Pierrot in the Moonlight
Other-worldly. Eerie. A moonstruck clown.
Who’s on stage
Soprano singer Claire Booth, pianist Alasdair Beatson and musicians from Royal Northern Sinfonia together under the direction of Maria Wloszczowska.
What they’re playing
Sophisticated cabaret in the shape of Pierrot Lunaire, telling the story of story of a moonstruck clown plus haunting musical landscapes from Berg and Webern.
Need to know
Price: £20
Discounts: save if you’re under 17, aged 18 – 30, a group of 10 or more people. Check the details.
Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes, including a 20 minute interval.
Age: under 14s must be accompanied by an adult
What you'll hear
Anton Webern Four pieces for Violin and Piano (5’)
Arnold Schoenberg Six Little Piano Pieces (7’)
Alban Berg Four pieces for Clarinet and Piano (8’)
Arnold Schoenberg Four Songs Op. 2, No. 1: Erwartung (3’10)
Arnold Schoenberg Eight Songs Op. 6, No. 3: Mädchenlied (1’20)
Alban Berg Seven Early Songs, No. 1: Nacht (4’)
Alban Berg Seven Early Songs, No. 2: Schilflied (1’50)
Alban Berg Seven Early Songs,No. 6 Liebesode (1’50)
Arnold Schoenberg Eight Songs Op. 6, No. 8: Der Wanderer (4’10)
Arnold Schoenberg Brettl Lieder No. 1: Der genügsame Liebhafer (2’20)
Arnold Schoenberg Pierrot lunaire (34’)
Who's playing it
Maria Włoszczowska director/violin
Claire Booth soprano
Alasdair Beatson piano
Members of Royal Northern Sinfonia
What's happening in the music?
Visionary and experimental, Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (or Pierrot in the Moonlight) is a sort of high brow cabaret. An ambiguous piece that exists between the worlds of speech and song, humour and tragedy and the contemporary and the traditional, it tells story of a moonstruck clown, consumed by ecstasy, obsession, madness and nostalgia. The rest of the concert explores the radical new musical landscapes created by Schoenberg and his contemporaries Berg and Webern – sounds that are often spare, haunting and dream-like.
Speech Voice
Pierrot Lunaire features an unusual technique called ‘Sprechstimme’ or Speech Voice. It’s a sort of cross between speaking and singing. The tonal quality of normal speaking is heightened and lowered according to what is indicated in the music. In opera, the arias are often interspersed with dialogue accompanied by music (recitative) and one way of thinking of Sprechstimme is of a sort-of exaggerated version of that. One problem of the technique is that while Schoenberg was able to show the first performer exactly what he intended, he never really managed to write down a definitive explanation, making some performances controversial.
