Structural Imagery: 'Pierrot Lunaire' Revisited

Author(s): Kathryn Puffett

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Tempo, Vol. 60, No. 237 (Jul., 2006), pp. 2-22
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3878705 .
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Tempo60 (237) 2-22 ? 2006 Cambridge UniversityPress

DOI: 10.1017/S0040298206000180 Printedin the United Kingdom

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STRUCTURAL
IMAGERY:
'PIERROT LUNAIRE'
REVISITED
KathrynPuffett
In 1977I wrotean articleentitled
'FormalOrganisation
andStructural
inSchoenberg's
Pierrot
whichwaspublished
invol.2
lunaire',
Imagery
of thefledgling
Studies
inMusicfromtheUniversity
Ontario.
ofWestern
More thana quarterof a centurylater,after16 yearsof teaching
andparticularly
Pierrot
to British
three
lunaire,
students,
Schoenberg,
thingshavebecomeclearto me. First,I havecometo realizethatno
one outsideCanadaeverreadsSMUWO(whichis a greatshame),and,
in self-confidence
overtheyearsto
second,I havegainedsufficiently
wishthatI hadstatedmycasewithmoreassurance.
continued
Finally,
has revealedevenmoresubtleties
thanI
acquaintancewithPierrot
recognizedin 1977.

It is a commonplace
fora performer
to re-record
latein hisor her
careerworksthatwererecordedearlyon, and thepublicwelcomes
theselaterreflections
and theopportunity
theygiveto comparethe
with
the
more
mature
The situationis of
youthful
interpretations.
inmycase:herethereisnosuggestion
coursedifferent
thatdragging
my
oldpieceoutforcomparison
wouldbe anexercise
ofanyvalue,thoughI
haveno reasonto discourage
it.A fewyearsago I shouldhavebeen
embarrassed
Buttodaywe livein
bythe'ideaof suchself-indulgence.
andmydesiretowriteabouta favourite
work
times,
veryself-indulgent
a secondtimestrikes
me as no moreoutrageous
orinsupportable
than
mostof the'narrative',
or socio-,psycho-,
andgender-based
politicoNewAgewriting
thatpassesbefore
toshed
myeyesthesedaysclaiming
ofmusic.In anycasethereis someprecedent
for
lighton theworkings
whatI am aboutto do inDavidLewin'srevisiting
ofthesecondmovementofWebern's
op.27 in 1993.1Emboldened
bythis,I offer
mylater
reflections
onthreepiecesthathavecontinued
toengagemyinterest
in
thenearly
wroteaboutthem.
thirty
yearssinceI first
FormePierrot
lunaire
remains
andoriginal
amongthemostimpressive
worksof Schoenberg.
Itcomesnearlyat theendof- indeed,itseems
to be a sortof anthology
of andgrandfinaleto - a periodin which
hadpurposefully
andenergetically
freedhismusicfroma
Schoenberg
but classicalstructures,
(not only tonality,
varietyof constraints
motivicdevelopment,
of anykind);andyetin
thematicism,
repetition
thisset,shoulder-to-shoulder
withandnearlyhiddenamongst
someof
his mostcarefully
are threeof the
movements,
through-composed
mosttightly-structured
pieceshe everwrote:'Nacht'(no. 8), 'Parodie'
in
focuson structure
(no.17)and'DerMondfleck'
(no.18).Theintense
1

'A metrical problem in Webern's Op. 27', Music Analysis 12/3 (1993), pp. 343-54. Lewin's earlier article, with the same title,appeared inJournalof Music Theory6/1 (1962), pp. 124-32.

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY: 'PIERROT

LUNAIRE'

REVISITED

thesethreesongs offersa vividcontrastwithothermovementsof the

cycle that representan aggressivefreedomfromjust the structural
canon upon whichthesethreemovementsdepend.Indeed,forme one
of themostinteresting
aspectsof thecycleis theway in whichitbrings
togetherand uses sideby side themostdisparatestylesand techniques
of organization,rangingfromthe strictcontrapuntaltechniquesof
'Der Mondfleck'and the densely saturatedorganic thematicismof
'Nacht' to the extremefreedomof pieces such as 'Der krankeMond',
in whichall thesethingsare abnegated.But it is not simplythe seempieces in
inglyanomalous appearanceof thesethreetightlystructured
thisgenerallyfreecyclethatinterestsme; what I findespeciallyfascinatingis thatthese particularstructuresand techniqueswere chosen
and manipulatedas theywere in directresponseto the texts,as means
of expression.The 'passacaglia',fugueand canons of nos. 8, 17 and 18
go farbeyondthe typesof surfaceactivitythatare customarilyassociated with 'word-painting',
to imageryat a much deeper level: what I
have called 'structuralimagery'.
At an even deeper level the structuresof these threesongs express
the centralidea of the cycleitself.Pierrotlunaireis parody:the music
parodiesforms,stylesand techniques('Valse de Chopin','Passacaglia',
'Serenade','Barcarole',fugue)just as thetextparodiesrituals('Prayer',
'Rote Messe', 'Galgenlied'),characters('Madonna', 'Der Dandy', 'Eine
blasseWascherin')and ideals ('Die Kreuze', 'Raub', 'Gemeinheit').The
poems themselvesare in a formthatinvitesambiguity:a rondeau of
threenon-rhyming
quatrainsin which the firsttwo lines of the first
returnmidwaythroughthesecond,and thefirstlinereappearsagain as
an added line at the end of the third.The poems as writtenclearly
suggestternaryform,but the returnof the firsttwo lines halfway
throughmarksa binarydivisionas well.And theadded finallinemakes
the threeversesunequal while at the same timegivinga certaincyclic
to thewhole. In hissettingsSchoenbergmakesuse of all the
symmetry
possibilitiesimplicitin this fertilestructure.The threepieces to be
to the structureof the text,the
consideredhere all responddifferently
threestrophesof 'Nacht' reinforcing
the ternarydivision,the amazing
palindromeof 'Der Mondfleck'emphasizingthe binaryimplications,
and the aptlynamed 'Parodie' quite appropriatelyteasingthe ambiYes.)
guity.(Is itbinary?Is itternary?
'Nacht'
I can'tthinkof a piece of musicfromanyperiodin whichthetexthas
wielded a greaterinfluencethanit does in 'Nacht',thefirstsong of the
second group of the cycle.This is surelySchoenberg'smost striking
exampleof the synthesisthathe valued so much:in thiscase not only
the horizontaland the verticalaspects of the piece but the temporal
and structuraldimensionsas well are directlyrelatable to a single
are used as
source.In thepoem swarmsof monstrousblackbutterflies
a metaphorforthe fallingof darkness.The creaturesdescend threateninglyfromheaven, sinking'with heavy wings upon the heartsof
men' and 'killingthelightof the sun'. Everyaspectand everydetailof
the music is directedtowardsthe expressionof thismetaphor;everythingin it derivesfroma singlebutterfly
There are onlytwo motivesin the song,and one of theseis already
inherentin the other: the second is the inescapable outcome of
multiplestatementsof the first.Not only do these two motivesthus
replicatethe cause-effect
relationshipdescribedin the text,in which
one of the motifs(thefallingof darkness)is theresultof theprolifera-

