Theodor Berger
Theodor Berger ( born May 18, 1905 in Traismauer, Lower Austria, † August 21, 1992 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer.
Life
Theodor Berger came from poor conditions and had, therefore, in his childhood also little opportunity to deal with music. As part of his teacher training he became aware at the age of 17 years, his true vocation as a composer. Through the support of some families begüteter he was able to study at the Vienna Academy of Music from 1926 to 1932 with Franz Schmidt, but described himself later as always " self-taught " because he had developed his musical language largely self.
In 1932 he went to Berlin; he became recognized by Wilhelm Furtwängler as a young talent and encouraged performances and recommendations at home and abroad. In 1939 he returned to Vienna and lived there, apart from a few extended stays in Germany and the USA, up to his death as a freelance composer. Friends linked him with fellow composer Miklós Rózsa like, Marcel Rubin, Joseph Marx, Samuel Barber and Werner Egk.
Despite its multiple awards with medals, awards and titles, it was pretty quiet around Theodor Berger since about 1965. Continuous lobbying for his works on the powerful in the business, political and media was annoying him and his independence from any "school" soon made him an outsider of the music sound. This was also reinforced by his in the last decades of life, more and more noticeable tendency to neurasthenia, which made it almost impossible for him to contact with the " mass ".
Music style
Berger was his life falling into any of the major trends in contemporary music. The distinctively personal musical language is rich in nuances, iridescent on often polychord level between consonance and dissonance and often stylistically linked to the musical impressionism. Important elements were also impressions of nature and art (see " Impressions " for orchestra, op.8 ). Also, a certain influence of Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók is unmistakable. His teacher Franz Schmidt commented once laconically: " Are yes no bad addresses that you turn to there."
With musical airiness Theodor Berger processed in masterful orchestration his nature experiences. Orchestral music was his very own profession, although already betrayed the early works in the field of chamber music its distinctive style. Conductors of world renown such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Erich Kleiber, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Rafael Kubelik, Erich Kleiber, Bernard Haitink, Josef Krips, Zubin Mehta, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Antal Doráti, Sergiu Celibidache and others have conducted his works, last especially Horst Stein.
Awards
Works
(Selection)
- String Quartet Op 2 in the old style in eE (1932 )
- Rondino Giocoso, op 4, for string orchestra (1933 )
- Malinconia, Opus 5, for string orchestra (1933 )
- Impressions, op 8, Six Little Tone-Pictures for Orchestra (1938 /46)
- Rhapsodic Duo, Op 9, for violin, cello and orchestra (1939 )
- Chronique Symphonique, Op 10, for orchestra (1940 /53)
- Legend of Prince Eugene, Opus 11, for orchestra ( 1941)
- Homeric Symphony, for orchestra ( 1948) Music for a film to Kling ends banks, with Curd Jürgens (1948 )