Review of Alban Berg and Peter Altenberg: Intimate art and the aesthetics of life

Abstract

The importance of literature to Berg in the creation of his artistic world has generally been underestimated. Richard Engländer (Peter Altenberg) was especially influential on the young Berg through their friendship, Berg's reading of Altenberg's work, and the relationship of Berg's future wife with both men. Not only is a full understanding of the Altenberg Texte auf Ansichtskarten crucial to the interpretation of Berg's Altenberg Lieder, but Altenberg's peculiar approaches to literary autobiography and vision of the role of women provided a model for Berg for this and subsequent works. Berg extracted five short texts from Altenberg's full texts and rearranged them in a way that had special aesthetic and personal significance. Important aspects of Berg's musical setting related directly to his treatment of the texts.