Alban Berg
An Austrian composer who fused the intense emotion of late Romanticism with the radical, systematic structures of twelve-tone music.
1885–1935 (age 50)·Austrian composer·Birthday: February 9·The Lost Generation
Biography
Alban Berg took the austere mathematical system of his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg, and infused it with a wounded, haunting Romantic soul. A member of the revolutionary Second Viennese School, Berg stood apart by weaving lyrical, almost Mahlerian melodies into the rigorous framework of atonality and the twelve-tone technique. His output was small but monumental. The opera 'Wozzeck,' based on a bleak play about a soldier's despair, became one of the most significant operas of the 20th century, shocking audiences with its dissonance but moving them with its profound humanity. His later, unfinished opera 'Lulu' explored themes of sexuality and destruction with even greater complexity. Berg's genius lay in his ability to make radical musical language feel urgently expressive, creating works that are as emotionally devastating as they are intellectually formidable.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Alban was born in 1885, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alban Was Born
The biggest hits of 1885
Alban's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1885Born
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1890Started school
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1898Became a teenager
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1901Could drive
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1903Could vote
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Turned 21
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 30
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 40
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 50
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
Key Achievements
- Composed the opera 'Wozzeck,' a landmark of 20th-century music that premiered in Berlin in 1925.
- Created the 'Lyric Suite' for string quartet, a secret musical portrait of his love affair with Hanna Fuchs-Robettin.
- Wrote the demanding and expressive Violin Concerto, dedicated 'To the memory of an angel.'
- Began the revolutionary atonal opera 'Lulu,' which was completed after his death by other hands.
Did You Know?
He used a cryptogram derived from his lover's initials (H.F.) and his own (A.B.) as a musical motif in the 'Lyric Suite.'
The Violin Concerto was commissioned by the American violinist Louis Krasner.
He was a talented teacher and gave lessons to composer Theodor Adorno.
He served in the Austrian Ministry of War during World War I, working in an office.
“Music is at once the product of feeling and knowledge, for it requires from its disciples, composers and performers alike, not only talent and enthusiasm, but also that knowledge and perception which are the result of protracted study and reflection.”
