C0 II h• II ( S

First published as Quasi unafantasia by Suhrkamp Verlag 1963 Musi< atHII.anguagc: i\ haglll!'lll
This translation first published by Verso 1992
© Suhrkamp Verlag 1963
l'ranslation © Rodrwy Livingstone 1992 P<trt I Improvisations
All rights reserved 1\.lotils 'I
Verso <:ornmodity Music Analysed .,.
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l 'K: li 1\l<'.lld Stn·<·t. I .ondon WI V :liiR FanLtsia sopra Carmn1 '>I
l 1
\.\ ~"I Wnt :V•th Street. New York, NY 10001-2291
The Natural History of the Tltcatr<' ,,,,
\<'I"'" the 1111prin1 of New Left Books
1.\1\ N ll ll()()' II :lli0-·0 Part II Evocations
1\r·itish Liln·ary Cataloguing in Publication Data Mahler ·'-' I
\ 1 ·' 1. d1 'f~ Ill' 1'·1 111 d I 111 1his hook is available from the British Library Zemlinsky Ill
l.ihnrry of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schreker 110
\ 1 .11. tl<>f~ Ill' 1 '., "1 d I' 11 1his hook is a vai Iable from the Library of Congress Stravinsky: A Dialectical Portrait I I'•
I'vpcsct by I'ype Study, Scarborough
1'11111ed i11 (;real Britain by Rookcraft (Bath) Ltd
Part III Finale
Berg's Discoveries in Compositional Tcchlliqtt<' I 'i' I
Vienna ~·II I
,,,,r
Sacred Fragment: Schoenberg's Moses 1111.tl :1 m11 ... )

Music and New Music ~· I' I

Vers une musique informelle ~~I ''I

Index .,.,.}
,J._ i
 Music and Languag.-: A Fr·agmt·nl

l\111.~i' n·.~l'tllhll'.~
;1 Ltngnagl'. Fxpt I'S.~ion~ s111 It .1~ lllli'lt .d 1d1"'''
ttllt~u.tl inlottalion, ;tre not si111plv llii'Ltphot s. B111 tttlt~l• 1•. ""'
tdl'nlll ;tl with Ltngu;q.!,c. The n'SI'IIlhLIIHI' potnh '" "'"wll1111~'.
,-~~~·nti;tl, Inti vague. Anyone who L1k1·s it Iill'! ;tllv 1\'dliH· ..,,.,,, ofl·.h
llll~ll'd.

1\ltL~i' n·sembks language in tlw sense tlt.tl 11 ~~ .t '''"'I"''·"

"''I'"'IHT of articulated sounds which an· tnon·tlt.tlt I'"'"'"'"''·
llwv s;ty something, often something lttttll;ttl. llw lwll•·t ll11
ttllt~ic, the 111ore forcefully they say it. 'I'IH· -~'" '' ·sst• '" '.t """" 1.. "
ltl,,·logic: it Glll be right or wrong. But wh;tt 11.1~ lwl'n ~-"'I, .II lit• •I
lw dl'tachcd from the music. Music crl';tt<·s no .~l'llli''''' ~,~,,.11,
I hi' resemblance to language extends fto111 thl' wlt,J.. ""' ~
till' organized linking of significant soun1b, right dtll\11 I•• lit•
~111glc sound, the note as the threshold of IIH'll'~l I"''"'"',. 1111
p11r1' vehicle of expression. The analogy gon '"'' """ tit•
o1 ganit.cd connection of sounds and extends tlt;tll'lt.tlh I•, 1111
~~ ntct ures. The traditional theory of form em ploy~ ~"' It If'' 1"'• .t ·.
~~·ntcnce, phrase, segment, ways of punctuating 'I'~~''''""
,.,, lamation and parenthesis. Subordinate phrasl'-.. .11 ,. "''''I"'
1ous, voices rise and fall, and all these terms of 1111 " " .tl ~~n1111,
·"'~'derived from speech. When Beethoven calls fo1 , '"'', .t ''''
bagatelles in Opus 33 to be played 'parlando' l11 · o11l v 111.tl·, .,
I' X plicit something that is a universal characterisl i, of 1111 "''

It is customary to distinguish between language .11111 til list• I,,

;tssciting that concepts are foreign to music. But tllllst• """"

