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Structurally mediated magic

Cognitive scientific approaches to Helmut Lachenmann's
Pression and Allegro Sostenuto

Markus Neuwirth

Helmut Lachenmann, a pupil of Luigi Nono from 1958 to 1960, whose socially critical
attitude he is still associated with today, is without doubt one of the most important
composers of contemporary music. This judgment, which seems to be undisputed
in public perception in 2008, was by no means self-evident in the 1970s. Although
Lachenmann's qualities as a composer were widely recognized in professional
circles, for a long time he had the image of being merely a "composer for
composers" 1. This assessment could be surprising in view of the fact that
Lachenmann, who always sought to substantiate his compositional work with
extensive aesthetic and theoretical reflections2
"existential experience" when listening to music since the early 1960s

1 This was Wulf Konold's assessment of Lachenmann in his 1978 review of the music of the 1970s:
"For a long time, Lachenmann was a 'composer for composers', a musician whose works impressed
the experts with their logical consistency, persuasiveness and consistency, but were generally
unsuccessful with the public [...]." Konold sees the reason for this in Lachenmann's rejection of
"what is colloquially referred to as 'beautiful sound' and which can be related not only to tonal
harmony, but also to instrumentation and timbre in the conventional sense." (Konold, Die Musik der
70er Jahre, p. 13.) The problematic nature of the reception of Lachenmann's works by a wider
audience was demonstrated, for example, by the premiere of Accanto in 1976, which provoked
strong negative reactions from the audience and only gradually met with acceptance (cf. for example
Brunner, Krawall im Saal, p. 32f.).
2 On the theoretical compulsion to legitimize modern composers, see Gruhn, Einleitung, p. 9: "Hardly
ever before has the abundance of theoretical, compositional-aesthetic reflections on one's own
compositional position, on the intentions and functions of the compositionally formulated meaning
been so great, but hardly ever before have composers been exposed to a similar compulsion to justify
and legitimize themselves as today, where a general theory of the craft no longer forms the s e l f -
e v i d e n t prerequisite of one's own composing, but must be constantly redesigned and verified."
However, the pressure to legitimize is probably not only a result of the poetic component, but - in
connection with this - is also partially based on the difficult communication relationship between
new music and listeners.

73
as the core of his musical-aesthetic thinking and composing.3 Lachenmann
describes such an "existential experience" very vividly using the example of his 1st
string quartet Gran Torso (1971/72/76/88), in which he explains the phenomenon
of structurally mediated magic (or "broken magic") together with its cognitive and
physical-physiological implications:

There is an initially pressed tremolo, which is radically slowed down and irregularly rhythmized
and finally leads to an increasingly broad, toneless back and forth movement on the tailpiece.
This lowers the listener's blood pressure, so to speak, and creates a magically charged silence in
which the friction of the occasionally completely s t i l l bow is sometimes more sensed than
heard. This is what I call structurally mediated and t h e r e f o r e broken magic. You perceive
it and experience it as the result of a logical transformation process, that is, you sense - to use
Nono's words - "how the spirit rules everything".4

This article will first attempt to elaborate on Lachenmann's understanding of

(musical) listening and explain core concepts of his theoretical approach (such as
"structural sound", "polyphony of arrangements", "sampling process"). In a further
step, similarities between Lachenmann's and Ludwig Wittgenstein's concepts of
"family" as well as points of contact with current cognitive science theories on the
subject of categorization will be shown. In the analytical part, two compositions of
"musique concrète instrumentale", Pression and Allegro Sostenuto, will be analyzed
from the point of view of
"categorical transformation" is examined. Finally, there is a brief reflection on the
convergence of Lachenmann's concept of the family and psychological
categorization theories.

3 For example, Lachenmann's fundamental criticism of Darmstadt-style serialism, which he set out in
his 1976 essay Zum Problem des musikalisch Schönen heute (On the Problem of the Musically Beautiful
Today), was aimed at, among other t h i n g s , the neglect or suppression of crucial questions
concerning tonality, the expressive means associated with it and - ultimately - musical listening, the
a s s o c i a t e d expressive means and - ultimately - musical listening, even though Lachenmann,
on the other hand, decisively rejected the neo-romantic tendencies of the mid-1970s - reference
should be made here to the affinity of many younger composers of the time to Mahler and Hölderlin.
See Lachenmann, Zum Problem des musikalisch Schönen heute.
4 Lachenmann, Gebrochene Magie, p. 25; see also Lachenmann, Fragen - Antworten, p. 199.

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1. Key terms

Structural sound - sound structure, polyphony of arrangements, family

Lachenmann has not only made "existential experience", which is based on the
specific nature of musical structure, possible through his compositions, he has also
decisively enriched the discourse on music theory by developing a typology of
sound with the help of which these experiences can be described. At the center of
this typology is the concept of "structural sound", which Lachenmann
characterizes as follows:

This term structural sound [...] is based on the idea of sound, which - as a m u l t i -
d i m e n s i o n a l structure of arrangements - does not communicate itself quickly as a flat
acoustic stimulus, but rather only gradually reveals itself in a multi-layered, ambiguous scanning
process of the passing construction with its characteristically interrelated sound components.5

Lachenmann thus understands structure as a "multidimensional assemblage of

arrangements" - elsewhere he also speaks of structure as a "polyphony of
arrangements".6 To illustrate the unity of this structure, Lachenmann introduces the
category of the arpeggio: The musical work unfolds its own structural sound (and
its sound structure) as a kind of "giant arpeggio".7
According to which aspects are the sub-elements of the "multidimensional
structure" arranged? As an answer to this question, Lachenmann proposes the
concept of the "family" to specify his concept of structure as a "polyphony of
arrangements":

The concept of structure is based on the schematic idea of a characteristic assemblage, a kind of
polyphony of arrangements, an allocation of however to be characterized
"Families", whose individual family members, despite their different individuality, interact with
regard to their superordinate character as its components or variants.8

Using the concept of family, Lachenmann attempts to describe relationships

between musical events that are based on similarities in both their intrinsic qualities
and the energetic processes of their production. In order to gain an insight into the
specific structure of a composition

5 Lachenmann, Hören ist wehrlos - ohne Hören, p. 123.

6 Cf. Lachenmann, Conditions of the Material, p. 36.
7 Cf. Lachenmann, Hören ist wehrlos - ohne Hören, p. 123.
8 Lachenmann, Conditions of the Material, p. 36.

75
In order to be able to come to a conclusion, the number of "families" and the
respective family members must be taken into account as well as the distances
between them.9 In addition, families are characterized by the feature of mutual
inclusivity. This means that certain elements (in the sense of conjunctive classes) can
belong to different families.10 In principle, the property of inclusivity can even go so
far that one family contains another as a subset. Furthermore, a member of a family
can also function as a pars-pro-toto that represents ("introduces") an entire family
and thus allows a listener to infer the characteristics of the whole from a part. The
aspects of the family described above make it clear that this metaphor created by
Lachenmann has a rich descriptive potential for the closer definition of musical
relationships.

