataluna (Buenos Aires, 1956).• Published and translated in Spanish, Catalan, and English, in Revista

de Catalunya (1956): 16.

4 GOM, p. 239, n. 83.

192

“The Contemporary Musical Situation.” The Score and I. M. A. Magazine 16(June 1956): 7–18.• This was the original text for a lecture given in 1956 at Bedford College

for Women in London.• “The Contemporary Musical Situation (1956).” GOM, pp. 24-33.

“Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique.” The Score and I. M. A. Magazine 17(September 1956): 61–72.• “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956).” GOM, pp. 129-38.

“Twelve-Note Technique in Stravinsky.” The Score and I. M. A. Magazine 20(December 1957): 38–43.• “Twelve-Note Technique in Stravinsky (1957).” GOM, pp. 148-56.

“Sound and Symbol,” Unpublished BBC Radio Talk (13 August 1957).• “Sound and Symbol (1957).” GOM, pp. 17-23.

“Apropos Mr. Stadlen.” The Score and I. M. A. Magazine 24 (July 1958): 50-57.

“The Composer and his Audience.” In Twentieth Century Music. Edited by RolloMyers, pp. 75-84. New York: Orion Press, 1960, rev. 1968.• Unpublished BBC Radio Talk (3 October 1958).• “The Composer and his Audience (1960).” GOM, pp. 11-16.

“Introduction to Symphony no.2.” Unpublished BBC Radio Talk (25 October1958).• “Introduction to Symphony No. 2 (1958).” GOM, pp. 199-200.

“Concrete and Electronic Sound-Composition.” Paper presented at the MusicLibraries and Instruments Conference, Cambridge, August 1959, pp. 30-36.• “Concrete and Electronic Sound-Composition.” In Hinrichsen Music

Yearbook, vol. 11. London: 1961, pp. 30-38.• “Concrete Music and Electronic Sound Composition (1959).” GOM, pp.

180-85.

“Roberto Gerhard’s Symphony.” Radio Times (October 1959): 9.

“Symphony No. 2.” Program notes for first performance. BBC Orchestra, RoyalFestival Hall, London, 27 November 1959.

193

“Introduction to Lament on the Death of a Bullfighter.” Unpublished BBC RadioTalk (22 January 1960).• “Introduction to Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter (1960).” GOM,

pp. 185-86.

“Functions of the Series in Twelve-Note Composition.” Two lectures presentedat the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, spring 1960.• “Functions of the Series in Twelve-Note Composition (1960).” GOM,

pp. 157-73.

“Is New Music Growing Old?” University of Michigan Official Publication 62/18(Ann Arbor, 10 August 1960): School of Music Series, pp. 3-14.• This was the original text for a lecture given at the University of

Michigan, Ann Arbor, 17 May 1960.• “Is Modern Music Growing Old? (1960).” GOM, pp. 201-10.

“Some Lectures by Webern.” The Score and I. M. A. Magazine 28 (January1961): 25-28.• “Webern’s The Path to the New Music (1961).” GOM, pp. 143-47.

“Irrelevant Art,” Unpublished BBC Radio Talk (11 March 1961).

“Thoughts on Art and Anarchy.” The Listener 1669 (23 March 1961): 519-20.• “Art and Anarchy (1961).” GOM, pp. 211-15.

“Reluctant Revolutionary.” Sunday Telegraph (3 December 1961); repr. in TheLondon Sinfonietta: Schoenberg/Gerhard Series (London, 1973), 43.• “Reluctant revolutionary: On studying composition with Schoenberg

(1961).” GOM, pp. 112-13.

“An Inaugural Lecture (1961).” GOM, pp. 226-33.• This was the original text for a lecture given at the Berkshire Music

Center in Tanglewood, August 1961.

“Musa y Música, Hoy.” Revista Shell (December 1962): 64-69.• Reprinted in Joaquim Homs: Robert Gerhard i la Seva Obra

(Barcelona, 1991), 225–38.• Spanish translation by Joaquim Homs, “Musa y Música Hoy.” Pauta:

Cuadernos de Teoría y Crítica Musical 65 (Jan-Mar 1998): 67-82.• “The Muse and Music Today (1962).” GOM, pp. 216-25.

“Primitive Folk Music,” Unpublished BBC Radio Talk (6 January 1963).

194

“The Plague.” The Listener 1826 (March 26, 1964): 553.• “The Plague (1964).” GOM, pp. 196-98. This is a conflation of the

March and April 1964 articles (in The Listener and Musical Events,respectively), the latter of which originally appeared in German.

