Folk Songs

Black is the color (USA)

I wonder as I wander (USA)

Loosin yelav (Armenia)

Rossignolet du bois (France)

A la femminisca (Sicily)

La donna ideale (Italy)

Ballo (Italy)

Motettu de tristura (Sardinia)

Malurous qu’o uno fenno (Auvergne)

Lo fiolaire (Auvergne)

Azerbaijan love song (Azerbaijan)

The origins of Folk Songs – which were first performed by the composer’s wife Cathy Berberian at Mills College in California in 1964 – go back to Berio’s student days in Milan. In his second year at the Conservatorio he wrote Tre canzoni popolari (Three Folk Songs), two of which, La donna ideale and Ballo, would be incorporated in the Folk Songs score commissioned by Mills College sixteen years later. Like La donna ideale and Ballo, the first two of the Folk Songs are not actual folk songs. Black is the color and I wonder as I wonder were both written by the Kentucky folk singer John Jacob Niles. Berio’s extended bird-song postlude for flute and clarinet in the second Niles song seems to have been suggested by the passing reference to the “bird on the wing.” Although Berberian was born in the United States her family came from Armenia, which no doubt explains the presence of the next song, Loosin yelav. Far from stimulating more bird-song imitations, Rossignolet du bois attracts minimal instrumental activity A la femminisca, on the other hand, is characterised by clattering percussion reflecting the aggressive stance adopted by the singer.

The two brilliantly scored early Berio songs are followed by Motettu de Tristura, spectrally coloured by muted strings sliding in quarter-tones between double-stopped chords on the bridge. While the tunes of Malurous qu’o uno fenno and Lo fiolaire are familiar from Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, Berio’s lean instrumental textures are far from the lush orchestration of that version. The Azerbaijan love song was transcribed by Cathy Berberian from an old 78 from the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan without, apparently understanding a word of it..

Black is the color (USA)

I wonder as I wander (USA)

Loosin yelav (Armenia)

Rossignolet du bois (France)

A la femminisca (Sicily)

La donna ideale (Italy)

Ballo (Italy)

Motettu de tristura (Sardinia)

Malurous qu’o uno fenno (Auvergne)

Lo fiolaire (Auvergne)

Azerbaijan love song (Azerbaijan)

The origins of Folk Songs – which were first performed by Cathy Berberian and an ensemble directed by Luciano Berio at Mills College in California in 1964 – go back to the composer’s student days in Milan. In his second year at the Conservatorio he wrote Tre canzoni popolari (Three folk songs), two of which, La donna ideale and Ballo, would be incorporated in the Folk Songs score commissioned by Mills College sixteen years later. Romantic legend has it that the two songs were composed for Cathy Berberian when she was studying singing in Milan with Giorgina del Vigo. While that cannot be true – she did not arrive in Italy until 1949, just a year before she and Berio got marrried but two years after the songs were written – the versions used in Folk Songs were certainly intended, like the nine other number in the set, as a tribute to her “extraordinary artistry.”

If the Berberian-Berio marriage was nearing its end by the time of the first performance of Folk Songs at Mills College, their artistic partnership was not – as major works for soprano like Sequenza III, Visage and Recital I confirm. Nor was it the end of the composer’s attachment to folk song. “My links with folk music are often of an emotional character,” he once declared. “When I work with that music I am always caught by the thrill of discovery.” Cries of London, Coro, and Voci: Folk Songs II were all part of a continuing interest in “creating a unity between folk music and our music.”

Like La donna ideale and Ballo, the first two of the Folk Songs are not actual folk songs. Black is the color and I wonder as I wonder were both written by the Kentucky folk singer and composer John Jacob Niles. There is a traditional tune for Black is the color but, because his father thought it was “downright terrible,” Niles recalled, “I wrote myself a new tune, ending it in a nice modal manner.” Introduced here by two violas instructed to play “like a wistful country dance fiddlers” and accompanied by mainly lower strings, it acquires a new dimension of poignancy. I wonder as I wander was developed by Niles out of the mere three lines he was able to extract from a revivalist preacher’s daughter, “a tousled, unwashed blond, and very lovely.” The extended bird-song postlude for flute, oboe and clarinet in Berio’s version seems to have been suggested by the passing reference to the “bird on the wing.”

Although Berberian was born in the United States her family came from Armenia, which no doubt explains the presence of the next song. Loosin yelav is simply but affectionately accompanied by harp and pizzicato strings until the increasingly elaborate participation of the woodwind in a lively dance episode towards the end. Far from stimulating more bird-song imitations, Rossignolet du bois attracts minimal instrumental activity, just a clarinet at first and then harp and crotales. A la femminisca, on the other hand, is introduced and punctuated by a clattering of metal sticks on coil springs and tam-tam which, unlike the curiously quiet colouring elsewhere, reflects the agressive stance adopted by the singer.

