'O Master of Secret Configurations': reflections on the Adorno/Berg correspondence [Review article]

This is an in-depth review of Theodor Adorno & Alban Berg: Correspondence: 1925–1935, edited by Henri Lonitz (Polity, 2005). The article explores the numerous musical contexts, and socio-political and cultural backgrounds to the letters between the composer and his pupil, Adorno. Among these are the numerous attempts by Adorno to influence Berg’s creative decisions through attempts to inject political agency into his work. The broader political currents of the war years, especially those affecting the Jewish community, are overviewed in the letters and the article exposes surprising elements of anti-Semitism among certain members of the establishment in Britain. The role of the Frankfurt School is highlighted and a evaluation is offered of Adorno’s obsession with castigating Stravinsky and neo-classicism. Finally, Adorno’s confusion regarding Berg’s Violin Concerto, which was interpreted by the former as a type of betrayal of serialism’s mission, is exposed and critiqued.

Vol. 148, No. 1899 (Summer, 2007), pp. 89-102