about pierrot lunaire. the impressions made on various audiences by a novel work

8/18/2019 About Pierrot Lunaire. the Impressions Made on Various Audiences by a Novel Work

1/11


2/11

ABOUT " PIERROT LUNAIRE"

The Impressionsmade

on various udiencesby

Novel

Work

ON of the difficulties-attractions,

erhaps-of

a virtuoso's

ife

is

the perpetual hangeof audience. Each difference

f

hall

or

town

or latitude bliges

im

to acclimatise

imself

hysically

nd

morally.

Vocal

cords

nd

violin

trings

re

alike

affectedn a dozendifferent

waysby

a

change f climate;

nd

then gain, ust

as

the player,

t

eachtownhe cometo,musttakethe local A, so before heactual

dayhe has to get theA of the audience. If yesterday

e roused n

industrialentre o enthusiasm,is receptiono-morrow

n some own

whose business s administrationr diplomacy

may be something

quite

different.

nly

an

artist

who

has

made

a

long

tour,

n

a

countryhat

s

new to him, knows heseperpetual

ears and this

never-ceasingervous train. And, after ll,

without hem,

his

life

would e too easy andquitedull.

There s less risk,ofcourse,when he musician lays thingshe

knows uite well,and has chosenfor he express

urpose f getting

the

maximum ffect

ut of

the

minimum

f effort.

But if it falls

to his lot

to

have

to

champion

new

work,

o new as to give a rude

shock o the tastes nd

traditions

f thegreatmajority

fhis hearers,

his couragewillbe severelyested, nd he willneed

a cool head and

nerves f steel.

So

true

s

this,

hat mostartists o not take the

risk; theyplay,beyond

heprivacy f their tudy, nly uch works

as

they re perfectly

ure ofthemselvesver. Hence most f their

concerts-andhere shallcarrywithme theunfortunate embers

of

the

musical ress-are

flat nd

unprofitable.

Fate decided that I

should

be called upon

to take part,

during the last two years,

in

one of those

contemporary

works which have raised controversy, ven storms,

all

throughEurope: Arnold

Schonberg's

"

PierrotLunaire,"

the

amazing thing that was played three times ast

November

n

LondonMusic

Clubs, fter

arious erformancesy

thesame

artists

in Paris. To come n contactwiththesevarious udienceswas to

receivevery vivid impressions;

nd lately it has

been

my good

fortune

o round

ff hese

mpressionsy certain thers

btained

ur-

ing

a

tour n

Italy under

he direction f the composer.Oppor-

tuniitiesf

observinghe

audienceweregreater here, ince

we went


3/11

348 MUSIC

AND

LETTERS

all through

he country,

from Naples,

through Rome,

Florence,

Venice,

Padua

and

Milan, to

Turin.

I am able to take a detachedview of it all. I need not reel off

the list of our

successes,

for

t would be an exaggeration

o pretend

that these

eveningswere

a

series

of triumphs

n any ordinary

ense;

indeed, during

these performances

he mercury

wavered between

it

rain

"

and

"

stormy."

When

we wereapplauded

t was with

ome

diffidence,nd

when we were hissed there was

always an emphatic

opposition

amp. Press anld

public alike

could indulge the

most

diverse opinions;

the only thing

that no one thought

f

"

Pierrot

Lunaire " was that it was insignificant. But, before speaking of

what

the listeners

made

of

it,

I

should

like to say what

the inter-

preters

hought

f

it.

To make a criticalanalysis

of

this ntricatework s

not

my

object,

nor would

t lie within

my power;

besides,

it would

be waste oftime.

"

Pierrot Lunaire

"

which opened

the

floodgates

f invective,

as

between

those

who admire or dislike

Schdnberg,

has

also

caused

tor-

rentsof

nk to

flow. I

advise

the reader

who is notfamiliarwith

the

work

to

study the

pocket-scorend read

the various

daily papers and

periodicals. They fill a fat quarto. I will say quite simplywhat

effect

t

produced

n

us

at

the

first

ehearsals.

One

of the

commonplaces

hat one

always

hears at the end of

the

performance

f

a

work

of this kind is-" You can

play what notes

you please

and

it

would sound

just as well." That

is a

complete

mistake.

