The Kammerkonzert für Klavier und Geige mit 13 Bläsern (Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments) is a piece of chamber music composed by Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1923 and 1925. The short score was completed on 9 February 1925; the full score was finished on 23 July 1925. The work was premiered on 19 March 1927.

Structure

The work is scored for piano and violin soloists accompanied by a wind ensemble of 13: piccolo, flute,

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

, English horn, E clarinet, A clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, two

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, and

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

. It is in three movements: According to ''AllMusic'', the concerto is "remarkable for the thoroughness of its organization; that is, it was composed with rigorous attention to minute details, and its structure is derived from a series of complex mathematical relationships. For example, the first movement's 240 measures consist of 30 and 60 measure variations, the second is 240 measures, and the third is the length of the previous two at 480 measures."Carpenter, Alexander (2005). "Alban Berg", ''All Music Guide to Classical Music: The Definitive Guide to Classical Music'', p.140. Hal Leonard. .

I. ''Thema scherzoso con variazioni''

The first movement involves mainly the piano and the 13 wind instruments (with a brief appearance by the solo violin). For the theme of the movement, Berg uses German notation to musically spell out the names of himself and his two friends and fellow members of the Second Viennese School: :

ArnolD SCHönBErG Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

→ A-D-E-C-B-B-E-G :

Anton wEBErn Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...

→ A-E-B-E : AlBAn BErG → A-B-A-B-E-G The work was composed for

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's 50th birthday, and it is his "name" that Berg creates a 12-note row out of, prefixing it by the 'missing' notes of the chromatic scale. This theme is then treated to five variations, using the common manipulations of

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

: *Var. 1 -

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

*Var. 2 - Retrograde *Var. 3 -

Inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...

*Var. 4 -

Retrograde inversion Retrograde inversion is a musical term that literally means "backwards and upside down": "The inverse of the series is sounded in reverse order." Retrograde reverses the order of the motif's pitches: what was the first pitch becomes the last, and ...

II. ''Adagio''

The second movement is a large palindrome, using primarily the Prime form of the row in the first half and the Retrograde row in the second half. The movement focuses primarily on the solo violin and 13 winds, though the turning point of the palindrome is marked by a brief appearance of the solo piano. In 1935, Berg arranged this movement as a separate piece for piano, violin and clarinet.

III. ''Rondo ritmico con introduzione''

The third movement involves both soloists and the ensemble, and is a large rondo based on a returning rhythmic, rather than melodic, idea. Berg layers material from the first and second movements on top of each other in this final movement. There is an extremely large repeat of almost 175 measures in the movement that is often omitted in performances and recordings.

Structure

I. ''Thema scherzoso con variazioni''

II. ''Adagio''

III. ''Rondo ritmico con introduzione''

References

Further reading