Die Reihe

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Die Reihe was an influential German-language music journal, edited by Herbert Eimert and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and published by Universal Edition (Vienna) between 1955 and 1962 (ISSN 0486-3267). An English edition was published, under the original German title, between 1957 and 1968 by the Theodore Presser Company (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania), in association with Universal Edition (ISSN 0080-0775).

The journal title means “The Row” or “The Series”. The subtitle of the original edition, “Information über serielle Musik” (“information on serial music”) reflected the intent of the editors, but was changed for the English edition to “A Periodical Devoted to Developments in Contemporary Music” owing to the narrower English usage of the word “serial” at that time to refer to the twelve-tone technique of Arnold Schoenberg and his followers. Die Reihe was not, however, a periodical in the usual sense of the word, but rather appeared at irregular intervals, for which reason it is sometimes referred to as an aperiodical. There were just eight volumes published, each under a thematic title. Differences between the German and English editions can be seen from a comparison of the contents (below). Occasionally items were omitted or substituted, but more commonly these involve the order of the articles.

Contents

[edit] Contents

[edit] German Edition

  • Band 1 "Elektronische Musik" (1955)
  • Band 2 "Anton Webern" (1955)
  • (1. Teil) Dokumente—Bekenntisse
    • 7: Igor Strawinsky, "Geleitwort"
    • 8–11: Friedrich Wildgans, "Biografische Tabelle"
    • 12–13: "Verzeichnis der Werke"
    • 14–15: Hildegard Jone, "Eine Kantate"
    • 15: Arnold Schoenberg, "Vorwort zu den Sechs Bagatellen"
    • 16–17: Anton Webern, "Bekenntniss zu Schoenberg"
    • 18: "Der Dirigent Anton Webern"
    • 19: Ernst Krenek, "Der Stein, den die Bauleute verworfen haben, der ist zum Eckstein worden"
    • 20–28: Ernst Krenek, "Aus dem Briefwechsel"
    • 29: Ernst Krenek, "Der UE-Lektor"
    • 30–32: Anton Webern, "Choralis Constantinus"
  • (2. Teil) Erkenntnisse—Analysen
    • 35–41: Herbert Eimert, "Die notwendige Korrektur"
    • 42–44: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Zum 15. September 1955"
    • 45–46: Pierre Boulez, "Für Anton Webern"
    • 47–50: Heinz-Klaus Metzger, "Webern und Schönberg"
    • 51–55: Leopold Spinner, "Eine Analyse (Konzert für 9 Instrumente, 2. Satz)"
    • 56–65: Henri Pousseur, "Weberns organische Chromatik (1. Bagatelle) "
    • 66–68: Christian Wolff, "Kontrollierte Bewegung (Werkauswahl)"
    • 69–79: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Struktur und Erlebniszeit (Streichquartett, 2. Satz) "
    • 80–84: Heinz-Klaus Metzger, "Analyse des Geistlichen Liedes op. 15 Nr. 4"
    • 85–96: Armin Klammer, "Weberns Variationen für Klavier, 3. Satz"
    • 97–102: Herbert Eimert, "Intervallproportionen (Streichquartett, 1. Satz)"
  • Band 3: "Musikalische Handwerk" (1957)
    • 5–12: Herbert Eimert, "Von der Entscheidungsfreiheit des Komponisten"
    • 13–42: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "...wie die Zeit vergeht... "
    • 43–45: John Cage, "Beschreibung der in Music for Piano 21-52 angewandten Kompositionsmethode"
    • 46–88: Henri Pousseur, "Zur Methodik"
  • Band 4: "Junge Komponisten" (1958)
    • 5–8: Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinski, "Junge Komponisten"
    • 9–17: Udo Unger, "Luigi Nono: Polifonica–Monodia–Ritmica, Il canto sospeso"
    • 18–31: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Henri Pousseur"
    • 32–37: Rudolf Stephan, "Hans Werner Henze"
    • 38–63: György Ligeti, "Pierre Boulez. Entscheidung und Automatik in der Structure 1a"
    • 64–80: Heinz-Klaus Metzger "Intermezzo I: Das Altern der Philosophie der neuen Musik"
    • 81–84: [Herbert Eimert], "Intermezzo II"
    • 85–88: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Bo Nilsson"
    • 89–97: Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinski, "Giselher Klebe"
    • 98–102: Piero Santi, "Luciano Berio"
    • 103–12: Reinhold Schubert, "Bernd Alois Zimmermann"
    • 113–18: Giacomo Manzoni, "Bruno Maderna"
    • 119–33: Dieter Schnebel, "Karlheinz Stockhausen"
  • Band 5: "Berichte—Analyse" (1957)
    • 5–22: Herbert Eimert, "Debussys Jeux"
    • 23–37: Mauricio Kagel, "Ton-Cluster, Anschläge, Übergänge"
    • 38–40: György Ligeti, "Zur III. Klaviersonate von Boulez"
    • 41–49: Heinz-Klaus Metzger "Gescheiterte Begriffe in Theorie und Kritik der Musik"
    • Karlheinz Stockhausen "Zwei Vorträge: "
      • 50–59: I "Elektronische und instrumentale Musik"
      • 59–73: II "Musik im Raum"
    • 74–83: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Studium im Studio"
    • 84: Hans G Helms, "Zu John Cages Vorlesung 'Unbestimmtheit'")
    • 85–121: John Cage, "Unbestimmtheit" [Übersetzung und räumliche Anordnung, Hans G Helms]
  • Band 6: "Sprache und Musik" (1958)
    • 5–29: Hans Rudolf Zeller, "Mallarmé und das serielle Denken"
    • 30–35: Dieter Schnebel, "Brouillards. Tendenzen bei Debussy"
    • 36–58: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Musik und Sprache"
    • 59–70: Nicolas Ruwet, "Von den Widersprüchen der seriellen Sprache"
    • 71–87: Henri Pousseur, "Musik, Form und Praxis (Zur Aufhebung einiger Widersprüche)"
  • Band 7: "Form—Raum" (1960)
    • 5–17: György Ligeti, "Wandlungen der musikalischen Form"
    • 18–23: Ursula Burghardt-Kagel, "Das Raumtheater von Amancio Williams"
    • 24–30: Christian Wolff "Über Form"
    • 31–61: Mauricio Kagel, "Translation - Rotation"
    • 62–72: John Whitney, "Bewegungsbilder und elektronische Musik"
    • 73–76: Rainer Fleischhauer & Jörn Janssen, "Hochbau für 200 000 E"
    • 77–86: Jörn Janssen, "Erstes Projekt"
  • Band 8: "Rückblicke" (1962)
    • 5–6: Herbert Eimert, "Nachruf auf Werner Meyer-Eppler"
    • 7–10: Werner Meyer-Eppler, "Informationstheoretische Probleme der musikalischen Kommunikation"
    • 11–25: Helmut Kirchmeyer, "Vom historischen Wesen einer rationalistischen Musik"
    • 26–34: Walter Schulze-Andresen "Das dreidimensionale Notenbild"
    • 35–61: Walter O'Conell, "Der Ton-Raum"
    • 62–72: Adriaan D. Fokker, "Wozu und Warum?"
    • 73–92: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Kommentar"
    • 93–95: "Publikationen der Reihe"

