Pierrot lunaire

Pierrot lunaire marks the high point of Schoenberg's expressionistic period, the essence of which he described as renouncing tonal centers and systematic relationships, replacing them with the twelve-tone method he was later to develop, with its dodecaphonic principles. Dethroning tonality and 'emancipating the dissonance' led to a radical change in his understanding of form and the intensity of musical expression beginning in 1907/1908: 'And I am unconditionally approaching a new kind of expression - I can sense it. The sounds now are virtually becoming a bestially direct expression of sensual and intellectual feelings - almost as if everything had been directly propagated.' (Diary entry, March 1912.)

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