Alban Berg

1 8.4

Austrian composer of modern classical music, known for the operas Wozzeck and Lulu

proper noun
/ˈæl.bən bɜrg/

: Alban Berg

Many music students study Alban Berg's opera 'Wozzeck' as an example of early 20th-century innovation.

Examples

Alban Berg was influenced by his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg, and became a prominent figure in modern classical music.
The composer Alban Berg is famous for his twelve-tone music.
The works of Alban Berg often explore intense emotions through complex harmonies.
Listen to Alban Berg!
Alban Berg was influenced by his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg, and became a prominent figure in modern classical music.
Many music students study Alban Berg's opera 'Wozzeck' as an example of early 20th-century innovation.
The composer Alban Berg is famous for his twelve-tone music.

Surface Forms

Alban Berg main

Morphology

Alban + Berg

This is a proper name referring to a specific Austrian composer, not a compositional phrase; the constituents 'Alban' and 'Berg' do not convey the referent or the profession. Proper names are arbitrary and referential rather than semantically predictable, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent strings would not be able to derive that this MWE names a composer.

Etymology

Alban Berg was an Austrian composer who helped make classical music more modern and full of strong feelings. He studied with Arnold Schoenberg and used a strict method called 'twelve-tone' to make new sounds, so you can remember him by the image of a composer climbing a Berg, the German word for 'mountain', to reach new musical heights.