Alban Berg

Austrian composer, Alban Berg was noted for his atonal and 12-tone compositions. He spent his entire life in Vienna, and began compositing with little formal instruction in the conventions of composition. He then studied under Arnold Schoenberg, who influenced much of his music.

During his career he composed many songs, as well as orchestral and chamber music. His two operas Wozzeck and Lulu are some of the most revolutionary and disputed works in the operatic canon. The represented a shift away from the luxurious melody and harmony of late-German Romanticism of Mahler and Wagner, and moved into the atonal beginnings of contemporary 20th century writing. His dark and disturbing operas are full of mature themes.