Berg: Violin Concerto, Three Pieces for Orchestra

Featuring

Sir Andrew Davis
James Ehnes
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Alban Berg

Did you know?

1/7

Compositional Technique

The Passacaglia, a short work by Berg, uses a succession of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale as its foundation, foreshadowing later serial compositional practices.

Composition History

The Violin Concerto was commissioned by American violinist Louis Krasner, who wanted to challenge prejudices against 12-tone compositions.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Berg's Three Orchestral Pieces, Op. 6, can be heard as a tribute to Gustav Mahler, as Berg had kept watch outside the sanatorium where Mahler lay dying in 1911.

Composition History

Berg's Piano Sonata, Op. 1, was originally conceived as a three-movement work, but his teacher Arnold Schoenberg encouraged him to publish it as a single movement, believing Berg had already said all he needed to say.

Composer Biography

Alban Berg, the composer, lived for only fifty years, from 1885 to 1935, a period marked by significant historical events like the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the rise of fascism.

Performer Biography

James Ehnes, the violinist on this recording, began violin studies at age four, made his orchestral debut at thirteen, and plays the 'Marsick' Stradivarius from 1715.

Composition History

Berg dedicated his Violin Concerto 'to the memory of an angel' after the death of Manon Gropius, the 18-year-old daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius, who died of polio.