Society for Music Theory

Reference and Association in the Vier Lieder, Op. 2, of Alban Berg

Author(s): Robert Gauldin
Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Spring, 1999), pp. 32-42
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society for Music Theory
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Reference and Association
Op. 2, of Alban Berg
Robert Gauldin
The use of referential association originating from extra- or
intra-musical sources is a recurring theme in the history of
Western music.' The manner of its occurrence in individual pieces
is both varied and ingenious. In some cases such references are
relatively conspicuous and obvious, while in other instances they
are artfully disguised within the musical fabric, revealing their
presence only through analytical scrutiny. In this essay I enumer-
ate several exemplars of this procedure in various works from the
Renaissance to the present day, and then demonstrate how Alban
Berg employed associative keys centers, acronyms, quotations,
and parody as the means of establishing referential associations in
his Vier Lieder, op. 2.
Recent research has explored Wagner's use of associative
tonality in his later music dramas, where the initial key of certain
passages or leitmotifs linked to specific personages, objects, or
emotions recurs in subsequent statements of similar dramatic im-
port.2 These referential tonal centers, which usually originate at
'I use the termreferentialdifferentlyfrom LeonardMeyer,who defines it as
pertainingto "meaningswhich in some way refer to the extramusicalworld of
concepts,actions, emotionalstates, and character."LeonardB. Meyer,Emotion
and Meaning in Music (Chicago:Universityof Chicago Press, 1956), 1. In my
somewhatbroaderview, referentialassociationsmay also referto othermusical
worksand even to passages in differentmovementsof the same work.
2AlthoughRobertBailey is largely concernedwith the Nibelungencycle in
his groundbreaking"The Structureof the Ring and its Evolution,"19th-Century
Music 1/1 (1977-78): 48-71, he also alludes to earlierassociativeprecedentsin
Derfliegende Hollander (the Dutchman'sB minor), Tannhduser(the El major
of the knight's absolution versus the E major of Venus and her court), and
in the Vier Lieder,
the musical surface, often appear at elevated hierarchical levels,
controlling entire scenes or acts.3 In pursuing the possibility that
particular keys held more generalized affective associations for
particular composers, Alfred Einstein has pointed out their possi-
ble existence in certain works of Mozart.4Patrick McCreless has
even suggested that "associative" relations may exist between
the key hierarchy of different movements in an piece of absolute
Lohengrin(the semitonalpairingof Lohengrin'sA and Elsa's AN,in additionto
the tritonerelationbetween Ortrud'sF# minorand the King/Herald'sC major).
See also the list of the Ring's associative keys in WarrenDarcy, Wagner'sDas
Rheingold(London:OxfordUniversityPress, 1994), 218.
3Earlyon in Das Rheingoldthe initial presentationsof the Gold's C major
triad and the Ring's F# half-diminishedseventh serve to spawn two groups of
exclusively derived motifs in the Ring: Wotan's"grandscheme"to redeem the
Ring (C oriented) versus Alberich's Curse (F# and B minor oriented). These
keys increasinglycontrolmoresignificantchunksof music as the cycle unfolds,
until this symbolic tritone (C and F#/G,) is eventually resolved (as scale de-
grees ' and 4) in the concluding D; majorof Brtnnhilde's Glory. I discussed
these relationshipsin "The C/F# Complex in Der Ring des Nibelungen,"paper
delivered at the annualmeeting of the Society for Music Theory,Philadelphia,
27 October 1984.
4Alfred Einstein, Mozart: His Character,His Work(New York: Oxford
UniversityPress, 1945), 157-63. Einsteinspecifically mentionsD minoras the
"tragickey" (the D minor Piano Concertoand Don Giovanni),C majoras the
"festive key" (the C majorPiano Concertoand the JupiterSymphony),and El
majoras the "expressivekey" (usually found in slow movements).To this list
one might appendG minoras the "chromatickey" (the String Quintetand the
Symphony No. 40). Also note Beethoven'scharacteristicuse of C majorand F
minor; he dubbed B minor "the black key." Some composers, such as Jan
Sibelius, tend to associatecertainkeys with particularcolors.
 Reference and Association in the Vier Lieder, Op. 2, of Alban Berg 33
instrumentalmusic.5 Specific keys may also hold more personal or
intimate connections for a composer, our knowledge of which de-
pends on historical documentation.
The use of musical acronyms, in which the initials or full name
of a person or place are expressed in hexachordal syllables or
modem letter names, may be traced back to the soggetto cavato
of Renaissance practice, as in Josquin's Missa Hercules Dux
Ferariae (where the vowel sounds extracted from the dedication
create the subject re-ut-re-ut-re-fa-mi-re). Bach's ability to ex-
press his own name in musical notation and his attendant fascina-
tion with numerology (using alphabetical position to compute
BACH = 2+1+3+8 = 14 and JSBACH = its reverse 41) are evi-
dent in several of his own works,6 not to mention in subsequent
uses of BACH by such diverse composers as Mendelssohn, Liszt,
Honegger, and Schoenberg. The use of either overt or disguised
acronyms, as practiced by Schumann (ASCH in Carnaval and his
ABEGG Variations) and Brahms (AGAT[H]E in his G major
String Sextet op. 36), found its continuation in the Second
Viennese School. The degree of association between referrer and
referent varies considerably, from Schumann's miniature tribute to
the Norwegian composer GADE7 to Berg's invariant tetrachordin
his Lyric Suite, whose hidden relation to his secret mistress was
eventually deciphered by George Perle.8
SPatrick McCreless, "Schenker and Chromatic Tonicization: A
Reappraisal,"in Schenker Studies, ed. Hedi Siegel (Cambridge:Cambridge
UniversityPress, 1990), 125-45 [132-38].
61nadditionto the last exposition of the unfinished(quadruple?)fugue in his
Kunstder Fuge and the clavier fugue in B, majorBVW 898, both of which are
based on his name, see also Bach's use of the numbers14 and 41 in the cantus
notes of his chorale prelude Vordeinen Trontret' ich hiermit BVW 668. Nor
was Bach the first to indulge in such practices:O(c)keghemaddeda "c" to his
last name so thatthe numericalequivalentsof the letterswould form symmetri-
cal patterns:OC = 17, KE = 15, GH = 15, and EM = 17. While the firstfourand
last four letterstotal 32, their sum 64 (or the squareof 8) forms a correlationto
his firstname JOHANNES,which sums to 81 (or the squareof 9).
7See "NorseSong,"Albumfor the Young,no. 41.
8GeorgePerle, "The Secret Programof the Lyric Suite,"The International
AlbanBerg SocietyNewsletter5 (1977): 4-12.
The practice of citing quotations from the works of other com-
posers likewise occupies a considerable historical span, stretching
