Schoenberg Op.21
Arnold Schoenberg and “Pierrot Lunaire” A New Way of Expression
Davis Fulton
After the premiere of “Pierre Lunaire”, Schoenberg is third from left.
General Introduction: “I believe I am approaching a new way of expression,” wrote Schoenberg in his diary on March, 1912. After a period of hesitation, he had just found his way into composing Pierrot Lunaire. The work originated in a commission from Albertine Zehme for a cycle of pieces for voice and ensemble, setting a series of poems by the Belgian writer Albert Giraud to music. The verses had been first published in 1884 and later translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben. Schoenberg began composing on March 12 and completed the work on July 9, 1912. The ensemble consisted of flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, and voice. After twenty-five rehearsals, Schoenberg and Zehme, in a Columbine dress, gave the premiere in Berlin on October 16, 1912. Reactions were mixed, with some criticism of blasphemy in the text, to which Schoenberg responded, "If they were musical, not a single one would give a damn about the words. Instead, they would go away whistling the tunes". The show took to the road throughout Germany and Austria later in 1912. Among the composers who attended the early performances were Stravinsky, Ravel, and Puccini. Stravinsky later wrote that Pierrot Lunaire was “the solar plexus as well as the mind of early-twentieth-century music.” Pierrot Lunaire, with its combination of traditional forms and techniques, and the almost entirely new approach to the arrangement of sounds, became a window into the new century. Evolution of the melodrama: The melodrama evolved from the tradition of drama established during the Middle Ages in the mystery and morality plays, under influences from Italian Commedia Dell'arte as well as German Sturm und Drang drama, and Parisian melodrama of the post-Revolutionary period. The term originated from the early 19th-century French word
Davis Fulton
After the premiere of “Pierre Lunaire”, Schoenberg is third from left.
General Introduction: “I believe I am approaching a new way of expression,” wrote Schoenberg in his diary on March, 1912. After a period of hesitation, he had just found his way into composing Pierrot Lunaire. The work originated in a commission from Albertine Zehme for a cycle of pieces for voice and ensemble, setting a series of poems by the Belgian writer Albert Giraud to music. The verses had been first published in 1884 and later translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben. Schoenberg began composing on March 12 and completed the work on July 9, 1912. The ensemble consisted of flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, and voice. After twenty-five rehearsals, Schoenberg and Zehme, in a Columbine dress, gave the premiere in Berlin on October 16, 1912. Reactions were mixed, with some criticism of blasphemy in the text, to which Schoenberg responded, "If they were musical, not a single one would give a damn about the words. Instead, they would go away whistling the tunes". The show took to the road throughout Germany and Austria later in 1912. Among the composers who attended the early performances were Stravinsky, Ravel, and Puccini. Stravinsky later wrote that Pierrot Lunaire was “the solar plexus as well as the mind of early-twentieth-century music.” Pierrot Lunaire, with its combination of traditional forms and techniques, and the almost entirely new approach to the arrangement of sounds, became a window into the new century. Evolution of the melodrama: The melodrama evolved from the tradition of drama established during the Middle Ages in the mystery and morality plays, under influences from Italian Commedia Dell'arte as well as German Sturm und Drang drama, and Parisian melodrama of the post-Revolutionary period. The term originated from the early 19th-century French word