The Secret Love Affair Hidden in Alban Berg’s “Lyric Suite”

Austrian composer Alban Berg (1885 – 1935) has a relatively small oeuvre, writing only a dozen or so major compositions in his life. However, each piece captures an entire world of emotion and structure and has a fascinating backstory, including one piece that has a secret love affair embedded in the music. Berg’s Lyric Suite is a highly expressive string quartet that was written in 1926. It wasn’t until 50 years later, that musicologists discovered that the piece actually contained a secret dedication and a hidden narrative of Berg’s love affair with Hanna Fuchs-Robettin.