from the homages of Busnois and Josquin for the Renaissance
master Ockeghem9 to Luciano Berio's Sinfonia, which superim-
poses a collage of various excerpts against the background of
Mahler's Second Symphony. While Brahms intended the snippet
from Tannhduser in his Third Symphony as an epitaph on Wag-
ner's recent death,'1 other composers have used quotations to
serve satirical purposes: see, for example, Saint-Saens's delicious
deformations of melodies by Offenbach and Berlioz in his Carni-
val of the Animals," and Debussy's maudlin setting of the opening
phrase of Tristan in his Golliwog's Cake Walk. Composers have
even engaged in self-quotation, as evidenced by Richard Strauss's
allusions to his earlier works in Ein Heldenleben and Vier letzte
Lieder.
The technique of "parody,"the more extensive modeling of a
composition on a previous work (either one's own or that of an-
other composer) constitutes a final form of association. Once a
common practice in the liturgical literature of the High Renais-
sance (nearly half of Palestrina's masses employ this procedure),
it resurfaced in the Romantic period and after. In some cases the
re-compositional process is both conspicuous and intentional
(such as the Liszt/Schubert and Busoni/Bach paraphrases,Stravin-
sky's re-workings of Pergolesi, Tchaikovsky, Bach, and Gesualdo,
or Lukas Foss's Baroque Variations), while in other instances the
extent of the parody is revealed only through analysis.'2
9Busnois'sIn hydraulisand Josquin'sNymphesdes bois contain quotations
from Ockgehem'sMissa Caput.
'?Comparethe harmonicprogressionin mm. 31-33 of the symphony'sfirst
movementwith the Sirens'Chorusin the Bacchanalof Tannhauser'sfirstact.
"In "Turtles,"the can-cantune from Offenbach'sOrpheusin Hades occurs
in lugubrious augmentation; in "Elephants,"Berlioz's elfin "Dance of the
Sylphs"(from The Damnationof Faust) is performedby the double basses.
'2The rondo Finale of Brahms's D minor Piano Concerto appears to be
closely modeled afterthe rondoFinale of Beethoven'sC minorPianoConcerto.
For a discussion of Wagner's use of such techniques see Robert Gauldin,
"Wagner'sParody Technique: 'Traume'and the Tristan Love Duet," Music
TheorySpectrum1 (1979): 33-42.
34 Music Theory Spectrum
Some composers show a more pronounced tendency than oth-
ers to employ extra- and intra-musical associations. In particular,
Alban Berg utilized both overt and disguised referential tech-
niques in his music, as has been demonstrated by such notable an-
alysts as George Perle, Douglas Jarman, Allen Forte, and Dave
Headlam. Yet the focus of scrutiny has rested primarily on Berg's
Lyric Suite, Chamber Concerto, Violin Concerto, and Wozzeck,
unfortunately neglecting possible associational allusions in the
Vier Lieder op. 2.'3 Although it may seem surprising that such an
early work of Berg's would incorporate each of the referential
procedures discussed above, the remainder of this article will en-
deavor to establish the concurrent existence of all such procedures
as a significant component of the song cycle's composition. In
confining my comments to the musical aspects of the associations,
I leave any attendant philosophical or aesthetic issues, such as
meaning, representation,or symbolism, for others to ponder.
The analytical scrutiny already afforded the pitch structure in
these songs has resulted in a sizable literature.'4Remnants of tonal
3Ulrich Kramer deals with the general topic of "Quotation and Self-
Borrowingin the Music of Alban Berg," Journal of Musicological Research
12/1-2 (1992): 53-82, but with the exception of one quotationfrom Schoen-
berg,he ignoresthe op. 2 Songs.
'4Surveysof the cycle include Jay Wilkey, "CertainAspects of Formin the
Vocal Music of Alban Berg" (Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1965); Mary
Wennerstrom,"Pitch Relations in Berg's Songs Opus 2," Indiana Theory
Review 1 (1977): 12-22; Douglas Jarman,The Music of Alban Berg (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1979), 30-31, 148; George Perle, "Berg,"in
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians; Thomas Hattey, "The
Transition to Atonality: an Analysis of Alban Berg's Vier Lieder Op. 2"
(Master'sthesis, EastmanSchool of Music, 1985, for which the presentauthor
served as adviser);MarkDeVoto, "Berg,the Composerof Songs," in The Berg
Companion,ed. Douglas Jarman(London:Macmillan, 1989), 33-66; Stephen
Kett, "A ConservativeRevolution:the Music of the FourSongs Op. 2," in The
Berg Companion, 67-90; Dave Headlam, The Music of Alban Berg (New
Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1996), 33-45, 167-74; andAnthonyPople, "The
EarlyWorks:Tonalityand Beyond,"in The Canmbridge Companionto Berg, ed.
Anthony Pople (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1997), 66-76. The
function remain in the first three songs, prompting some analysts
to approach them using Schenkerian voice-leading procedures.'5
Other more atonal passages, especially in the final song, invite the
use of set-class analysis.'6 A summary of the essential points
found in the sources listed in footnote 14 is presented below and
cued to Example 1.
Song 1 ("Schlafen, Schlafen, nichts als Schlafen") opens in the
key of D minor and establishes the significant referential chord D
F# A C F (set-class 5-32 [01469]) with its related neighbor ELA G
C# F# (5-28 [02368]); within both is embedded the crucial trichord
3-5 [016]. Refer to Example la.'7
Song 2 ("Schlafend tragt man mich") relies heavily on the
French-sixth-type sonority (4-25 [0268]) as a derived subset of
truncatedanalysis of the songs that appearsas Chapter40 of my Harmonic
Practice in TonalMusic (New York:Norton, 1997), 605-20 is based on the re-
search for this article. Additionalanalyses pertainingto the individual songs
will be duly documentedin laterfootnotes.
'5BothHattey and Headlamincorporatevoice-leading graphs for the first
threesongs, but their results are often at odds. For instance,for the initial song
Hattey proposes a 3-62-1 fundamentalline (mm. 1, 15, 23), while Headlam
posits a 3-2-1 Urlinie(mm. 21, 22, 30).
'6See the studies by Wennerstrom,Hattey, and Headlam, although Head-
lam's discussion emphasizesintervalcycles, especially those based on intervals
1 and 5.
'7Mostwritersmention the 5-32 referentialchord and the derived trichord
3-5. Schoenbergobserved the interestingcharacterof this sonority during his
discussion of the last two harmoniesof the cycle (5-32 and 6-30 [013679]) in
his Harmonielehre(1911), but neglectedto mentionthatit occurs as early as m.
5 of the initial song. For a discussion of the basic palindromicdesign of this
song see RobertP.Morgan,"The EternalReturn:RetrogradeandCircularForm
in Berg," in Alban Berg: Historical and Analytical Perspectives, ed. David
Gable and RobertP. Morgan(Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1991), 47-91
[84].
 Reference and Association in the Vier Lieder, Op. 2, of Alban Berg 35

