Alban Berg (1885-1935), a student of Arnold Schoenberg and one of the
most prominent composers of the Second Viennese School, is counted among
the pioneers of twelve-tone serialism. His circle included not only the
musicians of the Wiener modern but also prominent literary and
artistic figures from Vienna's brilliant fin-de-siècle. In his short
lifetime he composed two ground-breaking operas, Wozzeck and Lulu,
as well as chamber works, songs, and symphonic compositions. His final
completed work, the deeply moving and elegiac Violin Concerto, is
performed by leading soloists across the world.
This new life-and-works study from authors Bryan R. Simms and Charlotte
Erwin delivers a fresh perspective formed from comprehensive study of
primary sources that reveal the forces that shaped Berg's personality,
career, and artistic outlook. One such force was Berg's wife, Helene
Nahowski Berg, and the book provides a unique assessment of her role in
the composer's life and work, as well as her later quest to shape his
artistic legacy in the forty-one years of her widowhood. The authors
present insightful analysis of all of Berg's major works, bringing into
play Berg's own analyses of the music, many of which have not been
considered in existing scholarship. Berg is an accessible and
all-encompassing resource for all readers who wish to learn about the
life and music of this composer, one of the great figures in modern
music.
