Schliesse mir die Augen beide (Two Settings)

Two settings of the same poem by Theodor Storm — composed 1907 (tonal) and 1925 (twelve-tone) — for voice and piano. The two versions, separated by 18 years, are a uniquely illuminating pair: the first is a tonal song in the tradition of Brahms and Wolf; the second uses the twelve-tone technique for the first time in Berg's output, composed shortly after Schoenberg had established the method. Berg chose the same poem deliberately to demonstrate how much — and how little — had changed.