Klangfarbenmelodie, Chromophony, and Timbral Function in Arnold Schoenberg’s “Farben”

Abstract

Arnold Schoenberg’s concept of Klangfarbenmelodie (melody of timbres) is one of the most important yet least understood compositional innovations of the twentieth century. By examining significant factors in Klangfarbenmelodie’s theoretical formulation, proposing functional roles that timbre can fulfill, and locating examples of timbre realizing those musical functions in “Farben,” the third of Schoenberg’s Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16, this article demonstrates some of the ways timbre can shape music and our musical experience. While musical logic based on timbre operates according to laws of its own, not those of pitch, parallels can nonetheless be drawn between harmonic functions and timbral functions. Timbral developments are shown to articulate the formal process in “Farben” and create coherent progressions, modulations, and cadences that illustrate some possibilities of how timbre can function in music.