Luciano Berio

Sequenza VIIa (1969/2000)

Analysis

Dr. Jacqueline Leclair

This is a performer’s analysis of Sequenza VIIa. The information below is what I feel performers of this work, and perhaps avid listeners, should know. There are other analyses of Sequenza VIIa that go into great detail particularly with regard to ideas about form and pitch class sets. I am enthusiastic about these other approaches to understanding this work, and they would complement this paper.  Here, though, I present only my own ideas.

Sequenza VIIa (1969/2000) consists of 13 lines of music, each line comprised of the same sequence of 13 measures. In the original there is no meter, and the duration of each measure is indicated in real time:

3”   2.7”   2”   2”   2”   2”   1.8”   1.5”   1.3”   1.3”   1”   1”   1”

The 2000 edition transcribes the rhythmic notation of the original to 100% traditional notation in the following meters:

3/4, 11/16, 2/4, 2/4, 2/4, 2/4, 3/8, 4/3, 4/3, 1/4, 1/4, 1/4

The 1969 edition of Sequenza VIIa uses both temporal and traditional rhythmic notation. These two types of rhythmic notation will be referred to in this paper as “free” and “strict,” respectively.

“Free rhythmic notation” refers to the material Berio wrote in temporal notation, i.e. note heads only, no beams, flags or rests. In these sections, horizontal space = time. The entire 1st line is an example of “free rhythmic notation.” Berio intends this material to sound free, improvisatory.

“Strict rhythmic notation” is the material Berio wrote using traditional notation, beams, stems, rests (e.g. Line 2, m. 3). Berio intends for this material to sound strict in style. The material implies traditional meter although no actual meters are present.

Extended Techniques

Sequenza VIIa contains many extended techniques that were especially unusual in 1969. Heinz Holliger, to whom the work is dedicated, wrote the Performance Notes, explaining the techniques which include:

• Five alternate fingerings for the work’s main note/meridian Drone, “B” in the staff

• Various alternate fingerings and harmonic fingerings for the notes, “C natural” above the staff, “F#” at the top of the staff, “F natural” at the top of the staff, “Bb” above the staff, “G#” above the staff, “A” above the staff and 2-ledger-line “Db”

• Seven multiphonics/double-harmonics

• Seven “overblown” events that may or may not be multiphonics, flutter-tongue or other special effects

• Three double-trills

• Seven microtonal trills

• Thirty-three instances of flutter-tongue. These are sometimes paired with “overblown” so the effect is sometimes not simply flutter-tongue but rather a multiphonic or other technique, depending on the interpretation

The Three Sections of Sequenza VIIa

SECTION I

Line 1, m. 1 to the 1st silence fermata at Line 8, m. 1 (m. 92)

• Duration:  Section I is approximately 3’30” in duration (45% of the total duration)

• Fermatas:  Section I contains 3 fermatas

• Rhythmic Character:  Primarily free rhythmic notation with a few interpolations of strict rhythmic notation. Section I should sound primarily free or improvisatory in character; and the few strict sections should clearly contrast

• Sonic Character:  Simple. Section I contains primarily simple sounds, with 7 complex sounds (3 multiphonics and 4 double-harmonics). There are 9 flutter-tongued notes

SECTION II

Line 8, m. 1 (m. 92, the 1st silence fermata) to Line 10, m. 4 (m. 121, the 2nd silence fermata)

• Duration:  Section II is approximately 1’8” in duration (15% of the total duration)

• Fermatas:  Section II contains 1 fermata

• Rhythmic Character:  Section II is rhythmically in an arch form:

  free – strict – free – strict – free

• Sonic Character:  Mixed. Section II contains 10 notes that are “overblown” which may or may not be played as multiphonics. For our purposes here, Section II contains 5-10 complex sounds. There are 9 flutter-tongued notes

• NB Section II begins and ends similarly to how the entire work begins and ends. It also contains the introduction of the highest pitch, high “G,” at Line 10, mm. 6-9

SECTION III

Line 10, m. 4 (m. 121, the 2nd silence fermata) to the end at Line 13, m. 13 (m. 169)

• Duration:  Section III is approximately 3’8” in duration (40% of the total duration)

• Fermatas:  Section III contains 24 fermatas

• Rhythmic Character:  Section III begins with about 11 seconds of free material. This material includes the introduction of high “G” and its time point (often considered the work’s climax). The Section ends with the work’s Golden Section at Line 10, m. 12. After the Golden Section, there is primarily strict material with only short interpolations of free material. The 24 fermatas (varying in duration from 2” to 6”) combined with the primary strict material give Section III a dramatically different character from Section I. Section I is primarily free in character with only 1 fermata. Section III is close to the same duration (as Section I) but is primarily strict in character with 24 fermatas, many of which are very long. Once can think of Section III as a large-scale ritard especially because 13 of the Section’s 24 fermatas are located in the last line, concentrated toward the end

• Sonic Character:  Complex.  Section III contains 30 multiphonics and 5 flutter-tongued notes.

