Wozzeck

Wozzeck is the first and most famous opera by Alban Berg.

Related Topics:
Opera - Alban Berg

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The opera was based an German playwright Georg Büchner's uncompleted Woyzeck.

Related Topics:
Georg Büchner - Woyzeck

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Berg worked the material of the play into a libretto of three compact acts with five scenes each.

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Berg began work on the opera in 1917 while on leave from his regiment during World War I. He completed the opera in 1922. Erich Kleiber conducted the world premiere of Wozzeck at the Berlin State Opera on December 14, 1925.

Related Topics:
1917 - World War I - 1922 - Erich Kleiber - Berlin State Opera - December 14 - 1925

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Wozzeck is one of the most famous examples of atonality (music which avoids establishing a key). The atonal style helps dramatize the themes of alienation and madness. Berg was following in Schoenberg's, his teacher's, footsteps in using free atonality to express emotions and even the thought processes of the characters on the stage. Not only was the expression of madness and alienation possible with the power of atonal music, the greater themes of love and humanity and the striving of ordinary people for dignity in the face of abuse and brutality with which Wozzeck struggles during the opera are marvellously portrayed in Berg's music. Such is Berg's skillful observation of real life that he is able to convey pictures of the ordinary (the scenes in a tavern - inside and outside Marie's room) or the mundane (the snoring soldiers in their barracks).

Related Topics:
Atonality - Key

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