Berg and His World

August 13–15 and August 20–22, 2010

With its exploration of the work and life of Alban Berg (1885–1935), the Bard Music Festival aims to contribute to debates surrounding modernity by widening the view to take in the full spectrum of musical innovation in the first decades of the 20th century.  The exploration begins in Vienna, but will extend far beyond by considering the notable success of Berg’s music in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Soviet Union, England, and the United States. Berg's work offers a compelling synthesis of the various and apparently contradictory sides of the Viennese musical tradition.

The Festival

Alban Berg

Through Schoenberg’s instruction and example, he was utterly devoted to the line of development from Haydn and Mozart through Beethoven and Brahms that emphasized rigorous construction, motivic development, and structural coherence. At the same time, Berg’s music possesses a lyrical, expansive, even discursive quality that harkens back to Schubert, as well as to aspects of Viennese popular music, to the golden age of Viennese operetta, and to the more recent innovations of Mahler. Among composers of the so-called Second Viennese School, Berg stands apart in making this dichotomy a productive component of his creative persona and a tangible part of the experience of his music.

At a time when audiences are drifting toward more simplified ideas about what is expressive and approachable in music, the particular tradition Berg’s work represents deserves reconsideration. Berg’s music reconciles complexity with simplicity; it connects Schubert with Mahler and modernism and acts as a bridge to the future. His voice redeems the modernist project and its moral and ethical claims.

Performances, panel discussions, preconcert talks, and films will provide context for a well-rounded appreciation of Berg’s life and work.

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