4 TEMPO

Example1:
and nightfall
motives
Butterfly

but the motivesare

tion of the other(the swarmof blackbutterflies);
themselves,individually,
picturesque.The word used in the poem for
or
- translatesas monstrousbutterflies
thegiantcreatures- Riesenfalter
moths(I have also seen it translatedas bats),but the essentialcharacto foldor
teristicof thiscreatureis its'creased' or 'folded'shape (falten:
the
hereafter
of
the
motive
The
and
seminal,
first,
song
pleat).
of the shape whichhas
motive'- is a musicalmanifestation
'butterfly
been used by artistsand childrenalikeoverthe ages to representflying
birds or insects (see Example la). Schoenberg's butterflyis not
however;its second wing hangs slightlylower than its
symmetrical,
and
it
thus
containswithinitselfthe seed of chromaticdescent.
first,
is followedby anothera whole tone
When one of these butterflies
lower this descent becomes a significantelement,a second motive
resultingfromthe proliferationof the first(hereafterthe 'nightfall
motive');see the stemmednotesin Example lb.
The entirematerialof the piece is presentedin a tightlycomposed
is givenus herein
A considerableamountof information
introduction.
a veryshorttime,thoughin a registerand witha densitythatmake its
motiveis presentedin such a
comprehensionunlikely.The butterfly
to it, that there is a tonic
attuned
if
we
are
as
to
make
clear,
way
analogue in thispiece. This piece is not in a key,but it quite definitely
moments.
returnsto the same - tonic- levelat structurally
significant
motivesin bars 1-3 begins and ends
A symmetricalcircleof butterfly
withstatementsat thetoniclevel,E-G-Eb. Fivemotivesconstitutethis
circle,each takingthe second note of the previousone as its starting
progressupwardsthrougha seriesof
point;thussuccessivebutterflies
minorthirds(see Example Ic). This is exactlyanalogous to the tradibut is accomplishedin a much
tionalgambitaroundthecircleof fifths,
sincethe minorthirdis
shortertimeand withmanyfewerstatements,
one of theintervalsthatsubdividesthe octavesymmetrically.
motives
ofbuerfly
circle
c) Tonal

motiva
a) Tk buftfly

mrtiv
;ll
pduc
b)lrlit ofto motie
ofbocbrfly
prducesnigtfalmotive
motives
b) Proliferation

soundsan octave lower

NB Everything

written
here
than

in these threebars, a sixthLepidoptera

There is an extrabutterfly
which does not observethe same swarminginstinctas the rest.This
one beginson thethirdnote (ratherthanthesecond) of thethirdstatement(B-DV-A) and thusreadsA-C-A (see again Example Ic). Thus
motiveintroduced,but the relationshipof the
not onlyis the nightfall
two motives is made clear: as a profusionof downward-swooping
causes darknessto fall,so a descendingseries of butterfly
butterflies
motivesinevitablyproduceschromaticdescent.

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY: 'PIERROT

LUNAIRE

REVISITED

willoccurinthesongthathasnotbeendirectly
suggested
Nothing
herearevaried
first
in thefirst
threebars.The twomotives
presented
ina largenumberofingenious
andcombined
ways,andallthechords
motive(minorthird
of thebutterfly
in thesongare verticalizations
of
it
version
an
or
(majorthird
plusperfect
expanded
plusmajorthird)
thereis
tritone
fourth
fifth;
fourth,
plusperfect
plustritone,
perfect
else).2
nothing

of the textdoes not stopwiththe choiceof

But the expression
is
havebeensetin motiontheiractivity
motives.Once thebutterflies
thecourseofthesong,a steady
toproduce,during
carefully
regulated
that
totheincreasing
thatis equivalent
decreaseindefinition
obscurity
takesplaceat dusk.In thefirst
place,of course,thesongis setforthe
and cello)and the
of thegroup(bassclarinet
twobass instruments
andat the
low rangeat thebeginning
in an extremely
piano,playing
end.Thusthesoundis indistinct
byitsverynature;thismurkiness
in
the
second
increased
is
to
the
difficult
distinguish
making pitches
thecelloplaystremoloat the
strophe
bythemannerof performance:
andthepiano(beinga poor
is flutter-tongued
thebassclarinet
bridge,
isplayedstaccato.
to
exotic
it
comes
cousin
when
timbres)
country
and coda (whichis not strictly
Betweenintroduction
speakinga
coda,sincethevoicefinishes
it)thesongdivides
through
onlyhalfway
thestanzasof thepoem.These
following
clearlyintothreestrophes,
andbackto
articulated
strophes,
bychangesoftempo- toetwasrascher
are
11
and
in
17
bars
theoriginal
respectively seven,six
tempoagain,
as we shallsee,thesecondof these
andsevenbarsinlength(though,
and becauseof the changeof tempothe
divisionsis not clearcut),
middleone is
difference
betweentheoutersectionsand theshorter
thanitwouldappeartobe.
evengreater
The firststropheconsistsof a single
Canon is used throughout.
The subjectof thiscanonis well
canonwhichtakessixbarsto unfold.
- and
memorable
and melodically
distinctive
defined- rhythmically
It is a canonin fourparts,
theimitation
canbe clearlydistinguished.
withall theinstruments
takingpart,therightand lefthandsof the
The secondstropheconsistsalso of
piano operating
independently.
onelongcanon,butthistimeinonlythreeparts,andon a subjectthat
is anything
butclearlydefined:all themotionis in quavers,and the
The
materialis a sequencewhichcouldbeginand end anywhere.
is
this
of
the
over
subject complemented
by the
shape
uncertainty
usedbyallvoices(seeabove),whichminimize
pitch
techniques
playing
A further
voice dropsawayat the end of the second
recognition.
the
after
whichseveralbriefcanonsoccurinquicksuccession,
strophe,
onesin triplet
first
quavers,all
movingin quaversandthesubsequent
thedux.Theselast
withthecomesincreasingly
crowding
sequential,
butnotrecognized,
canonsarefragments,
glimpsescaughtfleetingly
andobscure.Astheendofthethird
toperceive,
impossible
ambiguous
the
sequenceof the finalcanonis
stropheapproaches, descending
extendedand the two canonicvoicesthatwere abandonedearlier
oneata time,inlongernotevalues.Thesecondofthesebrings
return,
of
of thereturn
in anticipation
backthesubjectfromthefirst
strophe
lineoftext(thoughitisnotquiteas slowas itwas originally
thefirst
here- or as clear,sinceitis played
theminimsof bar4 arecrotchets
thesecondstrophe.)
withthetremolothatcharacterized
2 Thisbringsto minda comparisonthatmayseemunlikely
butis,I think,cogent.Thatis,the
Liszt Sonata,in whichall the basic thematicmaterialis run throughveryquicklyin the
and thenproceedsto spinitselfout,thoughin thiscase fornearlyhalfan hour
introduction
- a GoliathbesideSchoenberg'sDavid,butnone thelessin thisrespectverysimilar.

6 TEMPO

motivesfromthe introduction
At the end, the circleof butterfly
returns,and even this,whichwas unclearthe firsttimebecause of its
registerand the dense overlappingof motives,is less clear upon its
returnbecause it is accompaniedby a new and evenlower partin the
piano lefthand and by thevoice,whichhas not yetreachedthe end of
the text. And, as in the return of the first-strophe
subject, the
momentumbuiltup in the middle of the piece carrieson so thatthe
finalcycleof butterflies
unfurlsat double the speed of theinitialone.
In the firststrophethe two motivesthatwere introducedin interlockingfashionin bars 1-3 are pickedapart and presentedin succession,witha two-noteascendingmotiveadded at the end. The subject
thatresultsis by farthe clearestand most memorableof the song (see
long durationand
Example2). The two motivesuse notesof relatively
is in minims,the nightfallin
are rhythmically
distinct:the butterfly
crotchets.

Example2:
Canon subject,firststrophe

ci.