“Composer's Forum: The Plague.” Musical Events, 21/4 (April 1964): 6–8.• “The Plague (1964).” GOM, pp. 196-98. This is a conflation of the

March and April 1964 articles (in The Listener and Musical Events,respectively), the latter of which originally appeared in German.

“Sound Observed,” Unpublished BBC Radio Talk on Third Program [in twoparts], (28 January and 3 February 1965).• “Sound Observed (1965).” GOM, pp. 187-95.

“Apunts.” Cultura (January 1992): 29-42.

Translations

Hugo Riemann:

Dictado Musical (Barcelona: Labor, 1928). Translation of Hugo Riemann:Handbuch der Musik-Diktats: Systematische Gehörsbildung. Berlin,1923.

Composición Musical (Barcelona: Labor, 1929). Translation of Hugo Riemann:Katechismus der Kompositionslehre, Leipzig, 1889.

Hermann Scherchen:

El Arte de Dirigir la Orquesta (Barcelona: Labor, 1933, 2/1988). Translation ofHermann Scherchen: Lehrbuch des Dirigierens, Leipzig, 1929.

195

Hans Scholz:

Compendio de Armonia (Barcelona: Labor, 1928?). Translation of Hans Scholz:Harmonielehre, Leipzig and Berlin, 1920.

Ernst Toch:

La Melodía (Barcelona, Buenos Aires: Labor, 1931/1985R). Translation of ErnstToch: Melodielehre, Berlin, 1923.

Fritz Volbach:

La Orquesta Moderna (Barcelona: Labor, 1932). Translation of Fritz Volbach:Das Moderne Orchester, Leipzig, 1919–21.

Egon Wellesz:

Música Bizantia (Barcelona: Labor, 1930). Translation of Egon Wellesz:Byzantinische Musik, Breslau, 1927.

Johannes Wolf:

Historia de la Música (Barcelona: Labor, 1934). Translation of Johannes Wolf:Geschichte der Musik, Leipzig, 1925–29.

196

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Artis, Pere. “La Polèmica Robert Gerhard-Lluis Millet” (The controversy betweenRoberto Gerhard and Lluis Millet). Revista Musical Catalana 23 (1986):28-29.

Babbitt, Milton. Review of “Quatrième Cahier: Le Système dodécaphonique”(Book four: The dodecaphonic system). Journal of the AmericanMusicological Society 3/3 (Fall 1950): 264-67.

________. Review of “Schoenberg et son école and Ou’est ce que la musique dedouze sons? by René Leibowitz,” in The Collected Essays of MiltonBabbitt, edited by Stephen Peles. Princeton and Oxford: PrincetonUniversity Press, 2003.

________. “Set Structure as a Compositional Determinant.” Journal of MusicTheory 5/1 (Spring 1961): 172-88.

________. “Since Schoenberg,” in The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt,edited by Stephen Peles. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton UniversityPress, 2003.

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________. “Gerhard's Cantata. II: A Note on the Music.” Tempo 139 (December1981): 17-18.

________. Liner notes for Roberto Gerhard: Cancionero dePedrell/Pandora/Alegrías/Sept Haiku (Harmonia Mundi HMC 901500),1994.

________. Liner notes for Roberto Gerhard 4: Don Quixote/Pedrelliana/Albada, Interludi i Dansa (Montaigne Auvidis MO 782104), 1996. (Theauthor’s notes are copyrighted 1992.)

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________. “Roberto Gerhard: The Musical Character.” The Score 17 (September1956): 39-49.

“Editorial.” Tempo 139 (December 1981): 2.

Endellion String Quartet, Endellion Quartet at Cambridge, live recording, BBCR3 19940331 (BIRS: H3015/2), 1994, tape; Amici String Quartet, BBC TP1965511 (BIRS: NP859W BD 1), 1965, tape.

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________. The Structure of Atonal Music. New Haven: Yale University Press,1973.

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________. “Capriccio.” The Score 17 (September 1956): 35-38.

________. “The Composer and his Audience.” In Twentieth Century Music.Edited by Rollo Myers, pp. 75-84. New York: Orion Press, 1968. Alsopublished in Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings. Translated and editedwith an introduction by Meirion Bowen, pp. 11-16.

________. Gerhard on Music: Selected Writings. Translated and edited with anintroduction by Meirion Bowen. Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate Publishing,2000. Includes:

“The Composer and his Audience (1960).” pp. 11-16.

“A Note on Felipe Pedrell (c. 1940).” pp. 39-40.

