Alban Berg's Five Orchestral Songs after Postcards by Peter Altenberg (German: Fünf Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskarten von Peter Altenberg), Op.

The postcard texts by contemporary Viennese poet Peter Altenberg recount the stormy but beautiful condition of the soul and the palpable sensations of love and longing.

The highly imaginative music responds with many displaced ostinati and a conflicted, lyrical passion.

When two of the songs (Numbers 2 and 3) were performed for the first time – on 31 March 1913 under the baton of Berg's mentor Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna's Musikverein[1] – members of the audience were so taken aback as to erupt in a famous riot, wounding the composer's feelings so deeply that he never again sought a performance for them.

The songs are:[2] The work is scored for medium voice (mezzo-soprano) and a large orchestra consisting of:[2]