for high soprano, celesta, harmonium, and harp based on a poem by Maurice Maeterlinck
1911
Arnold Schönberg Center, Wien
The poems in this cycle that was completed in 1889 with the title “Serres chaudes” [Hothouses] – the word stands for hermetically sealing oneself off from the pressures of the outside world and retreating into the protective chamber of one’s soul – are typical mood poems from the Decadent movement: dominated by dark forebodings and uncertain sentiments that are interpreted using symbolism from the natural world.