Structure and form

On the basis of the structural sound concept described above, La- chenmann
develops his understanding of musical form, which he understands as a
"characteristic projection of means in time "11 - as a giant arpeggio of sound
families:
"Sound and form are thus mediated in structural sound - as sound structure: the one
is determined by the other. "12
The indissoluble unity or the reciprocal constitutive relationship between musical
form and the properties of the material (the selected sounds) is realized in a special
way in Lachenmann's own compositions, which can be attributed to the aesthetic
practice of "musique concrète instrumentale".
In Lachenmann's instrumentally concrete compositional practice, which focuses
at least as much on the act of producing sounds as on their acoustic properties,
there is a specific relationship between form and material content that makes it
impossible to transcribe this music: while music of the 18th and 19th centuries, for
example, can in principle be transcribed without the structure being significantly
damaged, Lachenmann's compositions are essentially dependent on the properties
of the respective instruments.13 The instrument-specific possibilities of sound
production determine the formative processes that cannot be realized in this way on
any other instrument

9 Cf. ibid.
10 Cf. Lachenmann, Klang, Magie, Struktur [in the present volume], pp. 21-27.
11 Lachenmann, Über das Komponieren, p. 77: "Thus the original idea o f sound has finally become an
idea of form, but also vice versa: form as the idea of a characteristic projection of the means in time
proves itself, remains in the memory as a sound experience."
12 Ibid.
13 Cf. Jahn, Pression, pp. 41, 55.

76
could. To describe these processes, Lachenmann proposes the use of traditional
concepts of form formation:

[...] the categories of classical motif technique can be effortlessly transferred to the
compositional processes: analogy, contrast, extension, foreshortening, transposition, modula-
tion, transformation in all directions in an area that is not emphatically e l e v a t e d a priori, but
simply appears to be open to observation.14

Lachenmann's concept of listening

Based on a so-called "dialectical structuralism", which understands a conscious

evocation of conventional structures as a prerequisite for breaking them,
Lachenmann distinguishes between two modes of perception that are equally in a
dialectical relationship to each other: Listening towards and listening to.15 While
"listening" is directed towards the historically preformed and conventionally
shaped syn- tactic dimension of music, "listening towards" aims at its acoustic and
physical properties, at the "anatomy of the sounding event".16 In the former mode of
perception, the listener fully engages with the preformed and familiar structures,
resulting in a state of "magic". The second mode, "listening", is achieved by
creating irritation in the listener by "breaking" the convention - for example by
alienating or recontextualizing the partial moments. In this case, the listener
experiences a state of "broken magic" (see quote at the beginning).
The dialectic now consists in the fact that an understanding of how the
traditionally determined tonal language functions is a necessary prerequisite for
being able to grasp its refraction. The irritation caused by the refraction of
convention can lead listeners to "scan" the musical material (see below) in order to
recognize a new structural principle of order.
Lachenmann's aesthetic approach of "musique concrète instrumentale" aims not
only at the mechanical-energetic conditions of the sonic results, but also at a change in
listening. It sees itself as an "offer to the listener to listen "17, as opposed to simply
listening. However, this listening also contains a reflexive component, because the
deviation from convention (for example

14 Lachenmann, Questions - Answers, p. 197.

15 Cf. Lachenmann, Hören ist wehrlos - ohne Hören, p. 121. Lachenmann describes his understanding of
"dialectical listening practice" in detail in an interview with Heinz-Klaus Metzger. See Lachenmann,
Questions - Answers, p. 195ff.
16 Ibid, p. 196.
17 Lachenmann, Pression. See also Nonnenmann, Angebot durch Verweigerung, p. 12, which also refers
to the offer of a "new beauty".

77
of instrumental sound production) creates an expanded awareness in the listener.
This ultimately leads to a kind of meta-perception that is directed towards the
preconditions of one's own hearing.18
In a perceptive engagement with Lachenmann's compositions, listeners can
learn to reflect on the conditions of their own musical reception, become aware of
the limitations of their own hearing and, if necessary, achieve a change in
perception on this basis. However, listening, as Lachenmann understands it, also
has an essential cognitive component: "Listening here does not mean in any way:
agreeing and understanding, but rather: drawing conclusions, switching - thinking.
"19

Sampling processes

Both the listener and the performing musician can only access the work as a
structural sound or sound structure through a so-called "sampling process". The
"Scanning" the musical material, which is presented as a "polyphony of
arrangements", contains both a physical component (namely for the performing
musician) and a cognitive component (for the listener).20 The aim of "scanning" is the
"search for similarities" or for "superordinate aspects".21 Lachenmann takes an anti-
essentialist view: Elements do not necessarily have to have similarities in order to
be perceived as constitutive components of a whole. In the case of "musique
concrète instrumentale", the "scanning" of the material appears to be a
psychologically necessary measure on the part of the listener, whose function is to
attenuate the "cognitive dissonance "22 (Leon Festinger) created by the refraction
process in order to restore a state of mental equilibrium.

18 Using Heidegger's terminology, one could say that the originally "present" sound objects become
"present" for the listener. The idea that consciousness arises when the routine of a course of action is
interrupted can also be found in American pragmatism (for example in John Dewey, William James
and George H. Mead) and subsequently later in the field of music theory with Leonard B. Meyer in
Emotion and Meaning in Music (1956):
"Mental activity tends to become conscious when reflection and deliberation are involved in the
completion of the response pattern, that is, when automatic behavior is disturbed because a tendency
has been inhibited." (Meyer, Emotion and Meaning, p. 31.)
19 Lachenmann, Pression.
20 Cf. Mohammad, The Theory of Perception, p. 92.
21 Lachenmann, Questions - Answers, p. 198: "But where three or four fundamentally different events
are brought 'into a series', the perceiving mind gropes for the superordinate aspect that grasps them
together, and in this detour experiences the renewed musical effect of the individual moment."
22 See Festinger, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, p. 3.