At

the first

rehearsals there

will

obviously

be

a

goodly crop

of

wrongnotes,

and

neither

conductor

nor

players

will

notice

them

at

first. They agreemutually okeeptothemain linesand notstopover

details.

But for

practised

musicians

two

facts

at

once emerge-

1.

Technical

problems

re

soluble

or insoluble.

2.

The

thing

sounds,

or

doesn't.

It

had been

my

business

to

collect

his

ittle

band

of

nstrumneitalists,

and

my

first

are had been to choose

only

sound

technicians.

That

is

not

the

usual

course;

what

those

who are

in

the van of

progress

ook

for

s

youth

nd

enthusiassm

nd a

passionate

ove of

adventure.

But

to my mind entlhusiasmnd devotion are here of small account as

compared

with

practised

fingers

nd

eyes,

and so the music

with

which my colleagues

were

familiar

belonged

certainly to the

day

before

yesterday

atherthan

to

the

day

after

to-morrow.

How was

it

that

from the very

firstrehearsal

they

took

the

thing

seriously?

In

the first

lace

becauise,

hoke-full

Is

it was of awkward

assages

and

techniical ifficulties,ile

\ork

conitainied

olne of those

clumsi-


4/11

ABOUT

"

PIERROT

LUNAIRE "

349

nesses

t which

he

players

hrug

heir houlders

nd which

end

the

work

back

for

revision.

And

secondly,

because from

the

very

firstreadingwe felt that the author'sconceptionndrealisatioi

of

his

thought as

clear

and

deliberate,

nd that heeffect

roduieed

was

the

effectntended. There

re,

and

there

lways

will

be,

secret

affinities

etweenhe

expert

ftheinstrument

nd

the

expert

f

the

pen; whetherhe

composer's

hought

s

commonplace

r

extravagant,

he will

always

have the

respect

f his

interpreters

f he

can

prove

o

them

hathe

uniderstandsis

business.

That

Schonberg

nderstands

usic and

has learned

t in

a

good

school here an benosort fdoubt. He has beencalled romantic,

obviously

ecause

he

has been an

ultra-romantic

n

the

way

he

has

handled

Pierrot

unaire,"

thatbitter

arody

f

theromantic

chool.

But

actually

e derives

rom he

classics

classical,

lmost

cholastic,

in

his

tastefor

contrapuntal

pisodes

and

for

the

musical

puns

which

are

sown

broadcast n

his

work,

specially

n

No.

18,

the

baffling Mondflecht."

hese

ontrapuntal

ubtleties,

rowned

n

the

apparent

haosof an

aggressive

olyphony,

ay

escape

the

hearer f

a

single

vening,

ut

hey

annot

scape

onscientious

nterpretersho

willinglyndertake series of rehearsals. The moment heysee

there

s

a

logic

behind

hese

deeds of

daring

hey

will

not

be

nig-

gardlywith

heir

fforts.

erhaps t

is

only

the

comfortable

eeling

of

having

onquered

ifficulties,

ut

at

any rate the

fact

remains

that

Schonberg

as

won

devoted

nterpreters

ho,

even f

they re

opposed

o

his

system,

re

determined

hat

his

work

hall

be a

success.

And

now

as to

its

"

sounding; I

have

won

various

mpressions.

Peoplehaveoftenaidthat his ombinationf nstrumentsasugly;

theyhave

never

aid

that t

sounded

hollow.

There

s

no

question

that

Schonberg's

hought

as

been

realised

n

performance.

he

majority

f

his

hearers

may

have

regarded

his

ittle

rchestra

f

five

as an

instrument

f

torture,

ut

they

may

be

sure

at

any

rate

that

the

instrument

s

solidly

onstructed

nd

that

there

s

in

it

nota

wheel

oo

many r too

few.

It

wouldbe

difficult

o

write

with

more

slender

means: a

flute

lternating

ith

piccolo,

clarinet

ith

bass

clarinet, violin

with

viola,

a

'cello

and

a

piano.

And

they

areseldomused all together;ometimeshere re four f

them,

hree,

two,

or

even

only

one.

With

these

restricted

esources

he

author

manages

o

give,

when

required,

he

effect

fa

whole

orchestra.

felt

that

vividly

every

time

we

reached

Les

Croix."

