Abstract
In this article, I intend to discuss Arnold Schoenberg’s ingenious compositional solution of using the numbers 3 and 7 as basic elements in the sonic construction of the 8th movement from Pierrot lunaire. Throughout the analysis, I will show how the structuring of the sound material, the dynamic or timbral parameter, and the compositional techniques used are in complete accord with the structure and atmosphere of Albert Giraud’s poem, which served Schoenberg as a starting point. I will highlight the compositional strategies borrowed from the field of visual arts – such as the technique of focalization through contrast or the use of the light-dark relationship, given Schoenberg’s well-known interest in painting, but also how compositional techniques used in past eras contribute to the renewal of the musical language – rhetorical figures of the Baroque that take on a new meaning. At the end of this article, I will try to answer the question: “Who could benefit from this analysis?”

Keywords: contrast, passacaglia, butterfly, gravity, fractal.

About the author
The coexistence of intuition and reason in the formation of the composer Gabriel Mălăncioiu (b. 1979, Brașov) is due to the graduation of both the Faculty of Automatics and Computers and the Faculty of Music and Theatre in Timișoara. In addition to the decisive influence of maestro Remus Georgescu, the one who initiated him in the study of musical composition, he met important personalities such as Cornel Ţăranu, Adrian Pop, Valentin Timaru and Eduard Terényi during his master's and doctoral studies at the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca.  
Gabriel Mălăncioiu’s music has been presented to audiences on five continents in over 300 concerts, performed by prestigious ensembles such as Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, the Slovenian Chamber Choir or the Aventure ensemble, by performers such as Florian Müller, Gudrun Hinze or Richard Craig, by conductors such as Michael Wendeberg, Huba Hollókői or Martina Batič. Composer Corneliu Dan Georgescu remarked that Gabriel Mălăncioiu is "one of the most active personalities, a confident and very original voice in the contemporary musical landscape". His scores are published by Universal Edition.
Gabriel Mălăncioiu is a member of the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists, of the Executive Committee of ISCM – Romanian section - and of some international music organizations such as Vox Novus (USA), La Villa des Compositeurs (France/Italy), Temp’ora (France), Access Contemporary Music (USA), Society of Composers (USA). Gabriel Mălăncioiu is currently teaching Stylistics of contemporary music performance, Orchestration and Musical Analysis at the West University of Timişoara, Faculty of Music and Theatre.

DOI: 10.47809/MP.2024.39.02.03

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