Wozzeck - Composition History

Composition History

Though Berg began work on the opera in 1914, he was delayed by the start of World War I and it was not until he was on leave from his regiment in 1917 and 1918 that he was able to devote his attention to it. Completing Act 1 by the summer of 1919, Act 2 in August 1921, and the final act during the following two months (with orchestration finalized over the following six months), Wozzeck was completed in April 1922.

Erich Kleiber, "who programmed (the opera) on his own initiative" conducted the world premiere at the Berlin State Opera on 14 December 1925. Walsh claims that it was "a succès de scandale with disturbances during the performance and a mixed press afterwards, but it led to a stream of productions in Germany and Austria, before the Nazis consigned it to the dustbin of 'decadent art' after 1933". Initially, Wozzeck established a solid place for itself in the mainstream operatic tradition and quickly became so well-established in the repertoire of the major European opera houses that Berg found himself able to live a comfortable life off the royalties. He spent a good deal of his time through the 1920s and 30s travelling to attend performances and to give talks about the opera.