Vier Lieder (Four Songs), Op. 2
by Alban Berg
Four songs for voice and piano composed 1909–10 and published 1910. Texts by Friedrich Hebbel (No.1: Schlafen, schlafen) and Alfred Mombert (Nos. 2–4). Op.2 spans the tipping point in Berg's style: the first two songs are still anchored in tonality, while the fourth, 'Warm die Lüfte', dissolves into free atonality. Published as his Op.2 immediately after the Piano Sonata, they are an essential document of the Second Viennese School's transition into the atonal era.
Works in this Collection (4)
- Schlafen, schlafen (Sleeping, sleeping) (Vier Lieder, Op. 2) No. 1 Difficulty
- Schlafend trägt man mich (Sleeping I am carried) (Vier Lieder, Op. 2) No. 2 Difficulty
- Nun ich der Riesen Stärksten (Now I the strongest of giants) (Vier Lieder, Op. 2) No. 3 Difficulty
- Warm die Lüfte (Warm the breezes) (Vier Lieder, Op. 2) No. 4 Difficulty