A Comment About Temporal Proportions in Sequenza VIIa

This paper refers to the real time durations one sees in Sequenza VIIa (1969 version). Just as with most styles of music, the exact timings/tempi are less important than the music’s relative proportions. On both the microcosmic and macrocosmic levels, it is important for the performer to realize the durations in good proportion to each other.

Section I constitutes 45% of the piece.

Section II constitutes 15% of the piece.

Section III constitutes 40% of the piece.

Whether a particular performance is on the faster or slower side, the work’s macrocosmic proportions should be realized accurately.

Microcosmic proportions are especially important. For example, longer notes and fermatas should be given their full value if not more. There are so many rapidly unfolding fast events in this piece, the few events that are sustained, and certainly the fermatas (which are all of specified durations) should be emphasized. For example, the music in Line 9, mm. 3-8 is very slow, sustained, soft and gentle, especially when compared to the rest of the piece. The performer should take care to convey and perhaps emphasize this contrast. Those six measures also happen to be the temporal dead center of the work and can be thought of as the “eye of the storm.”

Fermatas and Time Points

Berio uses fermatas and time points to emphasize certain Primary and Secondary sonorities. There are 30 fermatas of specified durations ranging from 2” – 6”. They add up to 2’01”. Thus, 26% of Sequenza VIIa is comprised of fermatas.

Twenty-eight of the thirty fermatas contain single notes, double-harmonics, overblown notes or multiphonics.  These are all pitch-specific and are based on Sequenza VIIa’s Primary Pitches or Secondary Pitches (no Tertiary Pitches). Two fermatas are comprised of silence (5” each). These separate the three sections of Sequenza VIIa.

Section I 3 fermatas 16”

1st Fermata of Silence 5”

Section II 1 fermata 5”

2nd Fermata of Silence 5”

Section III 24 fermatas 90”

Total Duration of Fermatas: 121” (2’01”)

Time Points are prolongations of pitches other than fermatas. There are 13 of these and, again, they are all Primary or Secondary Pitches.

Fermatas in Order of Appearance

Time Points in Order of Appearance

Pitch Information

There is a constant “B” in the staff Drone from the moment the oboist plays the first note (“B” in the staff) until s/he plays the final note (also “B” in the staff). According to Berio’s original note, the source of the Drone should be invisible to the audience. The volume should be low and should give the effect of being a resonance of the oboist’s frequent iterations of the “B.” The source may be electronic, a live cellist, another live instrumentalist, live singers, or any source pre-recorded and played back for performance.

It may be that Berio chose the “B” as the drone as a symbol related to the initials of the work’s dedicatee, Heinz Holliger, since in German, “H” represents the pitch, “B natural.” But more practically, the oboe’s “B” in the staff is fingered with only the first hole covered. This enables the five alternate fingerings Berio required for the “B.” Other notes would be less suitable. Also, since “Bb” below the staff is the oboe’s lowest note, “B” as the meridian of the pitches allowed a symmetrical arrangement of these primary pitches which are central to the work:

The notes above those 2 symmetrical minor 9ths above and below the Drone, high “C#” to high “G” can be thought of as the “upper wing” of Sequenza VIIa’s harmonic material. The “C#” is a Primary Pitch. All the others except for the high “F” are Secondary Pitches, and the “F” is Tertiary:

Pitches Absent From Sequenza VIIa

These pitches are absent from Sequenza VIIa in order to clear spaces for the Primary pitches/intervals to establish their dominance.

• The absence of the “B natural” octaves enables the dominance of the Drone “B”

• I do not see why Berio omitted the “C” below the staff. I would like for there to be a low “C” here and there. But perhaps he felt it would detract from the Primary “C” above the staff

• The absence of the “F” allows the neighboring “E,” “Eb” and “D” to be clear and also for the only tritone formed with the Drone to be the “F” at the top of the staff which is Primary

• The absence of the 2-ledger-line “D” allows its neighbors, “C natural,” “C#,” “Eb” and “E natural” space to be heard in their Primary and Secondary harmonic roles

Sequenza VIIa contains 29 non-transposing pitches which are gradually introduced throughout the piece. Many of the 29 pitches do not occur until well into the piece. For the first approximately 27 seconds of the piece, one hears only “B” in the staff. A collection of 6 pitches is by far the most prominent sonority throughout the work and establishes the piece’s overwhelming dominant tonality. These are referred to as Primary and are all introduced early in the piece. Each Primary pitch occurs very frequently throughout the work and has both time points and fermatas. This collection is present and dominates throughout the work.

