Jean Berger's staged choruses as a concurrence of biographical and artistic reinvention

Jean Berger (1909-2002) fled the rise of Nazi power in his native Germany to become one of the most popular choral composers in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. Berger's unpublished memoirs and collected correspondence with composers, authors and political luminaries paint a fascinating picture of his life. Steered by a series of fateful coincidences, Berger was forced to reinvent himself repeatedly, mastering a series of professions and foreign languages as well as changing his religious orientation, country of residence (from Germany to France to Brazil to the United States), and even his name. This thesis highlights the artistic and personal development of this self-described "house composer" of the Lutheran Church, and examines the intellectual, cultural and aesthetic influences that led Berger to develop a new genre of choral music, the staged chorus. These influences include Berger's participation in the German Jugendbeweung, the social philosophies of his mentor in music history, Heinrich Besseler, and the inspiration provided to Berger by the works of composer Carl Orff.