Lyrics

(from "Pierrot Lunaire")
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) Pierrot Lunaire, Op.21 (1912)
Poems in French by Albert Giraud (1860–1929) German text by Otto Erich Hartleben (1864-1905) English translation of the French by Brian Cohen

The lover, aroused by lust
Passes by without care,
Sees the graceful play of light
Your pale sorrowful blood,

The Moon
nocturnal invalid.
The horizon is a magic book
And from the sky, in a cloud of inky dust,
Descend upon our despair.

Sinister moths / Sinister moths / Sinister moths
The moon, like a white scimitar
Upon a black ornate cushion,
Curves in nocturnal glory.
And from the sky, in a cloud of inky dust,
Descend upon our despair.
Through a resplendent mournful night.
Through a resplendent mournful night.
Through a resplendent mournful night.

In the wilderness of his mind
Echoing in muted tones
Like a plaintive sigh of crystal,
Showing my soul Showing my soul
My melancholy is dispelled:
Through my iridescent window