Violin Concerto

Album: Violin Concerto - Chamber Concerto (1935)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This moving and consoling work is probably Austrian composer Alban Berg's best known and most frequently performed piece. The concerto was composed in response to the tragic death from polio of Manon Gropiys, the 18-year-old daughter of the composer's friends Alma Mahler (once Gustav Mahler's wife) and the architect Walter Gropius. Berg famously dedicated it "to the memory of an angel."
  • Berg worked on the concerto very quickly, completing it within a few months. The score is dated August 11, 1935 and it was the last work that Berg completed as the 50-year-old composer died a few months later on December 24, 1935 of blood poisoning caused by an insect bite. The concerto was posthumously premiered on April 19, 1936, in Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian OrchestraSongwriter Interviews

Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.