Luciano Berio's Sequenza series, spanning 34 years of his career, redefines the technical limits of each instrument and establishes an expressive profile that draws on its past while facilitating its future development.
Compositional Technique
Sequenza I for flute was a radical departure, seeking a polyphonic (multi-voice) discourse for an instrument that had been monodic (single voice) since the Baroque era.
Composition History
In 1994, Luciano Berio invited author Edoardo Sanguineti to write epigraphs for each of the (then twelve) Sequenzas, which are intended to focus the listener's mind on the music.
Compositional Technique
Sequenza VIII for violin, written for violinist Carlo Chiarappa, is a homage to the instrument's technical potential and to Johann Sebastian Bach, whose Sonatas and Partitas laid the foundation for violin music.
Compositional Technique
Sequenza XIV for cello, written for cellist Rohan de Saram, incorporates percussive effects on the instrument's body, inspired by the Kandyan drum from Sri Lanka, blending them with pizzicato chords and bowed sections.
Compositional Technique
Sequenza III for female voice, written for vocalist Cathy Berberian, explores a new relationship between text and its setting by semantically destroying the text to recreate it musically.
Compositional Technique
Sequenza V for trombone, written for trombonist Stuart Dempster, was inspired by Luciano Berio's memory of the clown 'Grock' and his use of the word 'warum' (why) as an expressive linchpin.
You might also enjoy...
Berio: Sequenzas
Ruffer, Nancy: Multiplicities
Peter Lindroth: ZMAN
Romano, Kate: Contours
Epigraphes for Flute, Cello and Harp
Mandala 3
Solitary Saxophone (The)
Alvarez / Norhold / Eichberg: Music for Recorder, Saxophone, and Percussion
Castiglioni, N.: Oboe Music (Complete)
Reimann, A.: Cantus / Ollea / Solo for Clarinet / … Ni Una Sombra / Arietta