78
2. Lachenmann's concept of family, Wittgenstein's "family resemblance"
and cognitive science categorization theories

As already explained, Lachenmann's concept of family serves to understand the

kinship of musical events, which, however, cannot necessarily be traced back to an
essence common to all members:

The term "family" [...] allowed [...] the gathering of seemingly incompatible sound moments and
objects under one roof to form a musical unit of meaning, i.e. a category of experience that
defines itself in this way; it allows the incommensurable to be projected onto a common
temporal plane.
After all, how can father, mother, son, daughter, maid, dog and cat be measured together in a
family other than by the fact that they live together under one roof and form a more or less
integrated hierarchy? 23

This definition contains striking similarities with Ludwig Wittgenstein's concept of

"family resemblance", which he characterizes as follows:

The view that it is the commonality of processes or objects that must justify their characterization
by a common conceptual word is in a certain sense too primitive. What the conceptual word does
indicate is a relationship between the objects, but this relationship need not be the commonality
of a property or a component. It may connect the members in a chain, so that one is related to
another by intermediate links; and two close members may have common traits, be similar to
each other, while more distant ones have nothing in common with each other and yet belong to
the same family.24

Wittgenstein uses the concept of family resemblance to illustrate his decidedly

anti-essentialist perspective. The plausibility of this idea is illustrated by the example
of "play". The attempt to name all the necessary and sufficient characteristics that
are common to all examples of the category for a definition of the term "game" fails
in view of the diversity of the cases usually subsumed under the term "game".25 But
then the question inevitably arises as to what constitutes the category of "game". As an
answer to this question, Wittgenstein introduced the concept of family resemblance,
which indicates that successive overlaps of features between exemplars are decisive:
Instead of naming a characteristic that is common to all games, a logical chain of
derivation suffices to

23 Lachenmann, On the Problem of Structuralism, p. 88.

24 Wittgenstein, Philosophical Grammar, p. 75.
25 Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, p. 277f.

79
In the case of Lachenmann's sampling processes, which are directed at the
multidimensional arrangements of sound families, the search for commonalities
(although not in the sense of an essence common to all specimens) and for
superordinate aspects is also important. Superordinate aspects combine elements
that do not necessarily have to have common characteristics into a whole, into so-
called ad-hoc categories.27
For the purpose of substantiating Lachenmann's concept of family and
categorical transformation (a process that allows one family to merge into another
or expands the categorical boundaries of a family), it seems appropriate at this
point to refer briefly to some cognitive science theories that also refer more or less
explicitly to Wittgenstein's concept of family resemblance. Since the 1970s,
cognitive science approaches to categorization have enjoyed a boom, particularly
in the field of cognitive linguistics. The transition from so-called "classical"
(Aristotelian) approaches, which were based on the assumption that the members of
a category necessarily share a set of defining characteristics, to probabilistic theories,
according to which the members of a category are linked to each other in a chain-
like manner through "family resemblance", has been decisive. In particular, the
experimental psychologist Eleanor Rosch was inspired by Wittgenstein's
philosophical approach.28 The core idea of Rosch's prototype approach is that
members of a class are compared in terms of their similarity - measured by the
number of common, relevant characteristics - with an abstract prototype that does
not occur in reality and are judged on this basis as a more or less typical
representative of a category.
Music theory has long been concerned with the central importance of similarity
for the understanding of musical form and musical context (e.g. in Schönberg's
concept of "developing variation" or in

26 However, Wittgenstein's approach faces a number of problems: 1. the approach cannot predict which
characteristics are relevant in order to be able to i d e n t i f y specimens as part of a family. 2.
similarities between members can only be p e r c e i v e d retrospectively, i.e. when a family has
already been formed. 3. similarities can be established between all possible entities, provided t h a t
the level at which the characteristics are considered is sufficiently abstract.
27 The term "ad-hoc category" originates from cognitive psychology. For example, all objects that are
to be taken on a journey form such a casuistically developed category, the elements of which do not
necessarily have to be linked by common characteristics. See Engelkamp / Zimmer, Textbook, p.
162.
28 Cf. e.g. Rosch / Mervis, Family resemblances.

80
authors following Schönberg, such as Rudolph Réti).29 However, it is only since
the late 1980s that music psychology has devoted itself to experimental research
into the mechanisms that are relevant to the process of categorization during real-
time music processing. One example of this is Irene Deliège's so-called cue
abstraction approach, which she developed in a series of studies and subjected to
empirical testing.30
Fundamental to Deliège's research is the assumption that the processing of
musical information begins with the segmentation of the acoustic surface.
Segmentation, also known as "chun- king" in the language of cognitive psychology, is
based on the principle of similarity or difference and involves all dimensions of the
sound object (pitch, duration, timbre, dynamics, etc.). The characteristics of the sound
object activate different processes of the cognitive system, which primarily uses
mechanisms that can be described by the so-called Gestalt laws of psychology to
process the stimuli presented.
According to Deliège, a mechanism for extracting "cues" is active during music
perception in real time. "Cues" are defined as salient (i.e. standing out from a given
context and therefore attracting the listener's attention), local features. "Cues" fulfill
a number of functions for musical perception: they serve as cognitive
representations of segments and thus - as pars pro toto or as synecdoche - relieve the
memory, facilitate the recognition, storage and comparison of these segments. In
addition, "cues" form the basis of the process of categorization (of motifs, for
example) during real-time listening. Finally, cues act as markers on a mental line
in a symbolic musical space. Deliège's experiments were able to show that the
perception of similarities between motifs can be traced back to common "cues" and
results in a "memory trace" ("imprint"). The concept of "imprint" corresponds
roughly to what Rosch would consider a prototype. With regard to the extraction of
"cues" according to similarity or difference, the importance of context must be
emphasized: Each musical composition establishes its own criteria of similarity.31

29 Particularly prominent are approaches that focus on the category of m o t i v i c context. For
example, in his analysis of the first movement of Mozart's "Dissonance Quartet" K. 465, Lawrence
Zbikowski showed that the representatives of a certain motif category with a higher degree of
typicality are placed at the beginning of the movement and thus f o r m reference points in relation
to which the listener can process and evaluate the less typical motif forms. See Zbikowski, Musical
Coherence, especially pp. 25-38.
30 Cf. e.g. Deliège, Prototype Effects.
31 Cf. Lamont / Dibben, Motivic Structure, p. 250.

81
With reference to Wittgenstein's concept of family resemblance, however, the
special significance that Deliège assigns to the principle of similarity can be called
into question. This is done, for example, in Adam Ockelford's so-called "zygonic
model", on the basis of which the author formulates a critique of Deliège's
approach, without explicitly referring to Wittgenstein.32 Ockelford emphasizes the role
that a successive, stringent derivation (such as the derivation of a motif from a
preceding one) plays in the categorization. Using musical examples such as the end
of the development section in the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C
minor (bars 195-227), where a five-note motif is successively reduced to a single
chord that has nothing in common with the original motif, but is nevertheless
understood as its substitute, Ockelford demonstrates that temporal contiguity and
associa- tivity have priority for categorization in psychological terms over the
principle of similarity. It should also be noted that similarity is not an objective
criterion, in the sense that it would be established independently of the context that
establishes a standard of comparison and the perspective on a thing. There is also
the question of how coarsely or finely an individual (empirical) listener categorizes
the similarity scale for themselves.
Like Ockelford, Lachenmann draws attention to the treatment of a theme in the
development section of sonata forms in connection with his explanation of the
concept of family:

In music, it can happen that such a hierarchy is e s t a b l i s h e d as a unit of meaning from the
outset, possibly confronted with other units of meaning, but also strained, even decomposed to
the point of dissolution - think of the so-called "liquidation" of a theme in the sonatas of classical
music.33

Given the similarities between Lachenmann's and Wittgenstein's concept of family

and the cognitive theories inspired by Wittgenstein's approach, the question now
arises as to how the concepts of family and categorical transformation can be made
fruitful for the description of the musical experience of Hel- mut Lachenmann's
music.

