[4] In 1877, King Kalākaua appointed Berger to full leadership of the Royal Hawaiian Band.

On August 4, 1881, while traveling the world, King Kalākaua reported in a letter from Berlin[5] to Regent Liliʻuokalani, that he had met the mother and sister of Berger and announced the sending of a program whose pieces Berger was to play with the Royal Hawaiian Band upon his return.

The band serenaded the departees with "Auld Lang Syne," or "The Girl I Left Behind Me.

His arrangement of "Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī", with text by Kalākaua in honor of Kamehameha became the national anthem.

[8] Robert Louis Stevenson mentioned Berger in his novel The Bottle Imp.