The Austrian composer Alban Berg (1885 – 1935) is one of the leading members of the Second Viennese School, along with Anton Webern and Arnold Schönberg.
Berg was born and lived in Vienna. He began to compose only at the age of fifteen. Berg studied counterpoint, music theory and harmony with Arnold Schönberg between 1904 and 1911, and adopted his principles of the twelve-tone technique. His student compositions included Seven Early Songs (Sieben Frühe Lieder), three of which were Berg’s first publicly performed work in a concert.
From 1915 to 1918, Alban Berg served in the Austrian Army and during a period of leave in 1917, he began work on his first opera, “Wozzeck”. Three excerpts from the opera were performed in 1924, and this brought Berg his first public success. Today “Wozzeck” is seen as one of Berg’s most important works. He completed only the first two acts of his later opera, the critically acclaimed “Lulu”, before he died.
Berg’s best-known piece is his elegiac Violin Concerto. It was dedicated to Manon, the deceased daughter of architect Walter Gropius and Alma Schindler. Other well known Berg compositions include the Lyric Suite, Three Pieces for Orchestra and the Chamber Concerto for violin, piano and 13 wind instruments.
Berg died in Vienna, on Christmas Eve 1935, apparently from blood poisoning caused by an insect bite. He was 50 years old.