Altenberg Lieder

Medium voice
orchestra

Alban Berg's Five Orchestral Songs after Postcards by Peter Altenberg (German: Fünf Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskarten von Peter Altenberg), Op. 4, were composed in 1911 and 1912 for medium voice, or mezzo-soprano. They are considered a true song cycle, unlike his previous two groups of songs, the Sieben frühe Lieder of 1908 and the Vier Gesänge, Op. 2, of 1910, and they are his first work for orchestra. The postcard texts by contemporary Viennese poet Peter Altenberg recount the stormy but beautiful condition of the soul and the palpable sensations of love and longing. The highly imaginative music responds with many displaced ostinati and a conflicted, lyrical passion.

When two of the songs (Numbers 2 and 3) were performed for the first time – on 31 March 1913 under the baton of Berg's teacher Schönberg in Vienna's Musikverein^[1] – members of the audience were so taken aback as to erupt in a famous riot, wounding the composer's feelings so deeply that he never again sought a performance for them.

Structure

The songs are:^[2]

Seele, wie bist du schöner (Soul, how much more beautiful are you)
Sahst du nach dem Gewitterregen den Wald? (Did you see the forest after the rainstorm?)
Über die Grenzen des All (Beyond the boundaries of the universe)
Nichts ist gekommen (Nothing has come)
Hier ist Friede (Here is peace)

Instrumentation

The work is scored for medium voice (mezzo-soprano) and a large orchestra consisting of:^[2]

Woodwinds: 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo); 3 oboes (3rd doubling English horn); 3 clarinets in B♭ (3rd doubling clarinet in E♭); 1 bass clarinet in B♭; 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon)

Brass: 4 horns in F; 3 trumpets in F; 4 trombones (1st doubling alto trombone); 1 tuba (doubling contrabass tuba)

Percussion: timpani; 4 players playing glockenspiel, xylophone, triangle, cymbals, tam-tam, side drum, and bass drum

Keyboard: 2 players sharing celesta, piano and harmonium

Strings: violins I, II; violas; celli; double basses; harp

References

^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Altenberg Lieder, 31 March 1913". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
^ ^a ^b "Alban Berg – 5 Orchesterlieder op. 4 for medium voice and orchestra". Universal Edition. Retrieved 3 November 2010.

External links

Altenberg Lieder: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

Alban Berg

List of compositions

Operas

Wozzeck
Lulu

Orchestral works

Three Pieces for Orchestra
Violin Concerto

Chamber music

String Quartet
Lyric Suite
Kammerkonzert

Piano music

Piano Sonata

Vocal music

Seven Early Songs
Altenberg Lieder
"Schließe mir die Augen beide"
"Der Wein"

Category

Second Viennese School

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

Vocal	Vier Lieder, Op. 2 (1899-1900) Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, Op. 15 (1907-1909) Herzgewächse, Op. 20 (1911) Pierrot lunaire, Op. 21 (1912) Vier Lieder, Op. 22 (1913-1916)
Chamber	Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (1899, 1916-1917 and 1943 arr. for str. orch.) String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7 (1904-1905) String Quartet No. 2 (with soprano), Op. 10 (1907-1908, 1919 and 1929 arr. for str. orch.) Wind Quintet, Op. 26 (1923-1924) String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30 (1927) String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37 (1936)
Choral	Gurre-Lieder, Op. (1900-1903, orch. 1910-1911) Die Jakobsleiter (1914–1922, rev. 1944) "Prelude" to Genesis Suite (1945) A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (1947)
Orchestral	Pelleas und Melisande, Op. 5 (1902-1903, rev. 1920) Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 (1906) Fünf Orchesterstücke, Op. 16 (1909, rev. 1922) Variations for orchestra, Op. 31 (1926-1928) Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene, Op. 34 (1929-1930) Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38 (1906–1940) and Op. 38b (arr. for 2pf, 1941-1942)
Instrumental	Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 (1909) Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19 (1911) Fünf Klavierstücke, Op. 23 (1920-1923) Suite für Klavier, Op. 25 (1921-1923) Klavierstücke, Op. 33a (1928-1929) and Op. 33b (1931)
Opera	Erwartung, Op. 17 (1909) Die glückliche Hand, Op. 18 (1910-1913) Von heute auf morgen, Op. 32 (1928-1929) Moses und Aron (1930–32, compl. Kocsis 2010)
Concertante	Violin Concerto, Op. 36 (1934-1936) Piano Concerto, Op. 42 (1942)
Text	Harmonielehre (1910-1911, rev. 1921)
Drama	Der biblische Weg (1922-1927)