Altenberg Lieder

Alban Berg's Five Orchestral Songs after Postcards by Peter Altenberg (German: Fünf Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskarten von Peter Altenberg), Op. 4, were composed in 1911 and 1912 for medium voice, or mezzo-soprano. They are considered a true song cycle, unlike his previous two groups of songs, the Sieben frühe Lieder of 1908 and the Vier Gesänge, Op. 2, of 1910, and they are his first work for orchestra. The postcard texts by contemporary Viennese poet Altenberg recount the stormy but beautiful condition of the soul and the palpable sensations of love and longing. The highly imaginative music responds with many displaced ostinati and a conflicted, lyrical passion. When two of the songs (Numbers 2 and 3) were performed for the first time – on 31 March 1913 under the baton of Berg's teacher Schönberg in Vienna's Musikverein[1] – members of the audience were sufficiently taken aback as to erupt in a famous riot, wounding the composer's feelings so deeply that he never again sought a performance for them.

Altenberg Lieder
Orchestral songs by Alban Berg
The composer, sketched by Emil Stumpp in 1927
Native nameFünf Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskarten von Peter Altenberg
CatalogueOp. 4
TextPostcards by Peter Altenberg
LanguageGerman
Performed31 March 1911 (1911-03-31)
Movementsfive
Scoring
  • medium voice
  • orchestra

Structure

The songs are:[2]

  1. Seele, wie bist du schöner (Soul, how much more beautiful are you)
  2. Sahst du nach dem Gewitterregen den Wald? (Did you see the forest after the rainstorm?)
  3. Über die Grenzen des Alls (Beyond the boundaries of the universe)
  4. Nichts ist gekommen (Nothing has come)
  5. Hier ist Friede (Here is peace)

Instrumentation

The work is scored for medium voice (mezzo-soprano) and a large orchestra consisting of:[2]

References
  1. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Altenberg Lieder, 31 March 1913". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  2. "Alban Berg – 5 Orchesterlieder op. 4 for medium voice and orchestra". Universal Edition. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
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