Analysis String Quartet No.3 "Im Innersten" of Wolfgang Rihm

Conclusion about chromaticism

Because of the small gestures with major sevenths, I characterized measures 10 and 11 in the first movement as "quasi Webern". Nevertheless it is Rihm after all, especially if you look at the unison-cluster that follows up in m.11. But in spite of their similarity to the master of serialism, chromaticism in those two bars has a different meaning from Webern’s chromatic writing. This esthetic, popping up in the whole work and differentiating itself from the chromatic tradition of serialism, is if you ask me the core of this work’s relevance.

Central point of departure of (early) serialism was emancipation of dissonance, meaning no more class-struggle between chords or even individual notes. Each note had equal rights in a row of twelve, getting the chance to speak up once, before this row was repeated. Keeping this in mind, to me it has always been striking how Schönberg did come up with his twelve tone system only àfter the communist revolution in Russia of 1917, although I wouldn’t go so far as to call the twelve tone system a communist system.

Getting back to Webern, his minor seconds and major sevenths are independent sounds, standing on their own. Neither one of both notes in each interval has more relevance then the other. There is no urge to resolve in the traditional (functional harmonic) sense. A major seventh doesn’t resolve into a perfect octave since that interval is forbidden in modernis esthetics.
In "Im Innersten" the opposite is occuring. Eventhough Rihm is stylistically ‘quoting’ the godfather of post-war Modernism, Webern, the dissonants here do give the urge to resolve. The major seventh does want to resolve into a perfect octave, which gives the note that wants to resolve more relevance. One note not fitting in the octave distinguishes itself. There are no equal rights here. It is a struggle. Notes are fighting about who is most important. It is a fight about power, it is the will to power. It is the will, a human will. In this work it is not only captured in the notes, it is amplified by gestures (often marked by either crescendi or sforzati) those notes fit, or purposely do not fit in.

The tension-relaxation balance, which distinguishes western music from music from the rest of the world, occurs on many levels: as well as in the grand scheme of the total form (think of the Zwischenspiel followed up by the sixth movement which could be regarded as the relaxation of the previous lively and rough movements) as in detail (the traditional use of functional harmony, mirrored in the complete chromatic sections where the tension of a cluster or sforzato-played dissonant bring as much expectation as a dominant seventh chord).
This work is a perfect synthesis of tradition amalgamated into a personified language, spoken by a composer who is getting to the heart of the listener.

Edward Top, 1998-2003