Example 1. Issues raisedby analystsof Berg's Op. 2 songs

a. Song 1: "Schlafen,Schlafen, nichts als Schlafen" b. Song 2: "Schlafendtragtman mich"

mm. 18 (transferredvoice-leading)
5-32 5-28 mm. 1-4, 15-16

c. Song 3: "Nun ich der Riesen"

mmn.1-2 [ [ mm. 4-6

d. Song 4: "Warmdie Lufte"

nun. 12-17 nun. 20-22

/Io_I I i- . C

0
.* . , 6. L
3-5 w. _ '. V w
I &,. a _ 6cy ,
_. r
R
rI ri #1wr?a 5 cycle
5 cycle
36 Music Theory Spectrum
5-28; a pair of superimposed 1 and 5 cycles frame the song
(Example lb).'8
Song 3 ("Nun ich der Riesen") features the emergence of the
3-5 trichord as a part of a prominent four-note motive, and a refer-
ence in the song's middle section (mm. 7-9) to the D minor tonal-
ity from the opening of the cycle. The relations of Song 3's three
tonal areas, Al, D, and Eb, also refer to the the 3-5 trichord, as in-
deed do the key centers of the first three songs: D minor, El minor,
and ANminor (Example lc).'9
'8Isuspect that the original form of the opening four measuresconsisted of
a superimpositionof chromaticallydescending [026] trichordsin the upper
voices againstthe projectionof fourthsin the bass, resultingin a succession of
French-sixth-typesonorities in a four-voice texture. Since every other chord
in such a succession contains a doubling and thus does not form a complete
[0268] tetrachord,Berg added notes in the vocal line to complete the tetra-
chords;each successive three-chordsegment forms the aggregate.Hattey and
Headlamboth describethese opening four measuresas a prolonged"V7"of El
minor,noting the existence of a long-rangevoice exchangebetween the BLand
Fb (=Et) in mm. 1 and 4, followed by a "resolution"to El in measure9. Also
see Craig Ayrey, "Berg's 'Scheideweg': Analytical Issues in Op. 2/ii," Music
Analysis 1/2 (1982): 189-202; and Philip Lambert,"Ives and Berg: 'Norma-
tive' Proceduresand Post-TonalAlternatives,"in CharlesIves and the Classical
Tradition,ed. Geoffrey Block and J. Peter Burkholder(New Haven:Yale Uni-
versityPress, 1996), 105-30 [121-22].
'9Wennerstrom's discussion of this song is revealing, especially her obser-
vations on the 3-5 trichordand its relationto the tonal centersof the firstthree
songs. Pople ("EarlyWorks,"69) traces no less than seven occurrencesof the
opening four-notemotive (AL-C-G-DL) in varioustranspositions,all of which
containthe embedded3-5. In contrastto the whole-tone-orientedsonoritiesof
the previoussong, this motive featureshalf-steprelations.I musttake exception
to the analysis of the D minor recurrence in Matthew Brown, Douglas
Dempster,and Dave Headlam, "The #IV (LV) Hypothesis:Testing the Limits
of Schenker's Theory of Tonality," Music Theory Spectrum 19/2 (1997):
155-83 [179-80]. In orderto sidestep the tritonerelationof D minor and its
subsequentprolongationto the tonic ALminor,they attemptto explain it away
by "sleight of hand" through a functional assignment of "IV of 1'II."Their
voice-leading graphis based on the analysis in Headlam,The Music of Alban
Berg, 44. The natureof this passage will be examinedbelow in light of the con-
currentB4 in the uppervoice.
Song No. 4 ("Warmdie Ltifte") is decidedly more atonal, with
several characteristic half-step wedges. The oft-quoted concluding
measures superimpose a series of 3-5 trichords in chromatic de-
scent over a 5 cycle (Example ld).20
Despite the feasibility of both Schenkerian and set-class ap-
proaches to these songs, I would nevertheless suggest that previ-
ous analyses have presented an incomplete picture of their pitch
structure. While analyses have addressed the question of how the
various relationships interact, they have failed to engage the issue
of where and why certain pitch formations occur within the music.
For instance, what is the significance, if any, of the infamous ref-
erential augmented ninth chord on D in mm. 5-10 and 23-26 of
the initial song and its subsequent recurrence as the cycle's final
harmony, transposed to B? In order to answer this and other such
queries, we must first reconstruct the historical circumstances sur-
rounding the composition of these songs.21
Berg wrote the Vier Lieder during 1908-1910. At that time the
composer was courting the affections of Helene Nahowsky, whom
he would marry in 1911; the songs' original dedication bears the
inscription "To my Helene. Alban Berg."22I propose that Berg
used the four types of referential association mentioned above-
specific key relations, acronyms, quotations, and parody-all of
which are explicit in the tonal structures of the songs, to express
20Headlamprovidesan extensive graphof cyclical tetrachordsin this song.
In additionto AnthonyPople's comments in his "SecretProgrammes:Themes
and Techniques in Recent Berg Scholarship,"Music Analysis 12/3 (1993):
392-94, see H. H. Stuckenschmidt'sfamous "Debussy or Berg? The Mystery
of a Chord Progression,"The Musical Quarterly51/3 (1965): 453-59. Glenn
Watkins refers to the latter in his brief comments on "Warmdie Lufte" in
