The critical edition of Alban Berg’s first opera Wozzeck published as part of the Alban Berg Complete Edition presents one of the key works of music theatre in the early 20th century for the first time in a form that reflects the composer’s intentions in the best possible manner, based on modern scholarly principles. After the full score was printed, Berg made a series of corrections in response to numerous performances, such as the first performance at Vienna State Opera in 1930. All of these variants have been taken into account for this edition. With an innovative graphical approach, containing a number of peculiarities as entered by Berg himself – for instance, the use of coloured notation for the stage music and positioning the chamber music ensembles prominently in the score. As the composer’s specifications were followed precisely in terms of the visual appearance as well, this opens up new conceptual and interpretation approaches for future performances and reflections.

ALBAN BERG. SÄMTLICHE WERKE. I. ABTEILUNG. MUSIKALISCHE WERKE, Band 1: Wozzeck, ed. Klaus Lippe, Universal Edition UE 18 151, ISMN 979-0-008-09114-8, UPC 8-03452-07491-5, ISBN 978-3-7024-7781-3, Universal Edition Vienna 2023