Wozzeck - Different Versions and Others With The Same Title

Different Versions and Others With The Same Title

There are several different versions of Wozzeck in the opera repertoire, apart from Berg's own. One is an arrangement for twenty-two singers and twenty-one instrumental parts, realized and arranged by the Montreal composer John Rea. It is published by Universal Edition of Vienna. Another version, which reduces the orchestra to about 60 players for smaller theaters, was prepared by composer and fellow Schoenberg-student Erwin Stein in collaboration with Berg. (This version is also available from Universal Edition.) Wozzeck is also the title of an opera by German composer Manfred Gurlitt, also based on the Büchner play and first performed four months after Berg's composition. Gurlitt's work, which was created without any knowledge of Berg's, has since remained in its shadow.