Conference Booklet - Music - National University of Ireland, Maynooth

The ‗fingerprints‘ to be investigated will include at least some of the following:
Schubert‘s characteristic treatment of episodic forms, especially in his slow movements
(together with his ‗violent nature‘: see McKay, Franz Schubert, Chapter 6, ‗Two Natures‘, and
Macdonald, ‗Schubert‘s Volcanic Temper‘, MT, 1978); the ramifications of his major-minor
usage (his ‗favourite device‘: Eric Blom, M&L, 1928); the application of variation processes in his
instrumental forms; and what Schumann famously described as Schubert‘s ‗heavenly lengths‘.
These and other aspects (including the relationship between the instru mental music and the
genre of Lied) will be considered afresh, while making reference (as far as is feasible) to
previous studies.
Brian Black (University of Lethbridge)
The Sensual as a Constructive Element in Schubert’s Late Works
Schubert‘s acute sensitivity to the purely sensual quality of sound and its expressive potential is
a feature of his music that sets it apart from that of all of his contemporaries. It lies at the heart
of his innovative use of harmony and his affecting modulations, which have been admired for
almost two centuries. Yet his handling of such elements has also been criticized as an indication
of a self-indulgent approach to composition that sacrifices structural rigour to a hedonistic
gratification of the moment. This misunderstand ing of Schubert‘s art was particularly prevalent
in the 19 th and 20 th centuries, but still colours recent treatments of his music.
In both Schubert‘s vocal and instrumental works, carefully marked sonorities or striking
harmonic events emerge not simply as a local effect, but as important structural components of
the work that both bind its various parts together and give it its particular expressive
significance. The way in which Schubert employs this material reveals a highly original
treatment of form that depends upon allusion, recall and sudden transformation rather than the
type of developing variation associated with Beethoven. This aspect of Schubert‘s music is
present from the very beginning of his career, but becomes a powerful force in the m asterpieces
of his last years.
The proposed paper will first look at how the transformations of a single sonority in ‗Ihr
Bild‘ from Schwanengesang conveys the dramatic flow and expressive content of the whole Lied.
It will then trace the same process in a number of late instrumental pieces, including the
Impromptu in G-flat major, opus 90, no. 3. Through these examples, the paper will demonstrate
that the sensual is a crucial element in the formal concentration and expressive power of
Schubert‘s late works.
Claus Canisius (Universität Heidelberg and Badisches Konservatorium)
Le style est l‘homme même
This paper will first consider some musical elements of a ‗Late Style‘ in general which indicate
specific characteristics: technical elaboration of settings, handling of contrasting tempi, balance
of technical brilliance and introvertion. There is, however, a phenomenon with regard to the
essence of the Late Style. The parameters in question often d o not correspond to equivalent
biographical classifications, the French organisation of premier âge (1-30), deuxiéme âge (31-60),
troisiéme âge (61-90) ), for instance, a thesis which so far has hardly been examined by scholars.
This new territory will be visited and its characteristics discussed (Schubert‗s chiasmus of
‗Intellect and Sorrow ‘, based on words from his own prose.) A review of the history of the word
style will elucidate the semantic meaning of this orginally technical term, and hidden steps of
development become visible. It is little known that Hindemith analyzed Bach‗s Late Style by
varying a dictum by Nietzsche; also that Schoenberg emphasized the necessity of a training in
counterpoint for a composer who, even in old age and when physically frail should go on