Soundings:Music in the TwentiethCentury(New York:SchirmerBooks, 1988),
45-49.
21Detailedinformation on this period of Berg's life can be found in
ReinhardGerlach,Musikand Jugenstil(Laaber:LaaberVerlag,1985).
22Oneof the best sources for informationabout the relationshipbetween
Alban and Helene is ConstantinFloros,Alban Berg: Musikals Autobiographie
(Wiesbaden:Brietkopf& Hartel,1992), 143-52.
 Reference and Association in the Vier Lieder, Op. 2, of Alban Berg 37
his feelings toward Helene. Before offering details of these associ-
ations in the songs, I give a brief outline of their importance.
While the application of these ideas to Op. 2 may initially seem
somewhat speculative, I trust their frequent occurrence in Berg's
other works will serve to substantiate the validity of my argu-
ments.
1) Specific key relations. Berg continually associated the key
of D minor with Helene.23 It functions as the basic tonal center of
the initial song of op. 2 and as the home ("Heimat") key that re-
curs in mm. 6-8 of the third song. Berg's correspondence with his
wife includes a letter (1907?) that ends with a reference to her as
"my most glorious Symphony in D minor," a phrase recalled in
his letter of 16 July 1909: "the most glorious D-minor chords of
your soul."24Douglas Jarman notes that this key occurs as an im-
portant tonal center in the op. 6 Orchestral Pieces, in Der Wein,
and in the final interlude of Wozzeck.25Concerning the last inter-
lude, in a letter to Helene dated 27 May 1922 Berg states, "I owe
it all to you and you alone. You composed it and I only wrote it
down." 26
2) Acronyms. The initial chromatic ascent in mm. 2-4 of
the first song (A-B,-B4) spells out an acronym of Alban
Berg and Helene, where H = B4. Rene Leibowitz and Theodor
Adorno mention these pitches in regard to mm. 5-6 of the third
23While writers have proposed the Beethoven Ninth or Mahler Sixth
Symphoniesas possible origins of this association, David Schroedertracesit to
Berg's acquaintance with the plays of August Strindberg;see his "Berg,
Strindberg,and D minor, College Music Symposium30/2 (1990): 74-89. The
key of D minor does occur in numerouspieces of this period: the D minor
String Quartetof Schoenberg,the D minor Passacagliaof Webern,and certain
songs of Zemlinsky. In this instance, Berg's association of the key to Helene
representsa specific case, a point not mentioned in the various analyses of
Op.2.
24AlbanBerg: Letters to his Wife, ed. BernardGrun (London: Faber and
Faber,1971), 1,62.
25Jarman,Music of Berg, 18.
26AlbanBerg: Lettersto His Wif., 301.
song,27 but are silent concerning their initial appearance. In both
cases the original chromatic ascent continues on to C to form a
semi-tonal tetrachord, whose associative significance I discuss
below. Acronyms occur in other works of Berg: the Chamber
Concerto, whose motto theme is based on the names of Arnold
Schonberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg, the invariant tetra-
chord of the Lyric Suite using the names Alban Berg and Hanna
Fuchs, his secret mistress,28and the set 4-18 [0147] based on the
framing letters of Helene Berg in Wozzeck,noted by Allen Forte.29
Coincidentally, in a letter to Helene dated December 1908, the
composer signed his name by notating the pitches A and Bl in the
treble clef. Since Berg did not write his letter alluding to his mys-
tical number "23" and Wilhelm Fliess's Vom Leben und Tod
(1909) until 1914, it is probably coincidental that in the two inner
songs, which form a single unit, the arrival at the pivotal D minor
in the third song is concomitant with the first use of the A-B-H
motive at the end of m. 23 and the beginning of m. 24.
3) Quotations. Based on a consideration of the texts that Berg
chose, Stephen Kett describes the op. 2 songs as "a psychological
exploration of, and journey to, a distant world of 'sleep-death' as
an escape from reality"; he cites Tristan as the most likely influ-
ence.30 While the first three songs feature a prominent use of the
word sleep ("Schlafen"), the last song concludes with an allusion
to death ("Stirb!"), suggesting a longing for the "night" or eternal
sleep of death,3' the prevailing Schopenhauerian/metaphysical
27RendLeibowitz, Schoenberget son ecole (Paris:J. B. Janin, 1947), 146,
and TheodorAdorno, Alban Berg: Master of the Smallest Link, trans.Juliane
Brandand ChristopherHailey (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1991),
49. At my suggestion,Hatteyincludedthis, as well as otherallusionsreferredto
in this article,in his Thesis duringhis discussionof the firstand thirdsongs.
28Perle,"TheSecret Programof the LyricSuite,"4-12.
29AllenForte, "Berg's Symphonic Epilogue to Wozzeck,"in Alban Berg.
Historicaland AnalyticalPerspectives, 157.
30Kett,"ConservativeRevolution,"67-68.
3"Theonly two low A's in the vocal line of the cycle occur at the opening of
the first song on the word "Schlafen"and near the end of the last song on the
word "Stirb."
38 Music Theory Spectrum
