Arnold Schoenberg's monodrama Erwartung was characterized on one hand, as the epitome of expressionism and, on the other, as a composition not definable by formal categories. This convergence of expression and denial of form, remarked by Carl Dahlhaus, is the starting point of this text, which purpose is to sustain more than a simple convergence, but a well-defined relationship between expression and denial of form and convention. This involves three moments: first, the development of Adorno's concept of musical fetishism; second, the approach to the relationship of expression and convention seen from the perspective of musical fetishism, which enables us to approximate some notions as the denial of convention, the Romantic denial of musical objectivism in favor of subjective expression, and the refusal of fetishized material; and finally, the approach to the Erwartung, showing that the problem of convention, objectivism and fetishism still remains in a piece which leads the radicalization of expression through denial of convention to the ultimate consequences.
Arnold Schoenberg; expressionism in music; musical form; musical fetishism
