Luciano Berio

Sinfonia ...

'Keep going...!'

Proms 2007, Third Movement ... 
Fantastic performance from the Proms of Berio's Sinfonia, written for Leonard Bernstein in 1968 ...

"Sinfonia uses a large, relatively traditional orchestra, and the eight voices of the Swingle Singers. Berio's use of the Mahler Scherzo and other appropriated material (including music of Bach, Boulez, Berg, Stravinsky, Stockhausen, and many others), does not, as the composer makes it clear, amount to the technique of collage. For example, the Mahler movement forms the philosophical and structural armature for the third movement of Sinfonia, at least partly as a basis for commentary on music history in general. Specifically, the distinctive characteristics of the Scherzo serves as catalysts for the proliferation of musical references with similar traits. The depth and extent of interconnectivity among these references parallels Berio's use of Beckett's narrative The Unnameable and the threads spun off from that text. One can hear Beckett throughout the movement, just as one can hear Mahler -- blurred or momentarily obliterated by other sounds, other meanings, but always returning."
allmusic.com ...


 Text to Sinfonia ...

"We must collect our thoughts, for the unexpected is always upon us, in our rooms, in the street, at the door, on a stage. Thank you, Mr. Antonio Pappano"

Berio's original recording (3rd movement, parts 1 and 2)

themodernword.com review ...


Berio's A-Ronne, for 8 voices (Swingle II), 1974/75) ...
A-Ronne parts 1 & 2 ...