Ensemble InterContemporain [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Luciano Berio has always looked at his Sequenzas as building blocks among his other compositions. These solo works, sometimes written for specific performers, exist as elements of other, larger works or as platforms upon which he's built extensive structures. This three-CD set is the first to collect all Berio's Sequenzas, and the performances are peerless.

Berio's writing is, of course, unconventional, feeding off serialism and making complexity sound friendly. Sophie Cherrer's leaping flute on Sequenza I (1958) finds dozens of ways not to shriek, as does Gabrielle Cassone's Sequenza X for trumpet. There are two world-premiere recordings: Pascal Gallois's Sequenza XII for bassoon and Teodoro Anzellotti's Sequenza XIII for accordion (both 1995). Here Anzellotti conjures his playful 1998 recording, Satie on Accordion.

Berio envisions these works as suggestive of polyphony in their architecture and impact, which is to say that the aggressive juxtapositions within a solo work fool the ear into believing that the soloist is a small ensemble. The melodies get multiplied, from initial statements into transfigurations and harmonic variations, making the pieces at once tremendously complex and demanding but also totally inviting. The constancy of these 13 works is evidenced by two of the harmonically richest performances, Benny Sluchin's Sequenza V for trombone (1965, originally composed for Stuart Dempster) and Eliot Fisk's Sequenza XI for guitar (1987-88). The dialogue between density and pinpoint nodes remains a thematic constant, rendered almost in parallel on the various instruments. This is a dynamic, vital document of 20th-century music, one that shouldn't be missed. --Andrew Bartlett

Tracks:

Sequenze: Sequenza I for flute
Sequenze: Sequenza II for harp
Sequenze: Sequenza III for woman's voice
Sequenze: Sequenza IV for piano
Sequenze: Sequenza V for trombone
Sequenze: Sequenza VI for viola

Tracks:

Sequenze: Sequenza VII for oboe
Sequenze: Sequenza VIII for violin
Sequenze: Sequenza IXa for clarinet
Sequenze: Sequenza X for trumpet in C and piano resonance

Tracks:

Sequenze: Sequenza XI for guitar
Sequenze: Sequenza XII for bassoon
Sequenze: Sequenza XIII for accordion
Sequenze: Sequenza IXb for alto saxophone

Amazon.com

Luciano Berio has always looked at his Sequenzas as building blocks among his other compositions. These solo works, sometimes written for specific performers, exist as elements of other, larger works or as platforms upon which he's built extensive structures. This three-CD set is the first to collect all Berio's Sequenzas, and the performances are peerless.

Berio's writing is, of course, unconventional, feeding off serialism and making complexity sound friendly. Sophie Cherrer's leaping flute on Sequenza I (1958) finds dozens of ways not to shriek, as does Gabrielle Cassone's Sequenza X for trumpet. There are two world-premiere recordings: Pascal Gallois's Sequenza XII for bassoon and Teodoro Anzellotti's Sequenza XIII for accordion (both 1995). Here Anzellotti conjures his playful 1998 recording, Satie on Accordion.

Berio envisions these works as suggestive of polyphony in their architecture and impact, which is to say that the aggressive juxtapositions within a solo work fool the ear into believing that the soloist is a small ensemble. The melodies get multiplied, from initial statements into transfigurations and harmonic variations, making the pieces at once tremendously complex and demanding but also totally inviting. The constancy of these 13 works is evidenced by two of the harmonically richest performances, Benny Sluchin's Sequenza V for trombone (1965, originally composed for Stuart Dempster) and Eliot Fisk's Sequenza XI for guitar (1987-88). The dialogue between density and pinpoint nodes remains a thematic constant, rendered almost in parallel on the various instruments. This is a dynamic, vital document of 20th-century music, one that shouldn't be missed. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Great........2005-07-25

Written between 1958 and 1995, the Sequenzas are a kind of encyclopedia of 20th Century instrumental writing; Berio uses every kind of extended technique imaginable to produce a wide range of colors and textures. He obviously knows these instruments inside and out, writing works of great complexity and intricacy that also remain natural to their respective instruments. This does not mean that he does not challenge the prevailing notion of what is "natural." In his notes for the Sequenza II for Harp, Berio complains that "French 'impressionism' has left us with a rather limited vision of the harp, as if its most obvious characteristic were that of lending itself to the attentions of loosely robed girls with long blonde tresses, capable of drawing from it nothing more than seductive glissandi. But the harp also has another harder, stronger, more aggresive face." It must be said that Berio tends to illuminate the "aggresive face" of many of the instruments. The Sequenzas for violin and viola in particular dispell the notion that the most natural thing for them is to imitate the voice. Berio has a more unique vision of the instruments' capabilities.

The Ensemble InterContemporain is the creme de la creme of modern music groups. Listening to Christopher Desjardins shred in the Sequenza VI for Viola is particularly satisfying. He plays with as much passion as he does skill, bringing out the jarring shifts in mood suggested by the Edoardo Sanguinetti verse that accomanpanies the work: "my capricious fury was once your livid calm / my song will be your very slow silence." His is of course only one of many virtuoso performances in the set. The discs on the whole make a strong case for the composer, and, more generally, for the cause of modern music.

...from upabovebuildings.com

Note from OANegrin.......2003-10-01

Note to fellow saxophonists:

Christian Wirth (of Quatuor Habanera) is the saxophonist on this recording of Berio's Sequenza IXb.

OANegrin

Incredible recordings of great works of the 20th century........2000-08-23

This recording marks a triumphant feat in recording history. These works for solo instruments are recorded by some of the persons to whom they were written. Ensemble InterContemporain has some of the best musicians of avant guard music in the world. These works display extended instrumental techniques that have shaped the course of 20th century music by all other composers in the same school. My hope is that Ensemble InterContemporain will record the companion works such as the Chemins series and Corale and the other works that are based on some of these works (Berio uses the Sequenzas as solo material with various instruments added to the soundscape which he calls adding layers to the onion.) This CD set is a must have for all who love contempoary music or want a good jumping off point atart enjoying this great music.

Not everything here is "genius".......2000-08-09

Despite what the other reviews will have you believe, not every piece in this box set is as phenomenal as pieces like the soprano or trombone Sequenza.

Berio has written a lot of incredible music, but he's also written a lot of really terrible music (like "Folk Songs", for instance). There are some incredible pieces on these 3 CDs but the majority are easily forgettable and, at times, quite boring. The virtuosity of playing, while technically flawless, often comes off as flat and undynamic... This is a fault of the pieces, not the performers.

This is a great collection for Berio completists, but the highlights of the box set are available in other recordings with the original performers (i.e. Vinko Globokar, Cathy Berberian, etc.) Seek those out and save yourself some money.

Great collection of hard-to-find music.......1999-11-24

These works are difficult to collect individually, and this was the first recording of Sequenza XII for Bassoon and Sequenza XIII for Accordion.

Unfortunately, Sequenza VIIb for Soprano Saxophone (1993) was omitted. It is available on BIS CD-640 "The Solitary Saxophone" by Claude Delangle.

I prefer Christian Lindberg's renditions of Sequenza V for Trombone, as found on BIS CD-258 "The Virtuoso Trombone" and CD-388 "The Solitary Trombone (they're different performances). He has perfected the playing-while-singing multiphonic effect, using it on several other pieces like Sandstrom's "Motorbike Concerto."

Music Review:

Music Review

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Music Review

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