“NIGHT AND SILENCE – WHO IS HERE?”: THE IMPACT OF VOCAL VARIETY IN ARNOLD SCHOENBERG’S EARLY SPRECHSTIMMEN

In Harmonielehre, Arnold Schoenberg wrote repeatedly about his conception of sound as a means of direct expression. This dissertation examines Schoenberg’s use of Sprechstimme within the musicological field of vocality. It explores and traces Schoenberg’s early uses of vocal variety. It also shows the diverse timbral palette Sprechstimme encompasses. And finally, it identifies various structural, expressive, and dramatic functions of Sprechstimme in Gurre-Lieder and Pierrot lunaire. Research at Viennese archives and the study of sources and secondary literature related to Sprechstimme performance will show how Schoenberg revolutionized the expressive capacity of the voice.