32 Cf. Ockelford, Similarity, Derivation, and the Cognition of Musical Structure and Implication and Expectation
in Music.
33 Lachenmann, On the Problem of Structuralism, p. 88.

82
3. Pression: Categorical transformation and metamorphosis

How does Lachenmann's "musique concrète instrumentale" thematize the dialectical

relationship between listening and hearing? What strategies does Lachenmann use
in his own compositions to suggest one of the two modes of perception to the
listener? What role does the process of "categorial transformation" play in this?
These questions will be addressed below using an example.
The composition Pression for a cellist, written in 1969/70, is seen by Helmut
Lachenmann as a paradigmatic "model "34 for the practice of "musique concrète
instrumentale "35 that he developed at the end of the 1960s. The instrumental
techniques used in Pression run counter to the expectations of a conventional
treatment of the cello and consequently lead to sound alienation.36 The principle of
the procedure behind the alienating treatment of the instrument can be
characterized as metaphorical: The cello is partly treated in a way as if it were another
(e.g. a percussive) instrument. However, the resulting alienations are not an end in
themselves, but serve as a means of creating irritation in the listener and drawing
their attention to the act of producing sounds, to the energies and resistances
associated with it. 37 The musical sounds are thus not understood as partial moments
of a superordinate syntax that could be grasped through the mode of listening.
Instead, the sounds take on the character of signs: they become so-called "indexical
signs" in the sense of semiotics, which - in contrast to signs whose code is
conventionally regulated - refer to the instrumental act of sound production as their
"natural" cause. 38 Lachenmann's compositions in general and Pression in particular

34 Lachenmann, Pression.
35 This practice can be found in a narrower sense in Lachenmann's works between 1968 and 1975, see
Hilberg, Dialektisches Komponieren, p. 178f.
36 The same applies to Lachenmann's Dal niente (Intérieur III) for clarinet from 1970.
37 This is where Rainer Nonnenmann's criticism of Lachenmann's Guero comes in, in which - as a
"study on the use of alienation" (Lachenmann) - the instrumental and thus tonal alienation techniques
do not function as a means of raising awareness of the mechanical and energetic conditions of sound
production, but are an "end in themselves". Cf. Nonnenmann, The Unknown Known.
38 Cf. Linke / Nussbaumer / Portmann, Studienbuch Linguistik, pp. 19-21.
"describe" and "signalize" (see Lachenmann, Pression). According to the aesthetics of the neo-
Kantian Roger Scruton, it would be precisely this emphasis on the relationship between sound effect
and its cause that would deprive Lachenmann's music of its genuine musical character (cf. e.g.
Scruton, The Aesthetics of Music, p. 16). A critique of Scruton's view can be found in Hamilton,
Music and the aural arts, p. 59: "Scruton's claim is based on what I term an acousmatic characterization of
music,

83
but also prevent a mode of listening that Heidegger calls "abstract listening":

We never hear [...] in the appearance of things initially and actually a rush o f sensations, e.g.
sounds and noises, but we hear the storm whistling in the chimney, we hear the three-engine
airplane, we hear the Mercedes in direct contrast to the Adler car. The things themselves are
much closer to us than any sensations. We hear the door banging in the house and never hear
acoustic sensations or even mere noises. In order to hear a pure sound, we have to listen away
from the things, remove our ear from them, i.e. listen abstractly.39

As a rule, you can hear the sounds in Lachenmann's music "with what energies and
against what resistance "40 they were created. This means that there is usually a
balanced relationship, in line with expectations, between the effort involved in the
act of sound production and the sonic result (for example in terms of volume).
However, the relationship between the act of sound production and the sonic
result can also be so "unbalanced" and thus contrary to expectations that the listener
reacts with laughter. Hans-Peter Jahn, for example, reports on performances of
Pression: "What makes the audience laugh from time to time are the activities of the
left and right hand without audible equivalence. But it also laughs at its own
disappointed listening expectations. "41 The extra-opus knowledge of a physically
plausible relationship between action and sound, acquired through familiarity with
other compositions for stringed instruments, is a necessary prerequisite for building
up these listening expectations. In this context, the visual dimension is of particular
importance, although this is not the case with sound recordings: the aesthetic
appeal resulting, for example, from the discrepancy between maximum effort and a
barely audible sound result42 is only accessible to a listener who can also perceive the
performance scenario visually.

according to which music is constituted by the listener's experience or response to sounds, as ab-
stracted from their worldly cause. [...] Scruton's emphasis on the exploitation of the acousmatic ex-
perience of sound is highly suggestive; however [...] it is strictly incorrect. There is, I believe, a two-
foldness to musical experience that is both literal and metaphorical, non-acousmatic and acousmatic.
[...] Thus listening to music involves experience in terms of causes of sounds, and experience which
abstracts from those causes."
39 Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art, p. 18.
40 Lachenmann, Pression.
41 Jahn, Pression, p. 60.
42 "A barely audible sound result announces, as it were, a maximum effort." (Lachenmann, Pression.)
Cf. also Kaltenecker, Subtraction and Incarnation [in the present volume, pp. 101-126].

84
Another compositional technique relevant to the reception of Pression conveys to
the listener that the conventional dichotomy between "noise" and "sound" is not
dialectically cemented, but rather overcome, as it were, and bridged by numerous
shades of gray. In this music there is always only a "more or less" of "sound" or
"noise". The conventional cello sound appears in Pression as just one of a multitude of
instrumental and tonal possibilities. However, Lachenmann's composition also aims
to heighten the listener's awareness of the extent to which "natural" noise
components (e.g. when breathing) must be suppressed or attenuated in the
production of conventional "tones" in order to do justice to the aesthetic ideal of a
melodious sound. A conventional tone already contains noise components, which
should, however, generally be as inaudible as possible.43 In addition, the
conventional cello tone (and the associated action) undergoes a special staging in
Pression and is perceived by a listener "with new ears" due to the novel
contextualization of this traditional relic.44 The process of "categorial
transformation" serves as a means of "illuminating" a certain aspect of a sound in
Wittgenstein's sense45 (such as the noisiness or the tonality of an acoustic concept).
How this procedure is used in detail in Pression will now be examined in more detail.
First, a brief overview of Hans-Peter Jahn's analysis of pression is given before
outlining his own analysis. According to Jahn, the total of 35 instrumental sound
production techniques can be divided into four "fields of action": on the one hand the
actions of the left hand, which take place on the strings and on the corpus, and on
the other hand the actions of the right hand, which are performed either with or
without a bow. In addition, Jahn notes a correspondence between the four fields of
action on the one hand and four basic tonal qualities (continuities, repetitions,
combinations, accents/point segments) on the other. This also results in the large-
scale formal division into four sections.46 In the first part - in the sense of an
exposition - the main actions ("continuity of actions of the left and right hand and
eruptive, accentuated actions") are presented.