A set of 14 pitches comprises the Secondary collection. They are introduced throughout the entire work. Two of the pitches are eliminated in Section III. A Secondary Pitch may have a time point or a fermata, but not both. And they occur much less frequently throughout the work than Primary pitches:

The other 9 pitches are Tertiary, very seldom heard throughout the work and are of importance only as they provide brief changes in “tonality.” But these shifts are always short lived. All Tertiary notes are introduced in the final 60% of the work. (None are present in the first 40% of the work).

Where Each Pitch First Occurs in Sequenza VIIa

(Primary Pitches are in bold, Secondary Pitches normal font, and Tertiary Pitches are underlined)

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

Line 4

Line 5

Line 7

Line 8

Line 9

Line 10

Line 11

Line 12

Line 13

Pitches Present in Section I

Pitches Present in Section II

Pitches Present in Section III

Dyad that figures very prominently from Line 10, m. 4 until the last gesture of the piece

Palindromes

There are many palindromes or suggested palindromes through Sequenza VIIa:

Line 11, mm. 11-13 –

This palindrome highlights the just-introduced Tertiary Pitches “A” in the staff and 3-ledger-line “Eb” and the compound tritone between them, its only appearance in Sequenza VIIa.

Line 12, m. 6

Summary

The contrasting characteristics of Sequenza VIIa’s 3 sections should be audible in performance:

Section I should sound primarily improvisatory with only brief, interpolated strict sections. Motion is almost continuous, with only 3 fermatas pausing the activity. Harmonically, 15 of the work’s 29 pitches are present in Section I, the simplest harmonic vocabulary of the three Sections. All 15 of the pitches are Primary or Secondary and set up the basic harmonic language of the entire work.

Section II is almost a condensed presentation of Sequenza VIIa’s ideas, beginning and ending as the piece does, and evenly mixing free and strict rhythmic materials in a symmetrical arch form. This section has all 15 of the pitches present in Section I plus 4 additional pitches, containing a total of 19 pitches. The Section contains only one fermata; therefore the sense of motion is almost continuous. There are only slightly more multiphonics than Section I and there is the same number of flutter-tongued notes. Considering Section II is less than 1/3 the length of Section I, however, Section II is more than 3 times as densely populated by multiphonics and flutter-tongue as Section I.

Section III is in essence the opposite of Section I, and is of almost the same duration. This Section is primarily strict in rhythmic character. There are 24 fermatas in Section III which serve to pause the motion frequently.  The oboist never stops playing, but the music’s motion stops during the held fermatas. Thus, Section III although still very active contains much more stasis than the other two Sections, especially Section I. This last section of the piece introduces 10 new pitches. Two of the pitches introduced earlier in the piece are absent in Section III. Thus, Section III contains a total of 27 pitches, a far richer harmonic vocabulary than the first two Sections. There are only 5 flutter-tongued notes in Section III, but the 30 multiphonics figure very prominently and provide this Section a much greater sonic richness than the first two Sections.

A Note on the 2000 Edition

Sequenza VII is now published with the 1969 original and the 2000 Supplementary Edition back-to-back on one large piece of paper. The Supplementary Edition presents the entire piece in traditional rhythmic notation, metered. It cannot replace the original because it eradicates the two contrasting rhythmic styles, “free” and “strict.”It is intended as a study guide, to facilitate oboists’ comprehension of the piece with regard to rhythmic accuracy. Once the oboist has learned and internalized the temporal proportions of Sequenza VII (both microcosmic and macrocosmic) they can play from the original in order to observe/be aware of and play the two coexisting rhythmic styles (free style/strict style). Having these two, contrasting styles of music is essential to a proper interpretation of Sequenza VII. In other words, playing from only my metered version - with all of the music in the same style - would be aesthetically incorrect. Maestro Berio told me, himself, that he created the metered version of the flute Sequenza because flutists were taking too many liberties with the music, were being “piratical” in his words. He said the same to me about Sequenza VII during our in-person meeting in NYC on October 23, 1997, that oboists were not accurate enough as they played Sequenza VII, “did not understand” his notation, and were taking too many liberties. I strongly feel one can easily honor the temporal proportions of Sequenza VII with great accuracy and also perform the “free/extemporaneous” material with that character and the “strict” material with that contrasting character. My 2000 metered edition is merely a tool to make it easy for oboists to memorize precise timings of any “free” passage that they can then imbue with the appropriate freedoms the work calls for. Sequenza VII is wonderful music, and should be realized with the same precision and and imaginative musicianship as Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms; a blend of precision and appropriate freedom and expression. Arbitrary freedom (extreme inaccuracy) as one hears on many recordings, frankly, is no better for Sequenza VII than it is for Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, in my humble opinion. We oboists (and soprano saxophonists) should serve the music faithfully; and one can very easily see from a quick glance at the score of Sequenza VII that precise temporal proportions are essential to the piece.