La creación musical de Roberto Gerhard durante el magisterio de Arnold Schoenbergneoclasicismo, octatonismo y organización proto-serial (1923-1928) stars

Abstract

This thesis studies the impact of Gerhard's acquaintance with Arnold Schoenberg in his music and aesthetic thought of the 1920s. In the first part I examine Gerhard's relationship to Schoenberg's compositional and pedagogical principles, particularly during the period of studies in Vienna and Berlin (1923- 28). Schoenberg's teachings are contextualized with respect to Gerhard's earlier musical education. In the second part I study the transformation of Gerhard's musical language in the period 1921 - 1927. I compare the first Apunt for piano (1921) -composed shortly before moving to Vienna- with three pieces composed for Schoenberg that I consider particularly interesting: the Divertiment for wind instruments (1926), the Andantino for violin, clarinet and piano (ca. 1927) and the first movement of the 1927 string quartet, written as final project of his studies in overt homage to Schoenberg's String Quartet Nr. 2 Op. 10. None of these works has been thoroughly analyzed up to now. My study gives a detailed account of the compositional techniques implemented in these pieces and of the relationships with the music and ideas of Schoenberg. Significant affinities of Gerhard's compositional methods with the music of other 2 contemporary composers such as J. Matthias Hauer, Frederic Mompou, Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók are also examined. My analysis explains Gerhard's methods of motivic integration, his use of symmetry and transpositional combination as key constructive determinants, the penchant to octatonic constructions in his harmony, his earliest techniques of serial pitch-class organization, the abundant (and often ironic) allusions to elements from the musical past (particularly from the 17th and 18th centuries) and the ascription of the pieces composed between 1926 and 1928 to neoclassical formalism. The understanding of Gerhard's compositional technique and its transformations during the period of studies with Schoenberg is essential for an adequate comprehension of his mature works and the subsequent developments in his musical language.