Berg, Alban
From Encyclopædia
Alban Berg, Arnold SCHOENBERG, and Anton von WEBERN constituted the so-called Second Viennese school (the first one being that of HAYDN, MOZART, and BEETHOVEN). These men worked together to create one of the 20th century's most far-reaching musical innovations, the method of composition known as the TWELVE-
tone SYSTEM. Linking the discoveries of Schoenberg to the techniques and forms of the past, Berg wrote
music of great power and emotional
appeal.Berg was born on Feb. 9, 1885, in Vienna. Before he was 15 years old, he had written many
songs and duets, becoming so engrossed in
music that he neglected his other studies and failed his high school examinations. He finally graduated in 1904, however, and from shortly thereafter until 1910 studied with Schoenberg. He wrote
songs, a
piano sonata, a string quartet, and clarinet pieces. But his famous masterpiece was yet to come--the
opera Wozzeck, which debuted in
Berlin on Dec. 14, 1925. Berg wrote the text of the
opera after a play by Georg BUCHNER about a true-life criminal
case; it is the sordid and tragic story of a poor soldier, Wozzeck, his girl friend Marie, their child, and a strutting drum-major who seduces Marie. Berg's friend Schoenberg did not think he should choose such a vulgar, ordinary theme for an
opera, but time has proved Berg right, for his powerful, emotional
drama was a worldwide success. Its first U.S. performance took place in 1931 in
Philadelphia, conducted by Leopold STOKOWSKI, and it debuted at the
Metropolitan Opera in 1959.Berg's second
opera, Lulu (text by the composer after plays by Frank WEDEKIND), fared less well, for the composer died (Dec. 24, 1935) before putting the finishing touches on the last act. The
opera nevertheless was often performed, although Berg's widow, disliking the work's radical sexuality, suppressed the third act. After her death, however, the manuscript was released. The American premiere took place in Santa Fe, N. Mex., on July 28, 1979. Berg's other important works include Three Orchestral Pieces (1914), Chamber Concerto for
piano, violin, and 13
wind instruments (1925),
lyric Suite for string quartet (1926), and a superb violin concerto, Berg's last completed composition.Dika NewlinBibliography: Berg, Alban, Letters to His Wife, trans. by Bernard Grun (1971); Carner, Mosco, Alban Berg: The Man and the Work, 2d rev. ed. (1983); Leibowitz, Rene, Schoenberg and His School, trans. by D.Newlin (1949; repr. 1975); Perle, George, The
operas of Alban Berg, 2 vols. (1980, 1984).
