Customer Reviews

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire; Webern: Concerto, Op. 24

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For decades spoil sports like "denisdiderot" below have been attacking Schoenberg's 12 tone system, saying, for example, that his music has no relation to "natural acoustics" and to the way "human beings make sense of sound". Well, last I checked, I'm a human being, one who happens to love this music, and I join musicians and music enthusiasts around the globe in praise of Schoenberg's work. The music of a "mediocre musical talent" doesn't last 50 years after his death. A talentless hack is forgotten. Schoenberg hasn't been forgotten and never will be. I dare say, though the real Denis Diderot is certainly remembered, the person below using Diderot's name as an alias will be forgotten shortly after his own death. Schoenberg will live on in the hearts and minds of musicians and music lovers everywhere as he does today.

Schoenberg's music is not for everyone, but then there's a lot in music that isn't for everyone. Try to accept that, though you may not connect with this composer, there are many who honestly do, and you may be missing something.

You do not have to be a musical scholar to enjoy the atonal majesty of Schoenberg! (As a matter of fact, he was heavily against the pretentiousness of classical music during his time.) Ms. Manning performs with all the emotion and fanciful genius that embodies Pierrot Lunaire ... which is basically, to put it bluntly: a beautiful musical work of art about a moondrunken looney! Her song illustrates a kaleidescope of emotions, impressions and illusions. Every note, its placement, and expression is meaningful and alive in this composition and it is well-executed here. Read about the tale being told in the insert to add more seasoning to the feast!

The three short instrumental works on this disc are also worthwhile. These are also atonal, but more interesting to me from simply an intellectual standpoint rather than from my spirit.

Read the two below dated just before mine TOO for more background. The first review from Herr Diredeieidiot sounds like one of many in a certain class that listen to something, can't make sense of it themselves, so they label it pretentious attention-grabbing trash. Funny how often it's these same individuals that tend to glorify mediocre music - which I absolutely ABHOR - and tell us others "it takes a few listens to 'get' it" when we declare its superficiality.

I'll be honest: Pierrot Lunaire doesn't get many spins on my stereo like my popular music favorites; but when in the mood, this is 100% satisfactory. I recommend this particular performance.

Arnold Schoenberg prefaced his program to Pierrot Lunaire with a quote by the German poet Novalis. "One can imagine tales where there would be no coherence, and yet associations--like dreams, poems that are simply euphonious and full of beautiful words, but with no meaning or coherence whatever--at most, a few comprehensible strophes--like fragments of utterly various things. Such true poesy can have at most and allegorical meaning, as a whole, and an indirect effect, like music." In other words, Novalis is saying not to search too hard for meaning in the work, but to enjoy the sound and the consonance of the words. Shoenberg also applied a unique ideal to this piece, called "sprechstimme," where he clearly defined the lines between spoken and sung text, and explained in detail the differences between the two. Schoenberg was much respected for his work, and the legacy of Pierrot still lingers today. It's divided into three major parts, to reflect Pierrot's varying moods: moonstruck despair, paranoid martyrdom, and nostalgic reflection. The piece also encompasses Schoenberg's foray into Expressionist music, with ideals founded on some of Freud's theories, and the desire to look within oneself, and express it. The world portrayed in Expressionism is usually at night, and most often has more nightmares than daydreams. Pierrot is no exception, being totally set at night with many references to the moon. Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" will continue to be one of the great works of the twentieth century, and Schenberg's ideas and influence still persist today. And it is also good to remember, with more listenings come more enjoyment and greater understanding.

the music contained on this cd is proof enough in and of itself that Arnold Schoenberg was a mediocre musical talent, and turned to composing in an alienist atonal style only after he could plainly see that he could not compete on tonal musical grounds with the likes of strauss, pfitzner, schreker, ravel, debussy, and the like. the man craved attention and success, and most of all, "historical significance" for himself, and therefore devised a system of composing that purposefully could not be understood, thus setting himself up as a pretended misunderstood "genius" in the romantic sense, and claiming that anyone who cried foul regarding his music was simply not sophisticated enough to comprehend his noise. Then he created a rigid mathematical system of organizing tones with no relation whatsoever to natural acoustics or the way human beings make sense of sound. If his ludicrous communistic regimentation of musical tones is not enough to prove that Schoenberg was a musical mediocrity at best, or incompetent at worst, then just listen to the garbage contained on this cd for confirmation.