This important new study reassesses the position of Anton Webern in twentieth-century music. The twelve-note method of composition adopted by Anton Webern had profound consequences for composers of the next generation such as Stockhausen and Boulez, who saw Webern's music as revolutionary. In her detailed analyses, however, Professor Bailey demonstrates a fundamentally traditional aspect to Webern's creativity, when describing his own music. Professor Bailey analyses all Webern's twelve-note works (from Op. 17 to Op. 31) i.e. the instrumental and vocal music written between 1924 and 1943....

On September 15, 1945 the composer Anton Webern was shot in confusing circumstances in a small mountain village near Salzburg. The world lost a composer of extreme originality whose mature music was still almost unknown. When Webern's works did come to light, he immediately became one of the most influential figures in music of the second half of this century. This book focuses on several aspects of Webern's life that have been treated only briefly in earlier accounts: his youthful instability, his often embarrassing dependence on Schoenberg, his naive nationalism and his absolute belief in...

This book looks at the music of Webern from several new perspectives. The most recent Webern scholarship has emphasized Webern's lyricism, and this is a theme running through Webern Studies. Other techniques not generally associated with Webern are also explored: two chapters illustrate and examine his apparent early interest in octatonic and pitch-specific motivic collections. In addition to previously unpublished entries from Webern's diaries, the volume includes all the row tables for his twelve-note music. There is also a new and comprehensive Webern bibliography.