Premiering Pierrot lunaire, from Berlin to New York: Reception, Criticism, and Modernism

Author

Clara S. Schauman, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Date of Award

8-2006

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Music

Major

Music

Major Professor

Nasser Al-Taee

Committee Members

Rachel Golden Carlson, Mark Zelmanovich

Abstract

The relationship between a composer, his critics, and the public, presents a series of interactions through which to study the historical and artistic culture of a given society and its citizens. This study examines the Berlin (1912) and the New York (1923) premieres of Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire in order to demonstrate the importance of cultural context in forming critical reaction. I find that the cultural modernism and the relevance of the commedia dell’arte in Berlin led to an overall positive audience reaction despite Schoenberg’s unfamiliar compositional idiom. In contrast, the different cultural emphases in New York and the influence of the romantic tradition on New York audiences’ and critics’ perceptions of musical beauty made it much harder for them to accept Pierrot.

Recommended Citation

Schauman, Clara S., "Premiering Pierrot lunaire, from Berlin to New York: Reception, Criticism, and Modernism. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2006.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1787