However

hostile

he

udience,

nthe

midst

venof

aughter

r

ively

emonstra-

tions,

he

end of

this

piece

was

always

received

with

he

respect

f


5/11

350

MUSIC

AND

LETTERS

silence:

its evident

trength

lways

quells

the

rioters.

Asceticism

likethis

has

its dangers,

with

an orchestra

omposed

f

the

bare

essentials oucannot fford istakesromissions.With ll respect

to

the

"

you-can-play-what-notes-you-please

contingent,

nyone

who

knows

he

work

an

detect

wrong

ote

or

a

missing

art

s

easily

as

in a

Haydn

quartet.

I

realised

hat

one

day

at a rehearsal

f

another

xtremist

ork.

We

were

going

hrough

orthe

first

ime

Darius

Milhaud's

ymphony

or

ten

wind nstruments.

y

one

of

those

fatalities

hich

re

for

composers

nd orchestral

eaders

the

bane

of existence

he

cor

anglaiswas

late, so

late

that

we

had

to

beginwithout im. Thiswork fMilhaud s onewhichs peppered

over

more

iberally

han

usual

with

aring

armonies

nd rough

one-

qualities,

nd

I

confess

with

humility

hat at

a first

earing

he

second

movement

ppeared

o

me to

be merecacophony-a

purview

which

subsequently

bandoned;

moreover-a

hing

which

erformers

think

more

of-the

orchestration

ounded

poor

and

hollow.

I

was

beginning

owonder

whether

e

should

ver

get anything

ut

of t,

when

our

cor

anglais

rrived,

uffing

nd

panting.

If

the

work

had

really

been

cacophonous

is

contribution

ould

dnly

have

made

the

muddleworse. But,on the contrary,t cleared hewhole hingup

wonderfully,

nd

I wasastonished

o

find

hat

t sounded

xcellently,

even

f that

was

its only

merit.

If

I

apply

the

word

"

excellently

to

"

Pierrot

Lunaire,"

no

doubt

I shall

shock

more

han

a

few

of

our

audience.

We

will

say,

then,

that

t sounds

s

it

ought

o sound,

nd

pass

on

now

to

the

reception

it

had.

Performed

or

the

first

time

in

Germany,

n 1912,

"

Pierrot

Lunaire didnotreachParis till1922. Meantimeherehad been

the

war

nd

the

ban

on

modern

erman

music,

nd,

still

worse,

here

were

he

material

ifficulties-the

xpense,

ndthe enormous

umber

of

rehearsals-which

o

one

quite

saw how

to get

over.

At

this

point,

nd

at his

own

risks,

there tepped

n

M.

Jean

Wiener,

young

musician,

clever

pianist

nd

a

bold

organiser.

He

has

a

natural

turn

for

the

daring

onceptions

nd outrageous

ancies

of

modernism,

nd s

more

t his ease

in Schonberg

nd Stravinsky

han

manyamateursre in Clementi.

Besides,

his

weakness

or

azz*

and

his

skilful

laying

f

his own

transcriptions

f theAmerican

"

Blues

"

give

him special

position

n the

musical

world.

His

well

attended

oncerts

raw

peculiar

ublic,

ather

osmopolitan,

eady

for ny

eccentricities

nd

greedy

or

new

sensations.

It was

his

own

*The influence

f

the

jazz-band

on Stravinsky

nd

his

followers

xplaint

much that

would

otherwise

e

unintelligible,


6/11

ABOUT

" PIERROT

LUNAIRE

351

quaint dea

to

combinen

a

single

programme

f

chamber-music

n

item

for

azz-band

excellent,

y

the

by),

the Sacre

du

Printemps

n

the piano-playernd Milhaud's onataforwind nstruments. he

fact

hat

this

outrageous

ssortment

ad

calledforth

o

protests

ed

one to

suppose

hat"

Pierrot unaire

would

be

received

y

the

samepublicwith

cclamation.

That

the

art of

Schonberg

as

little

appeal

to

the

disciples

f

Stravinsky

as

clear from his

first

xperiment,

hich

xcited

ively

curiosity

ut

nded n

tumult.

In a

hall

without

n

empty

eat

n

it

and

an

atmosphere

harged

with

electricity,

e

played,

under

the

directionfDariusMilhaud,hefirstart nly fthiswork. Madame

Marya

reund

ook he

vocal

part.

