Josef Berg (8 March 1927 – 26 February 1971) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

composer,

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and librettist. His work represents a remarkable value in the context of Czech music after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

.Čeští skladatelé současnosti, p. 25

Life

From 1946 to 1950 he studied at the

Brno Conservatory The Brno Conservatory, also Brno Conservatoire ( cs, Konzervatoř Brno), was established in Brno on 25 September 1919 by Moravian composer Leoš Janáček. History Leoš Janáček attempted to establish and improve high musical education in Br ...

, in the class of Vilém Petrželka. Simultaneously he attended the music lectures at the Faculty of Philosophy on Brno university given by Jan Racek and Bohumír Štědroň. He worked as a music editor in the Czechoslovak Radio in Brno (1950–53), and also wrote reviews for the journals and newspapers. Later he concentrated exclusively on composing. Berg founded an association of young composers called ''Group A''. The members of the group strived in their program to connect convincing artistic activity with the new musical language, and also to promote new musical trends in Czechoslovakia.

Style

Even though the Berg's style was at first influenced by

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

n folk music, his mature compositions are very individual and take advantage of new composition techniques and principles. However, his works are not mere technical exercises. Particularly in chamber music Berg brought spontaneous creative invention. Berg was successful in the field of vocal and scenic music, and composed song cycles to his own lyrics. He also made a number of contributions to the chamber opera genre, including ''The Return of Ulysses'', ''European Tourism'', ''Breakfast at the Schlankenwald Castle'' and ''Euphrides in Front of the Gates of Tymenas''.Josef Berg – Czech Contemporary Composer

Selected works

*Months. Piano cycle (1956) *Seven Preludies for Piano (1959) *Sextet for Harp, Piano and String Quartet (1959) *Nonet for Two Harps, Piano, Cembalo, Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Xylophone and Percussion (1962) *Return of Ulysses (chamber opera, 1962) *Songs of new Werther for Baryton and Piano (1962) *Sonata per cavicembalo e pianoforte in modo classico (1964) *Organ Music on the Theme of

Gilles Binchois Gilles de Bins dit Binchois (also Binchoys; – 20 September 1460) was a Franco-Flemish composer of early Renaissance music. A central figure of the Burgundian School, Binchois and his colleague Guillaume Du Fay were deeply influenced by the ...

(1964) *European Tourism (a chamber opera, 1963–64) *String Quartet (1965) *Breakfast at the Schlankenwald Castle (chamber opera, 1966) *Johannes Doctor Faust (opera, 1963-1969) *Dreaming - Snění (1970)

Footnotes

https://web.archive.org/web/20110522214354/http://www.musica.cz/skladatele/berg-josef.html

References

* Štaudová, Eliška: ''Slovo i fónické struktury v hudbě nestorů Nové hudby v Brně.'' in: Hudební rozhledy 1970, no. 10-11, p. 491-497. * Hrabal, František: ''Marginálie k Josefu Bergovi.'' in: Hudební rozhledy 1971, no. 4, p. 169-176. * Doubravová, Jarmila: ''Světlá stránka pochybností Josefa Berga.'' in: Hudební rozhledy 1976, p. 461-3. * Lébl, Vladimír: ''Josef Berg'' in: Příspěvky k dějinám české hudby III." Academia, Prague 1976. * Martínková, Alena (ed.): ''Čeští skladatelé současnosti'' Prague: Panton, 1985. * Štaudová, Eliška: ''Josef Berg. Personálni bibliografie.'' Státní vědecká knihovna, Brno 1987. - personal bibliography * Opus musicum, 1987, no. 2. - issue of music periodical completely dedicated to Josef Berg * Hrabal, František (ed.): ''Josef Berg. Texty.'' Panton, Prague 1988. - anthology of Josef Berg's texts and poems * Lébl, Vladimír: ''Zpráva o večeru Josefa Berga.'' in: Konserva/Na hudbu 1992, no. 4. * Štědroň, Miloš: ''Josef Berg - skladatel mezi hudbou, literaturou a divadlem.'' Masaryk university, Brno 1992. - monograph * Kofroň, Petr: ''Josef Berg předvádí happening.'' in: Třináct analýz, H&H 1993, p. 53-60. * Šťastný, Jaroslav: ''Josef Berg a jeho Snění.'' JAMU, Brno 2002 - monograph.

External links

English link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Josef 1927 births 1971 deaths 20th-century classical composers Czech classical composers Czech male classical composers Czech opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from Brno 20th-century Czech male musicians Brno Conservatory alumni