Seven Early Songs (Berg)


The Seven Early Songs , 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, 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; the composer himself revised them in 1928 for high voice and orchestra.

Structure

The seven songs are:
  1. Nacht – text by
  2. Schilflied – Nikolaus Lenau
  3. Die Nachtigall – Theodor Storm
  4. Traumgekrönt – Rainer Maria Rilke
  5. Im Zimmer – Johannes Schlaf
  6. Liebesode – Otto Erich Hartleben
  7. Sommertage – Paul Hohenberg

    Instrumentation

The revised version is scored for high voice and: