Three Pieces for Orchestra (Berg)

Drei Orchesterstücke
'Three Pieces for Orchestra
by Alban Berg
The composer, sketched by Emil Stumpp in 1927
Catalogue Op. 6
Composed 1913 (1913)–15
Dedication Arnold Schoenberg
Published 1929 (1929) (revised)

Alban Berg composed his Three Pieces for Orchestra (German – Drei Orchesterstücke), Op. 6, between 1913 and 1915.[1] They are dedicated "to my teacher and friend Arnold Schoenberg in immeasurable gratitude and love". A revised version of the score was published in 1929 by Universal Edition.[2]

Structure

The three pieces are:

Präludium (Prelude)
An instrumentally colourful, impressionistic prelude. After a murmuring introduction, an evocative, wide-ranging theme is stated by bassoons and violins, and then fully developed.
Reigen (Round Dance)
Replete with both waltz music and Ländler music, this piece demonstrates an inherent eclecticism that, as in many of Berg's works, permitted a synthesis of old and new, classical and popular, often infused with grotesquerie.
Marsch (March)
A sizable and highly imaginative march, notable for its element of chaos and its extremes of orchestration. Berg is said to have declared: "There had to come a day when we could hear how a chord of eight tones really sounds in the brasses!".[3]

Instrumentation

The work is scored for:[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Douglas, p.64
  2. 1 2 "Alban Berg – 3 Orchesterstücke". Universal Edition. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  3. ↑ Ramey, Phillip (1986). Three Orchestral Pieces, Opus 6 (CD liner). Alban Berg. CBS Masterworks. MK39741.

References

  • Lee, Douglas. "Masterworks of 20th Century Music", Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0-415-93847-3, ISBN 978-0-415-93847-1
  • Steinberg, Michael. Program Notes for Berg, 3 Pieces for Orchestra. accessed 2009-01-15
  • Mark DeVoto. Program Notes for Berg, Three Pieces for Orchestra. accessed February 12, 2010
  • Huscher, Philip. Program Notes for Alban Berg, Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6. accessed 7 August 2014.
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