43 This also gives Pression a socio-critical dimension, which is known to be typical of Lachenmann's
work. Cf. on this rather critically: Domann, "Wo bleibt das Negative?".
44 This corresponds to Lachenmann's view of composing as "bringing into context" (instead of "putting
together", as the literal translation of the Latin com-ponere would s u g g e s t ). See Lachenmann,
Vier Grundbestimmungen, p. 54.
45 On the concept of the "illumination of an aspect", see Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, p. 520.
46 In addition to the instrumental aspects, caesuras ("pause fermatas") also play an important role in the
formal structure. See Jahn, Pression, p. 46.

85
as a disruption of this continuum "47 ), which then form the starting point for
processing and variation in the two following parts, while the fourth part - in the
sense of a coda - summarizes the actions in compressed form (cf. Fig. 1).48
Jahn shows that the sound qualities inevitably result from a successive change
in playing style ("continuous gradient"):

The respective compositional material is subject to a permanent process of transformation. The

gradient of the respective sound variants is continuous, i.e. metamorphic processes gradually
change one tonal manifestation into a new one. The respective material always expands in two
directions: For example, the sound produced by a g l i s s a n d i n g movement of the fingers
on the strings transforms its sound ductus into a scraping quality by slowing down the
movement. The decelerated glissando m o v e m e n t along the top of the body or the bow
stick, on the other hand, produces a delicate noise (zing).49

What is identical in both examples is the action ("glissando movement"), what is

different is the place on the instrument where this action is to be performed ("on the
strings" or "along the top of the body or the bow stick"). For this reason, it is not clear
what it means that "the respective material always expands in two directions". If one
understands "material" as a unity of action and tonal result, the statement would only
make sense if Jahn's examples involved one and the same action (which also means:
at the same place), the deceleration or acceleration of which systematically changes
the sound quality, for example. Jahn continues:

The process running in one direction can be transformed into a new type of sound production
when extremely accelerated: e.g. into a saltando or a tremolo movement; the process running in
t h e other direction can tip over into a creaking, punctual event when extremely slowed down,
i.e. condensed. These two new qualities now once a g a i n become the new starting point for a
formal-motivic idea, and immediately. This principle has consequences for the overall form of a
work in such a way that within larger sections the individual nature of a sound quality must first
spread out before it can be continuously displaced by the addition of new sound qualities or
broken off by a dynamically exploding sound event.50

Jahn sees the concept of an associative form realized in Pression. Each form segment
exploits the potential of a sound property. Although Jahn calls this "musi-

47 Ibid, p. 44.
48 Ibid, p. 46.
49 Ibid, p. 55.
50 Ibid, p. 55f.

86
Timing Shape Shaped section themat. Instrumental realization
(quarter) part Relatio
nships
1.-58. (58) I A (1st theme group) a 1. arco/sul pont +
1/1/1-2/4/5 glissando/swipe movement
2. Thumbnail in bow hair + finger on bow
stick
59.-71. (13) B (2nd theme group) b 1. Bow bowed vertically to the string
2/4/6-3/1/9
72.-86. (15 + C ("Pression") Pression 1. "Pression" + pizzicati behind the bridge
60 sec.) 2. "Pression"
3/2/1-3/3/4
87.-99. (13) D (1st subject group varies) a 1. Combination: arco on bridge wall +
3/3/5-3/4/8 wiping movement + pizzicato behind the
bridge
100.-133. (34) II A (2nd theme group varies) b 1. Col legno saltando + Col legno-
4/1/1-4/4/9 circular movement
134.-164. (31) B (1st subject group varies) a 1. Scraping with bow / hand on corpus
5/1/1-5/3/9 2. arco on tailpiece + scraping with
hand on strings
165.-176. (12) III A (1st subject group varies) a 1. arco behind the bar +wiping movements
5/3/10-5/4/9
177.-251. (75) B (2nd subject group varies) b 1. "Morse code" on all strings
6/1/1-6/4/19 2. "Morse" on C-string only
252.-267. (16 + C (sound) Sound 1st empty C-string (As1) / D-string (des)
10 sec.) + des fingered on G-string: double stop /
7/1/1-7/1/18 "tone"
268.-280. (13) D (2nd subject group varies) b 1. "Morse code" as in section B
7/2/1-7/3/1
281.-324. (44) IV A (1st subject group varies, ab 1. col legno saltando + Glissando
7/3/2-8/2/6 with 2nd subject group 2. Flageolet / col legno battuto +
combined) wiping movements
325.-348. (24) B (1st theme group varied, ac 1. Wiping movements
8/2/7-8/3/15 combined with new thematic 2. Col legno saltando + pizzicato +
material) damping with col legno + col legno-
glissando (vertical)
3. Pizzicato in the pegbox
4. Wiping movements + Bartók pizzicato +
col legno salt / transition to col legno
glissando (vertical)

Figure 1: Lachenmann, Pression, analysis by Hans-Peter Jahn (after Jahn, Pression, pp. 42-47, 49, 52)

After he has convincingly worked out the "logic of form" for each individual
formal segment, he concludes with a skeptical assessment of the large-scale formal
stringency in Pression:

This compositional principle of being related as a part to other parts in a network of

relationships, of representing, as it were, part of a permanent gradient of a compositional idea,
can be transferred to all sections. In this respect, each of the first three parts also always represents
the exposition of the other part, and it could be conceivable that in Pression, too, these parts are
interchangeable in their sequence without damaging the compositional logic.51

