As first a Romantic and then a modernist, as a sensualist fascinated by form, Alban Berg produced one of the richest bodies of music in the 20th century. He began composing as a teenager, guided by little more than his piano tuition. By the time he began lessons with Arnold Schoenberg in 1904, he had composed 35 Lieder – more than a third of his total eventual output. Berg’s early Lieder undertake their own stylistic journey, from an initial (understandable) debt to Schubert and Schumann, to a more chromatic language which points in the direction of Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf. Once under Schoenberg’s influence, however, Berg adopted a new approach in his compositions of songs, adding to the consistency of the piano part and handling his thematic material with more counterpoint and rhythmic variation. Here the influence is that of Brahms, a model composer for Schoenberg and his school. The set presents an unrivalled guide to the development of one of the major musical voices of the last century, as well as a still-rarer opportunity to enjoy a plethora of little-known, exquisitely crafted Romantic Lieder.
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REVIEW:
I found this valuable release totally absorbing. It is convincingly performed from the first note to the last. Each performer brings sincerity and enthusiasm to this varied repertoire. For all those interested in the major impact Alban Berg had on the music of the Second Viennese School and on 20th Century musical history, this is a perfect companion. For listeners who are ‘suspicious’ of atonality and twelve-tone music, this release will provide ample confirmation that this period of musical history could produce works that are both beautiful and moving.
