DURATION: ca. 4 Min.
PUBLISHER:
Universal Edition
Belmont Music Publishers (USA, Canada, Mexico)
Schönberg composed this march during his second military term in Bruck an der Leitha for an evening celebrating one year of comradeship, probably as a musical cabaret interlude. At first glance, this work is simply a march in E-flat major with a trio in A-flat major, exhibiting the usual characteristics of march music such as dotted rhythms, tone repetitions, and trills. Additionally, however, the piece also exhibits aspects that are unusual for a march.
The most striking of these is a humorous insertion, the so-called “Tierkonzert” (animal concerto), which is found – though only in one source, namely in an addition to the piano part – at the end of the trio before its repetition. In the original version of the penultimate measure of the first ending, a tremolo chord of the strings in E major, an unusual harmonic turn is presented. In the piano part, this measure is extended by a drawn-out trumpet signal in the piano, during which the musicians are apparently supposed to imitate animal voices that are followed by snoring sounds. The notation gives few clues about how this passage is to be executed. At the comradeship evening, in which Schönberg also participated as a musician, there may have been a semi-staged realization. In any case, the trumpet signal that can be considered in imitation of taps, the curfew signal, is accompanied by animal voices that can be heard especially in the evening and followed by snoring noises that indicate that all are now asleep.
In addition to this unusual animal concerto, another striking feature of the composition is that only the trio has a march melody, albeit a very rousing one, and the simple and stable harmony normally characteristic of military music. The march itself is composed of phrases that remind of march music but are never formed into a single melody. Also, the relatively harsh harmonic transitions transmit what may be regarded an alienating character. The first part, for example, following a long passage dominated by F minor, ends in D major. Near the end of the second part, which sticks more stably to the home key of E-flat major, text fragments are added to some of the melodies. These seem to be quodlibet-like combined quotations, perhaps from popular march songs known by the soldiers, possibly also from songs that were already parodies of marches.
The occasion for its composition, the animal concert, the alienating character, the presumed song quotations, but also the bombastic title verify that this work is undoubtably a march parody. It is difficult, however, to assess how the parody should be understood. It is obvious that Schönberg intended to provide a harmless and cheerful contribution to the evening’s entertainment, but it is also clear that the work shows respect for the parodied genre, the military march.
(c) Arnold Schönberg Center
