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Detailed analysis of Berg's first opera.
The author has written perhaps the definitiveanalysis of Berg's Wozzeck. Mandatory backgound reading for true students of Berg's idoms. ... Read more

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The 12 new essays in this volume explore the relationship between text and music in Alban Berg's works. The book examines the biographical issues that made such expressive choices attractive to the composer, and explores ways in which works not involving explicit verbal texts create signification, allusion, and reference. ... Read more

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In-depth study of Alban Berg's Music
This book is the most valuable study of Alban Berg's music available in English language.Each chapter in this book is written by an eminent scholar/musicologist from Austria, Canada or US.The book is the most in-depth study of this underrated member of the second Viennese School. The four parts of this volume address four aspects relating to the abilityof Berg's music to speak without words.The essays in part 1 deal withbiographical issues that may have made such expressive choices particularlyattractive to the composer.Part 2 explores various ways in whichcompositions not involving explicit verbal texts create signification,allusion, and reference, both to persons of importance in the composer'slife and to literary works.Part 3 is dedicated to Berg's song cycles, andPart 4 examines Berg's operas. Many musical examples accompany the writtentext, and informative annotations conclude each chapter.The book isuseful both to professionals and average listeners who want to betterunderstand the beautiful music of this composer.There are two othersimilar studies of 20th century composers that can compare to this volumeand they are Olivier Messiaen by Samuel and Henri Dutilleux by CarolinePotter. ... Read more

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In the fall of 1976, 14 letters by Alban Berg, renowned composer of the Second Viennese School, were discovered in the posthumous papers of Hanna Fuchs-Robettin, wife of a Prague industrialist and sister of Franz Werfel, the well-known Austro-Czech writer. In the 1920s Berg gained international notoriety with his opera Wozzeck and the Lyric Suite, which was largely inspired by his relationship with Fuchs.

The secret letters were delivered to Hanna surreptitiously by Theodor Adorno and Alma Mahler Werfel. They were brought to New York by Hanna on her flight from Nazi persecution, and were eventually found in her estate after her death. First discovered by George Perle, then deciphered and transcribed in German by Constantin Floros, they appear here in English for the first time. ... Read more

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Adorno's study of Austrian composer Alban Berg (1885-1935) is a sui generis document. In addition to Adorno's personal account of of the life and musical works of his mentor, friend, and composition teacher, the book explores the historical and cultural significance of Berg's music, its relationship to that of other nineteenth- and twentieth-century composers, and to the larger issues of contemporary life. ... Read more

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Brilliant! ....simply...
This is the definitive work on Berg I believe. This is Adorno at his best. You might already know that Adorno is notoriously difficult to read- as in his Philosophy of Western Music- but this is wonderful.

not entirely vintage Adorno,yet lightyears beyond academia
Adorno first met Alban Berg in Frankfurt during a festival of new music in June 1924. Excerpts from Berg's opera "Wozzeck" was being performed.Adorno ultimately studied composition with Berg but did notpursue a career as a composer rather Adornorbecame a brilliantphilosopher of negative dialiectics with a profound work on aesthetics,hislast major statement. In these short essays on Berg written over the courseof his life, Adorno is at his weakest link. They are analytical in contenttraversing all of Berg.The "First Piano Sonata", The"LyricSuite" for string quartet. Although brilliant, the complexity ofthought we usually encounter in Adorno, dense loci of continuouscross-referencing, and associations of images interspersed with otherartisitic genres is not to be found here. And in terms of pure musicalanalysis this is fairly basic representations,and ultimately not Adorno'spossessive thinking realm.Academia today hates Adorno for his philosophicalmore socially-bound emphasis away from just this kind of note-for-note,moment-to-moment analysis along Schenkerian dimensions. Still there areconceptual meeting places in the center as George Perle's excellent work onthe two Berg operas. And academia has much to fear given Adorno'simpressive legacy of his writings on music . In this brief volume Adorno'sthoughts on Berg's opera "Lulu" is the high point.And in a way wemeet the more personal,conversational Adorno, a rare treat. ... Read more

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This book is the first guide to Berg's second opera, Lulu, written in non-technical language and intended for those students and music lovers wishing to become familiar with one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century music. Jarman presents a clear and concise introduction to the musical language and to the intricate musical and dramatic structure of Berg's opera. The volume also examines the literary background, the genesis, composition, and tortuous posthumous career of the work. The final chapters survey the performance history and suggest a possible interpretation of this complex and challenging composition.An important feature of the book is the inclusion of source documents and critical responses to the opera. Illustrated with photographs from the premiere and from recent productions, the volume also includes a synopsis, bibliography, and discography. ... Read more

