Alban Berg (1885–1935) was an Austrian composer whose intensely expressive music helped define the Second Viennese School. A student of Arnold Schoenberg, he blended twelve‑tone technique with a lyrical, almost Romantic emotional world, creating works that feel both modern and deeply human. His two operas—Wozzeck and Lulu—stand among the 20th century’s most powerful music dramas, while pieces like the Lyric Suite and Violin Concerto reveal his gift for creating bold, innovative art.
Meine Damen und Herren,
I am Alban Berg, born in 1885 in Vienna — a city where music lives and breathes in every street and café. As a boy I was more dreamer than prodigy, writing songs for voice and piano, searching for something new but anchored in the beauty of Romantic harmony. My life changed when I met Arnold Schoenberg. Under his demanding and brilliant guidance, I learned the language of modernism — the twelve-tone method — but I also kept my own lyrical heart.
My first opera, Wozzeck, grew from that tension: at once harsh and compassionate, modern in its structure yet deeply human. It was not easy to bring such a work to life; some resisted its bleakness and raw truth. Yet when it was finally performed, audiences recognized the soldier Wozzeck’s suffering as their own. Later came Lulu, a portrait of desire and destruction, daring in harmony and drama, still unfinished when I left this world.
I moved within an extraordinary circle: my teacher Schoenberg, my fellow student and dear friend Anton Webern — together we were called the Second Viennese School. I admired Gustav Mahler, who encouraged my early work, and I felt the shadow of Richard Wagner in my operatic instincts. Even while exploring the strictest modern methods, I sought melody and emotion — proof that new music could still sing.
My final completed score was the Violin Concerto, written “to the memory of an angel” — the young Manon Gropius. It wove the twelve-tone method with echoes of Bach and Carinthian folk song, a farewell that was both rigorous and tender.
I died in 1935 in Vienna, the city that had shaped every note I wrote. Illness came suddenly, just as I was completing Lulu and looking ahead to new works. Yet the music I leave is my attempt to bridge tradition and the modern, to show that even in the most radical language, the human voice — fragile, yearning, and true — can still be heard.
Thank you for listening, and for keeping alive the sounds of a life devoted to expression and truth.
A Selection of Works by Alban Berg Available for Listening on Classical Archives
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Operas
Songs
- Altenberg Lieder, for voice and orchestra, Op.4
- 7 Early Songs (Sieben frühe Lieder)
- Schliesse mir die Augen beide
Orchestral Works
Chamber Works
- Chamber Concerto, for piano, violin, and 13 wind instruments
- Lyric Suite, for string quartet
- 4 Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op.5
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