BISQC Blog:

Day Two: Connecting with Berg’s Lyric Suite

Posted by Christy Mackintosh
Tuesday, 31 August 2010

Ok, I admit it, I shudder when I see the name Alban Berg on a concert program. I feel the same way about Arnold Schoenberg and Alfred Schnittke, whose surname makes me want to say Gesundheit!

I know this isn’t very open-minded, which is why I appreciated the opportunity to reconsider my position during this morning’s riff on early twentieth century repertoire, given by the energetic and always entertaining Geoff Nuttall.

Geoff Nuttall, string quartet addict. Photo by Don Lee. Click photo to enlarge.

“Hi, I’m Geoff Nuttall, and I play in a string quartet,” he began, referring to the shared addiction our resident audience has to string quartets, and confessing his fear of speaking to a room full of experts (addicts) who likely know more about twentieth century repertoire than he does.

He proceeded to draw the many connections between the composers we would hear today. For instance, Berg dedicated his Lyric Suite to Zemlinsky, whose Lyric Symphony he quotes. Berg used methods from Schoenberg’s atonal twelve-tone technique, and Schoenberg, well, he married Zemlinksy’s sister. These guys all knew each other, and their compositions form an ongoing conversation. Unfortunately, without musicological mentorship and experience, these conversations tend to leave the uninitiated ear out in the cold, searching for the comforting warmth of a melody.

Which brought up the question: does it help to know the story behind the work?

Apparently, among the experts, this is a subject of debate, but I think we can all agree that expanding one’s frame of reference enhances our musical experiences. Thinking of Berg’s Lyric Suite as an opera about a romantic affair that blossoms, blooms wildly, then unravels into despair… well, that’s a story we can identify with; it’s just being told in a different way, which is what — if you’re open to it — is what makes twentieth century music so compelling.

“Think of [Lyric Suite] as an emotional journey with rising stakes,” Norman Fischer advised me.

So I sat in the Eric Harvie Theatre, leaning into Berg with my new set of ears.

I listened not for melody, but all the other things — ponticello (the “insect music” Nuttall described as the jealous husband), glissando, the players struggling against the mute, and the unraveling of sound caused by bowing on the bridge — and I felt the story.

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Our intrepid BISQC blogger, Christy Mackintosh, is a music lover and freelance writer who lives and works in Banff. She holds degrees in piano performance and English literature, is a contributor to Calgary’s Fast Forward Weekly, has written features for The Globe and Mail, and is working on her first book. She recently participated in The Banff Centre’s Literary Journalism program, where (it could happen to you!) she got a little too used to the buffet at Vistas. She looks forward to feasting of all kinds throughout the exciting week ahead.

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