51 Ibid, p. 54, emphasis M.N.

87
What, we might ask, would be the "compositional logic" of the version in the score if
the order and thus the context of the first three parts could be changed? Jahn's
pessimistic statement with regard to the formal coherence of Pression seems to be
based on the fact that the formal organization he undertakes is primarily oriented
towards the criterion of similarity or difference in playing techniques, thereby tending
to neglect the tonal qualities based on the playing techniques for the form. The
principle described by Jahn of the successive transition from one playing technique to
another by means of changing the playing speed often leads to a qualitative leap in the
resulting sound quality. However, the sound qualities and the order in which they are
presented have direct cognitive relevance for understanding the course of the form,
because certain sound qualities function for a time as a standard against which new
information is measured and categorized. Some selected passages from Pression will
be described below from a listener-oriented perspective in order to demonstrate the
fundamental importance of the development of sound qualities over time for the
perception of form. The aim of this analysis is to understand the process of
categorical transformation as it takes place in Pression and thus to provide evidence
against Jahn's hypothesis of the interchangeability of the form parts. (The reference
to the musical events is made by indicating the page, the system and the count in
crotchets from the beginning of each system: e.g. for the first
Pulse 1/2/5.)
The beginning of Pression (fig. 2), which conveys an increasingly polyphonic
impression, progresses from one to five "voices". (The instruction "distinto
possibile" [1/2/1] indicates that conveying the impression of polyphony is part of
the compositional calculation). The piece begins with a continuous, pressed sound
(first string), which forms the background against which an equally continuous,
undulating glissando movement52 of the hand on the fingerboard ("quasi flageolet")
begins. The differentiation of auditory input into foreground and background is one
of the basic principles of gestalt psychology.
Shortly afterwards, this relationship is transformed and there is a foreground-
background shift: the pressed sound stops after the second string has also been
included in the undulating glissando movement. The pressed sound stops after the
second string has also been included in the undulating glissando movement, whereby
this now takes on the function of the new background, against which the short
pulses ("rubbed with thumbnail") and the "toneless" sounds (on the first string) - this
time no longer continuous, but of a maximum duration of a quarter note - appear.
Until the isolated impulses (1/2/5) are used

52 The "phase durations" of the wave movement vary.

88
the entire event is only just above the threshold of audibility. The listener is
therefore extremely tense, his perceptual apparatus highly sensitized. As a result, the
impulses come as a slight shock, especially as they are not prepared by anything
and their timing is unpredictable due to their irregularity.

Figure 2: Lachenmann, Pression, 1/1/1-1/3/9.

The section titled "Pression" by Jahn (3/2/1-3/3/9, fig. 3), which realizes the sound
of the work's title, contains the center of the entire composition, which, according to
the score, should last at least 60 seconds (3/3/4). In order to understand the effect of
this section, it is necessary to understand the specific way in which Pression is
staged, which is based on the process of fragmentation (reduction or shortening of
units). A group of six pulses of different durations, which ends with a pizzicato
(3/2/1-3/2/4), is reduced after a pause to a group of three elements.

89
The pizzicato is shortened (3/2/8, the pizzicato is now in the middle of the group)
and finally (again after a pause) reduced to a single pulse (sforzando) (3/2/11).53 A
listener who has recognized the regular alternation of pulse group and pause as a
pattern and projects its continuation into the future will be surprised by the
following event: a continuous sound is heard, played with the "most intense
pressure" (in triple forte), whose "sound color" or tonal value is determined by the
successive transition from the first to the second group.
IV. string altered (3/3/4). Even the end of this passage cannot be anticipated by the
listener in any way. All the more surprising is the sudden strike on the fingerboard
(3/3/5), which signals the beginning of a new formal unit and at the same time
corresponds with the impulses that introduced the pressing passage.

Figure 3: Lachenmann, Pression, 3/2/1-3/3/9.

The section just described is to be compared in its staging with the second center of
the composition, in which the conventional cello tone (omitted at the beginning of
the piece) is gradually brought to tonal development (fig. 4). In section III B (from
6/1/1), distinct pitches (D flat, G, F, A flat1, the notes of the empty strings with
altered scordatura) are heard for the first time, which develop against the
"background" of a continuous sound produced by the bow.

53 This describes a process of categorical transformation, as Lachenmann has shown for Webern's Opus
10 No. 4, see Lachenmann, Hören ist wehrlos - ohne Hören, pp. 121-123.

90
stand out. However, the pitches appear in the form of impulses (with noise
components) - a characteristic that they have in common with the sound events
from the immediately preceding sections II B and III A, despite the differences in
the tonal result. According to the instructions in the musical text, "these tones [...]
are produced by momentarily releasing the left thumb from the string in question",
against which the spread thumb should first be pressed from below - "close to the
bow".54

Figure 4: Lachenmann, Pression, 7/1/1-7/1/18.

Towards the end of section III B (6/4/4), the two-part texture is increased to three
parts.55 The new section III C (with the continuous tone of ab 7/1/4) is then heard,
reduced in its number of parts (and complexity). This tone undergoes a successive
change: from "dal niente, am Steg" to a "gradually normal full tone", which is
transformed by "gradually shifting the fingering slightly to III [the third string]" and
finally changes back into noise. This also corresponds to an analogous
(coordinated) dynamic process from ppp to fortissimo and a softening (via piano)
to the original state (ppp), which introduces the following section. This continuous
transformation process (noise-sound-noise) can be directly perceived and
experienced by the listener.56
If one were to follow Jahn's thesis of the interchangeability of the form parts, the
composition could also begin with the third large section (cf. fig. 1). In this way,
however, the compositional idea that the tonality (beginning with III B, which
prepares III C) only develops gradually from the pressed sound and is not already
given at the beginning could not have been realized. For

54 Note in the score, p. 7.

55 This section has in common with the beginning of the piece that there is an increase in the number of
layers (in this case from one "tuning" to three "tunings").
56 Even after the conventional cello sound (des) h a s b e e n transformed back into pressed noise, a
distinct pitch (f) remains for a short period of time. The s u b s e q u e n t section (from 7/3/2) is
initiated with a new playing technique ("sharp jerk" that causes the bow to jump) in t h e same way
as section I D, which follows on from the pressed section.

91
Listeners who "scan" the tonal information for common and superordinate aspects
focus on the experience of categorical transformation, which takes place in real
time: they experience the transition between different impulse forms (impulses
generated by wiping the strings with the palm of the hand, into impulses that appear
in the form of pressed noises at different pitches - Jahn speaks of "Morse code") up
to the freely vibrating tone.
Although the conventionally produced tone no longer has anything in common
with the initial impulses, it is connected to them by the mediating link of the
pressed noises, with which it shares a distinct pitch. Thus, the conventional cello
tone does not merely appear arbitrarily alongside other sound and noise variants,
but is experienced as an exterritorial moment due to the compositional staging. The
recontextualization of a relic of traditional tonal language "illuminates" the aspect of
"free swinging" in Wittgenstein's sense. However, the aforementioned characteristic
of "free swinging", which can also be experienced on a physical level, only acquires
its specific quality in opposition to the characteristic of the "pressed", which was
presented in the previous section. These considerations make it clear how
Lachenmann deliberately utilizes the cognitive mechanisms of "sensing" in order to
create a stringent and by no means merely contingent formal process.

