Formal tension in Energetics and beyond

The article examines different uses and meanings of such concepts as “force”, “energy” and “tension” within the music-theoretical framework of Energetics (1910-1935). It firstly compares the energetic vocabulary of three main authors – Heinrich Schenker, August Halm and Ernst Kurth – so as to test possible applications even beyond tonal harmony. In this respect, Kurth’s definition and discussion of “formal tension” is striking insofar as it mainly involves so-called “secondary” parameters (register, dynamics, instrumental density, timbre), thus overshadowing the role of melodic construction and harmonic processes – even though tonal harmony is always present in the musical works analysed by Kurth (particularly Bruckner’s symphonies). The article also retraces the use of energetic concepts both among Kurth’s followers such as Hans Mersmann and Kurt Westphal, and in authors of different German-speaking music-theoretical traditions (Hugo Leichtentritt, Arnold Schoenberg, Erwin Ratz and Theodor W. Adorno) insofar as they are influenced by Energetics. These concepts emerge in relation to tonal music, with particular emphasis on late-romantic and early-modern symphonic works by Bruckner and Mahler.