1
 Quasi una Fantasia \/11\/1 t/1/1// t/1/)'1/r/''1

contain things that come very close to the 'primitive concepts' 110>1 .d>•.collltc· 1\C' .II< 11<>1 to>lllt<>lltc.l i>l II\<> 1\ltcoll\ 'dl>.ll.ll<

found in epistemology. It makes use of recurring ciphers. These II .tfllt'• llwtc i' ,I clt.tfn II< .11 1\1>1 I, .\111'-11 t·, IWIIIIC",Ill'cltlll<>ll)',lt

were established by tonality. If tonality does not quite generate .Ill I I till' >11)-',it 1\ tilt 11111'1111< llt.till I I Ill·.' lo ,..., "'>I I'"' cl.tlc' I I' >Ill til<
concepts, it may at least be said to create lexical items. Among ·,{,/, llljljllt'\1'1//1//it'll, 111111 ft cfc·('f<>\l'lftflc l.lli<>ll.tfi!.IIIC>II c>f 11111'.11

these we may start by singling out those chords which constantly llt.lllt'llo>tll<><''l"'"llh~llllll.llll\ l<>l.llt~~ll-1)~1'. ,'\111~1< IH'tc·fto>f .til
reappear with an identical function, well-established sequences lltll'llll< ott.dll 1, tlw II WI .. 1, ('I Wilt >IIH'ii,tl lt11kt11g • ,f ~· >IIIII 1~. "''"''I
such as cadential progressions, and in many cases even stock 1,. · ' " · " ' " " ' " jl.ii.dldtc>tlwk.dl't<l<l~<<ljii'.()IIIIH·cltlwt lt.tll<l .. t·.
melodic figures which are associated with the harmony. Such .tf,.,,,jllll' lltl<'llllllti.dlt\ 11 \\'llttld ',.,,~,- 111 lw 11111~11 .lite! 1\<>lllcl

universal ciphers were always capable of entering into a particu- <lin I .1 l.tl~c· ll.tll~fllltll.l(l<lll IIIIo l.111glt.l).!,l'. llllt'llll<>li' .II<

lar context. They provided space for musical specificity just as « ·111 I , d I o IIIII ~II , l1111 II II f\ till t 'I 111111 I' Ill h ,'\Iii~ II ('"till~ I" I II II
concepts do for a particular reality, and at the same time, as with 1.1111',11.1)!,1' Ill t fw ~l'll~t· t ft.tl I 1111(('111 I~ .tpp;ll ('ill Ill II. f.111 II cf, >1 '• '•' >

language, their abstractness was redeemed by the context in .11 tlw 'c •~I of tllt.tltlhtgllllll~ IIH',IIIIII)!,. \\ lt11 It lt.1~ llltgt.tlt'< I I• • 1l11
which they were located. The only difference is that the identity i.>ll)',ll.lgt·~ 11l illlt'lll IOII.dtl \ .\11d .I~ lltt111gft 1\Jtt~ll. I ft.tl lllll',l

of these musical concepts lay in their own nature and not in a ,-1, "1"''111 cd .til l.tii)!,ll.tg•·~. IH'('(II'd 'on..,oltltg lot tlw • 111\t col

signified outside them. .llttill\!,1111\ ihllilllllt :i'-ojH'tl,llllt'lllloll'-o.ll<'p<lilil'llllll<>ll ·1 ,,.,1.

Their unchanging identity has become sedimented like a !10 >1\ II c 011~1.11111\ tiidl< ,111''-o 11ft.tl II IIW.III'-o .1111! cft-11'11111111'~ II l\111

second nature. This is why consciousness finds it so hard to bid 11'. lltlt'llli<lll'-o .tl~11 ll'lll:till lt~tld•·ll. It 1'-o 11111 lot !lot l1111~~ llt.tl h..tl k.1.

