Gunnar Berg (11 January 1909 – 25 August 1989) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

-born Danish composer. A leading exponent of serialism in Denmark, he is considered to have written the first Danish serial piece, his ''Cosmogonie'' for two pianos, in 1952. Berg was born to Danish and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

parents in Switzerland. He studied with Herman David Koppel from 1938 to 1943, and moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

in 1948, where he became associated with

Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably '' Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 ...

and

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonical ...

. In 1952 he married the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

Béatrice Duffour Béatrice is a French feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Béatrice Bonifassi (born c. 1971), French-born vocalist * Béatrice Dalle (born 1964), French actress * Béatrice de Camondo (1894–1944), French socialite and a H ...

, who would later record much of his piano music. In the same year he became the first Dane to attend the summer courses at Darmstadt. Arriving in Paris in 1948 he became part of the international modernist movement in post-War Europe by joining the circle around Olivier Messiaen. Here, Berg had inspiring encounters with key figures such as John Cage,

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

and

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...

. Serial organization began to make its mark already in the newcomer's ''Pièce'' for trumpet, violin and piano from 1949, and henceforth Berg uncompromisingly yet in his very own fashion would remain faithful to the complex expressive mode of musical modernism, from now on always composing within the theoretical and aesthetic framework of serialism. The centennial of Gunnar Berg's birth was celebrated with concerts, radio programmes, CD-releases, writings, printed scores, and exhibitions in Denmark, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, USA, Ukraine and China. These activities has caused a significant change in the understanding of and respect for his artistic oeuvre - being far from a cold speculative, mathematic game.

Working Group Gunnar Berg

Working Group Gunnar Berg - Agneta Mei Hytten, Erik Kaltoft and Jens Rossel - was formed after Gunnar Berg's death in 1989 by composer

Tage Nielsen Tage Nielsen (16 January 1929 in Frederiksberg – 23 March 2003) was a Danish composer. He studied with Rued Langgaard and worked for Danish Radio as well as being a professor at the Danish Academy of Music The Royal Danish Academy of Music ...

(1929-2003), editor and former head of the music section of DR, Mogens Andersen (1929-2008), pianist Erik Kaltoft and Jens Rossel with a view to raising awareness and understanding of Gunnar Berg's music. The working group placed the largest part of Gunnar Berg's manuscripts and things left behind at the Royal Library in Copenhagen, released two double-CDs with historical recordings of Gunnar Berg's piano music on Danacord Records and coordinated the various actitivites in the centennial of Gunnar Berg's birth.

References

External links

Working Group Gunnar Berg

Edition SVITZER
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Gunnar 1909 births 1989 deaths 20th-century classical composers Danish classical composers Danish male classical composers Danish expatriates in Switzerland Twelve-tone and serial composers Danish people of Swedish descent Swiss people of Danish descent Swiss people of Swedish descent 20th-century Danish male musicians