The story of the survivor is recited by a narrator. The ensuing prayer (in Hebrew) is to be sung unisono by a male choir.
Comment on the part of the narrator
In "Pierrot lunaire" op.21 Schönberg first used a new treatment of the voice. The singing changes into a new form of vocal melody, still with a fixed pitch and rhythm.
In "A Survivor" the vocal part is written around a line with indications as to pitch and the use of accidentals so as to suggest subtle differentiation. The vocal part is close to rhythmic recital.
In a letter to René Leibowitz (dated 1948) Schönberg wrote: "The narrator's part must never be so musical as my other compositions. There must never be any singing, no real pitch must be recognizable. As I have said - never ever any singing. That is very important because singing creates motives ... motives produce obligations which I do not fulfill..."
Schönberg's circumstances in 1947
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