Wilhelm Berger

In 1903, Berger was made a member of the German Royal Academy of Arts, and in the same year he was appointed 'Hofkapellmeister' in Meiningen as successor of Fritz Steinbach.

Stylistically, his music is very close to that of Johannes Brahms, even though it almost hints at the later works of Max Reger (who was to become Berger's successor as Meiningen Kapellmeister) through its preference for dissonant harmony and counterpoint techniques.

Wilhelm Altmann wrote very positively about Berger in the third volume of his influential Manual for String Quartet Players (Handbuch für Streichquartettspieler).

RISM Online lists 191 (as of April 2024) manuscript/early print entries of works by Wilhelm Reinhard Berger, including an autograph of a different (fragmentary, or at least missing one page) piano trio in G minor (date unknown, but begins with a slow introduction, so not the same as the clarinet trio - RISM 201010608), a fragmentary cello sonata, 71 kinderlieder, and other works, many of these in the library of the Max-Reger-Archiv, Meiningen.

The pianist Mitsuko Saruwatari released two albums with piano works by Berger, and in 2023 the German label CPO published a CD with recordings of the first symphony and the Konzertstück, performed by Olivier Triendl with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, conducted by Clemens Schuldt.