"-ii

, .- -

in anotherrespectwhichis quiteunrelated
This subjectis interesting
to eitherinsectsor darkness.It containsa completeSchoenbergcipher,
thoughwith the notes in the wrong order (see Figure 1). There are
onlytwo extrapitches,Db and Gb.
Figure1

EG S D [D] CH BA [G] =AR N OLD

SCHONBERG

This canon subjecthas been describedas the generativematerialof

thepiece. CharlesRosen says"'Night"... developsentirelyfroma tennote motif:everything
can be tracedback easilyto thatkernel.'3While
it is certainlytrue thateverything
can be tracedback to thissubject,
what Rosen seems not to recognizeis thatthereis one veryimportant
furtherstep on thispath,which leads directlyback to the three-note
motivealone. Alan Lessem calls thissubjectthe 'passacaglia theme',4
whichalso seems to me to be in error,sinceit occursonlyonce more,
in a variedform,in anticipationof thereturnof thefirstline of textat
theend of thesong,and in factthepiece is not a passacagliaat all in the
normal understandingof the term. It is clearlya strophicformin
which all threestrophesare built fromthe same two shortmotives,
combinedin a wide varietyof ways,everchanging,oftenoverlapping
and nesting,and proceedingat many different
speeds (runningthe
gamutfromsemibrevesto tripletquavers).
The subject is firststatedat the tonic level by the bass clarinetin
bass-clefrange and imitatedby cello, piano lefthand and piano right
hand,in thatorder,all one or two octavesbelow.Each entryfollowsthe
previousone by one fullbar (threeminims).The fourthentrygoes
overthebarlineintobar 9, wherethe ascendingtailmotiveis replaced
by continuedchromaticdescentto the downbeatof bar 10.
The firststropheends with the two motivesoccurringsimultaneously in bar 10, overlow notes held in the piano. The cello playsthe
motiveat thebridge,introducingthe mannerof playingthat
nightfall
3 CharlesRosen,
(London:MarionBoyars,1976),p. 60.
Schoenberg
(Ann Arbor:UMI
4 Alan PhilipLessem, Musicand Textin theWorksof ArnoldSchoenberg
of thelong
ResearchPress,1979),p. 147. In spiteof his slightly
misleadingidentification
canon subjectas a 'passacagliatheme',however,Lessem does recognisethis
first-strophe
themeas growingout of the three-note'generativecell' thatI have called the butterfly
motive,and thishasbeen theviewtakenof thepiecegenerally.

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY: 'PIERROT

REVISITED

LUNAIRE

itwilluse in the second stropheand much of thethird.The voice sings

motive,in the bass
'Verschwiegen'on the notes of the tonicbutterfly
clef. This is an importantmoment: not only are the two motives
isolatedin separatevoices and soundedtogetherwithno otheractivity
to detractfromthem,but these are the onlythreenotes thatare sung
in the entirepiece, all the restof the voice part being performedas
transhere. Verschwiegen
This suddenclarityis surprising
Sprechstimme.
lates as 'secretly'or 'silently'or 'discreetly'and is the last word in a
phrasecomparingthe horizonto a closed book of charms,an unfathomable book of secrets.In a strangeirony,thisutteranceseems to be
attemptingto revealratherthanto hide the secretof the two motives
and of thepiece.
In bar 11 the bass clarinetplaysa nestingfigurein whicha seriesof
butterflies,moving in quavers, outlines the nightfallin crotchets
startingon the afterbeat.The idea of nestingfirstappearedas a sortof
countersubjectin bars 8 and 9, when both the bass clarinetand the
piano lefthand, havingfinishedwith the canon subject,playedthree
in
in quaverswhich togetheroutlineda monsterbutterfly
butterflies
minims(see Example 3a). In bar 11 the figurehas changed signifithe threesmallbuttercantly:insteadof producinga largerbutterfly
fliesnow descend to produce the nightfall(see Example 3b), and this
nestingfigureservesas a transitionto the subjectof the nextcanon,
whereit is extendedand furtherembellished.

I JI

Example3:
motives,bs 8, 11
Nestingbutterfly

I-------.-----

..

B. CL.
b)
mroive
nightftal

In bars 11-13 a preliminarybar built on the two-noteascending

motivethatended the firstcanon subjectsetsthe patternof imitation
to be used in the second-strophecanon (onlythreevoices now: cello,
bass clarinet,piano righthand, each enteringaftera full bar). The
canon subjectproperruns directlyon fromthisbar,beginningin the
cello in bar 12. Afteritselongatedinitial(tonic)note,thisconsistsof a
regulardescendingchromaticsequence in quavers,whose apparent
somewhatdisguisesthe factthatit is an even more complex
simplicity
nestingfigureusing the two basic motives of the piece. The backis accomplishedthrougha stringof
ground,a long chromaticnightfall,
butterflies
at the middleground,thesebeing in filledin chromatically
motivein bothitsnormaland itsinvertedform)at the
(i.e. thenightfall
foreground(see Example4).
Though thissubject,likethatof thefirststrophe,uses bothbutterfly
sort:
and nightfallmotives,thisis a combinationof a quite different
instead of one followingthe other as happened in the firststrophe,
and the resultis not, as it
here the two are inextricably
intermingled,
was there,a clear and distinctivesubject,but a sequence thatmoves
along in notes of equal value and is potentiallyendless. That the
is shownby the factthatboth the answering
endingpointis arbitrary
voices end short of the materialin the cello's dux. In factall three

8 TEMPO

Example4:
Canon subject,secondstrophe
12

....,.i.'o:

nightfall.:
I

voices are interrupted

by the finalbar of the strophe,bar 16, at whatever point theyhave reached by that time. The two dotted lines in
the points at which the piano (the
Example 4 indicate,respectively,
thirdvoice) and the bass clarinet(the second) breakoff;the bass clarinetfinishesthreebutterflies
comparedwiththe cello's four;thepiano
only two. Both cello and bass clarinetend with the firsthalf of a
furthermotive,a fluttersurroundedby restsand neverfinished.The
piano has no rests;it is simplycut offhalfwaythroughitsthirdmotive.

I1"ji4

F
]]]

-II

I
A(j

...
80V)

inbr
cl.atthis
point)
The second stropheis the most dense of the three.The featureless
characterof the canon subjecthindersits perceptionas a canon, and
the mannerin whichthe instruments
are playedmakes pitchrecognition difficult.
is exacerbatedby a varietyof distractions
This difficulty
in bar 11, thus obscuringthe
in the piano. These begin immediately,
beginningof the canon. In bars 11-12 the righthand plays a seriesof
motivemovingin semibreves
three-notechordsoutliningthebutterfly
- a hemiolacombiningthetwo 3 /2barsintoa singlebar of 3 /1. These
chordsare notall exactlythesame - thethirdis inverted- but theouter
notes of each are eleven semitonesapart.The topmostnotes outline
the motivebeginningon Bk,and the lowest notes outline the same
motiveendingon Bb.B? can be seen as an analogue to the dominantin
thispiece,wherestatementsbeginningon E are used as a tonicand the
progressesthrougha seriesof minorthirds:a circleof
'circleof fifths'
thissortis bisectedequallyby the tritone(as is, indeed,the truecircle
of fifths).5
The chordsthemselves- thefirstchordsin the piece not to
have been the resultof linear polyphony- representa verticalized
motive in which five and six semitones
expansion of the butterfly
of the original.6
semitones
the
three
and
four
replace
Beneath thiselongated 'dominant'statementthe lefthand plays a
tonicbutterfly
in minimsin bar 11 whichis repeatedin bar 12,whereit
is embellishedin the mannerintroducedby the bass clarinetin bar 8.
This bar sets offa chromaticdescentwhich continuesto the second
beat of bar 16,whereitfinallycomes to reston a tremolochordabove
Two voices
theD a ninthbelow thenote on whichthedescentstarted.7
added in bars 14 and 15 increasethemotiviccomplicationsbygeometricalproportions(see Example 5, wherethe motivesin bars 14 and 15
are separatedand writtenon threestaves).
as,perhaps,also does the
5 The latterfactmaybe seen as arguingagainstthisinterpretation,
tonicsin themusicof Skryabinand Bart6k.
use of notesa tritoneapartas interchangeable
Nevertheless
here and elsewherein the musicof Schoenberg,Bergand Webernthisrelarelatonic-dominant
tionshipis used in a way thatseems to me to imitatethe traditional
tionship.
6 Ifthechordsarereadas intervalsof fiveand sixsemitonesthefirsttwomotivesareinverted
theinversion.
andthethirdis not,ifas sixand seventhelastchordrepresents
7 What,I wonder,would a Schenkerian
makeof thefactthatthefirststrophedescendsto and
the
second
comesto reston low C# andA underthevoice'sE, and
stropheendsin a similar
wayon low D andA?

