The Seven Early Songs (Sieben frühe Lieder) (c. 1905 – 1908), are early compositions of Alban Berg, written while he was under the tutelage of Arnold Schoenberg. They are an interesting synthesis combining Berg's heritage of pre-Schoenberg song writing with the rigour and undeniable influence of Schoenberg. The writing very much carries with it the heritage of Richard Strauss (although the influences of a number of other composers can be discerned – Gustav Mahler and Hugo Wolf for example, as well as Claude Debussy's harmonic palette in evidence in "Nacht"), through the expansiveness of gesture and 'opening of new vistas,' and that of Richard Wagner. The songs were first written for a medium voice and piano; they were revised for high voice and orchestra in 1928.
Librettist | (Carl Hauptmann (1); Nikolaus Lenau (2); Theodor Storm (3); Rainer Maria Rilke (4); Johannes Schlaf (5); Otto Erich Hartleben (6); Paul Hohenberg (7)) |
Date of composition | 1907 (composed circa 1905–1908; revised and orchestrated 1928) |
First published | 1928 |
Type | Song(s) |
Spoken language | German |
Instruments |
Voice
Piano |
Autotranslations beta |
Alban Berg: Seven Early Songs Alban Berg: Seven Early Songs Alban Berg: Seven Early Songs |