Pierrot lunaire

Song-cycle by Arnold Schoenberg for female voice and chamber ensemble, Op. 21, consisting of 21 poems by Albert Giraud translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben. It was composed in 1912 and first performed in Berlin, on 16 October 1912. The treatment of the voice-part is one of the outstanding examples of the use of Sprechgesang (‘Speechsong’ – a hybrid of pure song and speech), and the piece is generally held to be one of the key works of the early 20th century.

The 21 poems are arranged in three sections: 1. Mondestrunken, Colombine, Der Dandy, Eine blasse Wäscherin, Valse de Chopin, Madonna, Der Kranke Mond. 2. Die Nacht, Gebet an Pierrot, Raub, Rote Messe, Galgenlied, Enthauptung, Die Kreuze. 3. Heimweh, Gemeinheit, Parodie, Der Mondfleck, Serenade, Heimfahrt, O alter Duft. The work was commissioned by Albertine Zehme; it was soon admired by composers as different as Puccini and Stravinsky, but wider public success did not come until a performance in Berlin on 5 January 1924, with Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), Artur Schnabel (piano), and Fritz Stiedry (conductor).