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY: 'PIERROT

LUNAIRE'

REVISITED

12

?rf-

-T------fl
Ibufft
F

L ,b -------......J
--T-----

all~

----------_

- ---------

;--- --------

nightfall

~ ~~~~

--------------

.......------.
---f---..............--2.-.-------z-

Example5:
Piano lefthand,strophe2

_
,buaterflyi..$
_.
i ro.y
bummftp
u.
on
m
Ihumanypmu_
t.,xuFI%
2.
vtTTt]_jILd'
btft
_pmwcm
As the second stropheis ending,on the downbeatof bar 16,with a ff
tonicbutterfly
in the lowest range of the piano, the othertwo instrumentsbegin anothercanon. Now the bass clarinetfollowsthe cello
afteronly one minim.That thisis a canon is completelyobscuredby
the factthatthe two voices begin at the same time,playingchromatic
risingfiguresin parallelthirds,whichgive no hintof imitation.On the
second beat of the bar the clarinetbeginsto imitatethe cello, and the
The
thirdnote of the imitatedmaterialis the firstnote of a butterfly.
is chromatically
filledin, as it was in the second strophe,and
butterfly
is played by the cello in the manner that it used throughoutthat
strophe,but the mannerof playingrepresentsa transition,as the clarinetgivesup flutter-tonguing
and playsnormallyagain,as itwillin the
to
the
first
timethetonicduxis answeredat whatin
For
follow.
strophe
thispiece passes forthe dominant.
This canon is in two segments,with the comesleaping down after
thisinitialmotiveto imitateat the unison forthe remainingbar. The
different.
materialof thesecond segmentis strikingly
Beginningon the
downbeat of bar 17 the familiarmotivesare given a completelynew
motives
twist.Here, in a highlydeceptivemotion,a seriesof butterfly
(a motivewhichin theorydescribesa chromaticdescentand has thus
faralways had this aspect exaggerated)ascends quicklyover a wide
rangeby virtueof the thirdnote of each figurehavingbeen displaced
upwardsby an octave (see Example 6a). This is the only ascending
passage in theentiresong,and seemsto be eitherin preparationforthe
text'Und vom Himmel' at thebeginningof the thirdstrophe(though
thistextis associatedwitha descriptionof downwardmotion),or a late
reactionto the textof bars 11-13 ('Aus dem Qualm verlornerTiefen
steigtein Duft'), perhapssuggestingthatin the face of the inevitable
descentof darknessanyreferenceto upwardmotionis onlyan illusion.
This series of motivesis sequential,like the subject in the second
withthecomesone
strophe,and, also likethatsubject,ends arbitrarily,
in
both
voices
the
short
of
what
occurred
dux,
continuingon to
figure
completebar 18,each in itsown way.The cello is playedon thefinger-

10 TEMPO

board. Throughoutthiscanon the piano lefthand holds a chord (an

motive,withinterexpandedand verticalizedinversionof thebutterfly
vals of four and five semitones),beginningwith a tremolo on the
second beat of bar 16. The righthand ascends in sympathywith the
canon in the other two instruments,
playinga series of threedyads
threetimes,each timean octavehigher.The uppervoice of each group
is a tonicbutterfly,
whilethelowervoice is the firstof the two permutationsof thismotiveintroducedin bars 14 and 15 (see Example6b; cf.
thelowervoice and thelast systemin Example 5).
canon,b. 17f.
a) Third-itrophe
.17 I1

Tempo

I-9110
i i

...

i i

..I...

b. 17f.
b) Butterfly
andbutterfly
permutation,

Mir '_

Example6:
Thirdstrophe

Bars 16-18 act as a transitionfromthe second stropheto the third,

in the way bars 10-11 joined the firstand second strophes.The transitionis givenmore timeon thisoccasion,as thevoice is silentfornearly
two barsbetweensecond and thirdverses(therewas no pause beyond
afermataoverthebarlinebetweenfirstand second).The tempochange
atbar 17would implythatthethirdstrophebeginsat thispoint,butthe
chordin thepiano lefthand - thegoal towardswhichthebass parthas
been movinginexorablythroughoutthesecond strophe- finishesonly
at the end of thatbar,and themotionin theupperpartsin 16 and 17 is
in quavers,the rhythmthatcharacterizesthe second strophe,not the
third.In the firstcanon in thesetwo bars the cello retainsthe manner
of playingthatcharacterizeditssecond strophe,whilethisis wherethe
clarinetreturnsto the normalplayingthatit will use in the third.The
voice begins its third(extended)quatrainin bar 18, and, in an exact
parallelto bar 11,wherethevoice began itssecond quatrain,thisis the
set the 'rules' forthe canons to followin
bar in whichthe instruments
the thirdstrophe.
In bar 18, the piano righthand playsthreechordsin the shape of a
while the lefthand fillsthe bar exactlywith a meandering
butterfly,8
chromaticmelodywhose overallmotionis governedby permutations
of thebutterfly
motive;theseare outlinedby the extremenotesof this
of whichitchangesdirection(see Example 7a). This
after
each
melody,
is an importantfigure,as it introducesnot onlythe note-valuethatis
the last stepin
used in the canons of the thirdstrophe(quavertriplets,
a progressiveaccelerationof motion thatbegan with minimsin the
increasedto crotchetsin the firststropheand quaversin
introduction,
will take (originaland
the second), but also the formsthe butterfly
8

of themotive;thesecondis an expandedinverinversions
The outerchordsareverticalized
fourth.
sion:a majorthirdand a perfect

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY: 'PIERROT

LUNAIRE'

