ModernismAlban Berg
Alban Berg was born in Vienna, Austria.
Alban Berg’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
- 1885👶 Birth
Born in Vienna on 9 February
- 1895🌍 Meanwhile
The Lumière brothers’ first cinema show
- 1900🎼 Workage 15
Writes many songs without formal training
- 1904📚 Trainingage 19
Becomes Arnold Schoenberg’s pupil
- 1911❤️ Private lifeage 26
Marries Helene Nahowski
- 1912🌍 Meanwhile
The Titanic sinks
- 1913🎼 Workage 28
His Altenberg Songs spark the ‘Scandal Concert’
- 1914🎼 Workage 29
Sees Büchner’s play Woyzeck and decides to make it an opera
- 1915🎩 Careerage 30
Called up during the First World War
- 1918🌍 Meanwhile
End of the First World War
- 1927🌍 Meanwhile
First talking picture (The Jazz Singer)
- 1933🏛️ Landmarkage 48
The Nazis ban his music in Germany
- 1935🕯️ Deathage 50
Dies in Vienna on 24 December of blood poisoning
Listen to the music
Press the big button to listen. Close your eyes: how does it make you feel?
Alban Berg’s music is in the public domain, but Wikimedia Commons does not yet offer a freely licensed recording of these works. The links below lead to scores and searches on Commons; as soon as a free recording is published, it can be added here.
Once upon a time…
Alban Berg was born in Vienna, Austria. At fifteen he was already composing songs without ever having had lessons! His brother secretly sent his music to the composer Schoenberg, who agreed to teach him for free.
Berg wrote a very famous opera, Wozzeck, the story of a poor, unhappy soldier. It needed more than 130 rehearsals to perform, the music is so difficult!
He loved secret messages: he hid numbers and initials in his scores. His lucky number was 23.
He dedicated his last violin concerto “to the memory of an angel”, a young girl he was very fond of.
Alban Berg’s instruments
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