The

very

irst

ars of this

ung

speech

or

spoken

ong-whichever

e are

to

call

it)

took

veryone

by

surprise,

nd

the

weird

armonies id

the

rest;

and

there

we

were

n

the

middle

f a

Homeric attle.

The Parisian

publicremains

alm,

as

a

rule,

so

long

as

it is

pre-

sentedwith

nothing

bnormal; ut

the

momentt is

given

novelty

with

challenge

n

it,

the

old

combative

nstincts

f

the

race are

aroused. In

thefirst lacetheres always fractionf theaudiencewhich

egards

music,

rightly

r

wrongly-for

here

is

something,

after

ll,

to

be

said

for

the

view-as an

after-dinner

istraction,

digestive.

This

opinion

revails n

the

higher

ranks

of

society.

Then,

the

Frenchman,

chatterbox

y

nature,

islikes

keeping

is

opinions

o

himself; s

soon

as

he

is

bored

he

lets

his

neighbours

know.

I

noticed

he

other

evening,

uring

he

performance

f

a

similar

work,

gentleman

f

some

social

position

idgeting

nder

t

a

good

deal.

He

was

sitting

n

a

comfortable

hair

lose

to

the

door;

and he couldeitherhave goneto sleepat peace with ll men,or

three

teps

would

have

taken

him

to

the

restaurantn

the

passage

outside.

But

he

preferredo

punctuate

he

performance

ith

yawns

and

witty

jaculations,

nd to

prevent

is

neighbours

ppreciating

he

music

hey

ame

to

hear.

This

displeased

hem,

f

course,

nd

they

protested.

Such

electioneering

anners

ave

always

een

fashionable

in

society

atherings

t

Paris,

and

the

occupants

f

the

Jockey

lub

box,

who

put an

end

to

the

representations

f

TannhYuserat

the

Opera

under heEmpire,have eft numerousrogeny.But it isnotonly

mart

ociety

hat

does

not

get

on

with

chonberg.

In

France

we

have

as

many

chools

f

music

s

we

have

parties

in

politics,

hich

s

saying

more

han

little;

nd

the

uave

amenities

of

debate

which

revail

n

the

Chamber

f

Deputies

re

reproduced

in

musical

atherings

s

soon

as

the

concert

eaves

the

beaten

rack.

There

s the

group

f

"

La

Nationale

(d'Indystes-Franckistes),

he


7/11

352

MUSIC

AND LETTERS

S.M.I.

(Faureens-Debussystes),

he

"

Six

"

(inwhose

ute little

ift

is visible),

he

Prixde Rome,

heSatistes,

tc.,etc.

Convinced,

ot-

headed ndpugnacious,hey reall ofthemntheroom ndripefor

a fight

he

moment

pportunity

ffers.

Here

he opportunity

as

toogood

o be

missed,

ndthe

econd

hearing

complete,

his ime)

f

"PierrotLunaire

brought

ogether

neof

the-

most epresentative

audiences

hat Paris

has

seen

for longtime.

I

hope

Messieurs

Ravel

and

Florent-Schmitt

ill

not

mind

my

revealing

hefact

hat

they

were

mong

hewarmest

fSchonberg's

dmirers;

utthey

were

hard

put

to it to

defend

heir

pinion

withmusicians

ftheir

wn

mettle. Each number,asting romwo ofourminutes, asgreeted

with cheers

and

hisses.

When

the

hisses

had

it,Milhaud

began

again

and

finished

n a

regular

proar.

I sawone

man

n the

third

row

of the stalls

ivid

with

agewhen

n

encore

was announced:

he

stamped

iolently,

houting

ut:

"

No,no

Not

gain

Not

gainl

There

s one very

goodpoint

bout

this collaboration

f the

audi-

ence.

If

he takes

hisses,

nsulting

emarks

nd

encores

nto

con-

siderationi,

he concert-giver

an count

on

his programme

eing

prolonged

eyond

he

moment

here

t becomes

ecessary

o tack

on

another ieee. A performanceo full fincidentasilyfills whole

evening,

ndnever

has so short

programme

inished

o

late.

I will

dd that he

Press,

high nd

ow,

was

favourable

o the

work,

and

that

ritics,

venwhen

hey

did

not

ike t,

showed

o

animosity

to thecomposer.

