Romanian composer and musicologist Wilhelm Georg Berger (1929-1993) studied at the Bucharest Conservatory with Alexandru Radulescu (viola), Ion Serfezi (theory and solfège), and Vancea (history). He also took private lessons with Cecilia Nitulescu-Lupu and Anton Adrian Sarvas (violin) and Benjamin Bernfeld (chamber music). After beginning his career as a violinist in the Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra (1948-58) and the Composers' Union Quartet (1953-6) he turned to musicology and composition. He received national and international prizes for composition, and in 1968 he was elected secretary of the Romanian Composers' Union. As a composer he was quick to acquaint himself with new developments, but his work remained rooted in the Romanian national tradition, with dominant neo-classical and lyrical traits. The symphonies show a continuing search for variety; their dramatic moments are sometimes pushed to the monumental, as in the Third and the Fifth. His chamber works and concertos alike display virtuoso writing for the violin. Some of his most specifically Romanian music is in the works to texts by Mihai Eminescu. During his later years he embarked on a prolific study of aesthetics and musical form, producing over 20 publications.