[edit] English Edition

  • Vol. 1 "Electronic Music" (1957)
    • vi: G. [= Alexander Goehr] "Translator's Preface"
    • 1–10: Herbert Eimert, "What is Electronic Music?"
    • 11–13: H. H. Stuckenschmidt, "The Third Stage"
    • 14–16: Ernst Krenek, "A Glance over the Shoulders of the Young"
    • 17–18: Giselher Klebe, "First Practical Work"
    • 19–29: Pierre Boulez, "At the Ends of Fruitful Land..."
    • 30–34: Henri Pousseur, "Formal Elements in a New Compositional Material"
    • 38–44: Karel Goeyvaerts, "The Sound Material in Electronic Music"
    • 44–51: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Actualia"
    • 52–54: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Studio Technique"
    • 55–61: Werner Meyer-Eppler, "Statistic and Psychologic Problems of Sound"
  • Vol. 2 "Anton Webern" (1958)
  • (Part 1) Biographical
    • vii: Igor Strawinsky, "Foreword"
    • 1–4: Friedrich Wildgans, "Biographical Table" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 5–6: "Index of Works"
    • 7–8: Hildegard Jone, "A Cantata" [tr. Eric Smith]
    • 8: Arnold Schoenberg, "Foreword to Webern's Six Bagatelles, Op. 6" [tr. Eric Smith]
    • 9–10: Anton Webern, "Homage to Arnold Schoenberg" [tr. Eric Smith]
    • 11: "Webern as a Conductor" [tr. Eric Smith]
    • 12: Ernst Krenek, "The Same Stone Which the Builders Refused Is Become the Headstone of the Corner" [tr. Eric Smith]
    • 13–21: Ernst Krenek, "From the Correspondence" [tr. Eric Smith]
    • 22: Ernst Krenek, "The UE Reader" [tr. Eric Smith]
    • 23–25: Anton Webern, "Choralis Constantinus" [tr. Leo Black]
  • (Part 2) Analytical
    • 29–36: Herbert Eimert, "A Change of Focus" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 37–39: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "For the 15th of September, 1955" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 40–41: Pierre Boulez, "The Threshold" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 42–45: Heinz-Klaus Metzger, "Webern and Schoenberg" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 46–50: Leopold Spinner, "Analysis of a Period" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 51–60: Henri Pousseur, "Anton Webern's Organic Chromaticism" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 61–63: Christian Wolff, "Movement"
    • 64–74: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Structure and Experiential Time" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 75–80: Heinz-Klaus Metzger, "Analysis of the Sacred Song, op. 15, no. 4" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 81–92: Armin Klammer, "Webern's Piano Variations, op. 27, 3rd Movement" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 93–99: Herbert Eimert, "Interval Proportions" [tr. Leo Black]
  • Vol. 3 "Musical Craftmanship" (1959)
    • 1–9: Herbert Eimert, "The Composer's Freedom of Choice" [tr. Leo Black]
    • 10–40: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "... How Time Passes ... " [tr. Cornelius Cardew]
    • 41–43: John Cage, "To Describe the Process of Composition used in Music for Piano 21–52"
    • 44–88: Henri Pousseur, "Outline of a Method" [tr. Leo Black]
  • Vol. 4 "Young Composers" (1960)
    • 1-4: Wolf-Eberhard Von Lewinski, "Young Composers"
    • 5-13: Udo Unger, "Luigi Nono"
    • 14-28: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Henri Pousseur"
    • 29-35: Rudolf Stephan, "Hans Werne Henze"
    • 36–62: György Ligeti, "Pierre Boulez. Decision and Automaticism in Structure 1a"
    • 63–80: Heinz-Klaus Metzger, "Just Who Is Growing Old?" [tr. Leo Black]
  • Vol. 5 "Reports—Analyses" (1961)
    • 3–20: Herbert Eimert, "Debussy's 'Jeux'"