REVISITED

11

retrogradeinversion)and the sortof convolutedoverlappingof there

thatis going to be used forthe restof thisstropheas well. The steady
increasein motionthroughoutthe song is of coursepicturesque,as is
thathavelosttheircorrectorientation:
theincreasinguse of butterflies
the rate at which nightfallsseems to acceleratetowardsthe end of
dusk,and confusioncomes withdarkness.
The firstcanon to use the new note values is playedby thepiano in
bars 19-21 (see Example 7b). From the beginningof the piece the
to distinguish;it is in
canons have been gettingsteadilymore difficult
bar 19 thatthisprogressiontowardsobscurityreachesitsclimax.Here
onlythe chromaticdescentwill be discerned:the darknesshas finally
thatcause itinvisible.To startwith,
made the outlineof thebutterflies
thefactthatbothvoices are playedby thepiano and in the same range
greatlyhampers one's abilityto distinguishthe two voices or to
perceivetheirlinearrelationshipto each other.The handsbegin at the
same time,both playinga chromaticallydescendingseriesof broken
thirds,alternatelyrisingand falling,alternatelymajor and minor:thus
in each voice a dense seriesof butterflies
overlapswiththeirinverted
retrogrades.Each hand is the imitationof the otherat the distanceof
one tripletquaver.The phrasingreinforcesthisdouble-visionview of
things:both voices are phrasedin three-notegroups beginningwith
the firstnote, as if the partswere synchronized.The lefthand has a
slightedge, perhaps,as it beginswith an uprightand forward-moving
motiveat the toniclevel; thisis imitateddirectlyby the righthand at
the dominant.
The canon lasts for one bar and one crotchet,the hands ending
together,as theybegan,afterthefirstthreenotesin bar 20, and forthe
restof thisbar thepiano is treatedverymuch as the othertwo instrucanon in bar 15: the
mentswere towardstheend of thesecond-strophe
motionsubsidesspasmodicallyas smallgroupsof notes alternatewith
servestwo purposes.Most immediatelyit is
rests.This fragmentation
of the canon in bar 19,but in separating
thebreakdownand tailing-off
and itsretrograde
of thatcanon - thebutterfly
out thetwo constituents
it
inversion- and statingthemone afterthe otherwithno overlapping,
also introducesthematerialof thenextcanon,whichis againplayedby
the piano in two voices and is a versionof what was heard in bar 19
withoutthe overlappingof motives(Example 7c). The hands do not
starttogetherthistime- the intervalbetween entriesis extendedto a
crotchet- and theduxbeginsonce againat thetoniclevel.The climaxof
confusionand obscuritywas reachedinbar 19;now Schoenbergbegins
to put on the brakes. Nighthas fallen;it remainsonly forthe sun's
meniscusto slide silentlyfromthe horizon.The materialof thisfinal
canon,likeallthosesincethefirststrophe,is sequential,anditcarrieson
untilthe end of bar 23, whereboth hands stop at the same time,each
havingfallensome two and one halfoctaves.
These two voices have been pushed into the background long
before they come to their arbitraryend, however,by two more
dramaticevents.The firstof these is the bass clarinet'sstatementin
augmentationof the six notes of this subject, acting as a further
brakingmotion.This statement,in crotchets,begins,on the tonic,at
because
thesame timeas thepiano righthand'scomes,and itis striking
of both the contrastin timbreand thelong note values,durationsthat
have not been heard since the firststrophe.An even more important
activityoccurs in the cello, which begins a long process of slowing
down halfwaythroughbar 20 by playingchromaticallydescending
figures,firstin tripletquavers, then in quavers, reachingcrotchets
halfwaythroughbar 22, where it at firstappears to be answeringthe

12 TEMPO

bass clarinet'saugmentedsubjectin thebar before.However,afterthe

- the cello continues,not withthe
firstthreenotes - a tonicbutterfly
in
bass
inversion
as
the
clarinet,but with the nightfall
retrograde
canon subject(minus
motive,in a finalstatementof the first-strophe
the tail motive,and playedtremoloas in the second strophe,though
not at the bridge).This preparestheway forthe returnof thepoem's
openingline.The bass clarinet,havingopened theway forthisre-entry,
does not continuein sequence, as thepiano is doing,but playsinstead
two additionalbutterflies,
in crotchets.All thisactivityends at bar 24,
but
when thecoda is heard,reproducingtheeventsof theintroduction
in notes only half as long. Althoughthe coda balances the introduction,the two sectionsbeing of equal length,because of the rhythmic
fillsonlythefirsthalfof the
discrepancythemusicof theintroduction
in which
coda. The remainderis givenoverto a singletonicbutterfly
the second note is displaceddownwardsby two octaves.

Example7:
Thirdstrophe

L iny
in retrograde
pem inrtatio
2n

ifertey
butterfypermutatio
2
iretrogrpad
vwrted
retgrade
butterfly

b)

p ,, buter-fly

4k
A

A
......

. ..

T)-O

m y

r:

un

tr

inrd ..rc

.... ..

-i

butterly

'

---------

inverted..

....r..et..o....................

de
,

inverted

"

:1

_.

......

.....

. ...

....

..

..

BMW
l

The Sprechstimme
part of 'Nacht' is permeatedwith the same two
motivesthat preoccupythe instrumentsthroughoutthe song, most
oftenpresentingbutterflies
that are filledin chromaticallyor semiand
This partneverentersintoanycanonicrelationships
chromatically.
in actual factis of course, in spite of its motivicorigin,simply'eye
music' whose musicalrelationship
withtheotherparts,withtheexceptionof thesungbar 10,existson thepage only.It does have one imporshould come
tant function,which if it is performedthoughtfully
across:it is the onlypartto rememberand markthebinarydivisionof
the poem. The inevitableidentityof the last two lines of the second
strophe with the firsttwo lines of the first ('Finstre, schwarze
Riesenfalter/ t6tetender Sonne Glanz') is rememberedin the close
of the notatedvoice partin thesetwo places.
similarity

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY: 'PIERROT

LUNAIRE'

REVISITED

13

As the entiremotiviccontentof the song is presentedin laconic form

in the firstthreebars, the dramaticformof the whole is succinctly
hintedat in bar 10,thatunique bar at theend of thefirststrophewhich
is sung ratherthan spoken. In thisbar the two so-importantmotives
are playedat the same time;thesesame two shapes unfoldsimultaneouslythroughoutthe song. I have arguedabove thathandlingof most
aspectsof thecanons- thesteadydecreasein thenumberof voices and
the time between entries,the hastening,shortening,confusingand
the aural equivahiding- are aimed at a steadilyincreasingobscurity,
lent of nightfall.At the same time, in other respects,the dramatic
a contourthatservesas a sortof Ursatzat
progressoutlinesa butterfly,
all levelsof thepiece.
The dramaticshape of the song is ABA,withall the climaxesin the
centralsection:the dynamicclimaxis in bar 16,the registralclimaxin
bar 18, the greatestdensityis in bars 14-15, and the contentis most
obscurein bar 19. These heightsare likethe apex of thebutterlyshape
motive;afterthis
drawnin Example la and portrayedin the butterfly
thingssubside untilthe end is like the beginning,though in several
ways, all of which have been mentionedabove, the end fallsa little
shortof beingexactlylikethebeginning- note values are not quite as
long (thoughlonger than in the middle section),the cello plays in a
more agitatedmannerthan it did at the beginning(but not quite as
strangelyas it did in the middlesection).Thus the shape of thewhole
is the reverseof the slightlylopsided insect that is replicatedin the
in retrograde.
motive:the structureof the song is thebutterfly
The rhythmicactivityand the structureof the canons work
togetherto createthis double picture.For the moment disregarding
the introductionand coda, the notes themselvesget progressively
shorterforthe whole of the piece, while the canonic partsplayedin
these rhythmsdrop fromfourto threeto two and theirentriesget
closertogetherin timeup to the climaxin bar 19, after
progressively
which the lost voices returnone at a time, and the entriesbecome
furtherapartand more leisurelyagain. In thisway the two shapes are
interlocked,as of course theyhave been at various otherlevels- all
otherlevels- forthewhole of the song.
Why did Schoenbergsubtitlethisingeniouspiece 'Passacaglia'?The
passacagliais one of the oldestof the traditionalformsstillin use, and
one of the simplest;the expectationsraised by this subtitleare thus
and most are not
quite definiteand not open to much interpretation,
in 'Nacht'. There shouldbe a ground,probablyappearingfirst
fulfilled
in thebass and possiblymovingaroundto variousothervoices during
the progressof the movement,and thisground should be repeated
perhapswith diversefiguralvariationsbut withoutany
continuously,
alterationof itslength,itsintervalsor itskey.Historicallythegroundis
in long and essenusuallyin a triplemetreand descendschromatically,
values.
note
tiallyregular
How many of these thingsare true of Schoenberg'spassacaglia?
The piece is in a triplemetre,and the firstand most importantcanon
in long
subject(Lessem's 'passacagliatheme') descendschromatically
and regularnote values. It also recursthroughoutthe piece, in variations using figuration,and always at the tonic level. But it does not
even
recurcontinuously.What doesrecurcontinuously- incessantly,
motive,but these recurrences
obsessively- is the three-notebutterfly
levels,using a varietyof durations,
are dense and varied- at different
at all tonal levels,occupyingeveryconceivablepositionin thebar,and

