Berio's Sequenzas: essays on performance, composition and analysis

Between 1958 and 2002, Luciano Berio wrote fourteen pieces entitled Sequenza, along with several versions of the same work for different instruments, revisions of the original pieces and also the parallel Chemins series, where one of the Sequenzas is used as the basis for a new composition on a larger scale. The Sequenza series is one of the most remarkable achievements of the late twentieth century - a collection of virtuoso pieces that explores the capabilities of a solo instrument and its player, making extreme technical demands of the performer whilst developing the musical vocabulary of the instrument in compositions so assured and so distinctive that each piece both initiates and potentially exhausts the repertoire of a new genre. The Sequenzas have significantly influenced the development of composition for solo instruments and voice, and there is no comparable series of works in the output of any other composer. Series of pieces tend to be linked by the instruments for which the composer writes, but this is a series in which the pieces are linked instead by the variety of instruments for which Berio composed. The varied approaches taken by the contributors in discussing the pieces demonstrate the richness of this repertoire and the many levels on which Berio and these landmark compositions can be considered. Contributions are arranged under three main headings: Performance Issues; Berio's Compositional Process and Aesthetics; and Analytical Approaches.

Performance issues. Rhythm and Timing in the Two Versions of Sequenza I for Flute : Psychological and Musical Differences in Performance / Cynthia Folio and Alexander Brinkman -- Rough Romance: Sequenza II as Study and Statement / Kirsty Whatley -- Phantom Rhythms, Hidden Harmonies : the Use of the Sostenuto Pedal in Berio's Sequenza IV for Piano, Leaf and Sonata / Zoe Browder -- A Dress or a Straightjacket? Facing the Questions of Structure and Rhythm Posed by the Notation and Re-notation of Berio's Sequenza VII for Oboe / Patricia Alessandrini -- Shadow Boxing : Sequenza X for Trumpet and Piano Resonance / Jonathan Impett -- Berio's Compositional Process and Aesthetics. Provoking Acts : the Theatre of Berio's Sequenzas / Janet K. Halfyard -- The Chemins Series / Paul Roberts -- The Compass of Communications in Sequenza VIII for Violin / Eugene Montague -- Sequenza IX for Clarinet : Text, Pre-text, Con-text / Andrea Cremaschi -- Proliferations and Limitations : Reworking the Sequenzas / Edward Venn -- Analytical Approaches. Vestiges of Twelve Tone Practice as Compositional Process in Berio's Sequenza I for Flute / Irna Priore -- Sonic Complexity And Harmonic Syntax in Sequenza IV…