Erinnerung stiften. HELENE BERG und das Erbe Alban Bergs, eds. Daniel Ender, Martin Eybl and Melanie Unseld, Universal Edition Vienna, UE 26335, ISBN 978-3-7024-7574-1, 210 pages, richly illustrated, EUR 29.65
In May 1911, at the age of 25, Helene Nahowska – a trained singer – married the ambitious composer Alban Berg. When he died in 1935, she was 50 years of age. She outlived him by more than 40 years and, as his widow, she saw herself faced with the task of ensuring that her husband and his artistic legacy would be stamped indelibly on cultural memory and the reception of musical culture. Her work as the composer’s widow and her handling of Alban Berg’s legacy are explored in this conference publication.