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Alban Berg's Wozzeck is one of the most significant operas of the twentieth century. Douglas Jarman's study provides a clear and accessible introduction to this work, placing it in the context of the radical developments in musical language during the early decades of the century and of the development of Berg's own musical style. The book covers all aspects of the work. Early chapters are devoted to the history and discovery of the Buchner play Woyzeck on which Berg based the libretto and to the background and composition of the opera. A detailed synopsis takes the reader through the events on stage in relation to the structured musical effects. Particular attention is given in the subsequent chapter to the unique dramatic and musical design of the opera. In offering a possible interpretation of the work Douglas Jarman considers this closely organized structure in relation to the expressionistic language of the music. A final chapter charts the performances of the opera, in particular early productions, which are illustrated with many hitherto unpublished photographs from Berg's own lifetime. An important feature of the book is the inclusion of many important and otherwise unobtainable contemporary documents concerned with the play and the opera, includine Karl Emil Franzos's description of the reconstruction of the fragmented Buchner play and three commentaries by Berg himself on the opera. This comprehensive guide will be invaluable to the student and opera-goer wishing to unravel the musical and dramatic complecities of this important work. ... Read more

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In this sophisticated analysis of the music of Austrian composer Alban Berg, Dave Headlam charts Berg`s development from late-romantic tonality to atonality and finally to his own distinctive dodecaphonic language. In so doing, Headlam defines Berg`s musical language and brings to light the compositional continuity that underlies all of his works. ... Read more

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Few figures have influenced 20th-century music as much as Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg. Their letters, one of the most important sources of information about the background to their music, are here published for the first time. The editors have transcribed, translated and annotated more than 800 letters and from this vast body of material have selected 370 that reflect the lives and times of these two great composers. The letters reveal much about the relationship between Berg and Schoenberg: first as pupil and teacher, then as friends and finally, after the premier of Wozzeck, as colleagues and peers. They also shed light on the reasons for Schoenberg's move to Berlin in 1911, the intrigue behind the early demise of the Society for Private Musical Performance, and Schoenberg's feigned indifference to the success of Wozzeck. Schoenberg describes his first years in America and the correspondence ends with Berg's death in 1935. The letters are fully annotated and supplemented with appendices, facsimiles and many photographs. ... Read more

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Money, schedules, and sniping
This is a thick book containing a selection of letters between Berg and Schoenberg.Berg wrote several letters for each reply from Schoenberg, so this book sheds more light on Berg and his personality than on Schoenberg.There is very little substantive discussion of musical matters in these letters.Overwhelmingly, they concern mundane issues:money worries, rehearsal schedules and performer selections, "thank you's" for gifts received, and such.Nevertheless, they are surprisingly engaging reading.Through these letters, one sees Berg grow from an obsequious student wasting away his time in 'dreaming' (as Schoenberg eventually chides him), to an internationally acclaimed composer (following the immediate success of 'Wozzeck').

A few gripes about this book:(1) Extensive footnotes are provided identifying every last minor person mentioned in every letter and providing other ephemeral detail, but not enough information is given tying the letters to the authors' biographies and the rest of their circles.For example, a pivotal moment in Berg and Schoenberg's relationship came when Schoenberg finally offered Berg the informal "du" to replace the formal German "Sie."It would have been interesting to know some surrounding facts, such as when/whether Schoenberg and Webern entered the "du" phase of their friendship, and in general how wide Schoenberg's circle of "du friends" was.Contextual information like this is seldom provided anywhere in this book.(2) In the few places where Berg or Schoenberg included a musical example in a letter, these are reproduced as copies from the original.These copies are seldom legible, despite being key parts of the book.(3)A useful table converting Austian currency into dollars and pounds is provided -- especially helpful since so many of the letter are about money.However, since Schoenberg was living in Germany, not Austria, for much of the period covered by this correspondence, the lack of a comparable table for the German mark leaves a gap.(4) Although the editors claim not to have left out or cut anything in the correspondence concerning musical matters, in fact discussions about music editorial matters (e.g., fixing errors in various scores) are abbreviated considerably.

In general, only those with a fairly deep interest in the Second Viennese School will be interested in this book.However, since the letters are provided only in translation, and with much material cut, I suspect this is not a book to appeal to scholars. ... Read more

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Alban Berg's "Four Songs", op.2 lies exactly at the boundary between "tonal" and "atonal" means of pitch organization, a boundary often taken as central to the understanding of 20th-century music. This study offers a look at the conceptions of those categories and traces their development. ... Read more

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Alban Berg: A Research and Information Guide is an annotated bibliography concerning both the nature of primary sources related to the composer and the scope and significance of the secondary sources which deal with him, his compositions, and his influence as a composer. The second edition will include research published since the publication of the first edition and provide electronic resources. ... Read more