About the work
One-act "drama with music" Op. 18 by Arnold Schoenberg, premiered on 14 October 1924 at the Vienna Volksoper under Fritz Stiedry. Schoenberg wrote the text himself; an early version dates from 1910.
Plot
Across four scenes, a man relives a recurring cycle of longing and disappointment: a woman leaves him for another man, returns full of remorse and then disappears with her rival again. In between, the man forges a golden diadem with a single hammer blow among a group of workers, before light and storm effects overwhelm him and the action falls back to its starting point.
Cultural significance
The work is considered a key piece of musical expressionism and a forerunner of Schoenberg's "Moses und Aron". Because of its elaborate lighting and stage effects, it remains rarely performed and is usually staged alongside other works by Schoenberg.