Alban Berg

Alban Berg was born on February 9, 1885, into a comfortable Viennese family, though his father’s death when Berg was fifteen brought financial difficulties. Largely self-taught until his early twenties, Berg began studying with Arnold Schoenberg in 1904, remaining his devoted pupil for six years. Together with Schoenberg and Anton Webern, Berg formed the core of what became known as the Second Viennese School, pioneering the radical twelve-tone technique that would reshape twentieth-century music.

Yet Berg was never content with pure abstraction. His music blends the rigorous architecture of serialism with a warmth and emotional intensity inherited from the Romantic tradition, particularly from Gustav Mahler. His opera Wozzeck (1925) brought him international fame, while the unfinished Lulu occupied his final years. Berg was a man of aristocratic bearing and generous spirit, deeply loyal to his friends and passionately devoted to his art. He died tragically on Christmas Eve 1935, from blood poisoning caused by an insect sting.