    • 21-–29: Heinz-Klaus Metzger, "Abortive Concepts in the Theory and Criticism of Music"
    • 30–39: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Studium im Studio"
    • 40–55: Mauricio Kagel, "Tone, Clusters, Attacks, Transitions"
    • 56–58: Gyorgy Ligeti, "Some Remarks on Boulez' 3rd Piano Sonata"
    • Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Two Lectures":
      • 59–67: I "Electronic and Instrumental Music"
      • 67–82: II "Music in Space"
    • 83: Hans G. Helms, "John Cage's Lecture 'Indeterminacy'"
    • 84–120: John Cage, "Lecture"
  • Vol. 6 "Speech and Music" (1964)
    • 5–32: Hans Rudolf Zeller, "Mallarmé and Serialist Thought"
    • 33–39: Dieter Schnebel, "Brouillards. Tendencies in Debussy"
    • 40–64: Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Music and Speech"
    • 65–76: Nicolas Ruwet, "Contradictions within the Serial Language"
    • 77–93: Henri Pousseur, "Music, Form and Practice (An Attempt to Reconcile Some Contradictions)"
  • Vol. 7 "Form—Space" (1964)
    • 5–19: György Ligeti, "Metamorphoses of Musical Form"
    • 20–25: Ursula Burghardt-Kagel, "Amancio Williams' Space Theatre"
    • 26–31- Christian Wolff, "On Form"
    • 32–60: Mauricio Kagel, "Translation-Rotation"
    • 61–71: John Whitney, "Moving Pictures and Electronic Music"
    • 72–75: Rainer Fleischhauer, Jörn Janssen, "Project for 200,000 Inhabitants"
    • 76–85: Jörn Janssen, "Initial Project. Designed for Gottfried Michael Koenig"
  • Vol. 8 "Retrospective" (1968)
    • 5–6: Herbert Eimert, "Werner Meyer-Eppler"
    • 7–10: Werner Meyer-Eppler, "Musical Communication as a Problem of Information Theory"
    • 11–24: Helmut Kirchmeyer, "On the Historical Constitution of a Rationalistic Music"
    • 25–34: Walter Schulze-Andresen, "The Three-Dimensional Music Stave"
    • 35–67: Walter O'Connell, "Tone Spaces"
    • 68–79: Andriaan D. Fokker, "Wherefore, and Why?"
    • 80–98: Gottfried Michael Koenig, "Commentary"

[edit] Reception

Die Reihe excited considerable controversy, especially after the English editions began appearing in 1957. George Perle (1960) and John Backus (1962) wrote particularly scornful reviews (Grant 2001, 3, points out an example of willful misquotation in Backus's review), but even in his relatively factual report on the first volume, Arthur Jacobs (1959) could not resist making a weak joke with reference to the contentiousness surrounding the journal, in connection with a suggestion that the title should also have been translated: “if ‘The Row’ is open to mispronunciation, ‘the Series’ would have done.” Dika Newlin, reporting on volume five, concludes (apparently with reference to the item in it by John Cage) by saying “Many readers will be disquieted by the periodical’s continuing mixture of worthwhile investigation with pretentious phoniness.”

[edit] References

  • Backus, John. 1962. "Die Reihe—A Scientific Evaluation". Perspectives of New Music 1, no. 1:160–71.
  • E[vans], P[eter].A. 1962. "Die Reihe, No. 5: Reports Analyses", Music and Letters 43:144–46
  • Grant, M[orag]. J[osephine]. 2001. Serial Music, Serial Aesthetics: Compositional Theory in Post-war Europe. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Jacobs, Arthur. 1959. "'Die Reihe (English Edition): Electronic Music' Edited by Herbert Eimert and Karlheinz Stockhausen". Musical Times 100, no. 1391:19.
  • Newlin, Dika. 1962. "Die Reihe: A Periodical Devoted to Developments in Contemporary Music; Vol. 5: Reports, Analysis". Notes, new series, 19:618–19.
  • Perle, George. 1960. "Book Review: Die Reihe III: Musical Craftsmanship". Journal of Music Theory 4, no. 1 (April): 102–104.