"Der Wein" (The Wine) is aconcert aria forsoprano and orchestra, composed in 1929 byAlban Berg. The lyrics are fromStefan George's translation of three poems fromCharles Baudelaire'sLes Fleurs du mal, as is the secret text of Berg'sLyric Suite:[1] "Die Seele des Weines" (The Wine's Soul), "Der Wein der Liebenden" (The Wine of Lovers), and "Der Wein des Einsamen" (The Wine of the Lonely One). The aria was commissioned by and dedicated toRuzena Herlinger.[2] She andHermann Scherchen premiered it inKönigsberg on 4 June 1930.
The piece includes aparody of atango (bars 39, 181) and includes analto saxophone.[1] Thetone row contains a complete ascendingDharmonic minor scale and the remaining five notes are ordered so that in the inverted form theyarpeggiate ajazzyadded sixth chord withblue third (G, F, D♭, D, B♭).[1][contradictory] The centralsonority of the work, as characteristic of Berg's later music, comprisestriads separated byhalf an octave: F and B♮ (in German: H) superimposed over a low D♭.[1] These two letter names, H and F, are presumably a reference toHanna Fuchs-Robettin, and the title may be a reference to her husband's wine cellar.[1]
The music of the central section of aternary A–B–A structure "is apalindrome within itself," with the outer sections beingthrough-composed.[4] Bars 112 to 140 are then heard inretrograde as bars 140 to 170.
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