1885
Alban (Albano Maria Johannes) Berg is born in Vienna on 9 February. His parents are Conrad Berg (1846–1900), who sells books and devotional objects, and Johanna Berg (née Braun, 1851–1926). Alban has three siblings: Hermann (1872–1921), Carl (Charly/Charley, 1881–1952) and Smaragda (1886–1954).
1895
Enters secondary school at the Oberrealschule, Schottenbastei, in Vienna’s 1st district (Innere Stadt).
Around 1900
First attempts at composition (piano music, songs).
1901–1908
Composes over 80 songs.
1904
After problems at school and an unsuccessful first attempt at his Matura school-leaving examinations, Berg passes at the second attempt and starts work as a trainee accountant at the Lower Austria “Statthalterei” (similar to the civil service).
Begins lessons with Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951), initially at Eugenie Schwarzwald’s school, then receives private instruction in counterpoint and music theory from Schönberg. Meets Anton Webern (1883–1945) for the first time.
1905
Attends a performance of Frank Wedekind’s play Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora’s Box) in Vienna.
1906
Permanent employment at the Lower Austria “Statthalterei”; an inheritance allows Berg to devote himself entirely to music, without the need to earn a living.
1907
Starts taking “proper” composition lessons with Schönberg.
In a concert by Schönberg’s students, first (semi-)public performance of Berg’s Fugue with Two Themes for String Quintet with Piano Accompaniment, and also three songs.
Meets Helene Nahowski (1885–1976) for the first time.
1908
Performance of the Twelve Variations and Finale on an Original Theme for piano in C major in a concert by Schönberg’s students in the Großer Musikvereinssaal, Vienna.
1908–1910
Composes the Four Songs, Op. 2 based on texts by Friedrich Hebbel and Alfred Mombert.
1909
Composes the Piano Sonata, Op. 1.
1909/10
Composes the String Quartet, Op. 3.
1910
Berg pays for printing of the Piano Sonata, Op. 1 and the Four Songs, Op. 2 in Berlin and designs his own calligraphical majuscule typeface for this purpose.
1911
Premiere of the Piano Sonata, Op. 1 and the String Quartet, Op. 3.
Marries Helene Nahowski, moves into the apartment at Trauttmansdorffgasse 27 in Vienna’s 13th district (Hietzing).
Schönberg moves to Berlin; Berg starts to teach – Schönberg sends several students to Berg. Begins working extensively as a music editor and writer for Schönberg, including for the book Arnold Schönberg (Munich 1912).
1912
Composes the Five Orchestral Songs to Picture Postcard Texts by Peter Altenberg, Op. 4.
1913
Guide to Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder.
Two of the Five Orchestral Songs to Picture Postcard Texts by Peter Altenberg, Op. 4 are premiered alongside works by Zemlinsky, Schönberg, Webern and Mahler (“Scandal Concert”).
Composes the Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5.
Begins work on a symphony (unfinished).
1913–15
Composes the Three Orchestra Pieces [Op. 6].
1914
Attends a performance of Georg Büchner’s incomplete play Wozzeck [Woyzeck].
1915
Conscription to military service, from 1916 office work at the War Ministry, Vienna.
1918
Thematic analysis of Schönberg’s Chamber Symphony, Op. 9.
Berg is appointed board member, organizer, programme planner and “rehearsal coach” [Vortragsmeister] for Schönberg’s Society for Private Musical Performances.
1919
Short thematic analysis of Schönberg’s Pelleas und Melisande (the long version remains unprinted at the time).
1920
Die musikalische Impotenz der „Neuen Ästhetik” Hans Pfitzners [The musical impotence of Hans Pfitzner’s “New Aesthetics”] is published in the Musikblätter des Anbruch, for which Berg also works briefly as an editor.
Works on an (uncompleted) Schönberg monograph.
His String Quartet, Op. 3 and the Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 are printed at his own expense.
1921–1922
Completes Wozzeck [Op. 7], whose piano reduction is self-published.
1923
Two of the Three Orchestra Pieces [Op. 6] are premiered at the Austrian Music Week in Berlin.
Performance of the String Quartet, Op. 3 at the 1st Chamber Music Festival organized by the International Society for Contemporary Music (IGNM) in Salzburg.
Signs publishing contract with Universal-Edition.
1924
Premiere of the Three Fragments from Wozzeck at the 54th Tonkünstlerfest [Musicians’ Festival] of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein in Frankfurt am Main.
Receives Art Award from the City of Vienna.
1925
Completes the Chamber Concerto for piano and violin with thirteen wind instruments (from this composition onwards, Berg stops adding opus numbers to his new works), dedicated to Arnold Schönberg in an open letter published in the journal Pult und Taktstock.
Premiere of Wozzeck [Op. 7] in Berlin.
Berg writes his first composition on the basis of a twelve-tone row – his second setting of Schließe mir die Augen beide (Storm).
1926
Completes the Lyric Suite for string quartet (premiered 1927 in Vienna).
1927/28
Begins work on the opera Lulu (1st act completed in 1931 [without prologue], 2nd act completed in 1933, short score of all three acts completed in 1934).
1928
Premiere of the Seven Early Songs.
1929
Composition of the concert aria Der Wein based on poems by Charles Baudelaire in the adaptation by Stefan George; the work is commissioned by the soprano Ružena Herlinger.
1930
Associate member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin (at Schönberg’s recommendation).
1932
Purchases the “Waldhaus” [woodland house] in Auen near Velden (Carinthia).
1934
Premiere of the Symphonic Pieces from the Opera Lulu in Berlin.
Autograph of Wozzeck purchased by the Library of Congress (Washington D.C.), with Schönberg acting as an intermediary.
1935
Composition of the Violin Concerto, commissioned by violinist Louis Krasner (1903–1995).
Alban Berg dies on 24 December in Vienna.