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Berg’s early lieder owe their existence largely to the young composer’s great interest in literature; nevertheless it was his friend Hermann Watznauer, who actually inspired him to embark on composing his first lieder around 1900/01.
And Berg enjoyed himself so much that he continued along the same lines until 1903, completing another 30 lieder; even Arnold Schönberg was essentially fascinated by them: "Berg’s earliest compositions, however clumsy they may have been, already reveal two qualities: first, that to him music was a language and that he actually expressed himself in this language; and secondly: abundant warmth of feeling."
If Alban Berg had not chosen a completely different road later on, he would still be recognized as a direct successor of the Romantic lieder tradition today. But his later compositions, such as his orchestral works, his violin concerto, the great lieder cycles for orchestra and trend-setting operas like Wozzeck or Lulu, soon eclipsed these early compositional attempts.
The lieder themselves shall be called upon to testify to their great aesthetic, even poetic merit; and thanks to Hélène Lindqvist and Philipp Vogler, a larger audience is now, for the first time, given an opportunity to study these works. |
1CD | Vocal | Classics | Contemporary |
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Śānti – the piano concerto as a spiritual experience, a union of meditative-expressive avant-garde and the philosophy of the Far East.  |
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| “Angst and lament, faith, hope, and joy”: With the help of Gregorian allusions and dense structures, Helmschrott created music that is at once sensual and contemplative. |
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Symphonies 3 & 8
Haydn Orchestra - Gustav Kuhn |
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