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“New Musical Methods (1930).” pp. 41-52.

“The Duenna (1949).” pp. 81-87.

“Music and Ballet.” pp. 88-97.

“Don Quixote: A Synopsis (1956).” pp. 97-100.

“Schoenberg in Barcelona (1932).” pp. 103-04.

“A Conversation with Schoenberg (1931).” pp. 105-06.

“Reminiscences of Schoenberg (1955).” pp. 106-12. Also published inPerspectives of New Music 13/2 (Spring/Summer 1975): 57-65.

“Reluctant revolutionary: On studying composition with Schoenberg(1961).” pp. 112-13.

“On Composition with Twelve Notes (1954).” pp. 114-15. Also published inJosef Rufer, Composition with Twelve Notes, translated byHumphrey Searle. London and New York: Rockliff and Macmillan,1954, pp. 183-85.

“Tonality in Twelve-Tone Music (1952).” pp. 116-28.

“Developments in the Twelve-Tone Technique (1956).” pp. 129-38.

“Alban Berg: Obituary (1936).” pp. 139-41.

“Webern in Barcelona (1932).” pp. 142-43.

“Webern’s The Path to the New Music (1961).” pp. 143-47. Also publishedas “Some Lectures by Webern.” The Score 17 (September 1956): 25-28.

“Twelve-Note Technique in Stravinsky (1957).” pp. 148-56.

“Functions of the Series in Twelve-Note Composition (1960).” pp. 157-73.

“England, Spring 1945.” pp. 177-79. See also Gerhard, Roberto and MatyasSeiber. “England, Spring 1945.” Tempo 100 (1972): 4-8. Originallypublished in Tempo 11 (1945).

“Concrete Music and Electronic Sound Composition (1959).” pp. 180-85.

“Introduction to Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter (1965)” pp. 185-86.

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“Sound Observed (1965).” pp. 187-95.

“The Plague (1964).” pp. 196-98.

“Introduction to Symphony No. 2 (1959).” pp. 199-200.

“Is Modern Music Growing Old? (1960).” pp. 201-10.

________. String Quartet (London: Keith Prowse Music Publishing Co., 1958)Boosey and Hawkes Music Publishers, 1979.

________. String Quartets 1 and 2. Kreutzer Quartet (Metier MSV CD92032.)

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________. Liner notes for Roberto Gerhard: Piano Music (Complete),translated by Keith Anderson (Marco Polo 8.223867).

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________. “A Study of Hexachordal Levels in Schoenberg’s Violin Fantasy.” InPerspectives on Schoenberg and Stravinsky, edited by Benjamin Boretzand Edward T. Cone, pp. 78-92. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1972.

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________. “A Theory of Segmental Association in Twelve-Tone Music.”Perspectives of New Music 1/1 (Fall 1962): 89-116.

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________. Liner notes for Roberto Gerhard: Schahrazada/ Cancionero dePedrell (Etcetera KTC 1060), 1988.

________. Liner notes for Roberto Gerhard 2: Symphony no. 4, NewYork/Metamorphoses (Symphony no. 2) (Montaigne Auvidis MO782102), 1996.

________. Liner notes for Roberto Gerhard 7: Concerto for Harpsichord,String Orchestra, and Percussion/Nonet/Concerto for Piano and Strings(Montaigne Auvidis MO 782107), 1999.

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________. “‘Soirees de Barcelone’: Towards a Performing Version.” Tempo 198(October 1996): 22-26.

________. “‘Soirees de Barcelone’: A Preliminary Report.” Tempo 139(December 1981): 19-26.

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Mason, Colin. “Chamber Music in Britain Since 1929.” In Cobbett’s CyclopedicSurvey of Chamber Music, compiled and edited by Walter Wilson Cobbett,pp. 82-122. London, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1963.

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________. “Roberto Gerhard’s First Symphony.” The Musical Times 103, no.1428 (February 1962): 99-100.

McCabe, John. “Gerhard: Creator in Exile.” Records and Recording 15/5(February 1972): 44-45.

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Morris, Robert. Class Notes for Atonal Theory. Lebanon, NH: Frog Peak Music,1991.

Muntada i Torrellas, Marta and Lluís Millet. Centenari Robert Gerhard (1896-1996), (The Centenary of Roberto Gerhard (1896-1996)). Barcelona:Generalitat De Catalunya, 1996.

Myers, Rollo H. “Roberto Gerhard: The Composer and his Public.” TwentiethCentury Music, 2nd ed. New York: Orion Press, 1968.

