Die Reihe

The journal, whose title means "The Row" or "The Series", owes its genesis to the founding of the Studio for Electronic Music of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) in Cologne (later WDR) under the influence of Werner Meyer-Eppler, and the realisation that technology was becoming an important element in the work of younger composers.[2] The contributions from composers working in the studio were frequently based on their projects there, and in the early stages of competing with the radio-play department for resources, Eimert found having such a journal useful. It helped to raise the studio's educational and academic profile above the entertainment aims of other departments of the radio station, as well as providing opportunities to young authors for publication.[3]

The subtitle of the original edition, "Information über serielle Musik" ("information on serial music") reflected the intent of the editors, but was changed for the English edition to "A Periodical Devoted to Developments in Contemporary Music", a phrase that did not effectively represent the journal's specific context and may have been one reason for an unfavourable reaction from American composers and critics.[4] There were just eight volumes published, each under a thematic title. Further issues had been planned, but publication was broken off when deteriorating relations between the two editors reached the point of open rupture. In 1958, a competing journal, the Darmstädter Beiträge zur Neuen Musik, was launched by Wolfgang Steinecke, director of the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. When Stockhausen agreed to let Steinecke co-publish an article that Eimert had expected exclusively for Die Reihe,[5] Eimert felt he was being disloyal. When other young composers began following Stockhausen's lead, and Stockhausen himself authorised a short version of another article originally published in Die Reihe,[6] it put increasing pressure on Eimert, who was threatened with a cut in funding by Alfred Schlee of Universal Edition.[7] On the other side, on 24 May 1961 Eimert published in the Kölnische Rundschau a glowing review of Hans Werner Henze's opera Elegy for Young Lovers. Since Henze's style was comparatively old-fashioned, Stockhausen regarded this as a betrayal of the principles of serial music underlying Die Reihe, and vehemently broke with Eimert over it.[8]

Differences between the German and English editions can be seen from a comparison of their respective tables of contents. Occasionally items were omitted or substituted, but more commonly these involve the order of the articles. In some cases, however, these resulted in a different tone or emphasis, contributing to the problematic reception of Die Reihe in America.[9] For example, the foreword to the first volume (1955) of the German edition declared it to be the mouthpiece for the younger generation, but this foreword was omitted in the 1957 English edition.[10] In addition, the quality of the translations vary considerably. The first volume of the English edition, in particular, "is often content to avoid, rather than understand, the more complex formulations and metaphors in the text".[9]

Die Reihe became the most important source of information about European serial and electronic music, thanks in part to the appearance of the English edition.[11]

Die Reihe excited considerable controversy, especially after the English editions began appearing in 1957. George Perle[12] and John Backus[13] wrote particularly scornful reviews (Grant points out an example of wilful misquotation in Backus's review,[14]) but even in his relatively factual report on the first volume, Arthur Jacobs could not resist making a joke with reference to the contentiousness surrounding the journal, in connection with a suggestion that the title should also have been translated: "if 'The Row' is open to mispronunciation, 'the Series' would have done".[15] Dika Newlin, reporting on volume five, concludes (apparently with reference to the item in it by John Cage) by saying "Many readers will be disquieted by the periodical's continuing mixture of worthwhile investigation with pretentious phoniness".[16] John Backus especially singled out articles by Eimert,[17] Stockhausen,[18][19] Henri Pousseur,[20] and Paul Gredinger 1955 in his review of the first four volumes, where he described the extensive use of scientific methodology as inaccurate and pseudo-scientific; the use of jargon disregarded the meanings of scientific terms and made the articles unintelligible; and all the contents lacked any reference to the results of other workers as support for their statements. Werner Meyer-Eppler's article in volume 1 is singled out as the sole exception: "an interesting account of some experimental results in psychoacoustics, [which] is adequately supplied with references, and is a model of lucidity".[21] Backus makes it clear that his concern is exclusively with the use or misuse of scientific terminology: "We shall not concern ourselves with their musical content".(Backus 1962)

One of the most severe critiques was published in the last issue of Die Reihe itself. This was by the Dutch physicist Adriaan Fokker, and was directed primarily at Stockhausen's article "... wie die Zeit vergeht ...".[22][19] A response defending Stockhausen was published by his colleague, the composer Gottfried Michael Koenig, in the same issue.[23]

Austrian composers Friedrich Cerha and Kurt Schwertsik founded the Ensemble die reihe, dedicated to the performance of Neue Musik, in 1958.[24] American experimental musician Jack Callahan named his recording project in 2014 after this magazine.[25]

Each of the eight issues of Die Reihe was dedicated to a different theme, announced in a subtitle.

• Issue 1
• Die Reihe: A Periodical Devoted to Developments in Contemporary Music at Google Books