selections of Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio - Differences/Sequenza III/Sequenza VII/Due pezzi/Chamber Music

Born in 1925, the Italian composer Luciano Berio has now firmly established his place as a great poetic musician. On this recording can be heard some of the high points of Berio's considerable output in which he is concerned as much with electronic resources as with the exploration of the limits of instruments or the human voice.

"Differences" for flute, clarinet, viola, cello, harp, and magnetic tape dates from 1958-59 and so represents one of the first successful attempts to combine natural sounds and prepared sounds from a tape. For a time the artificial sound at the centre of the work takes the place of the performers. They return with various pizzicato entries, creating a homogeneous texture which seeks only an altercation in the expression rather than a disruption in the character of the music.

The "Sequences" form a series of independent works begun in 1958, and continued in 1965 ("Sequenza III" for solo voice) and 1969 ("Sequenza VII" for oboe). "Sequenza III" - made famous by singer Cathy Berberian to whom it is dedicated - employs a very disjointed text by Markus Kutter which allows all the resources of vocal virtuosity to be used instrumentally. "Sequenza VII," written for Heinz Holliger, was first performed at Darmstadt in August, 1969, and in place of the elegant, punctuated virtuosity of "Sequenza III" substitutes an instrumental equivalent. The composer intends this work to be sustained by a very evenly sounded B natural.

The "Due pezzi" for violin and piano is in fact a triptych. It dates from 1951 and is one of the first works published by Berio. The very restrained lyricism assigns it to the essential tradition of similar works by Bartok. But the poetic density and elegant line are characteristic of all Berio's works.

The same qualities are found again in the three sections of "Chamber Music" for female voice - the text is taken from James Joyce whose work was to be a frequent source for Berio - accompanied by clarinet, cello and harp. The extremely refined and sonorous texture of this piece, written in 1953, again links the resources of the declamatory and vocal tradition with the avant-garde style of writing.

The Juilliard Ensemble is an instrumental group that Berio himself chose from graduates of the most famous conservatory in America. (Marcel Marnat)

The copy of this LP was released in 1970.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Differences {14:42}

2. Sequenza III {6:50}

Side 2

1. Sequenza VII {8:20}

2. Due pezzi {6:20}

3. Chamber Music {6:18}

(1)