Wilhelm Reinhard Berger (9 August 1861 – 16 January 1911) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

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, ja ...

and conductor.

Life

Berger's father, originally a merchant from

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, worked in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

(where Berger was born) as a music shopkeeper and made a name for himself as an author after the family had returned to Bremen in 1862. Early on, his son showed signs of musical interest and aptitude. By the time of his first concert, age fourteen, Wilhelm had already composed a large number of songs and works for the piano. Between 1878 and 1884, Berger studied at the Royal Conservatory in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, under

Ernst Rudorff Ernst Friedrich Karl Rudorff (January 18, 1840 – December 31, 1916) was a German composer and music teacher, also a founder of nature protection movement. Biography Born in Berlin, Rudorff studied piano under Woldemar Bargiel from 1852 to 1857 ...

(

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

) and

Friedrich Kiel Friedrich Kiel (8 October 182113 September 1885) was a German composer and music teacher. Writing of the chamber music of Friedrich Kiel, the scholar and critic Wilhelm Altmann notes that it was Kiel’s extreme modesty which kept him and his e ...

(

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

). From 1888 to 1903, he was a teacher at the

Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory The Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory (german: Klindworth-Scharwenka-Konservatorium) was a music institute in Berlin, established in 1893, which for decades (until 1960) was one of the most internationally renowned schools of music. It was formed f ...

, a function which he combined, from 1899, with the chief conductorship of the Berlin Musical Society. In addition, he was very active as a concert pianist. In 1903, Berger was made a member of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Royal Academy of Arts, and in the same year he was appointed 'Hofkapellmeister' in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

as successor of

Fritz Steinbach Fritz Steinbach (17 June 1855 – 13 August 1916) was a German conductor and composer who was particularly associated with the works of Johannes Brahms. Born in Grünsfeld, he was the brother of conductor Emil Steinbach. He studied at the Leipz ...

. In 1911 he died at

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

, aged 49, due to complications after a stomach operation.

Musical style

Like most of the composers from the circle of the 'Berlin Academics', Berger developed a great mastery of music theory. Stylistically, his music is very close to that of

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

, even though it almost hints at the later works of

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

(who was to become Berger's successor as Meiningen Kapellmeister) through its preference for dissonant harmony and

techniques. Berger was a prolific composer - his oeuvre numbers well over a hundred works. The Piano Quintet, Op. 95, the Second Symphony and the late compositions for

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

are generally considered to be his masterpieces. Long after his death, his work was rated very highly, particularly among musical conservatives.

Wilhelm Altmann Wilhelm Altmann (4 April 1862 – 25 March 1951) was a German historian and musicologist. Altmann was born in Adelnau (Odolanów), Province of Posen, and died in Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in ...

wrote very positively about Berger in the third volume of his influential ''Manual for String Quartet Players'' (''Handbuch für Streichquartettspieler'').

Selected works

Choral Music

*Sechs Gesänge für gem. Chor op. 25 **Es schleicht um Busch und Halde **Im Fliederbusch **Leise rauscht des Lebens Welle **Ständchen **Trost der Nacht **Wie nun alles stirbt und endet *Drei Gesänge for mixed Chorus op. 44 **Ach in diesen blauen Tagen **Lenzfahrt **Niss Puk *Vier geistliche Lieder und Gesänge op. 54 **Mitten wir im Leben sind **Müde, das Lebensboot weiter zu steuern **Groß ist der Herr **Gebet *Drei Gesänge für 6- und 8-stimmigen Chor op. 103 **Karfreitag **Sturmesmythe **Von ferne klingen Glocken (all recorde
2006, Berlin

Orchestral

*Symphony No. 1 in B flat major op. 71 *Symphony No. 2 in B minor (H-moll) op. 80 *Variations and Fugue on an original Theme, op. 97 *Serenade for Twelve Wind Players, op. 102

Chamber music

*Violin Sonata No. 1, op. 7 *Piano Quartet in A major, op. 21 *Cello Sonata in D minor, op. 28 *Violin Sonata No. 2, op. 29 *String Trio in G minor, op.69 (1898) *Violin Sonata No. 3 in G minor, op. 70 *String Quintet in E minor, op. 75 (1899)

(1903) *Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 95 *Piano Quartet in C minor, op. 10

Piano Music

*Sonata in B major, op. 76 *Four Fugues, op. 89 *Variations & Fugue on an original theme, op. 91

RISM RISM may refer to: * Répertoire International des Sources Musicales * Directive 2008/96/EC on road infrastructure safety management {{disambig ...

br>online
lists 157 (as of August 2016) manuscript/early print entries of works by Wilhelm Reinhard Berger, including an autograph of a different (fragmentary?) piano trio in G minor, a fragmentary cello sonata, a concertpiece for piano and orchestra in E minor, 71 kinderlieder, and other works, many of these in the library of the Max-Reger-Archiv,