This important new study reassesses the position of Anton Webern in
twentieth-century music. The twelve-note method of composition adopted
by Anton Webern had profound consequences for composers of the next
generation such as Stockhausen and Boulez, who saw Webern's music as
revolutionary. In her detailed analyses, however, Professor Bailey
demonstrates a fundamentally traditional aspect to Webern's creativity,
when describing his own music. Professor Bailey analyses all Webern's
twelve-note works (from Op. 17 to Op. 31) i.e. the instrumental and
vocal music written between 1924 and 1943. These analyses draw on sketch
material recently made available at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel
and include transcriptions of little-known drafts and sketches. A most
valuable aspect of the book is the inclusion in appendices of such
materials as a complete explanation of the row content of each work, the
correct prime form of each of the rows from Op. 20 onwards, with a
matrix constructed for each, and exhaustive row analyses.