Skosyreva A. —
Alban Berg: from amateur composer to the author of Altenberglieder
// Culture and Art. – 2020. – ¹ 8.
– P. 87 - 102.
DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2020.8.33532
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/camag/article_33532.html
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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.
Skosyreva A. —
Organizing Role of Semantic and Pitch Rows in Alban Berg's 'Altenberg Lieder'
// Culture and Art. – 2018. – ¹ 8.
– P. 54 - 74.
DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2018.8.27058
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/camag/article_27058.html
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Abstract: The subject of this research is the Five Songs to Peter Altenberg's Picture Postcard. The Songs were written using the technique of free hemitonics (twelve-tone row), thus demanded new means of harmonic centralization. The object of the research is the pitch rows and motive-quotes that act as the central elements of the musical language. In her research the author traces back the succession of Berg's composition and its relation to Mahler's thoughts about the artist and the world around him. Skosyreva pays attention to performance difficulties and carries out a detailed analysis of pitch rows used in the series as well as motive-quotes that compose the meaningful tissue of the songs. The sequence of important motives is reflected in special 'semantic rows'. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author carries out a detailed analysis of the core element that was used by Alban Berg to compose his Altenberg Lieder. As a result of the research, the author concludes that the fourth opus of Berg is filled with multidimensional meanings, references and allusions. For a performer it is important to know these meanings and to feel their presence. This allows to better understand a composition. Quartal and tertian motives, small second intonations and allusions to Bach's, Debussy's and Mahler's music compose the unique tissue of meanings and music.