ABSTRACT
But Berg’s vast importance-so obvious in the present day-became generally known only long after the composer’s death in 1935. Before the 1960s DQGV KHZDVZLGHO\ UHJDUGHG DV DPLQRU¿JXUHZKR OHIW UHODWLYHO\ IHZ works, which were either imitations of Schoenberg or confused by allegiances to both the romantic and modern periods. His teacher, Arnold Schoenberg, although sensitive to Berg’s talent, was almost certainly unaware of his student’s true importance. Following World War II, as works by Schoenberg and Webern became models for the emerging European and American avant-garde, relatively few observers rated Berg’s oeuvre at the same high level as others in the Second 9LHQQHVH6FKRRO¿QGLQJ LWPRUHRID URPDQWLFDWDYLVP WKDQDPRGHO IRU WKH future.
