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SEQUENZA III FOR FEMALE VOICE - BERIO L.O – to understand the musical characteristics of experimental music and analyse how they have been used by Berio LUCIANO BERIO (1925-2003) Avant-garde Italian composer Accompany singers on the piano in his spare time Met his wife, Cathy Berberian (American) through his work Eventually divorced, but Berio continued to work with her and composed Sequenza III for her to perform. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC? The focus was to find new ways of composing Expressing a musical idea Experimenting with different ways of producing sound from instruments (playing them in a nonconventional way) Graphic scores to replace traditional Western notation. Unconventional playing techniques Breaks the rules of pitch and harmony. Use of sound sources other than conventional musical instruments Extended vocal techniques, such as use of speech, growling. PERFORMING FORCES AND THEIR HANDLING Virtuoso demands on the performer. Extended techniques created by the composer. The piece requires acting as well as singing abilities. Berio described Sequenza III as being a 3 part invention built on elements of text, gesture and expression Different sound types accompanied by hand or body gestures Performer has to show widely varying and developing emotions PERFORMING FORCES AND THEIR HANDLING Unaccompanied Even though each performance would be different, the directions on the score are very precise Requires a virtuoso performer 3 main approaches to pitch 1. Speaking, whispering, laughing, coughing, etc. i.e. no discernible pitch, indicated by a one line stave. This range of sounds also includes nonvocal techniques, like finger clicking. 2. Singing, using relative pitch, indicated by a three line stave – here the performer sings higher or lower (or the same notes), depending on the position of ‘notes’ on the stave. There is no particular intended pitch, and the intervals between the notes don’t need to be exact. 3. Singing with prescribed intervals, indicated by a five line stave. Intervals between notes need to be sung accurately. As the singer can have a variety of possible voice types, i.e. soprano, mezzo-soprano or alto, the starting note of these phrases can vary. Pitches have a wide range from high to very low. Some of the lowest pitches are at the end. Look at the anthology. What other techniques are required by the performer? PERFORMING FORCES AND THEIR HANDLING How could you describe the setting of the text/words in this piece? Disjointed phonemes (the separate individual sounds of words) like to, co, us and for at the beginning. Repeated rapidly at random Audible words gradually emerge Full words and phrases are disjointed (being separated by other sounds) Some words are left out altogether, e.g. Without worrying and house. TEXTURE Is it monophonic, homophonic or polyphonic? Monophonic STRUCTURE Through-composed Small scale repetitions do occur. Some sounds or groups of sounds are supposed to be repeated quickly in a random and slightly discontinuous way. The music is organised according to specific timings indicated on the score The piece alternates between the different vocal styles (mentioned previously in approaches to pitch) The music reaches an increasingly lower pitch at the end, appearing to fade away. TONALITY What is the tonality of the piece? No specific tonality. Singer sometimes tries to pitch her note towards B natural and Gb at the end HARMONY How can you describe the harmony of this piece? In a monophonic performance there is no harmony. Suggestions of a B minor outlined chord just after 3 minutes MELODY Melody can only be noticed in the passages with five line notation, where exact intervals need to be performed. Repeated notes are an important feature, usually set to different phonemes There are occasionally very large, angular leaps, like a minor 13th leap downwards on the words noble truth. Minor 2nd intervals are sometimes prominent, e.g. shortly before the end. Minor 3rd intervals are also quite common. Intonation contours are sometimes used to indicate the rough direction of pitch of a spoken passage. RHYTHM AND METRE There is no sense of metre There are no specific note lengths Speed is, however important. It is governed by: The timing, which divides the music into 10 second sections Though at the beginning, as the performer comes on to the stage, the timing depends partly on the length of the applause (if any!). The instructions indicate that phrases with specific invented rhythmic groupings need to be as fast as possible. Other new types of rhythmic grouping indicate a range of speeds from slow to fast. Is Sequenza III merely a showpiece for the voice, or does it make more profound statements as a work of art? Explain your argument. Why do you think Berio wrote this specifically for a female voice? In what ways might Sequenza III challenge an audience used to listening to more traditional music? Do you think that such a challenge to orthodox views can have beneficial results? Cathy Berberian described Sequenza III as ‘like an Xray of a woman’s inner life’. To what extent do you agree with this view? Give musical examples to back up your answer.
