Alban Berg's Lyric Suite contains an elaborate secret program, hidden for nearly 40 years after his death, which includes musical quotes and coded initials.
Composer Biography
Berg secretly encoded the initials of himself (A.B.) and his married lover, Hanna Fuchs-Robettin (H.F.), into the music of his Lyric Suite.
Compositional Technique
The Lyric Suite by Berg quotes the opening phrase of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde and a motif from Alexander Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony.
Composer Biography
Anton Webern's Slow Movement for string quartet was composed during the summer of 1905, reflecting his burgeoning love for his cousin Wilhelmine, who later became his wife.
Compositional Technique
Webern's Five Movements for string quartet, composed in 1909, mark the true beginning of his characteristic concentrated means of expression.
Compositional Technique
Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht reflects the five-stanza structure of Richard Dehmel's poem, beginning in a 'cold' D minor and ending in a radiant D major.
Composition History
Arnold Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) was his first large-scale composition to achieve full success, inspired by Richard Dehmel's poetry.
