Pierrot Lunaire

Pierrot Lunaire: Rondels Bergamasques is an 1884 cycle of poems by Belgian author Albert Giraud that revolves around the character of Pierrot and the universe of the Commedia dell'arte. Initially received with moderate success, the work was undeniably immortalized after Arnold Schönberg published the musicalization of its German translation in 1912. Since then, Pierrot Lunaire has been the source of inspiration for numerous works of art in all sorts of disciplines. This bilingual edition presents the 50 original poems in French accompanied by an English translation and complemented with extensive notes that should serve as an aid to understanding the cultural context of the author.

Emile Albert Kayenbergh-better know by his pen name, Albert Giraud-was born in the city of Leuven, in the Flemish region of Belgium. He followed law studies at the University of Leuven, although he abandoned them before obtaining a degree and became a journalist. It was around this time that he got acquainted with Émile Verhaeren, Max Waller, and Iwan Gilkin, well-known writers in the region. Together with them, in 1881, he cofounded La Jeune Belgique, a literary society and art review where he became a prominent collaborator, to the point of taking over its leadership after Waller's death some years later.