Alban Berg: from amateur composer to the author of Altenberglieder

Abstract

The object of this research is the piano compositions of Alban Berg – the String Quartet, Op. 3, and the vocal cycle Altenberglieder, Op. 4. The subject of this research is the artistic transformation of Berg from amateur composer of romantic music to the author of the complex atonal composition. The article reviews the aspects of Berg's apprenticeship that impacted his professional becoming. The peculiarities of the pedagogical method the composer's mentor and friend. Arnold Schoenberg are described. The author systematizes Berg's musical impressions acquired in his earlier period, which revealed the world of “new tones”. Special attention is given to the personal qualities of Alban Berg, his desire to cognize the new musical world. Analysis is conducted on the piano pieces composed at the time of his study with Schoenberg is. Opuses 3 and 4 are examined for the similar authorial techniques and their gradual complication. The conclusion is made that the phenomenon of rapid changes in the composer's artistic path is substantiated by a combination of factors. Berg was able to overcome the initially romantic melodious nature in his composing due to the opportunity to be in Vienna, which was the center of musical life at that time and the pedagogical talent of A. Schoenberg. The key character traits of the composer were commitment, capacity to work, and strive for creative truth. His natural enthusiasm and sensitivity were balanced by mathematical meticulousness and propensity for systematization. This served as the foundation for the remarkable changes that can be traces from his apprentice sketches to the first independent composition – the vocal cycle Altenberglieder, Op. 4. The scientific novelty of this research consists in posing the question of how Berg was able to develop such complex modern language in a very short period of time that elevated him to the forefront of leading composers.