Never

have

the divergent

haracteristics

f

the

two

friendly

nd

alliednationshone utto memore learlyhan astNovember,hen

"

Pierrot

unaire

was

given

n London.

Ourthree

erformances,

at

the

Kensington

usic

Club,

the Music Society,

nd the

Chelsea

Music

Club,

xactlyeproduced

hose

t Paris. There

were he

same

players

nd the

same conductor;

ven

the

text,

which

t would

have

been

child's

play

to

Madame

Marya

Freund

o

sing

n theoriginal,

was given

n

the

French

ranslation,

hough

ome

ofthecritics

ound

fault

with

this

arrangement.

We had, therefore,

veryright

o

expect

he same

"

incidents,"

nd

I felt little

nxious bout

our

reception.

We

began

at

Kensington.

"

Pierrot Lunaire

" at

Kensington

has

always

eemed

o me

an

amazing

aradox.

I am fond

f

Kensington

from

aving

ivedthere

ften.

Except

or he bustle

f

High

Street

at

the

shopping

our

here

s

an air

of

quiet

and

respectability

hat

reminds

me

of

Oxford.

Moreover,

eighton

ouse

s notfar

off,

nd


8/11

ABOUT

"

PIERROT LUNAIRE

"

363

the Palace

where o

many

of the

Royal

family ilved

s close

by.

And

there s a faint

ragrancef

the

Victorian

ra

about

t.

No

part

ofLondon s less morbid r morerestful.If in summer walk

through

ts

green,

deserted

ways,

nd hear

the sound

of a

piano, t

will

probably e

a

fugue

f

Bach.

My

old

friendshere ll

belong

o

theBach

Choir,

nd a

photograph

f

Joachims in

everymusic-room

in

the

parish.

That the

members

f

the

Kensington

lub

shouldhave

consented

to

hear

this diabolical

music,

s a

magnificent

roof

f their

clectic

philosophy.

But

thatthey

houldhave

istenedwith

uch patience

and fortitudes no lessmagnificentn instance f that enseoffair

play which s

one

of

the most

endearingharacteristics

f

Britons.

What n

impressive

alm

How

unexpected

his

nward

eace

after

our

tormy

eetingst Paris At

the most

aring laces

n

the

core

I

watched

he

audienceout of the

corner f

my eye.

They

never

blenched.

They sat

there, alm

as

a boxer

whotakes punishment

with

smile. I

thought f

the

bright

moonlight

ights f 1918 and

the

Zeppelins.

Whatever

he

aliens

of

Soho

and

Whitechapel

ight

think it odo,for he nhabitantsfKensingtonndBelgravia ood

taste

demandedhat,

whatever

hey

might eel,

the hand of

bridge

should e

played

uietly

o

an

end.

In

1923,

as in

1918,

my

British

friends

gave

me an

admirable

llustration f

self-control,

nd

I

wondered

whether he

"

moonstruck ierrot

was not

even

moredis-

tastefulo

them

han he

moonlightaidsof

the

German

irmen.

After etting

urselves

istened o at

Kensingtonown

Hall, we

felt

ure we

should n

that

urious

ittle

hall

in

Tufton

treet, he

ideal

setting

or

thing f

this

kind. The

dimly

ighted

rypt,made

dimmer tillby theblue spirals f cigarettemoke nd by theall-

pervading

hames

og, xactly

uits

hemorbid

ubtletiesnd

sudden

clashes

of

Sch6nberg's

core;

and

the

cultivated

udience

ying

ack

in

their

eck-chairs,f

whomwewere

nly

vaguely

ware,

eemed o

take

pleasure

f

a

kind n

our

concert.

It was the

same

with he

Chelsea

audience.

If

there

s

one

quarter f

London

rather

han

another

n

which ne

dare

risk

bold

gesture,t is

this

ant-heap f

artists nd

literary

en, lways

eady

osee the

fun-n an

interesting

novelty.On thewhole, hen,our reception as goodeverywhere.

It

may

have

been

he

presence

f

several

rofessional

usicians,

ho

put

themselves

n

our place

and,

realising

the

numberof

our

rehearsals,

lapped ur

efforts

ikegood

sportsmen.

Whattouched

me

mostwas

not so

much he

sympathyfthose

who

iked he

work

as the

courtesynd

patience fthose

who n

their

earts

wished s to

the

devil. That

was

most

mpressive,

nd

I cannot

roperlyxpress

my

admirationf t.

