Concert: Pierrot Lunaire: the Eerie Melodrama that Revolutionized 20th Century Music

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of composer Schoenberg’s birth, Origins Concerts presents his chamber music setting of moonstruck poetry

ORIGINS CONCERT SERIES
a hub for adventurous music seekers near downtown Silver Spring, Maryland

ABOUT THE PIECE
Along with Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire revolutionized music in the early 20th century. Igor Stravinsky called it “the solar plexus as well as the mind of early 20th-century music.”

The eerie, hyper-expressive Pierrot Lunaire (translated as Moonstruck Pierrot) is performed in the other-worldly Sprechstimme style that mixes speech and song. The vocalist sings precisely notated rhythms and pitches while also swooping and falling in exaggerated speech and whispers.

PEFORMERS
Jennifer Piazza-Pick, voice
​Angel Gil-Ordóñez, conductor
Elizabeth Hill, piano
Carrie Rose, flute / piccolo
Cheryl Hill, clarinet / bass clarinet
Sandy Choi, violin / viola
Tobias Werner, cello

PROGRAM
Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schoenberg

RECEPTION
Meet the artists at a reception following the show

DONATIONS
Suggested Donation: $15 Adults | $10 Youth 18 and under
(1) At the door (cash, venmo, zelle)
(2) on Eventbrite
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pierrot-lunaire-the-eerie-melodrama-that-revolutionized-20th-century-music-tickets-1026889844167?aff=oddtdtcreator

POETRY
Pierrot, the Renaissance theater ‘sad clown’ character, is at the center of the melodrama. The three sets of seven lush poems by Albert Giraud outline Pierrot’s emotional trajectory from love to crime to a return home. Translation of 1st poem:

​1. Mondestrunken (Drunk with Moonlight)
​The wine that one drinks with one’s eyes
Is poured down in waves by the moon at night,
And a spring tide overflows
The silent horizon.

Lusts, thrilling and sweet
Float numberless through the waters!
The wine that one drinks with one’s eyes
Is poured down in waves by the moon at night.

The poet, urged on by his devotions,
Becomes intoxicated with the sacred beverage;
Enraptured, he turns toward heaven
His head, and, staggering, sucks and sips
The wine that one drinks with one’s eyes.

LINKS
www.originsconcertseries.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/490369247247030/?ref=newsfeed
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pierrot-lunaire-the-eerie-melodrama-that-revolutionized-20th-century-music-tickets-1026889844167?aff=oddtdtcreator

SPONSOR
Origins Concert Series is supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County Government and the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County