Luewdl to tonality. But the new music rises up in rebellion ltLc· 1111 \\1111'1 hdot ('111111, '-oltottld lt.t\1' .t~~l).!,ill'd .1 pl.tc ,. c d ""'">Ill

:tgainst the illusion implicit in such a second nature. It dismisses I<> 11111'-oll Ill .I lllllltiH'I ol IIWIIIIILihl<· lt':O..h II·· 111',111'11 lilt

:ts HHThanical t hcse congealed formulae and their function. llll'.litlllg~ of ~p11k1'11. int•·nltoti.tll.lltgtt.tg•· ,,.., I IIIII'\ 11 t'l c·1l11 ,.,,. • >I
llowevet, it does not dissociate itself entirely from the analogy 11111'-ot< .jLII.thl .. ..,lnllkc·noll illtiiHI pl11.t~•·. llll"'''llll.t'-ol.,~ll,ltph
with language, but only from its reified version which degrades 11 11!1 llw '11t11~i, ,d' l.tii).!,ILtg•· • .I .'-iwntlnntw c >1 Rtlkc·. 11 tilt 1lw11

the pat t icular into a token, into the superannuated signifier of llllll.iliOII 11l lllll~ll.tf t'lll't l'-o .111d tlw11 ll'IIIOit'llt'~'-o ltlllll IIIII

fossilized subjective meanings. Subjectivism and reification go IIIII '-oii .tli11. I o lw 11111~i• .tlnw;ltt~ to t'IWI g111' 1111 lflll'lll 11111'111 "Ill',
together in the sphere of music as elsewhere. But their cor- I<> lt.lllll'~"· 11111 IIHIIIIgl' tiii'IIL llti.., h lto11 11111"1' 1,. • """ ·,
relation does not define music's similarity to language once and ·.1111<11111'
for all. In our day the relationship between music and language 1111.., P"llth lo tlwqlll'~llllll 11lt1tlt'l ptl'l.tiiOII 1111< '1""1.111<>111',
has become critical. • ·-, ~· · 1111. tl I • • h11 tit 11111'-o 11 :t 111 I Lilt g 11.1 g I', l1111 111 • I tl 1.. 1 c ·Ill 11 . 11 ·• I ••
The language of music is quite different from the language of 11111'1 pt t'l 1.111)-!,ILI).!,l' 1111'.111'-o: Ill 111111('1 ~l.lttd l.lll).~ll.lg•· I" II II< 'I"' I
intentionality. It contains a theological dimension. What it has 11111~1• 1111'.111'-o: lo llt.tkl' 11111'-oll. :\l11~11 .tltltlt'l fl11'l.lllllll "1w1l<>1111
to say is simultaneously revealed and concealed. Its Idea is the 'II I' ' ' ' \\ It II It ' .I.., .., \ Ill I I('..,,..,' I ( '1.1111 ~ II I(' . , 111111.11 II \ I " 1.11 I ~!,I I. I ~:' \\ 1111'
divine Name which has been given shape. It is demythologized .. ldllt·t.tllltg 1.,,.,, "I"'("" , .. ~,-~~tid."",._ 1111..," 11111 tl11 '"' ·' .. 1
prayer, rid of efficacious magic. It is the human attempt, 11111'1 fll t'l.tlloll 1'-o IIIII .Ill ,1( < ldl'tll.tl .tlllthllll' <d 11111\1< 1>111 .111

doomed as ever, to name the Name, not to communicate llllt')~t.d p-111 ol II I 0 pl.t\ IIIII '-oii "Ill('( I" 1111'.111', Ill •,1 .1111 I
meamngs. '""'"""'' '" ~jH'.tk ih l.ltlgtt.tg(' jliCliH'I" 1111~' .til ... lilt 111111.111<>11
Music aspires to he a language without intention. But the <>I ll.,.·fl, IICll .1 cf1'11fll11'1111).!, pt<H I'" ,\111'-oll Cllll\ cft~c l<>o,c·~ ll·,c·ll ill
dcm;11·ca t io 11 I inc bet ween it se II :111d t he Ia 11 gu a g<" o I i11 tent ions is IIIIIIWII< pt.11 lie c·, lillie It .tdlltilll'llh 111.1\ l.tkt· pl.11 ,. ""''IIIII 1111111