V&O.


9/11

354

MUSIC AND

LETTERS

I may add

that, in contrastwith what

happened on the Continent,

we had a

frightfullyad Press. Well, well; it is the duty of a critic

to saywhat he thinks,withoutmincingmatters, nd nobodyneed take

umbrage

t

it.

I

thought

had

finished

my experiences

with

"

Pierrot

Lunaire,"

when

a

proposal

came from he

distinguished

talian

composer,

Alfred

Casella, which

sent

me to school

again.

We were to

give

the

work

in

Italy under the composer's direction. Who could resist

a

tour

in

Italy and the prospect

f

giving such gloriousbattle?

I

set out

with

enthusiasm, nd my unceasingthirst ornoveltywas soon quenched,

for saw

Naples without

uIn

and

played

"

Pierrot Lunaire

"

in its

original form.

I

ought to say here that the

"

PierrotLunaire

"

which London

heard was not

exactly

as

the

authorconceived t.

In

the first lace,

the French translation

makes an

appreciabledifference

n

its

general

swing

and

go;

and

in

the

second,

Madame

Marya Freund, excellent

singer

that she

is, cannot

quite

forget hat

she

is a

singer,

and

sings

consequentlywitha reciter's nflexions,whereas Schdnberg ntended

it to

be recited with musical

inflexions.

And I should add that this

most conscientious

rtist has

submiiitteder interpretationo Sch6n-

berghimself,

nd he was

delighted

nd

surprised,

nd

greatly

dmired

her

art

in thisnew version.

In

Italy the vocal

part was assigned to the

handsome

and

intelligent

Erika

Wagner,

a

star of the

Viennese Schauspielhaus.

She is

equally

remarkable s a

dramatic rtist and as

a

concert

inger.

The

piano

was

in

the

hands

of Mr.

Steurmann,

aln

interpreter

f

Schonberg's

own

choice,

and

the strings

were

supplied by the Brussels

quartet,

Pro Arte.

Of

course

t

was

Schonberg's

own

personality

hat I most

wished

to

become

acquainted

with,

and

I

was not

disappointed. In that small,

active

man,

always

in

motion,

with

a

piercing

and

roving eye

and

mobile

ips, simple

n

dress and

in

manner,

and

without semblance

of

pose,

there is

nothing

that

suggests

the

hunter

after sensational

success

or the

upstart pining

for

advertisement. If his name has

made a stir it is certainlyn spite of himself. All that I had heard

of

him,

of

his

solitariness and inaccessibility, f his life far from

distractions nd

wrappedup in his work,was

fullyconfirmed y such

relations s

I

had

with him. One thingmay be

confidentlysserted,

and that

is his

absolute sincerity. By-what paths and in the train

of what

circumstances his

technically earnedmusician, broughtup

in

the

strict

lassical

method,reached his present point of

view,

I


10/11


11/11

356

MUSIC

AND

LETTERS

One

of

themost

nteresting

pisodes f our

tourwas

theneeting

of

Puccini

nd

Schonbergt

a concert

t Florence.

The illustrious

conmposerfToscaand La Boh"emead done the threehoursbyrail

from ucca

for

heexpress

urpose f

hearingmusic o

different

rom

hisown. If

anybody ad an

excuse or

going ut and

slamming

he

door behind

hinm,t

was he. But

no; he

set a goodexample

of

patience

nd self-commando

many

a hot-headed oungster.

He

listened

ight

hrough ith he

greatest

ttentionnd

interest,

nd

congratulated

he author fterwards

n

the artists' oom,

wherehe

discussed

echnical

etails

withhim.

Perhapswe shall

have-who

knows?some little ch6nbergianeminiscencen his next opera.

Nobody

would

e more uirprised

han

Sebh8nberg.

And now

wonder

nder

what skywe shall

next

play

"

Pierrot

Lunaire,"

and what

reception

new

country

ill give

us. Will

it

be

French

frenzy

r British eticence

r Italian merriment?

All

I

can wish

for s whatthe

Gallic

soldier

sked of the

Roman captain

whowas

going

o

condemn

imunheard

-" Strike,

ut

isten

L. FLEURY.

[Trans.,

A. H.

F.

about pierrot lunaire. the impressions made on various audiences by a novel work

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