4. Allegro Sostenuto: Gestalt principles as a means of categorical transformation

Allegro Sostenuto will be examined as a second case study of Lachenmann's method of

categorical transformation. Allegro Sostenuto (1986/88) is a composition for
clarinet/bass clarinet, violoncello and piano and thus belongs to the clarinet trio
genre.57 The performance duration of the composition is usually just over half an
hour. Lachenmann subsequently divided the entire work into 14 sections, most of
which were also given characteristic titles that refer to tempo and expression
types.58 In Allegro Sostenuto, Lachenmann draws on instrumental sound production
techniques that he had already tried out in solo compositions for the instruments
involved at the end of the 1960s - for the cello in Pression, for the clarinet in Dal
niente, for the piano in Echo Andante and in Guero. Nevertheless, in the estimation of
Eduard Brunner, who took over the clarinet part for the premiere in 1989, the work is
still a success,

57 Siegfried Mauser has already d r a w n attention to the genre references and the implications of the
title, see Mauser, "Coincidentia oppositorum"?, pp. 137-140.
58 Cf. ibid. p. 140.

92
"the [technical] innovations in Allegro sostenuto [...] mainly the piano".59 The inside
of the piano is played with a plastic hammer, plectrum, sticks and fingernail. In
addition, a sostenuto pedal is required in order to realize the "artificial" prolongation
of sounds by means of resonance indicated in the title of the work.60
Although Allegro Sostenuto is still committed to the aesthetic approach of "musique
concrète instrumentale", Lachenmann also uses the instruments in a conventional
way. As in most of his works since the 1980s, he increasingly works with "distinct
pitches". In doing so, he repeatedly resorts to a "tonal gesture" in the broadest sense
(not in the affirmative sense of a tonal context, however, but as reminiscences of
sounds, cadences, motifs, rhythms from tonal music), which was largely avoided in
the pieces of the 1970s. The "tonal gesture" is also expressed in the subtitles and
performance characterizations ("quasi waltz", "alla marcia", "quasi misterioso",
"calmo quasi solemn", "quasi gigue").61 In this context, the frequent use of the word
"quasi" (e.g. "quasi toneless", "quasi solemn", "quasi gigue") already points to the
"tonal" characterization.quasi toneless", "quasi overtone shadow", "quasi
liberamente", "quasi disappearing") already points to the alienated realization of the
types of expression and tempo charged with historical connotations.62
The material that Lachenmann uses can be divided into four basic elements:
Sustained tones, repetition tones, arpeggios and single tone impulses. In
Lachenmann's own description of Allegro Sostenuto, the term arpeggio (cf. 1.) is
"strained" beyond the usual usage:

[...] here the musical material [is] determined by the mediation between the experience of
"resonance" (tenuto variants between secco sound and natural or artificial laisser-vibrer) on the
one hand and "movement" on the other. Both aspects of sound meet in the idea of structure as a
frequently ambivalent "arpeggio", i.e. as a successively experienced process of construction and
reconstruction, which is communicated both in a very short space of time, as a figurative gesture,
and as a projection over larger areas.63

The "correspondences between the playing techniques of the individual

instruments "64 and the resulting tonal material of the basic elements enable the

59 Brunner, Krawall im Saal, p. 33, supplement M.N.

60 These techniques were already developed in Ausklang für Klavier und Orchester (1984/85).
61 On the general meaning of dance types in Lachenmann's work, see Mauser, "Coincidentia oppositorum"?
The indication "Quasi Waltz" appears twice in Allegro Sostenuto (mm. 119-126 and mm. 410- 465).
62 On the question of Lachenmann's relationship to tradition and convention, see Schweitzer, "Ströme
durch die Konvention jagen", pp. 153-159.
63 Lachenmann, Allegro Sostenuto.
64 Chambers, Lachenmann's Allegro sostenuto, p. 99.

93
Formation of families. The process of categorial transformation now aims to pass
the respective elements from instrument to instrument - in the sense of the
overlapping characteristics implied in the concept of "family resemblance" - in a
chain-like manner, thereby successively transforming them. Using examples from
the first section of Allegro Sostenuto (mm. 1-67), which, according to the musical
text
"strictly in rhythm", the various techniques that Lachenmann uses to combine
heterogeneous material into a family and in this way to break down pre-existing
categories can be illustrated.
The first two bars integrate punctual segments in the piano (each followed by
accents or repetition tones in the other two instruments) into a superordinate,
descending movement (cf. fig. 5). The beginning has a high density of events and
information, which is considerably reduced from bar 3 onwards: For nine bars, the
A flat2 (from bar 3 in the clarinet) forms an irregularly rhythmized and dynamized

sustained note, which functions as a tonal background (invariant) against which

abrupt accents performed by the cello or piano repeatedly appear. The sustained
note, which emerges from the chordal impulse of the piano (bar 3) (see below,
"Verdeckung"), is adapted to the initial impulses in bars 1-2 through pulsation
(beginning with the sf accent in bar 5 and accompanied by abrupt entries in the
other two voices) in the sense of a categorical transformation of the sound
qualities.
At the same time, the sustained tone serves as a kind of anchor, establishing a
pitch standard for a certain section of time, to which the rest of the action is
centrally oriented. The as2 appears in bar 6 (cello/piano) and again in bar 11 (as as2
and its enharmonic variant g sharp2 or g sharp3 in the piano or cello). This structural
regularity allows a listener to induce the rule that the pitches in the subsequent course
of the composition will also be based on the standard of a sustained tone.
In addition to these processes related to the sustained tone, linear processes also
take place: for example, the e-flat3 in bar 7 (in the upper voice of the piano) initiates a
chromatically ascending movement (e-flat3-e3-f3-f-sharp2), the last element of which (which
sounds almost inaudibly an octave lower) is already anticipated in the cello a bar
earlier. Despite their dynamic diversity (pp, mf, f, pp) and different temporal
distances, the individual elements are related to each other due to their proximity in
the tonal space (gestalt principle of proximity) and their embedding in a unified,
upward movement (gestalt principle of "good continuation").
However, this linear movement is also related to the sustained note as2. The view
of the following bars 9-10 as an interpolation, which interrupts the ascending motion
(e-flat3-e3-f3-f-sharp2-g-sharp2/as2), is based on the dominance of the perception that the
ascending motion in the sense of the shape principle of the
"good continuation" is primary. At the moment when the sustained note as is
passed (bar 11: b2 in the cello; bar 12: b4 in the piano), a new phase begins, which is
determined by a new sustained note: The clarinet establishes the high note of3, the

94
is in fourth relation to the previous sustained note as2 (which continues to resonate
in the pedal of the clarinet). For a brief moment (bars 12-13), the cello produces a
semitone friction to the standard in the clarinet (d flat3-d3), then r e t u r n s to d flat3 and
finally replaces the clarinet as the carrier of the dominant sustaining tone.