')
 ( I fill\ I II fl r I J r Iliff/', If/
irn.rgrrl.lll<>ll.<lll.lll.llr.rl<l)~\
\\1111 -,ricrrt 1<'.1.1111)~. 1111<'1<'1 1 wid-, 1<1,1
scrutiny whi< h wo1dd IIIIer I''"' 11 tr1d<"jl<"lldo·111h ol llrllrlrllt'lll. II
we were to search lor ;r <ornp;rr ;1hl<' ;t< I 111 tlw Lirrgrr.lg<'' ol
intention, it would have to bet he act ol tr;r liS< rihirrg ;1 tI' X I, Ll t her
than decoding its meaning.
In contrast to philosophy and the sciences, which impart
knowledge, the elements of art which come together for the
purpose of knowledge never culminate in a decision. But is music
really a non-decisive language? Of its various intentions one of
the most urgent seems to be the assertion 'This is how it is', the
decisive, even the magisterial confirmation of something that has
not been explicitly stated. In the supreme moments of great
music, and they are often the most violent moments - one
instance is the beginning of the recapitulation in the first
movement of the Ninth Symphony - this intention becomes
eloquently unambiguous by virtue of the sheer power of its
context. Its echo can be heard, in a parodied form, in trivial
pieces of music. Musical form, the totality in which a musical
context acquires authenticity, cannot really be separated from
the attempt to graft the gesture of decision on to the non-decisive
medium. On occasion this succeeds so well that the art stands on
the brink of yielding to assault from the dominating impulse of
logic.
This means that the distinction between music and language
cannot be established simply by examining their particular
features. It only works by considering them as totalities. Or
rather, by looking at their direction, their 'tendency', in the sense
of the 'telos' of music. Intentional language wants to mediate the
absolute, and the absolute escapes language for every specific
intention, leaves each one behind because each is limited. Music
finds the absolute immediately, but at the moment of discovery it
becomes obscured, just as too powerful a light dazzles the eyes,
preventing them from seeing things which are perfectly visible.
Music shows a further resemblance to language in the fact that,
as a medium facing shipwreck, it is sent like intentional language
on an odyssey of unending mediation in order to bring the
impossible back home. But its form of mediation and the
4 5
\ lu '"I t1 U1l I "11, • 11r11 ·,
Ill<'< ILl! I< Ill,,( 1111< IIII<IILril.lll)',ll.l)',< IIIIi< .I< I .If I <II <ill If', I< I <lri(< I< Ill
l.1\\'• 11111 111.1 '>\'>1<'111 .. 1 11111111.rlh do I" 111lo 111 111<'.111111)','>. l1111 1,,
1lw11 l•·lll.rl.rll'><•l!'ll<•ll 1111•1 .1 "''''Ill,,( 11111'1<1111111'1 '"'"'• 11111, l1
, .111 .rl•>rw l•·<i•TIII rlw 1111'.111111~',' 11 11\l'lll<k'> 111 <'.I< l1 111d11 1dll.d
111'>1.111< (' \\rill 11111'>11 11111'1111<111'> .lll'l>!ldd'll ·""' ".111<'1<'<1 ••Ill ·"
1lwrr 111111 l1111o· .111d ll',l'>'><"lllhl ... l 111 rlw ll>lllli~lll.lllllll "' ill<
:\.1111<'
l11 o11lo·1 to dl'>li11g111'>h lllll'>i< l1otr1 tlw 111<'11' '"" ,.,.,11111 "'
'''"'"""' '1111111lrll ILl.'> lH'<'trii'IIIH'd .1 '>lilt< lllll'd '" llll'.llllll~',l1rl
1111.dlt\. IIW'><'I<'IIII.'> 111,1\' lw .1<' <'jll.lhl<" 111 ,1'> """ h ·" 1111rl1111)', 111
IIIII'> II '>l.lrrd., .tlorH'. F\TI\'t hirrg lw< otrl<''> wh.rl 11 "111 111<'1111 111 .1111 I
111 ,.,Ill'< l.tll<lltthrorrgh its phY,io.tl oorrtrgrrrtv \\'ltl1 II'. IH'If',lrlu•lll
.111<!11'. lllt'IILtl <OIIII<Ttiorr with wh;rt 1.' dl'.l.llll 11<1111 II l\111 Ill<
l11t.tlrt1 '' dill<'n·nt lrorn thl' toLIIitv ol trw.111111f~ • 1<".11< d l11
llllo·rrrr•HLtl Lrrrgrng<'. lndl'ed it rLtli;,., i1"·ll 111 l'l'l"'"ll••rr I••
1111<'11tio11s, int<'gr;rting thcrn hv tlw P''" <''>'> ,,( 11q~.1llll)', ··.1• l1
rrt<li1 idrr;tl, tUISJHTilr;rhle Oil<'. Mrrsi< ;rs .r \\hole 1111 olp<~t.ll<''•
llll<'lllrorrs rrot by diluting thc111 irrto ;r .,trlll11glwr. Ill< >I<' .rl"ll.l< 1
llll<'llt iorr, hut by settirrg out to pn" Lri111 tlw 110 >II 1111<'1111< olw• I .11
1lw rnornl'lll when all intentions !Oil\'!'lg<· .111<l .II(' l11'><·•l I••
g•·ther. 'Jhus music is almost the oppo>.ltl' <d .r IIILIIIIII~',Irrl
tot.rlity. even when it seems to create OIH' 111 tollll.l'>l I•• 11w1•
"·11" 11ot t s exist cnce. This is tire soti!Tl' o ltlw 1<'Ill pt. rt1c ll 1 11 I"' ·I., 1• •
.1 h.,t.ri n !rom all rneaning from a scns<' ol its ow11 1" >WI ·1 . 1•• ·" 1. 111
,hort, as il it were the direct expression olth<' N.urH·.
I kinrich Schenker has cut the Cordi;tll k11ot i11 llw ·"" 11111
co11 t roversy and declared his opposition to both 1 . , 1" 1 ' " " <· .rr" I
lornr;rl aesthetics. Instead he endorsed the <oil< cpt ol 11111'>1< .rl
ocnrtent. In this respect he was not unlike Schot'lllwrg. ''"'''"
.t<hicvcment he failed to his shame to n·<ogllil<'. 1''1"'.'"1''
.w~t lwtics focuses on polyvalent, elusive individ11.rl 1111•·1111• 111··
.r11d confuses these with the intentionless colll<'lll ol tlw 1o1.rl11 1
\\'agner's theory misses the mark because it <or1< ('1\ n • d 1lr•
<ontent of music as the expression of the tot;rlitv ol 1111~'>1< .rl
r11onrent.s extended into infinity, whereas the statenH'III 111.1.!1' I''
tire whole is qualitatively different from that ol th<' 11" !11 1d 11.rl
intention. A consistent aesthetics of expressio11 ''""' "I' 1.,
 ( lu11 \I till II I r111 II/', II/