motif that runs throughout Wagner's music drama. I believe there
are numerous disguised musical references to Tristan throughout
the songs, casting Alban and Helene as the star-crossed lovers.
Melodic gestures and harmonies cited at their original pitch levels
and drawn from the Prelude to Act I, the AS Love Duet in Act II,
and Isolde's final Transfiguration ("Liebestod") occur in each of
the last three songs. This is not totally surprising, since similar
quotations from Wagner's opera appear in his other works. In ad-
dition to embedding a "Tristan progression" in his op. 1 Piano
Sonata (mm. 90-101),32 Berg actually quotes the opening mea-
sures of that opera's Prelude in the Finale of the Lyric Suite.33
Douglass Green suggests that the text of a poem by Baudelaire, on
which the last movement of that work was originally based, shows
a decided similarity to the opening scene of Act III in Tristan.34In
his correspondence to Helene during the composition of the op. 2
songs, Berg made several specific references to the opera: "Any-
one who could write Tristan must surely have believed in love
with the uttermost conviction" (2 June 1907), and "to die for you
the death of love ('Liebestod')" (30 July 1909).35
32Thisreference is omitted in Janet Schmalfeldt'sextended voice-leading
analysisof the Sonata;see her "Berg'sPathto Atonality:The Piano SonataOp.
I," in AlbanBerg: Historical and AnalyticalPerspectives,79-110.
33Inhis provocativearticle"Tristanand Berg's LyricSuite,"In TheoryOnly
8/3 (1984): 33-41, JosephN. Strauspoints out that a rearrangement and trans-
position of Hanna'sA-B-H-F motive [0126] yields the opening cello pitches
of Tristan:A-F-E-D#. He furtherdemonstrateshow threesegmentsof the tone
row (his "set B") in the last movement(mm. 2-4 in the viola) may be mapped
into the Tristanquotation.These remarkswere reiteratedin his laterReshaping
the Past: Musical Modernismand the Influenceof the TonalTradition(Cam-
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990), 144-49. Wagner himself
quotedthe opening gestureof the TristanPreludein his own works.Aside from
the obvious citation in Act III of Meistersinger(p. 452, mm. 1-4 of the Schir-
mer vocal score), he alluded to it in the "Paris"revision of Tannhauser's
Bacchanal.The progressionpermeatesmuch of the exchange between Parsifal
and Kundryin Act II of Parsifal, especially during the "kiss" (p. 184, mm.
3-7).
34DouglassGreen,"Berg'sDe Profundis:The Finale of the LyricSuite,"The
InternationalAlbanBerg Society Newsletter5 (1977): 13-23.
35AlbanBerg: Lettersto His Wife,24, 78.
4) Parody. The third song of the cycle may represent the re-
composition of an extended passage from Act II of Tristan.
Although I have been unable to find this degree of parody occur-
ring in other works of Berg, his Violin Concerto does feature
"re-workings" of a Carinthianfolk song and Bach's setting of the
chorale Es ist genug.36
Based on his study of extant sketch material, Stephen Kett con-
cludes that the two interior songs, both of which incorporate texts
from Alfred Mombert's Der Gliihende (1896), were writtenfirst.37
This view reinforces Jay Wilkey's contention that these two songs
form a single unit as the centerpiece of a triptych.38In tracing the
complete cycle's compositional chronology in the following
analysis, I will hereafter assume that the second and third songs in
the opus ("Schlafend tragt man mich" and "Nun ich der Riesen")
were composed first and second, respectively, followed by op. 2,
no. 1 ("Schlafen, Schlafen, nichts als Schlafen") and then op. 2,
no. 4 ("Warmdie Lufte"). When viewed from this standpoint, it is
easy to see that the opening progression of "Schlafend tragt" al-
ready lays out the superimposed cycles 1 and 5 that permeate and
eventually close the set during the final measures of "Warm."
"Schlafend tragt" employs two significant linear motives.
Although I originally suspected that the first of these (Example
2a) represented a quotation from some other work, I have been
unable to locate it, either in Tristan or in earlier pieces of Schoen-
36Fora discussion of the sources and theiroccurrences,see AnthonyPople,
Berg's Violin Concerto (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1991); and
Douglas Jarman,"Alban Berg, Wilhelm Fliess, and the Secret Programmeof
the Violin Concerto,"in The Berg Companion,181-96.
37Kett("ConservativeRevolution,"80-82) provides a diagramlinking the
tonal structureof the pairof interiorsongs, but his use of the term"French6th"
in several instancesis midleading,because the harmoniesso denoted in mm. 3
and 6 of "Nunich" are half-diminishedseventhchords.
38See Kett, "Conservative Revolution," 69-70, and Wilkey, "Certain
Aspects of Form,"23. Kett also suggests that Joseph Engelhart'spaintingDie
Schlefenden,which features three sleeping women and a "faun-likecreature"
(3 + 1), may have been the initial inspirationfor op. 2.
 Reference and Association in the Vier Lieder,Op. 2, of AlbanBerg 39

