ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the stylistic boundaries of jazz and details few compositions by Alban Berg to demonstrate how to develop a new jazz repertory. Two compositions by Alban Berg, "Schlaffend tragt," No. 2 of his Vier Lieder aus "Der Gluhende," Op. 2 and the Violin Concerto, serve to demonstrate how these pieces can be transformed, recomposed and/or deconstructed to forge a stylistic merger in the jazz idiom. The idea of musical borrowing has been very popular in jazz, as composers frequently appropriate chord progressions from different standard tunes to write their own compositions. Known as contrafacts, these compositions constitute an important subset of jazz repertory. The opportunity to adapt classical repertory into the jazz idiom offers a chance to find one's musical voice and to expand one's repertory. The treatment of Berg's song retains the original melody but harmonizes it with a vocabulary typical of more contemporary jazz styles.
