What is the meaning of Pierrot Lunaire?
moonstruck Pierrot
Albert Giraud’s “Pierrot Lunaire” – which means “moonstruck Pierrot” – is something more: not just melancholy and “moonstruck” (meaning “in love”) but lunatic as well, a commedia dell’Arte archetype reconstrued as a symbol for the modern, alienated artist.
Who was the author of the poems used in Pierrot Lunaire?
The poetry for the 21 songs of Pierrot Lunaire (Moon-crazed Pierrot) was selected from a 50-poem cycle by the Belgian poet Albert Giraud (1860-1929), that had been published in 1884. The verse form comes from the Middle Ages: a rondeau.
What is Pierrot Lunaire based on?
Arnold Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire” is the story of a moonstruck clown, a 20th Century descendant of the classic commedia dell’Arte clown. It’s not really a story, though – perhaps it’s more about story-telling.
What makes Pierrot Lunaire unique?
One of the spectacular qualities of Pierrot Lunaire is that its color is continually so rich and varied. That’s largely because the individual songs are scored for unique instrument combinations: song 1 flute, violin, piano, cello; song 2 violin, piano, flute, clarinet; song 3 piccolo, clarinet, violin, etc.
What does Pierrot symbolize?
Even philosophers started adopting Pierrot as a poster child; at one point, Pierrot embodied the struggle of post-revolution France struggling to secure a place in the bourgeois world. Symbolists saw him as an emblem of suffering, with only the moon for a friend.
What is the musical style of Pierrot Lunaire?
Music and text. Though written in a freely atonal style, Pierrot lunaire uses a variety of classical forms and techniques, including canon, fugue, rondo, passacaglia, and free counterpoint. The instrumental combinations (including doublings) vary between most movements.
Is Pierrot a type of clown?
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought a renewed interest in the Commedia dell’arte. Characters were revived in poetry, operas, films, ballets and decorative arts, including bibelots. Pierrot became such a popular figure that a new clown emerged, a lovelorn female version of Pierrot named Pierrette.
Who is Pierrot wife?
Columbina
Columbina (in Italian Colombina, meaning “little dove”; in French and English Colombine) is a stock character in the commedia dell’arte. She is Harlequin’s mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and wife of Pierrot.
What does the word Pierrot mean?
Definition of Pierrot
: a stock comic character of old French pantomime usually having a whitened face and wearing loose white clothes.
What language is Pierrot?
Etymology. French Pierrot, diminutive of Pierre (“Peter”) via diminutive suffix -ot.