- Berg is one of a handful of composers who are able to create the rare experience of enchanted silence in their music – Berg's Flute Concerto No.1 Op.70 contains several such moments. Even though his tools are a "conventional" orchestra using "conventional" instruments, an unreal atmosphere of calm and celestial flight arises. One of the most fascinating aspects in this regard is that he does not use any minimalist or modernist devices at all; he simply allows the music and its inner qualities to speak in full. In our current age of constant hectic activity, where it is barely permitted to think a complete thought, music such as this is of the greatest importance: it gives the listener the chance to experience time as a benefit and not as a punishment. The concerto is dedicated to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's eminent flautist Emily Beynon, and it received its premier performance in London in February 2009. Wolfgang Plagge
Pastorale Op.32 #1 is an apparently bright and care-free composition which only after a while begins to worry us – this is due to the elegant use of bitonality which gives the piece a veritable Janus face.
We are treated to another example of Berg's compositional ambiguity – one of the principal elements of his music – in a work which is open to interpretation in any direction. The home key is F, constantly "undermined" by C sharp minor and D flat major tonalities.
Wolfgang Plagge - text from the FLUTE MYSTERY booklet.
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