"Wozzeck", the opera by Alban Berg  

After some background on Berg and the opera, with selected musical themes, we'll view excerpts of the opera.  

Alban Berg, in Modern Music, (November-December 1927), pp. 22ff :

"What I do consider my particular accomplishment is this. No one in the audience, no matter how aware he may be of the musical forms contained in the framework of the opera, of the precision and logic with which it has been worked out, no one, from the moment the curtain parts until it closes for the last time, pays any attention to the various fugues, inventions, suites, sonata movements, variations, and passacaglias about which so much has been written. No one gives heed to anything but the vast social implications of the work which by far transcend the personal destiny of Wozzeck. This, I believe, is my achievement. "

A must-read: In the article "A Word About Wozzeck" (2 pages) by Alban Berg, he contradicts those who would have him "reform" opera, and also explains why he used classical forms throughout the opera, and why that's unimportant for the listener (see quotation above). 

Supplementary Material

Articles of interest:

• A Guide to Alban Berg's Wozzeck  (17 pages)  1932 article by Willi Reich

• Some Thoughts on Wozzeck   (8 pages)  by Eric Blackall

• Woyzeck and Wozzeck  (16 pages)  by George Perle, musicologist. This became a chapter in his book "The Operas of Alban Berg - Volume One / Wozzeck"

• Alban Berg's Wozzeck  a Classical Notes webpage with a description and analysis of the opera (2003)