Example2. Two significantlinear motives in "Schlafendtragt" occurring over her D minor harmony (m. 6), a tritone removed
from the A; minor tonic of the song; the text at this point ("led by
mm.1-3 nn. 9-10 a white fairy's hand") doubtless represents a direct reference to
A -
. t t. i. L
I I
!
' the composer's beloved.40 During the subsequent prolonged D
a. Lw
,6
II T Tr = 11 minor chord of mm. 6-8, the piano intones the D-A fifth, portray-
mm. 2-4 mm. 4-5
ing the tolling of the bell and anticipating the opening interval of
"Schlafen, Schlafen," the next song to be composed. In both oc-
b. i^ P
L 3d -f = v I- -14 currences of the A-B-H motive here-in the vocal line of m. 5-6
and in the piano of m. 8-the chromatic ascent continues to C
(mm. 6-7, 9), forming chromatic tetrachords. If we are willing to
accept the existence of the A-F-E gesture in the previous song as
berg and Berg.39On the other hand, the second melodic motive of a derivation from the TristanPrelude, what would be more natural
a rising minor sixth following by descending half-step motion than to include Wagner's subsequent oboe G#-A- A#-B gesture in
(Example 2b) does suggests the opening cello statement of the this song? The A B H acronym does occur as the last three notes
Tristan Prelude. Occurring nine times during the song, the first of the Tristan motive, but Berg transposed it up one half-step
statement in the piano part (mm. 4-5) starts with the same three (A-Bk-B-C) so that its opening note (A, not Wagner's G#) would
notes used at the beginning of Tristan (A-F-E). The minor sixth is form a consonant relation with the underlying A7 chord. This is
confined to occurrences of that single interval within the om- likewise true at the opening of the cycle's first song, where the
nipresent French-sixth chords of the song. At this stage of the supporting harmony for the acronym's A is now a D minor triad.
cycle's composition, no reference appears either to Helene's D But there is more, for the Al minor 6/added sixth chord at the end
minor or the A-B-H motive, leading me to speculate that these as- of m. 2 represents an enharmonic form of the Tristan chord (F C,
sociations may not have occurred to Berg until midway through El Al = F B D# G#), which properly resolves to the E G# B D
"Nun ich" at the crucial words "led by a white fairy's hand." chord in m. 4, completing Wagner's progression. The final three
To facilitate discussion of the next-composed song ("Nun bars of the song represent a variant of mm. 2-3, concluding with a
ich"), Example 3 provides a graph of its underlying voice-leading. "half cadence" on Ek
The dominant-like cadence on El at the end of the previous song Mark DeVoto has suggested that "Nun ich" bears a certain re-
resolves to Ab minor at the beginning of "Nun ich," first suggested semblance to the "Hagen's Wacht" music in Act I of Gotterddm-
by the arpeggiated tonic triad in the vocal line of the first two merung."4 I would go even farther and propose that this song
measures. After the bass pulls up chromatically to the Eb that sup- represents a truncated parody of the initial Al portion of the ex-
ports an Al-minor (with an add
added s
sixth)n ) t the end of m. 2, a pair tended Love Duets in Act II of Tristan,42which in turn is based on
of fifth-related harmonies (E7-A7, mm. 4-5) arrive at the "home" Wagner's Wesendonck song "Traume."43Both are preceded by
key of D minor ("heimfand") in m. 6. Just prior to this resolution, an extended dominant on El prior to the initiation of the Al tonic.
the voice begins the A-B-H motive with Helen's Bt appropriately
40Fora referenceto the commentsof Adornoand Leibowitzon this passage,
39Kramer("Quotationsand Self-Borrowing,"80) contends that mm. 5 and see note 27 above.
23 of "Schlafen, Schlafen" are quotationsfrom mm. 15-16 of Schoenberg's 4'DeVoto,"Berg:Composerof Songs,"44.
Das Buch der hdngenden Garten No. 5. He does not, however, propose a 42Seep. 162, mm. 17-21 in the Schirmervocal score of Tristan.
source for the opening of "Schlafendtragt." 43SeeGauldin,"Wagner'sParodyTechnique."
 40 Music Theory Spectrum

