A piece of wisdom lent to me through several hands stated that there are two kinds of composers: wolves and moles. Wolves spend their careers roaming musical wilds, picking up techniques and passions when they find them. Moles see one point and burrow as far towards it as they can. After spending some years roaming the wilds of expressionism, Josef Matthias Hauer (1883-1959) plunged into moledom. His point was the zwölftonspiele, or twelve-tone games, and he wrote them exclusively after 1940, thousands of which only a small portion remain. While his technique is too complicated to explain here it is important to note that he developed his brand of dodecaphonic music at least a year or two before Schoenberg and found a totally unique method without receiving even a fraction of the same acclaim Schoenberg did. Rather than working with rows, Hauer focused on pairs of hexachords, resulting in brief, enchanting works for every instrumental combination imaginable. My favorite is (Christmas 1946), but this leaf for clarinet is quite charming.
"Playing" off a twelve-tone row by Ernst Hartmann (of whom I haven't the foggiest), there's really not much to say about the thing. It's just casually hanging out in the living room, mug of tea in one hand and a P.G. Wodehouse novel in the other. This recording says it better than myself, so why don't you just go outside and play with your new friend Joey.
(Click for larger view)
"Playing" off a twelve-tone row by Ernst Hartmann (of whom I haven't the foggiest), there's really not much to say about the thing. It's just casually hanging out in the living room, mug of tea in one hand and a P.G. Wodehouse novel in the other. This recording says it better than myself, so why don't you just go outside and play with your new friend Joey.
~PNK
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