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First performed as an incomplete work on 2 June 1937 in Zurich, this opera boasts a Berg libretto that is based on two Frank Wedekind tragedies: Erdgeist (‘Earth Spirit’, 1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora (‘Pandora’s Box’, 1904). Following the composer’s death, controversy arose as to the fate of the incomplete third act. Berg’s widow asked Schoenberg, Webern ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

mental condition, and the case’s notoriety thus stemmed from his plea of diminished responsibility, or the ‘insanity defence’. Under the banner of ‘wir arme leut’ (‘we poor folk’), Berg symbolically raises Wozzeck as a universal figure, creating a work that is one of the high points of German Expressionism. Berg creates three acts, each with five fast-paced ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Al’-ban Bârg) 1885–1935 Austrian composer Berg came from a cultured background, but had little serious musical training until, at 19, he began studying with Schoenberg. His progress was rapid, but although he was Schoenberg’s most naturally talented and most devoted pupil, Mahler’s influence on him remained strong. His first published work, the Piano Sonata op. ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1885–1935, Austrian The composer of just two operas, Berg was a man who took atonality and stretched it to its expressionistic limits. While Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) are often referred to as the First Viennese School, the so-called Second Viennese School consists of Berg together with fellow student Anton Webern (1883–1945) and their ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

stereotyping, just below bérets and louche moustaches. Despite its association with popular music, it has quite often found its way into concert-hall compositions by, among others, Berg, Prokofiev, Mátyás Seiber, Paul Creston, Roy Harris, Virgil Thomson and many others. A music school exclusively for accordion teachers was established in Trossingen, Germany ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

Composers of the early twentieth century sought out further percussion instruments to add to their sound palette. Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra (1913) requires a xylorimba: a composite instrument, with a top end sounding like a xylophone, the bass end like a marimba. Walton’s Façade (1926) requires wood blocks: stemming from Africa, these are a series of resonant ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

became better able to perform at altitude, the alto’s value declined. Many still prefer its brighter tone, however, and it has been specifically scored for by Alban Berg (1885–1935) and Britten. Introduction | Brass Instruments Instruments | Horn Family | Brass ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

The vibraphone is a kind of electronic steel marimba, initially produced in the US in 1916. The player uses rubber-topped beaters to strike two rows of metal bars. The sound is not amplified electronically: it is amplified by the action of the resonators (like the marimba) which enhance the sound. Each resonator has a fan, and all are joined ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

century, the violin was the major solo instrument – a position it has yet to relinquish. Outstanding examples of the concerto repertoire include Beethoven, Edward Elgar (1857–1934), Alban Berg (1885–1935), Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47), Johannes Brahms (1833–97), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–93) and Jean Sibelius (1865–1957). The Viola The viola is the alto member of the violin family. It had become ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

Composed: 1920–25 Premiered: 1925, Monte Carlo Libretto by Colette (Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette) The child has been naughty. His mother does not think he deserves more than tea without sugar and dry bread. He must think about how sad he has made her. He shouts after her, ‘I don’t love anybody! I’m naughty!’ He starts smashing and ill-treating everything ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

, Garden of Fand, November Woods, Northern Ballad No. 1, Mediterranean, LPO (cond) Sir Adrian Boult (Lyrita) Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | Alban Berg | Modern Era | Classical ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

b. 1939 German mezzo-soprano After her Munich debut in 1961, Brigitte Fassbaender took on a variety of operatic personae, from trouser roles, such as Octavian in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (sung also for her Covent Garden and Metropolitan Opera debuts), to Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Countess Geschwitz in the first complete production of Berg’s Lulu (Paris, 1979). She ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1782–1871, French The French composer Daniel Auber made a favourable impression on his teacher, Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842) with his first opera, L’erreur du moment (‘The Mistake of the Moment’, 1805). However, he had to wait 15 years for popular appreciation until he established himself with two works: La bergère châtelaine (‘The Lady Shepherdess’, 1820) and Emma (1821). ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1925–2012, German In great demand as an opera singer and recitalist, Fischer-Dieskau was the most recorded baritone of the twentieth century. His opera work is remembered for roles such as Berg’s Wozzeck, Busoni’s Faust and Reimann’s Lear, for which he gave the first performance. He was not well suited to the Romantic Italian repertoire, but had ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1890–1956 Austrian conductor In 1923, Kleiber was appointed music director of the Berlin State Opera, where he performed several new works, including Berg’s Wozzeck. He spent World War II in South America and conducted regularly at Covent Garden 1950–53. He made fine recordings of Le nozze di Figaro and Der Rosenkavalier. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie
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