Pro Mundo - Pro Domo

Pro Mundo - Pro Domo: The Writings of Alban Berg contains new English translations of the complete writings of the Viennese composer Alban Berg (1885-1935) and extensive commentaries tracing the history of each essay and its connection to musical culture of the early twentieth century. Berg is now recognized as a classic composer of the modern period, best known for his operas Wozzeck and Lulu. Berg, Anton Webern, and their teacher Arnold Schoenberg constitute the "Second Viennese School" which played a major role in the transformation of serious music as it entered the modern period. Berg was an avid and skillful writer. His essays include analytic studies of compositions by Schoenberg, polemics on music and musicians of his day, and lectures and miscellaneous writings on a variety of topics. Throughout his considerable and diverse corpus of writings, Berg alternates between two perspectives: Pro Mundo - Pro Domo, meaning roughly "speaking for all - speaking for myself" commenting at one moment on the general state of culture and the world, and the next moment on his own works. In his early years he also tried his hand at fictional writing, using works by Ibsen and Strindberg as models. This new English edition contains 47 essays, many of which are little known and have not been previously available in English.

Bryan R. Simms is Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of Southern California.

Introduction
THE SCHOENBERG GUIDESArnold Schoenberg, Gurrelieder: GuideArnold Schoenberg, Chamber Symphony, Op. 9: Thematic AnalysisPelleas and Melisande (after the drama by Maurice Maeterlinck). Symphonic Poem for Orchestra, by Arnold Schoenberg, Op. 5: Thematic AnalysisPelleas and Melisande (after the drama by Maurice Maeterlinck). Symphonic Poem for Orchestra, by Arnold Schoenberg, Op. 5: Brief Thematic AnalysisCommentary on the Schoenberg Guides
ESSAYS, LECTURES, AND ANALYSESThe Musical Impotence of Hans Pfitzner's Die neue AesthetikVienna's Music Criticism: Two FeuilletonsThe Musical Forms in My Opera WozzeckWhy Is Schoenberg's Music So Difficult to Understand?Alban Berg's Chamber Concerto: An Open LetterCommitted Response to a Noncommittal SurveyTwo Analyses of the Lyric SuiteComposition with Twelve TonesNine Pages on the Lyric SuiteIntroducing Ernst KrenekThe "Problem of Opera": Pro Mundo - Pro DomoVoice in OperaWhat Is Atonal? A DialogLecture on Wozzeck: The "Atonal Opera"CredoA Few Remarks on Staging the Opera WozzeckCommemorative Address for Emil HertzkaCommentary on Essays, Lectures, and Analyses
TRIBUTESThe TeacherOn Willem Mengelberg and the Concertgebouw OrchestraOn the Hundredth Anniversary of Franz Schubert's DeathFor Adolf Loos: Double Acrostic Distich for the Tenth of DecemberOn Winfried ZilligTo Karl KrausHandel and BachFaith, Hope, and Love: For Schoenberg's Sixtieth BirthdayCommentary on Tributes
INTERVIEWSWith the Composer of Wozzeck: A Conversation with Alban Berg, by Carl MarilaunA Chat with Alban Berg, by Oskar BaumConversation with Alban Berg: Impressions from a Wozzeck Performance in Leningrad, by "Iron"A Conversation with Alban Berg, by Oskar JanckeCritique of the Critique: Conversation with Alban Berg and Clemens Krauss, by Otto König"We spoke today with Alban Berg. . . "Commentary on Interviews
FICTIONAL WORKSHannaA Mining DramaNight (Nocturne): Preliminary Plan, Notes for the MonodramaCommentary on Fictional Works
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGSAn Appeal for SchoenbergOn Mahler's Ninth SymphonyTwo Prospectuses for the Society for Private Musical PerformancesLetter from ViennaQuestions About JazzOpera TheaterOn Reopening the Vienna VolksoperShould Wagner Stagings Be Modernized?On Composition with Twelve-Tone RowsCommentary on Miscellaneous Writings