Figure 5: Lachenmann, Allegro Sostenuto, bars 1-15.

95
tone. The resulting effect is that the cello emerges imperceptibly from the clarinet
and thus appears as its variant. An analogous passage is found shortly afterwards in
bar 22 (fig. 6).65 The process of successive replacement of sustained notes is
fundamental to this first section. The clarinet e n t e r s again in bar 16 with the original
high note of3 (fig. 6). In bar 18, a new sustained note (f2) is established in the
clarinet, which temporarily becomes the central note when the3 fades away in the
cello (bar 20), until it in turn is replaced by the lower secondary note e2 (cello, bars
22-24).
A similar method frequently used by Lachenmann is that of "concealment":
sounds that were initially not perceived and were concealed by another instrument
gradually enter the listener's consciousness. This technique is also used to relate
sounds that do not necessarily have anything in common to each other. An example
of this can already be observed in bar 3: The A flat 2 in the clarinet in the quadruple
piano comes from the triple forte of the chord pulse in the piano.
But sounds not only make each other appear phenomenally after initial
concealment; they also put an end to each other by means of the technique of
"percussive erasure "66 . This method of perception is based on a "metaphorical"
conception: due to the temporal contingency of events (the abrupt accent of one
instrument and the immediate disappearance of another) and the systematic nature
of the behavior (the impulse is always followed - simultaneously as a reaction - by
the departure of a previously active voice), a kind of causal connection is inferred.
The sound elements are categorized as cause and effect according to the scheme of
causality. The auditory impression that sounds or instruments react to each other -
like actors in the real world, as it were - can only be conveyed by the specific nature
of the musical structure. The impression of causality is, in David Hume's sense, a
matter of perceptive thinking, which, due to the spatio-temporal proximity and
systematic relationship of events, falls back on the interpretative framework of
cause and effect.
In bar 14, a (this time descending) chromatic movement is again initiated. The
cello's half step d3 - d sharp3 (bar 13) is continued in the piano: c3 (bar 14) - b2
(anticipated in the clarinet part; the chromaticism is thus interrupted, analogous to
the ascending whole tone step f sharp2 - g sharp2 from bar 8 to 11 in the piano) - a2.
Despite the differences in dynamics and the timing of the entries

65 An example of a large-scale sustained note replacement can be observed in bars 31-34: The note d1,
initially presented in single-note pulses, subsequently condenses into a continuous sequence of
repeated notes in all three voices.
66 Chambers, Lachenmann's Allegro sostenuto, p. 105.

96
The notes c3-b2-a2 (bars 14-15) are perceived as members of a descending movement
and thus as belonging together.

Figure 6: Lachenmann, Allegro Sostenuto, bars 16-26.

The grouping of heterogeneous elements by virtue of embedding them in a

superordinate movement can also take place on the rhythmic level in addition to the
diastematic level (proximity in the tonal space). An example of this would be bar 35,
where the rhythmic continuity of the triplet movement unites heterogeneous figures
in the piano and cello into a single figure. 67 Here the gestalt principle of "good
continuation" dominates over the principle of similarity of timbre.
Lachenmann's compositional strategies can thus be described as a deliberate play
with Gestalt principles, which serve to transform pre-existent

67 See also bars 30, 40, 42 and 56. Lachenmann makes it clear that this principle i s part of the
compositional calculation by indicating the "resulting rhythm" in the musical text (p. 7, bars 64-65).

97
categories.68 Lachenmann himself refers to the importance of the "common
destiny", also known as the Gestalt principle, with regard to the togetherness of the
"family members":

There is little that can be quantified, but all the more important is what takes place between
them: the common fate, which has an indirect effect in completely d i f f e r e n t , hardly
comparable individual fates of the individual family members.69

5. Summary and outlook

In this article, an attempt has been made to show striking similarities between
Lachenmann's concept of the family, Wittgenstein's "family resemblance" and
cognitive categorization theories. However, it must remain open whether
Lachenmann consciously drew on Wittgenstein's concept of family or whether it is
a coincidental correspondence, especially since there is no reference to
Wittgenstein in Lachenmann's own writings, at least in this specific context.
Based on the similarities between the aforementioned "family" concepts
described above, we will argue that they can be made fruitful for each other: On the
one hand, Lachenmann's metaphor of the "family" can benefit from a cognitive-
scientific and thus also from an experimental-empirical foundation. On the other
hand, from the perspective of cognitive categorization approaches, it also seems
worthwhile to consider Lachenmann's music as a kind of case study in order to
observe the process of categorial transformation, which aims to expand categorial
boundaries, in practice.
Two examples were used to illustrate the potential of cognitively oriented
approaches for understanding categorical transformation - a process that is of
essential importance for the development of a cognitive approach.

68 Cf. Lange, Musikpsychologische Forschung, p. 84: "Especially since the 20th century, Gestalt laws
have been used in compositional and musical terms. For example, the similarity of sounds from
different instruments or 'extra-musical' sound generators plays a role in many of Helmut
Lachenmann's compositions. In Kontrakadenz, a relationship is established between guero, harp,
piano and a ping-pong ball by running a tuning key along the strings of the harp or over the pegs of
the piano, and an accelerando of this movement is similar to the sound of a ping-pong ball falling
onto a wooden board and bouncing until it comes to rest." Cf. also Kaltenecker, Subtraction and
Incarnation [in this volume]. Lachenmann's intuitive knowledge of the functioning of Gestalt
principles is also evident in his own analysis of Allegro Sostenuto, cf: Ein Instrument bau- en, e.g. pp.
117-120.
69 Lachenmann, On the Problem of Structuralism, p. 88.

98
This is illustrated by the importance of categorization for Lachenmann's conception
of music as an "existential experience". The development of a comprehensive
theory of musical analysis (especially in dealing with contemporary music) based
on cognitive-scientific approaches to categorization must be reserved for future
work. In view of the importance of the concept of recontextualization as a means
of irritation and mental adaptation in Lachenmann's musical-aesthetic thinking and
his compositional practice, it seems particularly profitable to develop a theory of
musical context based on cognitive science, in which contexts are formed by
mentally active categories.

Literature

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Chambers, Charles Philipp: Lachenmann's Allegro sostenuto. A comparative interpretative analysis, in: Musik &
Ästhetik 8 (1998), pp. 97-107.
Deliège, Irene: Prototype Effects in Music Listening: An Empirical Approach to the Notion of Imprint, in: Music
Perception 18 (2001), pp. 371-407.
Domann, Andreas: "Where is the negative?". On the musical aesthetics of Helmut Lachenmann, Nicolaus A. Huber
and Mathias Spahlinger, in: Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 62 (2005), pp. 177-191.
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