Sequenza IX

berio: sequenza IX

Luciano Berio (b 1925)

Sequenza IX

for solo clarinet

Sequenza IX is a rare event in the history of the relationship between instrumental music and electronics: the clarinet part, far from being devised for transformation on tape in the studio or live at the control desk, is a purely instrumental derivation from an electronic piece. Towards the end of his time as director of the electro-acoustic section of IRCAM Berio was particularly concerned with the development of the digital system 4X designed by Peppino di Giugno to facilitate complex interaction between performer and electronics in real time. A direct result of that was Chemin V for clarinet and digital filters, in which the clarinet was accompanied by its own vocal shadow. Performed in Paris in 1980, Chemin V was then withdrawn and replaced by the present work for clarinet alone. Sequenza IX is a formidably virtuoso piece covering the whole of the instrument’s extensive range of colour and exploiting its aptitude for wide leaps, rapid runs and glissando and chordal techniques. It retains an at least theoretical unity by means of recurrent thematic motifs and frequent returns to one or two particularly prominent pitch levels.