Wozzeck by Alban Berg correlations between text and music in opera

Abstract

This thesis is about the opera Wozzeck by Alban Berg and how this second Viennese school composer creates correlations between text and music. To provide a background on which to stand, I have supplied my reader with the historical context for Alban Berg and his opera Wozzeck. I have as well included the historical context of the play on which the opera is based, Woyzeck, as well as the life and times of its playwright, Georg Büchner. I have found leitmotifs, atonal and tonal contrasts, and musical foreshadowing. As well, I have examined the varied vocal techniques used throughout the opera such as sprechstimme, sprechgesang and pure operatic singing. These musical elements have been put in correlation with the text to make the discoveries within Alban Berg's opera.In this thesis I have used two methods for collecting data. Both of these methods are phenomenological methods as they stem from personal experiences of the material at hand. The first of the two methods involved participating observation while the second involved a qualitative interview. These are presented as an interview with Hanna Dóra Sturludottir as well as a look at each individual scene of the opera and what is happening, with the previously mentioned elements in mind. At the end I discuss the legitimacy of my thesis and the research I have done.