josephus07

Well, obviously I'm into Berio (I have to be to be writing my thesis on some of his works), but I just have to say that Sinfonia is simply a masterpiece. Unbelieveable.

The third movement, in particular, blows my mind.

Maybe you (the collective "you" out there) don't like Berio. Maybe you don't understand what's so special.

Well, if you want to be blown away and be put through the whole range of human emotions and responses - laughter, fear, uneasiness, sentimentality, melancholy, hope, despair, you name it - do these things, paying particular attention to the 3rd movement:

1. Get David Osmond Smith's book, "Playing on words : a guide to Luciano Berio's Sinfonia" so you can find out where every single musical and textual quotation comes from.

2. Read "Text, Music, and Meaning in the Third Movement of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia" by Michael Hicks (article).

3. Listen to those pieces and read the works that the quotations are taken from.

4. Listen to all of the Schero of Mahler's 2nd symphony WITH A SCORE.

5. Listen to Sinfonia WITH A SCORE.

If anyone does these things, I'd LOVE to hear what you think!

Also, for something completely unlike Sinfonia, check out Berio's Folk Songs.

Any thoughts?

wiseone2

........and you get to play a bit of La Mer also. Mahler and Debussy! We performed the work a few years ago. We had the Swingle Singers performing their magic with us.
Wilmer

josephus07

Awesome!

How tough of a blow was it to go through the whole piece? Any special considerations?

Where were the singers positioned?

There's also Ravel - La Valse, Schoenberg - Five Pieces for Orchestra...(the list goes on).

Thanks for contributing Mr. Wise!

josephus07

Oh, yeah, did you enjoy getting to perform it?

wiseone2

I thoroughly enjoyed the Berio. I have been involved with music of our time since high school. I don't remember anything about that concert other than the Berio, and the fine performance of the Swingle Singers.
Wilmer

ecarroll

Berio autographed my copy of Sequenza X years ago when he was a guest at the Rotterdam Conservatory.

It looked something like:
Best wishes,
/\/\/\/\

I suppose this is one step better than Harry Birtwistle (who John Wallace and I once commissioned), who famously responded to questions on a BBC radio program(me) by shaking his head yes/no and shrugging.

Best,
/\/\/\/\ (forgery)

tromj

I was at Lake Placid the summer Birtwhistle came. I participated in his sessions. Holy cow what a guy. And the genesis of his piece started in our sessions, where he used us to experiment with different weays the trumpets could respond to each other. I don't know if that was the piece you commissioned, but I have a copy of the piece he wrote for you to play in the second week of the session.
I also got to drive him and john wallace around a little.

ecarroll

(laughing)

Sir Harrison Birtwistle: The Silkhouse Tattoo (Antiphonies) for 2 solo trumpets and side drums.

Premiered at the ITG Conference in Richmond and two nights later with the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (South Bank) -- as memorable a performance as the Richmond show was not.

John and I recorded it and it will probably make an appearance on iTunes before we all die. Dan Rosenboom and I gave the Los Angeles premiere at the Disney Hall (REDCAT) last year as well.

Harry also wrote Placid Mobile (36 muted trumpets) that summer. Do you remember it?

Great fun, and Harry's a piece of work. Absolutely brilliant (cue Guinness commercial)

Best,
EC

mahaberio

I concur. Really all of his music is amazing. For anyone interested, I recommend giving "Points on the curve to find...", "Naturale", and "Voci" some listening time in addition to the "Sinfonia." All this is assuming at least one person who isn't already Berio-nut reads this thread.

josephus07

And for something completely different, try "Folk Songs" or his arrangements of a handful of Beatles tunes (Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, Michele - I've only been able to find a recording of Ticekt to Ride).