The two Berio songs are both brilliantly scored – La donna ideale with witty interjections from solo instruments, down to the double bass at the end, Ballo with a vigour equal to that of the high-energy vocal line. The eerie sound Berio endows on Motettu de Tristura, with muted solo strings sliding in quarter-tone between double-stopped chords on the bridge, does not exclude a piccolo echo of the nightingale and a hint of a habanera on the harp. The tunes of Malurous qu’o uno fenno and Lo fiolaire are familiar from Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne. Berio’s lean instrumental textures, however, and his double-stopped solo cello in Lo fiolaire recalling the viola introduction to the work, have nothing in common with the lush orchestration of the Canteloube version.

The Azerbaijan love song was discovered by Cathy Berberian on an old 78 from the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. She transcribed what she heard without understanding a word of it except, apparently, for a verse in Russian comparing love to a stove. Given such primitive rhythmic drive and liberated vocal expression, who needs to know what it is all about?

Originally scored for voice and seven instruments, the Folk Songs were arranged for large orchestra by the composer in 1973.

Black is the color (USA)

I wonder as I wander (USA)

Loosin yelav (Armenia)

Rossignolet du bois (France)

A la femminisca (Sicily)

La donna ideale (Italy)

Ballo (Italy)

Motettu de tristura (Sardinia)

Malurous qu’o uno fenno (Auvergne)

Lo fiolaire (Auvergne)

Azerbaijan love song (Azerbaijan)

The origins of Folk Songs – which were first performed by Cathy Berberian and an ensemble directed by Luciano Berio at Mills College in California in 1964 – go back to the composer’s student days in Milan. In his second year at the Conservatorio he wrote Tre canzoni popolari (Three folk songs), two of which, La donna ideale and Ballo, would be incorporated in the Folk Songs score commissioned by Mills College sixteen years later. Romantic legend has it that the two songs were composed for Cathy Berberian when she was studying singing in Milan with Giorgina del Vigo. While that cannot be true – she did not arrive in Italy until 1949, just a year before she and Berio got marrried but two years after the songs were written – the versions used in Folk Songs were certainly intended, like the nine other number in the set, as a tribute to her “extraordinary artistry.”

If the Berberian-Berio marriage was nearing its end by the time of the first performance of Folk Songs at Mills College, their artistic partnership was not – as major works for soprano like Sequenza III, Visage and Recital I confirm. Nor was it the end of the composer’s attachment to folk song. “My links with folk music are often of an emotional character,” he once declared. “When I work with that music I am always caught by the thrill of discovery.” Cries of London, Coro, and Voci: Folk Songs II were all part of a continuing interest in “creating a unity between folk music and our music.”

Like La donna ideale and Ballo, the first two of the Folk Songs are not actual folk songs. Black is the color and I wonder as I wonder were both written by the Kentucky folk singer and composer John Jacob Niles. There is a traditional tune for Black is the color but, because his father thought it was “downright terrible,” Niles recalled, “I wrote myself a new tune, ending it in a nice modal manner.” Introduced and accompanied by viola with minimal harp colouring, it acquires a new dimension of poignancy. I wonder as I wander was developed by Niles out of the mere three lines he was able to extract from a revivalist preacher’s daughter, “a tousled, unwashed blond, and very lovely.” The extended bird-song postlude for flute and clarinet in Berio’s version seems to have been suggested by the passing reference to the “bird on the wing.”

Although Berberian was born in the United States her family came from Armenia, which no doubt explains the presence of the next song. Loosin yelav is simply but affectionately accompanied by harp until the increasingly elaborate participation of the woodwind in a lively dance episode towards the end. Far from stimulating more bird-song imitations, Rossignolet du bois attracts minimal instrumental activity, just a clarinet at first and then harp and crotales. A la femminisca, on the other hand, is characterised by clattering percussion which, unlike the curiously quiet colouring elsewhere, reflects the agressive stance adopted by the singer.

The two Berio songs are both brilliantly scored – La donna ideale with harp accompaniment and witty woodwind and string interjections, Ballo with a vigour equal to that of the high-energy vocal line. The eerie sound Berio endows on Motettu de Tristura, with muted strings sliding in quarter-tones between double-stopped chords on the bridge, does not exclude a piccolo echo of the nightingale. The tunes of Malurous qu’o uno fenno and Lo fiolaire are familiar from Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne. Berio’s lean instrumental textures, however, and his double-stopped cello in Lo fiolaire recalling the viola introduction to the work, have nothing in common with the lush orchestration of the Canteloube version.

The Azerbaijan love song was discovered by Cathy Berberian on an old 78 from the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. She transcribed what she heard without understanding a word of it except, apparently, for a verse in Russian comparing love to a stove. Given such primitive rhythmic drive and liberated vocal expression, who needs to know what it is all about?

Folk Songs also exists in a version for large orchestra made by the composer in 1973.