The work is written for reciter (voice-type unspecified in the score, but traditionally performed by a soprano) who delivers the poems in the Sprechstimme style accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble.

Schoenberg had previously used a combination of spoken text with instrumental accompaniment, called "melodrama", in the summer-wind narrative of the Gurre-Lieder,[1] which was a fashionable musical style popular at the end of the nineteenth century.

The American premiere took place at the Klaw Theatre, on Broadway, New York, on 4 February 1923 as part of a series of concerts organised by the International Composers' Guild.

[3] The work originated in a commission by Albertine Zehme, a former actress, for a cycle for voice and piano, setting a series of poems by the Belgian writer Albert Giraud.

[5] According to eyewitness Salka Viertel, the sister of the premiere's pianist Eduard Steuermann, When she appeared in a Pierrot costume, her painted, frightened face framed by a ruff, her aging ankles in white stockings, she was greeted by an ominous murmur from the audience.

In the first group, Pierrot sings of love, sex and religion; in the second, of violence, crime, and blasphemy; and in the third of his return home to Bergamo, with his past haunting him.

Schoenberg, who was fascinated by numerology, also makes great use of seven-note motifs throughout the work, while the ensemble (with conductor) comprises seven people.

Though written in a freely atonal style, Pierrot lunaire uses a variety of classical forms and techniques, including canon, fugue, rondo, passacaglia, and free counterpoint.

The poet, urged on by his devotions, Becomes intoxicated with the sacred beverage; Enraptured, he turns toward heaven His head, and, staggering, sucks and sips The wine that one drinks with one's eyes.

Schoenberg describes the technique in a foreword to the score: The melody given in notation in the vocal part (with a few specially indicated exceptions) is not intended to be sung.

The performer's task here is at no time to derive the mood and character or the individual pieces from the meaning of the words, but always solely from the music.

[citation needed] The avant-pop star Björk, known for her interest in avant-garde music, performed Pierrot lunaire at the 1996 Verbier Festival with Kent Nagano conducting.

According to the singer in a 2004 interview, "Kent Nagano wanted to make a recording of it, but I really felt that I would be invading the territory of people who sing this for a lifetime [sic].

This interpretation of the work included gender diversity, castration scenes and dildos, as well as a female to male transgender Pierrot.