Example3. Voice-leadinggraphof "Nunich"

1 1 4 A B H
LL"t./?L- I~~~ I I ri . I

6
v btV>Le
b, "6
q66 6---?-- ^ *-'- n'h^ b = p,- 4,a ~ =
ab: TC d: V7/V V7

A I .
[C]
I
8A B H
___
..........
[C]
I
... Lo,_
_- -=--" . ::,_
'L I .... k_._ -J
_ p I

1: bbbbVbf,
_'-. -t h , _ b

v I
6~~~~~~zz~
a[) 14 V

While the Love Duet employs the major mode, its opening mea-
sures exploit numerous mixture references, especially 3 and 16;
these relations are mirrored in Berg's song as C versus Cl (m. 1)
and F versus Fl (mm. 2-3). The initial prominent notes of the
song's vocal line outline the Tristan chord, especially in mm. 2-3
(F-AK- Cl-El), a procedure that likewise opens the Wagner pas-
sage (p. 163, mm. 1-5 of the Schirmer vocal score). A continuous
pulsating triplet/duplet syncopation underlies the rhythmic surface
of both the Duet and song.4 In the latter portion of the Love Duet
(p. 168, mm. 2-8) the E7 of the Tristan progression "resolves" to
an A major ', and then moves on to a D in the bass. Berg mimics
this same harmonic motion in mm. 2-6, but now the D supports a
minor-mode tonicization on that tone. Both pieces conclude on
their El dominants; Wagner appends a brief codetta (p. 169, mm.
3-11) that exploits passing chromatic motion around the Al tonic.
4This figurationis alreadyanticipatedin the last two measuresof the previ-
ous song; a precedingdominantlikewise establishesthe rhythmicpulsationin
the Love Duet.
Even if these similarities were not intentional on Berg's part, they
do represent a striking coincidence and tend to reenforce the
melodic/harmonic quotations from Wagner's Prelude.
Having realized the compositional potential of Helene's D
minor tonality and the A-B-H motive in "Nun ich" along with the
Tristan citations in both of first two songs, I believe that Berg then
attempted to incorporate them in a more meaningful manner
within the fabric of the next-composed song in Op. 2, "Schlafen,
Schlafen." In his search for another text that dealt with the com-
mon theme of "Sleep and Death," the composer was forced to
look outside the Mombert cycle; "Schlafen, Schlafen" is based on
a poem from Friedrich Hebbel's collection Dem Schmerz sein
Recht (1836). It opens in Helene's D minor established by a reiter-
ated fifth (D-A) in the bass, with the A-B-H motive emphatically
stated in the inner voice (mm. 1-4 and Example 4a), continuing
on to C as in "Nun ich." These original pitch classes then recur in
mm. 11-12 of the vocal line rearranged to spell out B-A-C-H,
which immediately appears in sequence a tone higher in the fol-
lowing measures (C-B-D-C#). This allusion to Bach may repre-
 Reference and Association in the Vier Lieder, Op. 2, of Alban Berg 41

Example4. Use of acronymsin "Schlafen,Schlafen"

b. nun. 1-5
a. mm.1-5 B A C H seg. T2 il
A

4 . -J
A .