14 TEMPO

- andaresubjecttopermutation.
Thisisnotthe
veryoftenoverlapping
sortof repetition
thatoccursin a passacaglia.I hesitateto use a
termthathasbeenoverused
tothepointofnausea,but
Schoenbergian
thisis developing
In manywaysthispassacagliais a parody,
variation.
the techniquesof the traditional
formand denyingthe
subverting
raisedbythetitle.
expectations
YetI thinkthatthisis notthewholestory.
Whiledenying
theruleof
the form,thispassacagliagivesits all in conforming
to its spirit.
Becauseof its repetitiveness,
whichrulesout bothmodulationand
metricirregularity,
thepassacagliais surelythemostoppressive
form
of Westerntraditional
music.Thereis no escapefromitsconstantly
reiterated
established
at
groundorfromthekeyandthemetric
rhythm
the outset,just as in Giraud/Hartleben's
'Nacht'thereis no escape
fromtheswarmof blackbutterflies
or thefallof night.'Nacht'is a
has providedit witha
supremely
oppressive
poem,and Schoenberg
There
is
not
a
moment
fromitsstartto
supremely
oppressive
setting.
itsfinish
whenwe arenotbesiegedbythebutterflies
andtheirconseand usuallyin all
quence in a varietyof ingeniouscombinations,
voices.For such a claustrophobic
what
more
allusion
piece
fitting
couldbe imaginedthan'passacaglia'?
ForallofPierrot
I amawareofonlyoneextant
forthe
lunaire
sketch,
of 'Nacht'.9Itisinteresting
andpuzzling,
as itseemstobear
beginning
no relationship
I offer
whatever
tothesongthateventually
a
emerged.
of
it
as
8.
transcription
Example

Example8:
Sketchfor'Nacht'

t?

Ir
IbIL

il

.I

=I?'- ,

lox. I

,j.

Il~r

-W

&r&n

t,.
I- .I

......
'Der Mondfleck'
'Der Mondfleck'
turnsroundon
(no. 18),thesongwhichfamously

itselfhalfwaythrough(at the exact moment Pierrotnotices a white

fleckof moonlight
on thebackof hiscoat),setsthetextas a binary
form.Thisstructure
isas direct
totheimageofthispoemas
a response

the picturesque motives and their machinations,and the subtitle

passacaglia',were to 'Nacht'.
9 Thissketchis heldin theArnoldSch6nbergCenter,Vienna.

STRUCTURAL IMAGERY: 'PIERROT LUNAIRE' REVISITED 15

There are fourlayersof activityin 'Der Mondfleck',each makingits

to theeccentricbehaviourof theprotagocontribution
own distinctive
nist.The piano playsa fuguethroughout,and theSprechstimme
goes its
own ratherangularway,remainingmore aloof fromthe restof the
ensemble than was the case in 'Nacht'. A pair of woodwind instruments (clarinetand piccolo) play in canon,10as do a pair of strings
(violinand cello); both of thesecanons turnroundat the centreof bar
10 and play in retrogradeuntiltheyhave reached the point at which
theystarted.But,just as Pierrotis presumablynot actuallywalking
backwardsforthesecond halfof the song,but walkingforwardswhile
lookingback overhis shoulder,the piano and singercarryon moving
in the originaldirectionwhile the otherfourinstrumentslook back,
which,likethecharacterhimself,in itsconfusion
producinga structure
at once.
in
both
directions
progresses
One of the firstthingsone notices is thatthis song has the same
tonic as 'Nacht'. (This 'tonic' is not a featurethat runs throughthe
whole cycle.)The motivethatbegins each new sectionof the woodwind canon and functionsas thesubjectof thepiano's fuguebeginson
E and ends on E? (see Example 9a); it appearsalso as an answer,beginning on B (the conventionaldominant,as opposed to the tritone,
whichplayedthatrolein 'Nacht'). It is temptingto see thefallingsemitone of thismotiveand the one in 'Nacht' as theinversion/perversion
of the leading-note/tonic
relationshipof tonal music,thoughin 'Der
Mondfleck'the two tritonesof the subjectare in factresolvedin quite
tonalmanner(see Example 9b).
a satisfactory

Example9:
Openingfigureof 'Der Mondfleck'

b)
The piano playsa fuguewhichis essentiallyin threevoices,though
it expands to fouron occasion. It is also in threesections,bars 1-8,
thatthepiano
8-15 and 15-19,but,thoughthissuggeststhepossibility
structureof thepoem, thisis not the case.
partfollowsthe three-verse
The second stanzaof the textbeginsin bar 7, the thirdlate in bar 12.
This fugue opens in a ratherdaringway,withthe subjectstatedin
parallelaugmentedtriads,but calmsdown quickly,so thatby the third
entrythe onlyremnantof thisinitialaudacityis thefirstnote,whichis
doubled,but now at the tritone.Nevertheless,untillate in the fugue
thefirstand lastnotesof thesubjectare mostoftenexpressedas chords
or dyads.The fugueis givenas Example 10,withthepartsdisentangled
and writtenon separatestaves.

am going to call the imitation between clarinet and piccolo a canon, for the sake of convenience, in spite of the fact that the relationship of the two instruments is very fluid. It
behaves like a canon, but a canon with considerable freedom. On his own copy of the piece
Schoenberg wrote 'fugue' next to these two parts, but I find this designation - a not uncommon situation with respect to Schoenberg's remarks about his own music - slightlymisleading. It occurs to me to wonder whether this was meant to indicate the source of these two
parts, which duplicate exactly,at twice the speed, the firsttwo voices of the piano's fugue.

150I

16 TEMPO

10:No.18,DerMondfleck',
Example
pianofugue
EXPOSITION

2
ouTERSUBJECT

L...1..SUBJECT
.COUNTERSUBJECTI
COUNc
S

cs 2)

ErCLL
--continuat....
s)

CS

...................

csl

.....

_
-k.

..P
Id

SDEVELOPMENT

(s)

---A

o ne

iiciiis

(C S
=....7-7--

;00

..

Al

40.ri

j
I;i

"'
; l"
1''.'

kpL,

..L

..sr7
.
1)

Cs)

:;-i .

.....,

A-L

...

2)1

1.

in pet-s

....

"

..

S,,

fe i e

i"*

<.2lliii.

ii

. . . .... .
... :i
:-bi--.......
::::::::::::::::::::::

1-...... .. .

...

to...

t~cs

..

z 1

A.
.
.,g, .F.
R.....
.
, ::::
.........
.. ::.,d'--I:- .... F..L,=.::

...i .

-... CS 2

.....i.

...1....._.2

e t

i!.

