Pierrot Lunaire Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The years of 1911 and 1912 proved to be particularly significant for the development of Arnold Schoenberg’s musical career. During this short period, a series of important events unfolded that undoubtedly influenced the progress of both... more

The years of 1911 and 1912 proved to be particularly significant for the development of Arnold Schoenberg’s musical career. During this short period, a series of important events unfolded that undoubtedly influenced the progress of both his musical and aesthetic ideas. In May 1911, the iconic composer, and Schoenberg’s close friend, Gustav Mahler, passed away. After learning of Mahler’s death, Schoenberg chose to honour the composer through a variety of compositions, essays and paintings, and in numerous letters Schoenberg expressed his loss and admiration for the life and works of his dear friend. By October of the same year, Schoenberg chose to leave Vienna and return to work Berlin, where he was greatly influenced by the new Berlin musical scene. Although, initially, this was not a period of significant compositional development for Schoenberg, by the beginning of 1912 he had been commissioned to compose the work that would go on to become one of the most influential and iconic of his entire career: Pierrot lunaire.
In this paper, I aim to discuss these three events that happened between the years of 1911 and 1912, providing a glimpse into the life and works of Schoenberg during this period. I will begin by examining Schoenberg’s relationship with turn of the century composer, Gustav Mahler, discussing the impact of Mahler’s musical modernism and nineteenth-century aesthetics on Schoenberg’s new musical style. I will go on to discuss Schoenberg’s decision to move to Berlin in Autumn of 191, and finally, I will briefly examine the composition of Pierrot lunaire, and provide an introduction into its conception, musical style and contextual setting.
By tracing Schoenberg’s development from his relationship with Gustav Mahler through to the conception of Pierrot lunaire, I aim to demonstrate the contrast between Schoenberg’s fin-de-siècle past and his avant-garde, modernist present, the combination of which enabled him to become the pioneer of a new wave of 20th-century music.