Narratives of Identity in Alban Berg's "Lulu"

«Dr. dos Santos has not only contributed a uniquely compelling work to the existing body of literature on Berg's music, but he has also proved that fluency in multiple methodologies and fields of inquiry can give scholars access to analyses of unprecedented nuance and scope. Cultural historians will benefit from his work as much as theorists of early twelve-tone music.»

«Succeeds in demonstrating how very detailed and multifaceted the engagement is, in Berg's Lulu, with the presence of Wagner['s music] and with ideas related to that presence. We can hope that [Dos Santos's] monograph is the impetus for further new insights about Lulu and for Berg research generally.»

«[Santos has] much to say about the dramatic representation of Lulu herself, and the role of a tonality-acknowledging 12-tone technique in that representation. Makes good use of the multiplicity of recent work on Berg's manuscripts and other archival materials to outline a response to Wagner, and to modern life, that was more psychological (not excluding a possible element of erotomania) than philosophical or spiritual.»

«In Narratives of Identity in Alban Berg's 'Lulu,' Silvio dos Santos goes above and beyond prior Berg scholarship with inspired and admirably thorough research. This complex and significant volume, based on expert examination of Berg's score, is the most important study of Lulu's character to come across my path in many years. A compelling narrative, which promises to be of lasting importance to scholars, musicians, and the opera-loving public.»