Composer

:

Alban Berg

Genre

:

Vocal

Style

:

Vocal Music

Compose Date

:

ca. 1904

Average_duration

:

2:26

Alban Berg's "Traum" is a single-movement work for soprano and orchestra, composed in 1908. The piece was premiered in Vienna on March 18, 1911, with soprano Marie Gutheil-Schoder and the Vienna Court Opera Orchestra conducted by Franz Schreker. The piece is based on a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, which describes a dream in which the speaker sees a beautiful woman who is both alluring and terrifying. The music reflects the shifting moods of the poem, with lush, romantic melodies giving way to dissonant, unsettling harmonies. The piece begins with a haunting, ethereal introduction, featuring shimmering strings and delicate woodwind solos. The soprano enters with a soaring melody, accompanied by lush, romantic harmonies. As the dream becomes more unsettling, the music becomes more dissonant and fragmented, with jagged rhythms and angular melodies. The climax of the piece features a powerful vocal line, accompanied by a dense, complex orchestral texture. The music gradually subsides, returning to the ethereal opening material, as the dreamer awakens from the dream. Overall, "Traum" is a highly expressive and emotionally charged work, showcasing Berg's mastery of orchestration and his ability to convey complex emotions through music. It is a significant early work in Berg's oeuvre, foreshadowing the more complex and challenging works he would go on to compose in the years to come.

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