~, I I
I .%V
A B H [C] *
l
I iI- - - a
k'__b
/ -,"
r
X ^=1
#W
re>
#+hs .-71
^ 4 **
c. mmn.21-30 H B A

H $+ H B A
/ F- - -_' _
b< _-'r ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ -: <rJ.
k
F^ r-^~~~~~~(t~~'-^ : :

sent an intentional clue on Berg's part, hinting that a less obvious
acronym (the A-B-H reference) is disguised somewhere in the
song. The brief 5 cycle in the bass (C#-F#-B-E and Example 4b)
that supports the B-A-C-H quotation recalls the framing progres-
sions of the "Schlagend tragt."4- A fleeting sonority in m. 19
suggests the same pitches and spacing of the "bell" fourth-chord
in mm. 6-7 of "Nun ich." Beginning with the upbeat to m. 21, the
opening melodic gestures recur in the manner of a free palin-
drome (underpinned by the referential 5-32 [01469] sonority on
D) before coming to rest on the original D minor tonic (Example
4c), as has been previously observed by Morgan.46The three oc-
currences of the retrograded H-B-A (mm. 20-21, 21-22, 27-29)
45Lambert("Ives and Berg," 108-9) points out that following an interrup-
tion, this 5 cycle (C#-F#-B-E) continuesin mm. 18-20 with A-D-G. The tri-
tone relationbetween this cycle's framingCt and G recalls the opening 5 cycle
of "Schlafendtragt,"which spans the tritoneBl/Fb.
46Morgan,"The EternalReturn,"84.
may symbolize the composer's hope that the middle "B" (= Berg)
will eventually become their shared name. Although no overt ref-
erences to Tristan appear in "Schlafen, Schlafen," the prevailing
D minor may also allude to the dramatic events in the final scene
of Act II, where King Mark is associated with the same key.
Wagnerian scholars have compared the good-hearted monarch to
Otto Wesendonck, who initially seemed oblivious to the "affair of
the heart" developing between his wife Mathilde and Richard.
Perhaps Berg sensed a parallel to Helene's father, who was suspi-
cious of Berg's ability to support his daughter.
While no further references to D minor occur in "Warm,"the
final song of the set, acronyms of Berg's name (A-B) occur in
mm. 9-10 and at the climax of the work (last beat of m. 15
through m. 19) concomitant with the word "Stirb."(Does this rep-
resent a Schopenhauerian rejection of the Will?) This may be con-
nected with the cycle's final bass note B4 to suggest once again an
anticipated marriage under one name: Berg, Alban and Helene.
42 Music Theory Spectrum
Finally, the last referential 5-32 sonority of the cycle, built on
Helene's Bt, may represent a double allusion both to Wagner's
Isolde and to Berg's Helene: the final chord of Isolde's Trans-
figuration, B D# F#, plus Helene's A and D, derived from her D
minor.47 Thus the cycle's opening 5-32 in Helene's D minor
("Schlafen, Schlafen") is transfigured by Isolde's sacrificial love,
concluding "Warm" with the same sonority now on B4. I sus-
pect that Berg sketched out this final progression of the set after
completing the first two songs; the final song's 5 cycle and 3-5
trichords, as noted above and shown in Example Id, had al-
ready been introduced in "Schlafend tragt" and "Nun ich." He
then transferred the last augmented ninth chord on B back to
"Schlafen, Schlafen," the next-composed song, and transposed it
to Helene's original D minor. Further disguised references to the
Wagner's "Liebestod" suggest a possible parody: while the promi-
nent upper F#s in mm. 4-6 of the final song may allude to the F#
Kopfton of last B major section of Isolde's Transfiguration, the
semitonal wedges in mm. 12-15 of the song display a striking
similarity to those passages of contrary chromatic motion found in
that aria (p. 297, m. 7 through 298, m. 3, and p. 295, m. 7 through
299, m.7 of the Schirmer vocal score).48
47Kett("ConservativeRevolution,"84) suggests thatthe "splitthird"in this
final sonority refers back to the tonalities of "Schlafen,Schlafen"(D minor)
and "Schlafendtragt"(Eb[D#] minor).
48Seethe discussion of these "wedges"in LeonardMeyer,Music and Style
(Philadelphia:Universityof PennsylvaniaPress, 1989), 319-23.
While nothing in the above discussion negates the findings of
prior studies of this cycle, it does, I trust, illustrate the significant
roles played by extra- and intra-musical associations in the songs.
Despite the speculative nature of some of my proposals, they do
not represent anything radically different from what has been sim-
ilarly described in Berg's other works.49As other scholars have
pointed out, he seemed intent on imbuing every phrase or gesture
with as many intra- and extra-musical meanings as possible. As
such, this brief study may open further vistas for the exploration
of Berg's referential associations in his later works.
ABSTRACT
Whilescholarshave focusedconsiderableattentionon extramusicalrefer-
ences and associationsin certainworks of Alban Berg (especially the
LyricSuite,ChamberConcerto,Wozzeck,andthe ViolinConcerto),little
attentionhas been given to these kindsof proceduresin Berg'searlyVier
Lieder,op. 2. Referentialassociationsin the op. 2 songs originatefrom
the composer'srelationshipwith HeleneNahowsky,whose affectionshe
was courtingduringthe time of theircomposition(1908-10). The refer-
ences involvethe key of D minor("Helene'skey"),an acronymbasedon
the couple'sinitials(A B H = A B, BI), andquotationsandparodyallud-
ing to passagesfromWagner'sTristanundIsolde.
49Evenin the more "abstract"instrumentalworks of Weber, extra-musical
influences occasionally appear; see David Cohen, "Anton Webern and the
Magic Square,"Perspectivesof New Music 13/1 (1974): 213-15, which deals
with the Latinword squarebased on SATORand its use in the final measuresof
the op. 24 finale.