Berio's Sequenzas

Janet K. Halfyard is a senior lecturer at UCE Birmingham Conservatoire. Her research includes work on Luciano Berio, Cathy Berberian, extended vocal technique and performance practice issues in contemporary repertoire, and she is active as a performer with the contemporary music ensemble, decibel. Her publications also include work on film and television music: she is the author of Danny Elfman’s Batman: a film score guide (2004) in the Scarecrow Press Film Score Guide series and has contributed to European Film Music (2006) in Ashgate’s Popular and Folk Music series.

Contents: Foreword; Introduction, David Osmond-Smith. Part 1 Performance Issues: Rhythm and timing in the two versions of Sequenza I for flute solo: psychological and musical differences in performance, Cynthia Folio and Alexander Brinkman; Rough romance: Sequenza II for harp 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 Doll; A dress or a straightjacket? Facing the questions of structure and periodicity posed by the notation of Berio's Sequenza VII for oboe, Patricia Alessandrini; Shadow boxing: Sequenza X for trumpet and piano resonance, Jonathan Impett. Part 2 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: Beroi's reworking of the Sequenzas, Edward Venn. Part 3 Analytical Approaches: Vestiges of twelve-tone practice as compositional process in Berio's Sequenza I for solo flute, Irna Priore; Sonic complexity and harmonic syntax in Sequenza IV for piano, Didier Guigue and Marcílio Fagner Onofre; The nature of expressivity in Berio's Sequenza VI for viola, Amanda Bayley; A polyphonic type of listening in and out of focus: Berio's Sequenza XI for guitar, Mark D. Porcaro; ...and so a chord consoles us: Berio's Sequenza XIII (Chanson) for accordion, Thomas Gartmann. Bibliography; Discography; Index.