The Particularities of Compositional Work in Ernst Krenek’s “Sechs Vermessene”: Interconnection between Serialism and Aleatory Technique

Abstract

Ernst Krenek happily accepted the ideas of integral serialism in the 1950s testing them in their musical practice (“Spiritus Intelligentiae, Sanctus” орus 152, “Sestina” орus 161, “Sechs Vermessene” орus 168, “Quaestio temporis” opus 170). The peak of this interest on his part concurred with the period when total serial determinacy experienced a crisis, and contemporary composers directed their attention to the opposite musical pole – the aleatory technique. Krenek’s theoretical elaborations on the issue of serialism, as well as on the interactions between the predetermined and the random elements found their reflection in the article “Extents and Limits of Serial Techniques” (1960). The resulting musical manifestation of these thoughts was the piano cycle “Sechs Vermessene” орus 168 (1958), the title of which imprinted the untranslatable pun of two conceptions: the German word “vermessen” can be translated simultaneously as “measured” and “self-willed.” The serial expansion in this composition encompasses the spheres of pitch and rhythm, as well as density, intensity and register. The article analyzes in detail the first four pieces of the cycle. The author draws parallels with the compositional procedures of Milton Babbitt (the method of registral delamination), Pierre Boulez (the counterpoint of parameters), Olivier Messiaen (the technique of symmetrical permutations) and John Cage (the method of random actions), reconstructs the pre-compositional sound material of the fourth piece, and demonstrates the mistakes and inaccuracies arising upon the realization of the serial schemes in the piece. The analysis reveals the close interconnection between the determined and undetermined elements in the compositional process of the “Sechs Vermessene.” For example, the mathematical computations carried out by the composer for the precise fixation of rhythm leads to the necessity of making use of a new means of notation (wavelike stems), which in the end reflects the precise meanings only approximately. Study of Krenek’s piano cycle, as well as of the composer’s theoretical works, makes it possible to reevaluate the traditional correlation of serialism with the aleatory technique. The transition to composition using the method of random actions must not be considered a reaction to total determinacy; moreover, these methods must not be presented as being opposed to each other. The aleatory technique is, in essence, a natural and inevitable consequence of serialism. Keywords: Ernst Krenek, “Sechs Vermessene,” Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Olivier Messiaen, Milton Babbitt, serial music, serialism, aleatory technique.