Alban Berg Violin Concerto ~ To the Memory of an Angel

Alban Berg Concerto for violin and orchestra ~ To the memory of an angel (1935) I. Andante – Allegretto 10:37 II. Allegro, ma sempre rubato, frei wie eine Kadenz – Adagio Henryk Szering, violin Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Rafael Kubelik, conductor Painting: Louis Janmot, The Soul’s Flight, Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts When Berg received a commission for a concerto from the violinist Louis Krasner in January 1935, he was busy working on Lulu and set the commission aside. On April 22 of that year, the beloved daughter of his friend Alma Mahler, Manon Gropius, died at the age of 18, and Berg ceased work on the opera to compose his Violin Concerto as a memorial. Working at an unusually fast pace, Berg completed the score by August 11, though did not live to hear its premiere in April 1936. [...]. As with many of Berg’s pieces, the concerto follows a program governed by a strict formal design. The four movements are may be grouped into two parts of two movem