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edited by Charlotte Cross and Russell A. Berman. New York and London:Garland Publishing, 2000.

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Paine, Richard. “Hispanic Traditions in Twentieth Century Catalan Music: WithParticular Reference to Gerhard, Mompou, and Montsalvatge.” InOutstanding Dissertations in Music From British Universities, edited byJohn Caldwell. New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1989.

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Picken, Laurence. “Roberto Gerhard Intermittently Observed.” The Score 17(September 1956): 50-53.

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Piza, Antoni. Program notes for Music and Architecture in Twentieth-CenturySpain: Barcelona Modernism and the New Vanguard. Produced by theMinisterio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte of Spain, y el DirecciónGeneral de Cooperación y Communicación Cultural in collaboration withIberartists New York, the Foundation for Iberian Music of CUNY, the KingJuan Carlos I Center of NYU, y Instituto Cervantes. (Accessed 21 March2006): <http://www.iberartists.com/ programs/barcelona/programnotes.php>. Includes:

“Gerhard’s Dances from Don Quixote: A Mosaic in Sound.”

“Notes for The Music of Barcelona Modernista.”

“A Biographical Sketch of Roberto Gerhard and A Survey of His Writings.”

“Gerhard’s and Schoenberg: The Story of a Friendship.”

“Falla Y Gerhard: Entre el Nacionalismo y el Europeísmo” (Falla andGerhard: Between nationalism and Europeanism).

“From Modernisme to Modernism: How Gaudi might have changed thecourse of Spanish Music.”

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Quinn, Ian. “On Similarity, Relations, and Similarity Relations.” Paper presentedat the Society for Music Theory Conference. Phoenix, Arizona: 30 October,1997.

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“Roberto Gerhard: A Survey: Chronology.” Tempo 139 (December 1981): 3-4.

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Routh, Francis. “Roberto Gerhard,” Contemporary British Music: The Twenty-five Years from 1945 to 1970. London: MacDonald and Co., 1972.

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“Hauer’s Theories (1923).” pp. 209-213.

“Twelve-Tone Composition (1923).” pp. 207-208.

“Folk-Music and Art-Music (c. 1926).” pp. 167-69.

“Why No Great American Music (1934)?” pp. 176-81.

“Schoenberg’s Tone-Rows (1936).” pp. 213-14.

“Composition with Twelve-Tones (1) (1941).” pp. 214-45.

“Heart and Brain in Music (1946).” pp. 53-76.

“Folkloristic Symphonies (1947).” pp. 161-66.

“The Blessing of the Dressing (1948).” pp. 382-86.

“Composition with Twelve-Tones (2) (1948).” pp. 245-49.

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Sessions, Roger. “To the Editor.” The Score 23 (July 1958): 58-64.

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Vlad, Roman. “My First Impressions of Roberto Gerhard’s Music.” The Score 17(September 1956): 27-34.

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Walsh, Stephen. “Two New Works by Gerhard.” Tempo 87 (Winter 1968-1969):27-29.

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________. “National Traditions in the Music of Roberto Gerhard.” Tempo 184(March 1993): 2-13.

________. “Roberto Gerhard: Piano Music.” Liner notes for Roberto GerhardPiano Music – Complete (Marco Polo 8.223867), 1996.

________. “Roberto Gerhard String Quartets 1 and 2.” Liner notes for RobertoGerhard String Quartets 1 and 2 (Metier MSV CD92032), 1999.

Whittall, Arnold. Music Since the First World War. London: J. M. Dent andSons, 1988.

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Vita

Rachel Elice Mann Mitchell was born in Pearsall, Texas, on November 2,

1976, to James H. and Jane Mann. After completing her work at Pearsall High

School in 1995, she entered Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She

received the degree of Bachelor of Music with all-level teacher certification in

May 1999, and held the position of teaching assistant in the music theory

department while pursuing her Masters of Music, which she received in May

2002. Mitchell entered the University of Texas in the fall of 2002, where she held

the positions of teaching assistant and assistant instructor in the music theory

department. While at the University of Texas, Mitchell also served as the Public

Relations Coordinator for the UT Graduate Student Assembly and sat on the

Student Library Committee as well as on the Committee for Rights

Responsibilities and Welfare of Graduate Student Employees. She accepted a

position of visiting lecturer in music theory at the University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign for the 2007-09 school years, and completed her dissertation

in Illinois.

Permanent address: 1880 County Road 3615, Big Foot, Texas 78005.

This dissertation was typed by the author.