Webern: Symphony, Op. 21

Webern compresses symphonic development into two highly organized movements rather than using the expansive scale associated with Mahler or Bruckner. Performances commonly last only around 10 minutes, although the work still develops and transforms its material rigorously.

The first movement organizes its row as a double canon in contrary motion, with symmetrical and palindromic relationships shaping the music. The second movement treats the same tightly controlled material as a theme and variations.

Webern writes for a chamber-sized group of clarinet, bass clarinet, two horns, harp and strings without double basses. The sparse ensemble lets individual notes and shifting instrumental colors remain unusually exposed.

It is a concentrated example of the twelve-tone technique associated with Webern, Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg. A listener familiar with Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra may find Op. 21 more transparent, but its canons and silences reward close listening.