Berg: Wozzeck - An Analysis

Vince Sheehan breaks down this 20th Century opera, exploring the leitmotifs and structures that underpin this atonal masterpiece.

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Numbers below refer to bars/measures in the score.

Act 1:
Scene 1
A - The Captain hectors Wozzeck as he shaves him
B - The Captain's existential crisis (30)
C - The Captain reminds Wozzeck to slow down (51)
D - The Wind (65)
E - The Captain mocks Wozzeck's illegitimate child (109)
F - Wozzeck's soliloquy (139)
G - The Captain pays Wozzeck and sends him off (154)
H - Scene change (173)

Scene 2
A - Wozzeck believes that the field is cursed and Andres sings a hunting song (201)
B - Wozzeck sees an apparition of a head (227)
C - Wozzeck gets more disturbed - Andres sings his song again (249)
D - Wozzeck sees something else... a fire! (271)
E - Sunset (298)
F - Scene change (305)

Scene 3
A - Marie lusts after the Drum Major (326)
B - Marie sings her child a lullaby (363)
C - Wozzeck shares his terrifying visions with Marie and leaves (427)
D - Marie is left terrified (455)
E - Scene change (473)

Scene 4
A - The Doctor scolds Wozzeck about his diet (489)
B - The Doctor reacts to Wozzeck's anger (517)
C - Wozzeck meditates on the frailty of the human condition (524)
D - Visions of fire and toadstools (538)
E - Wozzeck reveals that he needs the money to give to Marie (562)
F - The Doctor gets drunk on his pride (611)
G - Scene change (656)

Scene 5
A - Marie refuses the Drum Major's advances (667)
B - She succumbs to his charms (700)


Act 2
Scene 1
A - Marie admires herself in a mirror with her earrings. She frightens her child.
B - Wozzeck notices the earrings and bewails the poverty of his child (96)
C - Marie bewails her guilt and shame (126)
D - Scene change (141)

Scene 2
A - The Captain and Doctor talk of death and terror. The Captain is scared. (171)
B - They stop Wozzeck (272)
C - Wozzeck is mocked for shaving beards (fugue) (286)
D - They mock Marie's unfaithfulness. Wozzeck thinks of suicide (313)
E - Wozzeck runs off (345)
F - Scene change (366)

Scene 3
A - Wozzeck confronts Marie. The knife is first mentioned (372)
B - Scene Change (406)

Scene 4
A - Drunken banter amongst lowlifes (439)
B - Wozzeck sees the Drum Major and Marie dance (480)
C - Hunting song (560)
D - Wozzeck is quizzed about his seat by Andres (593)
E - The Apprentice's drunken moralising (605)
F - The Apprentice is carried out (634)
G - The Idiot forsees the murder (651)
H - Scene change (685)

Scene 5
A - Wozzeck raves as his fellow soldiers snore (737)
B - The Drum Major boasts of his conquest of Marie and fights Wozzeck (761)

Act 3
Scene 1
A - Marie quotes Bible passages relevant to her circumstances
B - Marie identifies with Mary Magdalene (52)
C - Scene change (63)

Scene 2
A - Wozzeck meets Marie and questions her (73)
B - Wozzeck kills Marie (97)
C - Scene change (109)

Scene 3
A - Wozzeck encourages all to dance in a manic episode. He summons Margret (122)
B - Margret realises Wozzeck is a murderer (169)
C - Scene change (211)

Scene 4
A - Wozzeck tries to come to terms with the murder... he throws the knife in the lake (220)
B - The Doctor and Captain hear Wozzeck drown in the lake (284)
C - Scene change (320)

Scene 5
A - Marie's child is told that his mother us dead (372)