Integration, Urbanity, and Multi-Dimensionality in Schoenberg’s First Quartet

Abstract

This article addresses the network of forms and genres at play in Schoenberg’s First Quartet, op. 7, proposing an conception of the work as a representation of urban life in fin-de-siècle Vienna. I offer a summary of the emotionally volatile program and prior analyses, highlighting the central points of contention between analysts. Most especially, these include the relationship between an overall sonata form and a set of intervening cyclic movements. I then problematize Steven Vande Moortele’s notion of “two-dimensional sonata form,” drawing from theoretical investigations into narrative levels and embedded forms in literary theory. The article culminates in a thoroughgoing analysis of the large-scale form of the Quartet, offering a novel reading of the work that situates the work within the complex web of interacting forms and genres. The Quartet begins as a large-scale sonata form which is interrupted by a juxtaposed cycle of interpolated movements. Upon the arrival of the rondo finale, the sonata is complete. I demonstrate that the rondo finale should be construed as a mirror to a large-scale overarching rondo that can explain the multiple dimensions of the entire work.