Alban Berg

In 1906, Alban Berg met Helene Nahowski, scion of a wealthy family and a singer. Although her family disapproved of the match, the two got married on May 3, 1911 and remained together until his death in 1935. They did not have any children.

Berg’s only daughter, Albine, was born out of wedlock from a liaison with Marie Scheuchl, a servant girl in the Berg household. He was then still in his teens at the time of his daughter’s birth.

Berg and his wife spent the last few years of their lives at their cottage on the shore of the Wörthersee. He returned to Vienna in the middle of November 1935 and developed a carbuncle on his back. It was induced by an insect sting and later led to blood poisoning.

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was born on February 9, 1885 in Vienna into a well-to-do family with upper middle class background. His father, Conrad Berg, owned a successful import-export business on books and arts as well as several properties in Vienna and an estate in Carinthia.

Alban’s mother, Johanna Maria Anna (nee Braun) Berg, also came from a well-to-do family. She was a gifted painter and singer. In addition, she had a knack for languages and had studied both English and French.

The couple had four children, out of which Alban was born third; he had two elder brothers, Hermann and Charly, and a younger sister, Smaragda. Just as with most families in Vienna, music was part of their daily life.

Although it is believed that the children inherited their musical talents from their maternal grandfather, Franz Xaver Melchior Braun, their parents were also equally enthusiastic about it. When the first Burgtheatre was broken down, Conrad had its pipe organ installed at the family home.

In addition, he also had many musical friends, and Austrian composer Anton Bruckner often came to their house to play the pipe organ. The children also produced plays for the guests.

Sometime in 1899, a year before he died, Conrad Berg had confided in Hermann Watznauer, a neighbor, about his declining health and had asked him to take care of Alban, a request Wartznauer had readily accepted. Therefore, when Conrad died, Wartznauer started mentoring Alban.

He not only introduced young Alban to the avant-garde culture of their city, but also presented him with a copy of ‘Golden Book of Music.’ Alban studied the book thoroughly and began to immerse himself in music, neglecting his studies. He therefore failed in his matriculation examination.

At around this time, he became involved in an affair with Marie Scheuchl, a servant girl in the Berg household and fathered a daughter, Albine, born in December 1902. All these incidents affected young Alban so much that in the fall of 1903, he attempted suicide.

However, he soon overcame his mental agony and continued composing music. By 1904, he had more than thirty pieces composed for voice as well as piano. Also in the same year, he graduated from school and took up a job of an accountant (unpaid) in a government office.

In October 1904, Alban’s sister Smaragda noticed an advertisement, which said that Arnold Schoenberg would be holding classes on music theory, harmony and counterpoint from 15 October 1904 to 15 May 1905. On realizing that his brother could benefit from the association, Charly took some of Alban’s works to Schoenberg.

Impressed, Schoenberg agreed to take him as a private student free of cost. Berg studied with him until 1911, first as a part-time student and then from 1906, as full time. From November 1905, Alban started paying his fees as his mother had inherited some family property.

Under Schoenberg’s guidance, Alban Berg mastered the art of composing and from 1907, he started composing lessons for the students. They included five drafts for piano sonatas, which in 1908/1909, culminated into his ‘Piano Sonata, Op 1’.

‘Sieben frühe Lieder’ (Seven Early Songs, written between 1905 and 1908) was another of his important works of this period. Although the work highlights the pre-Schoenberg song writing technique there is also an undeniable influence of Schoenberg in them.