Schoenberg as Analyst

Abstract

ABSTRACT Schoenberg’s understanding of the value and function of music analysis is difficult to pin down. As such, the secondary literature has tended to focus on the technical aspects of his extant analyses. While salutary in many respects, this preoccupation risks divesting Schoenbergian analysis of its underlying concerns. This essay therefore explores the wider network of ideas in which Schoenberg’s analytical practice is grounded. I show his understanding of analysis to be delineated by three contrasting perspectives. The tensions that emerge between these perspectives may be reconciled within a single epistemological framework that outlines the prospects for and limitations of analytical enquiry. This model of analysis is illustrated by a case study of Schoenberg’s 1932 radio discussion of ‘Seraphita’, Op. 22 No. 1. In these ways, the article not only expands and clarifies our understanding of Schoenberg’s analytical thinking, but also poses provocative challenges for the analysis of his music.