Verklarte Nacht and Pierrot Lunaire

Inspired by a poem of Richard Dehmel, the 1899 workVerklärte Nacht,a tone poem for string sextet composed in the late-Romantic tradition, is one of the first pieces of program music ever written for a chamber ensemble.Pierrot Lunaireis one of Schoenberg's best-known works. Composed in 1912, it is a musical setting for speaker and chamber ensemble of 21 poems by Albert Giraud. In this ironic-satiric work, Schoenberg incorporates his revolutionary theory of atonality, and introduces the singing-speech delivery called "Sprechstimme." Both works are reprinted from authoritative editions.