............
.. .

subjc-t

----. .if;.ms.

'

,* '

.
" " ..

......

"

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY:

PIERROT

LUNAIRE

REVISITED

FINALDEVELOPMENT

(S

, (S)

,.r . ...
) ~
_,

, ,

S
.. .........

illill

;(s)::

i~"

w
lb
A
&A)
.

I.

sl

...
---------

lS

cuo

~i'I
.I

3
0#12

The exposition
is fairly
unremarkable,
exceptforone thing:there
aretwonotesinbar3 thatpreempt
theentry
ofthesubjectinthethird
voice.Thisis a curiousexceptionto whatis otherwise
ratherstrict
The adherence
to fugaltechniques
fugalpractice.
goesfarbeyondthe
of the subject:thereare two countersubjects,
both of
replication
whichareheardin all threevoices,andin addition
thereis inthefirst
voicea further
segment(in bars4-5) whichis playedagainby the
leadingvoiceinthesecondsectionofthefugue,inbars11-12.Asthis
isnotplayedatthesametimeas thesubject,
I havecalledthisa 'continuation'rather
thananother
countersubject.

17

18

TEMPO

The second sectionbegins as if it were going to be anotherexpositionbut slipsin to developmentwiththe strettoentryof the subjectin
the thirdvoice. The firsttwo voices play the same music as before,
includingthecontinuationfrombars4-5, but thethirdvoice dispenses
withthe countersubjectsand beginsinsteada stringof threesubjects,
all of whichare elided.The second of theseis invertedas well.
In thissectionof the fuguethe subjecthas acquired a second rest,
betweenitslasttwo notes,to balance thatbetweenitsfirsttwo." In the
followingsection both restshave been removed and the firstnote
greatlyshortened,givingthe subjectan agitationthatit lackedbefore.
This sectionopens in bar 15 witha strettoin fourvoices,two of which
- the firstand third- continue with the two countersubjects.The
fourthentryis embellishedand lengthened,as is a fifthentrywhichis
heardin strettowithit (playedby thevoice thatenteredsecond). One
The fugue
can see thesedigressions(in bar 16) as a formof distraction.
ends witha flurryof rapidstatementsof the subjectin itsnew fretful
thus
form,in whichthe threecentralnoteshave now become triplets,
of
the
at
woodwind
the
those
beginning the
parts
playedby
matching
as it progresses,
becomes
the
Thus
agitated
increasingly
fugue
song.
movingfromExpositionto Development,each section shorterthan
the one before.The normalprogressis firstquickenedby strettoand
elision,and thenby rhythmicdiminutions,as Pierrotbecomes more
distractedand his progressless predictable.
The erraticnatureof Pierrot'sprogressthroughthenightis perhaps
seen most clearlyin the woodwind canon, which consistsof the first
two voices of the piano fuguein diminution,12thoughthe correspondence to Pierrot's agitation is somewhat anticipatory,since the
growingirritationof clarinetand piccolo occurs beforethe halfway
pointof thesong,thusprecedingthemomentof Pierrot'sdiscoveryof
the fleckon his coat.
- thisratherfreecanon 'startsover'
Like thepiano fugue- inevitably
threetimes:on fouroccasions both voices statethe five-notesubject,
the firstthreetimesat the tonic level answeredat the dominant,the
fourthtime with both voices on the tonic. These freshstartscorrespond to bars 1, 8, 15 and 18 of the piano's fugue:as in the piano, the
sectionsbecome progressivelyshorterand, afterthe second pair of
entries,the entriesthemselvesget closertogether(thoughin thiscase
all theseeventsoccurin the firsthalfof the song and are subsequently
reversed).The fluidstateof the imitationin thesepartscan be seen in
Example 11, where imitatedmaterialis bracketed,with arrowsindiwhich quickens and
catingthe order of the voices. This irregularity,
the
as
the
centre,seems, in
becomes exaggerated
piece approaches
Pierrot's
reflect
to
the
of
fact,
stumblinggait
perfectly
spite preceding
as he walksin one directionwhilefacingin the other.
At the same time the stringsare playinga strictcanon built from
material,in whichthe imitationis so exact thateven at
quite different
the axis in bar 10, where it turnsround on itself,both horizontaland
vertical symmetriesare maintained without a break: the leader
becomes the followerwithouta ripplein eitherthe canonic imitation
or the palindrome(this is not the case in the woodwind; therethe
piccolo has threeextranoteswhilethe clarinetcomesends the firsthalf
and carrieson as the dux in the second half); see Example 12. The
11Onlyone entry,
thesecond,inbars9-10, does nottakethisnew form.
12
betweentheparts:It
This statementperhapsgivesa confusingpictureof therelationship
musthave
would seem obvious thatthe woodwindcanon,whichrepeatsin retrograde,
of theforward
and thepianofugue,an augmentation
portionof it,later.
come first,

STRUCTURAL IMAGERY: PIERROT LUNAIRE REVISITED 19

his enragedrubbingand
stringsperfectly
representPierrot'sirritation:
weiter,reibtund
scrubbing('Wischtund wischt... er giftgeschwollen
reibt') at the spot that refusesto disappear (see Example 13). His
continualagitationis portrayedby the constantnervous repetitions,
but also by the rhythmof thiscanon,whichgratesagainstthewritten
metre.Since the materialis clearlyin 2/4, neitherpartfitswithinthe
writtenbars of three;and, sincethe imitationoccursafterthreebeats,
the imaginarybarlinesof the two voices disagreewith each otheras
well. Metricallythisis an unsettled- and unsettling- canon,reflecting
the stateof Pierrot'smindas he progressesthroughthenightrubbing
at the spotthatrefusesto be eradicated.

11:
Example
'DerMondfleck',
woodwind
canon

~3

CS
Iud
CS
2)
~~ei
'Ask
m
..jor.I
I
-A
~"~"x`~"~x~"J
_?9__.
A-L

.. ..

n~mtttlc
......

o
Nt

qF?
Avg-~_.
~

61if 1 3

P
53

,7,i

t..',,,,'.{,
$

7;
a,-,;,

o" w
--olI

20 TEMPO

There are severaldiscrepanciesin the canons of 'Der Mondfleck',in

both pitchand rhythm,
mostlyin the retrogradehalf of the piece. As
no sketchforthe piece survivesit is impossibleto check Schoenberg's
intentions.However,in 1977,whentheSchoenbergArchivewas stillin
Los Angeles, Leonard Stein wrote to me describingSchoenberg's
conductingscore, on which most of the discrepantnotes had been
correctedin pencil.This scoreis notin thecollectionat theSchoenberg
Centerin Vienna.
'Parodie'
Number 17 perhaps comes closer than any of the other songs to
expressingthe very essence of the cycle. In it two distincttypes of
The whole
ambiguity.
parodyareused: canonicimitationand structural
of Pierrotlunaireis parody, and musically it parodies forms (the
passacagliaand fuguethatwe havejust examined),styles(the 'Valse de
Chopin',the 'Serenade',thebarcarole)and techniques.But in thissong
the idea of mockeryis at the surfaceand is admitted:here the intent
implicitin the whole cyclebecomes the avowed subjectof one of its
parts,the strategyof one of its characters.The duenna of the textis
cruellymockedby themoon: she is duped intothinkingthatshe hears
inlove,wheninfactthewhispershe
Pierrot,withwhom sheis painfully
hearsis onlya puffof wind,as themoon playsgames withtheknitting
needlesstuckintoherhair,makingthemtwinklelikemoonbeams.This
of themusic.
andherconfusion,determinethestructure
mockery,
The piece is a seriesof canons. As thereis no musical formmore
oppressivethanthe passacaglia,so thereis no clearerformof musical
mimicrythancanon. Butthemoon's mockeryof theold woman is not
simple;itis crueland twisted,and so is themusicalimitation.In all the
canons one voice is movingat odds with the other(s)- in inversiontakes
and surelythemostbrilliantparodyof all is thattheSprechstimme
partin all the canons. That thisvoice,whose pitchesare fixedonlyon
the page but not in practiceand varywildlyfromone performanceto
another,should partakeof canon, a techniquein which pitchis allimportant,seems to me theperfectirony.
thisis articulatedby changesin the canon, and
As forthe structure,
these changes are carefullymanipulatedto expressboth the ternary
and thebinarydivision.It is perhapsmost succinctto give the canonic
structureof thepiece in tableform.
bars 1-10

bars 11-15

bars 16-21

bars22-6

bars26-9

lines1-4

lines5-6

lines7-8

lines9-11

lines12-13

vla,clar.,voice;
clar.inverted

voice,vla,clar.;
clar.inverted

vla and clar.;

clar.inverted
voice andpicc.

