I choose all my clothes for performance with great care. It doesn’t, however, mean that I spend a lot of money. In fact, most of the clothes in my closet that I love best are from consignment shops or were purchased for $4.99 at Value Village. For Pierrot, I chose black and white (obviously) but since I didn’t want to look like I was wearing a costume, I thought stripes were a better choice than polka-dots. The flowing top worked well over leggings making the whole effect sit perfectly between masculine and feminine. Add a few dashes of silver as an homage to the moon, and I thought I did pretty well. Especially for a total of about $25!
Category: The Pierrot Files
The Pierrot Files continue with the question that haunts all people who tackle Pierrot Lunaire. What on earth is Sprechstimme?
Basically it means “Speaking Voice” but it is so much more than that. Schoenberg really made his mark by using this composition technique in his vocal works. (See those little x’s in the vocal line?) What is particularly puzzling to singers is that Schoenberg doesn’t simply want spoken rhythm, but he clearly states actual pitches upon which one must speak. Now this would be simple if the range of these spoken pitches were in the soprano’s speaking range — slightly lower than middle C. Instead, Schoenberg pitches these spoken words as low as F below middle C to as high as Ab above the staff. The biggest mystery to me is how to make these pitches sound spoken rather than sung. I’ve come to understand that it will all come down to vibrato. Keeping the sound straight, especially on high pitches is going to be my biggest challenge. I’ve spent the last X number of years learning to keep vibrato even and to use it to keep the sound open and full. But take it out and I start to feel like I’m putting all the strain on my cords! Yikes. So my challenge for this week is to do some monkeying around with my technique to see if I can find a comfortable way to make the Sprechstimme believable.
A few months ago, I was hired to do my first performance of Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. I was thrilled; not only because it’s for the 100th anniversary of the premiere of the piece, but also because a few months earlier I had been making goals for myself and decided that before my death, a performance of Pierrot was mandatory. (For anyone who cares or who hires, my other pre-death musical achievements will be: Strauss’ Four Last Songs, Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder – both with orchestra – Ellen Orford, and maybe just one Juliette before I’m too old and wizened to be remotely believable.)
Well, be careful what you wish for. When Dave Pay at the Music on Main series in Vancouver hired me, I did a happy dance, then immediately ordered the music. When it arrived, I dutifully set it on top of the piano and didn’t open it for weeks. I was intimidated, terrified and absolutely positive that I’d never be able to pull it off. It’s a huge undertaking and it has been performed so wonderfully by so many people that it feels a little silly to offer my humble, uneducated performance of this piece that has stretched the limits of music, performers and audiences around the world.
So, here I sit with books on the topic, a score that is already looking worn and is sure to look far more so by October, my trusty metronome, a few recordings and a film version that I’m hoping will help. As I learn things, I will do my best to write them here (while the toddler naps?) in the hopes that they will clarify my own thoughts and maybe inspire a few readers to take the plunge and listen to this incredible piece.
Sweet Songstress 