Bryan R. Simms – författare

Pro Mundo - Pro Domo: The Writings of Alban Berg contains new English translations of the complete writings of the Viennese composer Alban Berg (1885-1935) and extensive commentaries tracing the history of each essay and its connection to musical culture of the early twentieth century. Berg is now recognized as a classic composer of the modern period, best known for his operas Wozzeck and Lulu. Berg, Anton Webern, and their teacher Arnold Schoenberg constitute the "Second Viennese School" which played a major role in the transformation of serious music as it entered the modern period. Berg was an avid and skillful writer. His essays include analytic studies of compositions by Schoenberg, polemics on music and musicians of his day, and lectures and miscellaneous writings on a variety of topics. Throughout his considerable and diverse corpus of writings, Berg alternates between two perspectives: Pro Mundo - Pro Domo, meaning roughly "speaking for all - speaking for myself" commenting at one moment on the general state of culture and the world, and the next moment on his own works. In his early years he also tried his hand at fictional writing, using works by Ibsen and Strindberg as models. This new English edition contains 47 essays, many of which are little known and have not been previously available in English.

Alban Berg (1885-1935), a student of Arnold Schoenberg and one of the most prominent composers of the Second Viennese School, is counted among the pioneers of twelve-tone serialism. His circle included not only the musicians of the Wiener modern but also prominent literary and artistic figures from Vienna's brilliant fin-de-siècle. In his short lifetime he composed two ground-breaking operas, Wozzeck and Lulu, as well as chamber works, songs, and symphonic compositions. His final completed work, the deeply moving and elegiac Violin Concerto, is performed by leading soloists across the world.This new life-and-works study from authors Bryan R. Simms and Charlotte Erwin delivers a fresh perspective formed from comprehensive study of primary sources that reveal the forces that shaped Berg's personality, career, and artistic outlook. One such force was Berg's wife, Helene Nahowski Berg, and the book provides a unique assessment of her role in the composer's life and work, as well as her later quest to shape his artistic legacy in the forty-one years of her widowhood. The authors present insightful analysis of all of Berg's major works, bringing into play Berg's own analyses of the music, many of which have not been considered in existing scholarship. Berg is an accessible and all-encompassing resource for all readers who wish to learn about the life and music of this composer, one of the great figures in modern music.

In the years from 1908 to 1923, Arnold Schoenberg developed a compositional strategy that moved beyond the accepted concepts and practices of Western tonality. Pieces form this period such as Pierrot Lunaire and Erwartung remain masterpieces of the modern repertoire. The lasting importance of Schoenberg's atonal music is reflected in the very large but fragmented critical and analytical literature that surrounds it. In this book, Bryan R. Simms synthesizes and advances the state of knowledge about this body of work, building up a comprehensive description from close analytical study.

Pro Mundo - Pro Domo: The Writings of Alban Berg contains new English translations of the complete writings of the Viennese composer Alban Berg (1885-1935) and extensive commentaries tracing the history of each essay and its connection to musical culture of the early twentieth century. Berg is now recognized as a classic composer of the modern period, best known for his operas Wozzeck and Lulu. Berg, Anton Webern, and their teacher Arnold Schoenberg constitute the "Second Viennese School" which played a major role in the transformation of serious music as it entered the modern period. Berg was an avid and skillful writer. His essays include analytic studies of compositions by Schoenberg, polemics on music and musicians of his day, and lectures and miscellaneous writings on a variety of topics. Throughout his considerable and diverse corpus of writings, Berg alternates between two perspectives: Pro Mundo - Pro Domo, meaning roughly "speaking for all - speaking for myself" commenting at one moment on the general state of culture and the world, and the next moment on his own works. In his early years he also tried his hand at fictional writing, using works by Ibsen and Strindberg as models. This new English edition contains 47 essays, many of which are little known and have not been previously available in English.

Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, modern composers living in Vienna near the turn of the 20th century, are examined in a broad artistic context illustrating how their works grew from earlier Viennese musical developments. Presenting a coherent analysis of a central school of modern musical composition, the essays compare the artists' music to that in the nonmusical arts in Vienna at the time. A prominent musical phenomenon during the period, the Second Viennese School of Music would exert a profound impact on European and American composers in the decades following World War II. The recent discoveries and critical perspectives on the composers discussed in these essays detail new information on central aspects of their work, including the origins of atonal composition, the 12-tone method, and the literary models that often inspired their works. Coherent and current, this collection of essays offers unique insight into the personalities and artistic accomplishments of these three major figures who intoduced modernism to music.Contributing to the continuing fascination with the modern culture produced in Vienna and other European cities near the turn of the century, these clear, accessible writings on the Second Viennese School will appeal to musicians and scholars alike. Each chapter, written by a different specialist, focuses on the artistic milieu of these three composers, avoiding a particular hypothesis and offering instead a broad, multifaceted discussion. This selection of new knowledge about aspects of the composers' work complements the valuable information also detailed about their music.

Alban Berg: A Research and Information Guide, Third Edition is an annotated bibliography highlighting both the nature of primary sources related to the composer and the scope and significance of the secondary sources that deal with Berg, his compositions, and his influence as a composer. It is a reliable, complete, and useful resource and a starting point for anyone—performer, teacher, student, or scholar—wanting to learn about Berg’s life, works, and cultural milieu. The third edition has 162 additional citations since the publication of the second edition, many arising after the expiration of copyright of Berg’s musical and archival works 2005.Many important new, primary sources of information have appeared, most notably the letter exchanges with his wife, recently published in a three-volume critical edition (in German), as well as letter exchanges with Alma Mahler and Erich Kleiber, and later correspondences with Anton Webern. There has also been a notable increase in the availability of commercial video recordings of Berg's operas, Wozzeck and Lulu.