A Viennese composer. He grew up in a music-loving family and began composing Lieder autodidactically. In 1904, he became a pupil of Schoenberg, and together with Webern, he became a core member of the Second Viennese School.

His compositional style can be broadly divided into three stages:

• An early period, characterized by unified themes and a lingering sense of tonality despite fluctuations.
• A middle period, marked by atonality and motivic development.
• A late period, in which he adopted the twelve-tone technique.

The 12 Variations and the Piano Sonata, Op. 1, were written during his early period under Schoenberg's guidance.

The proportion of piano solo works in Berg's oeuvre is by no means high. Rather, it was the Lied with piano accompaniment that he engaged with throughout his life, from an early age. All the techniques employed in his operas Wozzeck (1914-22) and Lulu (1928-35) were cultivated within his many Lieder, including unpublished works.

Furthermore, he particularly favored allusions such as numerology, letter symbolism, and symmetrical forms, but his music possessed dramatic power without being constrained by them.