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Alban Berg: A Guide to Primary and Secondary Resources at the Library of Congress

Published Music

The Music Division holds both more recent and early editions of Berg's music. Find them by searching in the Library of Congress Online Catalog using the Library of Congress Classification Schedule. The sections on this page highlight published scores of Berg's music that offer research interest, including facsimiles and critical editions.

Case Study: Published Wozzeck scores

Find a variety of published scores of Berg's music in the Music Division's collections. The scores for the opera Wozzeck provide an illuminating example of their potential research use.

In addition to the holograph manuscript (See the "Music Manuscripts" page of this research guide), the Music Division holds both early and later editions for Wozzeck. The following titles offer a representative sample and link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Facsimiles

The Music Division holds published facsimile reproductions for Berg manuscripts held by other institutions.

The manuscripts for both works are held by the Wiener Stadt-und Landesbibliothek in Austria. Find more facsimiles by searching in the Library's Online Catalog or by browsing the catalog under the call number ML96.5 .B495.

Critical Editions

Begun in 1994, the Sämtliche Werke for Alban Berg includes all works and arrangements by the composer. In the 1980s, Universal Edition, with the support of the Alban Berg Foundation, began to publish Berg's student compositions. Berg's wife Helene had not allowed their publication during her lifetime. These editions laid the groundwork for the Berg critical edition to begin in the 1990s.

The Sämtliche Werke includes some of Berg's study compositions that were written while he studied with the composer Arnold Schoenberg. Also included are Berg's numerous so-called youth songs. The edition is divided into three sections:

  • Musical Works (works that Berg himself published, the performance of which he had performed or requested)
  • Musical Estate (youth works and works written in the classroom up to those that to a certain extent mark the completion of his composition studies with Schoenberg)
  • Musical Writings and poems (Berg's musical writings)

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available. Request and view volumes of the Sämtliche Werke critical edition in the Performing Arts Reading Room.