The Schönberg Analytical Legacy

Rudolph Reti and Thematic Transformation

Abstract

This article examines Rudolph Reti's “The Thematic Process in Music” (1951) as a central but controversial contribution to Schönberg's analytical legacy, in particular his emphasis on organic unity and thematic transformation in tonal music. The study traces Reti's reception in English-language research, from early admiration (e.g. Hans Keller) to later criticism (e.g. Leonard Meyer, Walter Frisch), revealing tensions between aesthetic organicism and analytical precision. By contextualizing Reti within broader debates about musical unity and the Goethean phenomenological tradition, the article illuminates his role in bridging European and Anglo-American analytical discourses, while questioning the enduring viability of his thematicist paradigm.