vla and flute;

fluteinverted
voiceandclar.

vla and clar.;

clar.inverted
pno rh,picc.and
voice

where
isnotexactly
thatthelastdivision
Itwillbe noticedimmediately
itshouldbe; itcomesonelinetoo soon.So perhapseventhecarefully
And
isitselfparodied.
forms
worked-out
parodyofthebinary/ternary
thecounterpoint
thepianoforthemostpartignores
clearly
altogether,
atthebeginthesamematerial
thebinarydivision
byplaying
marking
ning,centreandendofthepiece
andthevoicehavea canoninthreevoicesfor
Theotherinstruments
halfofthepieceanda doublecanonintwopairsofvoicesfor
thefirst
ofcanonismaintained
thesecondhalf.Thusthesametype
throughout

STRUCTURAL

IMAGERY: 'PIERROT

LUNAIRE

REVISITED

21

each half of thepiece,but forthelast two linesof the firsthalf(at the

beginningof the second strophe,at bar 11) the order of entriesis
changed (the instrumentsare listedin the table above in the orderin
whichtheyenter),and afterthefirsttwo linesof thesecondhalf(at the
are paireddifferend of the second strophe,at bar 22) theinstruments
ently.(Also at thispointthepiccolo playertakesup the fluteand plays
theinvertedvoice forthe firstand onlytime.)
The three-partcanon at the end of the piece (piano righthand,
bars 27-9) is on the same materialas the
piccolo and Sprechstimme,
canon at thebeginning.
three-part

In 'O alterDuft', the last song in the cycle,the poet thinksfondlyof

pleasurestoo long neglected.
[...]
thatI longhavescorned,
A happywishforpleasures
scentfrom
thetimeoffairies,
O ancient
onceagainmysenses!
intoxicating
[...]
Perhaps,evenin 1912,onlythreeyearsafterfirstbreathingtheair of
other planets,this sentimentstrucka chord with Schoenberg.The
of
unlikelypresencein his opus 21 of the strictcontrapuntalstructures
motivicdevelop'Parodie' and 'Der Mondfleck'and the extraordinary
mentof 'Nacht' would seem to indicatethathe was stillmuchattached
to some of those pleasureshe had been recentlyso carefullyand so
publiclyavoiding.
He was about to embarkon a long silencewhich was only partly
attributableto the disruptionsof war. And althoughhe would never
return(one mightsay thiswithsome regret)to writingin theway we
see in thesepieces,it is veryclearthathe was unable to go on without
some sort of strictorganization.His eventual answer to this need
would be such a divisiveinfluencethatmusicwould not recoverfrom
the damage formanydecades,ifit everhas. In thefullknowledgethat
it is an unfashionableand unthinkablesuggestion,and one thatwill
all my friends,I wonderwhat masterpiecesSchoenbergmight
horrify
have given us had he foundthe answerto his personal dilemmain a
stricter
use of thetraditionaldisciplinesin whichhe had alreadyproven
to his brand new
himselfso capable ratherthan devotinghis efforts
and ratherzanyproposition.
Postscript
Schoenberg's PierrotLunaire was writtenin only a few months,
commissionedin March 1912 and finishedinJuly.A shorttimebefore
receivingthe commissionhe had set down his thoughtson the relationshipof wordsand musicforpublicationin Der blauReiter.
A fewyearsago I wasdeeplyashamed
in several
Schubert
whenI discovered
noideawhatwasgoingoninthe
well-known
tome,thatI hadabsolutely
songs,
poemson whichtheywerebased.ButwhenI hadreadthepoemsitbecame
of the
clearto methatI hadgainedabsolutely
fortheunderstanding
nothing
formetochangemy
sincethepoemsdidnotmakeitnecessary
songsthereby,
in the slightest
of the musicalinterpretation
conception
degree.On the
thepoem,I had graspedthe
it appearedthat,withoutknowing
contrary,
therealcontent,
thanifI hadclungto
evenmoreprofoundly
content,
perhaps
thesurface
ofthemerethoughts
inwords.Forme,evenmoredeciexpressed
sivethanthisexperience
wasthefactthat,inspired
bythesoundof thefirst
to the
wordsofthetext,I hadcomposed
through
manyofmysongsstraight

22 TEMPO

end withouttroublingmyselfin the slightestabout the continuationof the

poeticevents,withoutevengraspingthemin theecstasyof composing,andthat
onlydayslaterI thoughtof lookingback to see just whatwas the realpoetic
thatI had
contentof mysong.It thenturnedout,to mygreatestastonishment,
neverdone greaterjustice to the poet thanwhen,guidedby my firstdirect
thatobviously
contactwiththe sound of the beginning,I divinedeverything
had to followthisfirstsoundwithinevitability.
13

betweenwriting
inthefewmonths
havean epiphany
Did Schoenberg
or didhe
his3 x 7 melodramas,
thiscuriousapologiaandcomposing
theidea of hismessianic
andsustaining
reallybelievethatinculcating
musical
to quitebrilliant
thanadmitting
statuswas moreimportant
mere
of
the
surface
texts
else's
someone
of
('the
poetic
interpretations
thoughtsexpressedin words')?I cannotbelievethatthe obviously
a miraculous
in 'Nacht'and 'Der Mondfleck'
represents
picturesque
coincidence
thatoccurred
'ecstasyof composing'
Schoenberg's
during
evenSchoenberg
on Giraud'sunreadwords.Perhapsuponreflection
a
on wordsand musicin DerblaueReiter
foundhis pronouncement
anddecidedto readmorecloselyinthefuture.
rather
extreme
UniversalEdition,Wien 1914renewed
MusicExamples1-7 and 9-11 ? Copyright

Edition
of Universal
1941byArnold
bypermission
Reproduced
Schoenberg.

(London)Ltd.

oftheArnold
Centre,
Music
8reproduced
permission
bykind
Example
Sch6nberg

Los Angeles.
Viennaand BelmontMusicPublishers,

between16November1911and20January
(Munich1912),pp.27 if.Written
13 DerblaueRester

andrevisedversionfirstpublishedas 'The Relationship

1912.Authorised
Englishtranslation
to theText',in StyleandIdea,ed. Dika Newlin(New York:PhilosophicalLibrary,
1950),p.
1-6. Enlargededn of Styleand Idea, ed. Leonard Stein with translations
by Leo Black
(London: Faber & Faber, 1975), pp. 141-5 (here 144). Manuscriptresides in Arnold
Sch6nbergCenter,Vienna(T 14.17).