'>II< c lllttllltl~~ lc • til<' lc'lllj •1.11 1< 111 I< • 1 .. 1 .i.1c c I ltc c ,1 'I' c I 11 c· 1c·.tl11 1 1111 i1 P A I{ T I
ILIII"ilnl\ .tlld .ICh .. llllltcll!'> IIIC',IIIIII~~" IIIC' ''1'1""'"1)~ 111<''>1'>, 111.11
of music as n·sclltlldillg, .lltiiii.IIC'd lot ttl, C'llcl-. "I' 1\ tl It c'tlljll v
stirnu li or wi I h I he rncn· Lu 1 of org;nt itC'd so11 11d d <'\ oid o I •.,.,'I\
connection between the aesthetic fonn and that nothtt·sthctic lmpr·ovisafions
other which turns it into aesthetic form. I 1s sim pie-minded and
therefore ever-popular critique of intentional language is paid
for by the sacrifice of art.
Music is more than intentionality, but the opposite is no less
true: there is no music which is wholly devoid of expressive
elements. In music even non-expressiveness becomes ex-
pression. 'Resounding' and 'animated' are more or less the same
thing in music and the concept of'form' explains nothing of what
lies beneath the surface, but merely pushes the question back a
stage to what is represented in the 'resounding', 'animated'
totality, in short to what goes beyond form. Form can only be the
form of a content. The specific necessity, the immanent logic,
evaporates: it becomes a mere game in which everything could
literally be something else. In reality, however, musical content is
I he profusion of things which obey the rules of musical grammar
and syntax. Every musical phenomenon points to something
beyond itself by reminding us of something, contrasting itself
with something or arousing our expectations.· I'he summation of
such a transcendence of particulars constitutes the 'content'; it is
what happens in music. But if musical structure or form is to be
more than a set of didactic systems, it does notjust embrace the
content from outside; it is the thought process by which content is
defined. Music becomes meaningful the more perfectly it defines
itself in this sense - and not because its particular elements
express something symbolically. It is by distancing itself from
language that its resemblance to language finds its fulfilment.

( 1956)