An interpretive analysis of Egon Gabler’s Metamorphosen for trombone Egon Gabler’in Metamorphosen trombon eseri üzerine yorumlayıcı bir analiz
Online Journal of Music Sciences, cilt.11, sa.3, ss.1124-1134, 2026 (Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 11 Sayı: 3
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.31811/ojomus.1934941
- Dergi Adı: Online Journal of Music Sciences
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1124-1134
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Alman geç romantizmi, Egon Gabler, Egon Gabler, Kafkaesk yabancılaşma, Kafkaesque alienation, late German romanticism, Metamorfoz, Metamorphosen, trombon repertuvarı, trombone repertoire
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Egon Gabler’s (1876–1959) Metamorphosen (1954), which holds a distinguished place in the trombone repertoire, is generally classified in traditional trombone literature as a performance piece primarily focused on virtuosity and technical challenges. However, considering the historical reality that the composer personally witnessed the devastating effects of both World Wars and the jarring rise of modernity, it becomes evident that much deeper philosophical layers reside within the composition’s background. Moving beyond traditional approaches that define the work solely as a formal structure, this study aims to present a comprehensive musical hermeneutics within an interdisciplinary musicological framework. The primary theoretical contribution of the research lies in redefining the work as a socio-psychological text by establishing a structural and philosophical link between musical metamorphosis and Kafkaesque alienation. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study examines the 1954 modern edition published by Anton J. Benjamin (Simrock) through a dual plan consisting of structural mapping and interpretive evaluation processes. As a result of the analysis, it has been determined that the initial themes, representing an idealized state and social compliance, undergo a systematic process of fragmentation through intense chromaticism and rhythmic asymmetries in subsequent variations. This transformation is identified not merely as a technical variation but as an ontological metamorphosis symbolizing the individual’s rupture from society. Furthermore, the study reveals that the piano score abandons its traditional accompaniment role, drawing a silhouette of a normative “society” that alienates the metamorphosed subject through irreconcilable dissonant structures. This harmonic conflict between the soloist and the accompanist is interpreted as an auditory manifestation of the communicative rupture and collective rejection observed in Kafka’s works. In conclusion, by reading the tragic collapse in the final section through the lenses of Hepokoski’s “failed trajectory” and Adorno’s “disintegration of the subject”, this research positions the tonal sanctuary Gabler reaches not as a maestoso triumph but as a melancholic longing for the past, presenting the work as a musical manifesto of existential crisis. This approach provides a new theoretical ground for linking wind instrument literature with deep philosophical narratives, transcending the boundaries of technical performance.