Biography (read more)

Alban Berg was an Austrian composer of the 20th century, a member of the Second Viennese School and a student of Arnold Schoenberg, based throughout his career in Vienna. His relatively small output centers on the operas Wozzeck (1914–1922) and the unfinished Lulu (begun 1928), alongside chamber and orchestral works such as the Lyric Suite and the Violin Concerto, in which he combined Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique with Romantic lyricism. He died in Vienna on Christmas Eve 1935 from sepsis caused by a boil on his back, following an insect sting sustained the previous month.

Berg is regarded as one of the most important composers of the 20th century, notable for bringing greater emotional warmth and dramatic accessibility to the twelve-tone method than his teacher Schoenberg, which helped his music reach wider audiences than much other Second Viennese School repertoire. Wozzeck in particular is considered a landmark of 20th-century opera, and his synthesis of atonal technique with expressive, human-centered drama continues to shape how modernist opera and concert music are understood.

Compare recordings piece by piece — 1 work of Alban Berg with more than one performance on the site →

Sources:

Repertoire

Lulu: Act II: Film Music