Pierrot ensemble

A Pierrot ensemble is a musical ensemble comprising flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. This ensemble is named after 20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal work Pierrot Lunaire, which includes the quintet of instruments above with a narrator (usually performed by a soprano).

History[edit]

The quintet of instruments used in Pierrot Lunaire has been used in the twentieth century by different groups, such as The Fires of London, who formed in 1965 as "The Pierrot Players" to perform Pierrot Lunaire, and continued to concertize with a varied classical and contemporary repertory. This group began to perform works arranged for these instruments and commission new works.^[1]

While standard chamber ensembles (such as string quartets or piano trios) continued to be extremely popular among 20th-century composers, the Pierrot ensemble represents an example of the many kinds of non-standard chamber ensembles that have been used in classical music since the beginning of the 20th century.

The number of compositions written for Pierrot Ensemble is limited by the inherent unbalance of the ensemble (two strings, plus two winds, plus piano). More frequent are works that introduce additional instruments, typically more strings, and especially percussion which obtains a small, and inexpensive, chamber ensemble with three families of instruments represented.

Doublings[edit]

Doublings are a standard compositional device used to extend an ensemble instrumental color. In Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, the flutist is asked to play piccolo, the clarinetist is asked to play bass clarinet. Other common doublings might include E♭ clarinet (as in Carter's Triple Duo), alto flute.

(Founded as the Pierrot Players) (1965-1987, UK)

Fires of London

(1970, USA)

Da Capo Chamber Players

The New Music Players (1990, UK)

Standing Wave (1991, Canada)

Brightwork New Music (2013, USA)

What Is Noise (2014, USA)

Ensemble Namu 나무앙상블 (2017, South Korea)

Arnold Schoenberg

Pierrot Lunaire

: 3 Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé (1913) + 2nd flute, 2nd clarinet, and voice

Maurice Ravel

: 3 Japanese Lyrics (1913) + 2nd flute doubling piccolo, 2nd clarinet, and voice

Igor Stravinsky

: Harpsichord Concerto (1926) + oboe, harpsichord instead of piano

Manuel de Falla

Hanns Eisler

soprano

: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1941) (without flute)

Olivier Messiaen

: Dedalus (1950)

Juan Carlos Paz

: Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969) + baritone and percussion

Peter Maxwell Davies

: Scale 9 (2009) + percussion - flute (quintet), + percussion (sextet), + viola, and percussion (septet)

Sean Friar

: Notturno (1973) + percussion; winner of the 1974 Pulitzer Prize

Donald Martino

: For Frank O'Hara (1976) + percussion

Morton Feldman

: Three for Six (1979) + percussion

Ralph Shapey

: Noon Dance (1982) + percussion

Joan Tower

: New York Notes (1982) + 1 or 2 percussionists and electronic sounds

Charles Wuorinen

: Triple Duo (1983) + percussion

Elliott Carter

Richard Festinger

: Lo Spazio inverso (1985) + celesta

Salvatore Sciarrino

: The Natural World (1987) + soprano

John Harbison

William Susman

mallet percussion

: Seven (1988) + viola

John Cage

: Waves of Talya (1989) + percussion

Kamran Ince

: Tracking Pierrot (1992) + percussion

Earle Brown

: Come Round (1992) + percussion

Jacob Druckman

Laura Schwendinger

: Sparkle (1992) + 2 percussionists, double bass

Chen Yi

: Plektó (1993) + percussion

Iannis Xenakis

: Flashbacks (1995) + percussion

Mario Davidovsky

: Vortex Temporum (1996) + viola

Gérard Grisey

Robert Paterson

baritone

: Sextet (1996) + percussion

Mel Powell

Lior Navok

: Ad Parnassum (1998) + percussion

Steven Stucky

: Micro-Concerto (1999) + percussion

Steven Mackey

: Time After Time (2000) + percussion

Fred Lerdahl

: Canon mensurabilis (2000) + viola

Rytis Mazulis

: Winter Fragments (2000) + electronic sounds

Tristan Murail

Frederic Rzewski

: Critical Moments 2 (2001) + percussion

George Perle

: My Twentieth Century (2002) + viola

Martin Bresnick

:Five Elements (2002) + percussion; also exists in a version with Chinese instruments

Zhou Long

: Static (2003); winner of the 2007 Grawemeyer Award

Sebastian Currier

: Zaka (2003) + percussion

Jennifer Higdon

: Perplex (2004) + vibraphone

Theo Verbey

: The Age of Wire and String (2005)

Rolf Wallin

: Book of Departures (2007) + percussion

Stuart Greenbaum

: Meanwhile: Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays (2007) + viola (rather than violin) and percussion

Stephen Hartke

: Double Sextet (2007) for Pierrot ensemble with tape or 12 players; winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize

Steve Reich

In the Mirrors of Asleep (2007)

John Woolrich

: Unwritten (2010) + soprano

Mohammed Fairouz

: Sparks & Flares (2010) + percussion

Michael Seltenreich

Greg Caffrey

: Irish Phoenix (2017) + soprano

Graham Waterhouse

References[edit]

Christopher Dromey, The Pierrot Ensembles: Chronicle and Catalogue, 1912-2012 (London: Plumbago, 2013).