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 | | Berio (Oxford Studies of Composers, No. 20) by David Osmond-Smith ISBN-10: 9780193154780 ISBN-10: 0-19-315478-1 ISBN-13: 9780193154780 ISBN-13: 978-0-19-315478-0 Hardcover 1991-03-14 Oxford University Press, USA Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Berio is one of the most widely performed and prodigiously productive of postwar composers. This book is nevertheless the first survey in any language of his work as a whole. Commentators on Berio's work have tended to concentrate on those aspects of his music that have strong extra-musical associations such as his use of words, sense of theatre, and interest in linguistics. While incorporating all of these, this account seeks to rectify the balance by focusing on the purely musical basis of Berio's work. Its chapters cover such areas as the basis of his musical language, his involvement with Darmstadt, his work with computers at IRCAM and Tempo Reale, the importance of folk music, and his theatre works. | ||
Reviews | ||
Indeed a useful resource, but irkingly too brief and out-of-date David Osmond-Smith's guide to the work of Luciano Berio appeared in the Oxford Studies of Composers series in 1991. The work is slim--minus index and appendices it comes to only 118 pages--but tries to cover Berio's entire career up to that point. One immediately notices that the emphasis here is on the music itself. Biographical material is very limited and brought up only when relevant to the composer's writing, such as his fruitful first marriage to Cathy Berberian. His writing is not handled in strictly chronological order, but the pieces are organized to highlight certain facets of his work. One whole chapter is dedicated to his general conceptions of melody and harmony. The following--for me the most interesting--is on his "commentary techniques", his ability to write new pieces organically growing from the basis of earlier music (sometimes by different composers). A next chapter is dedicated to vocal music. The 1970s, with Berio's return to electronics and maturization of technique, get their own chapter, where "Coro" gets the most substantial treatment. Finally, a last chapter covers Berio's theatre pieces up to the time of writing. While resources on Berio are woefully few, and I would recommend this book to any fan, the enterprise could have been so much more. Like all Oxford Studies of Composers, this installment is far too brief to give more than a passing glance at most of the composer's work. And since no second edition was prepared after Berio's death, we end things in 1990, before the great triumphs of his late career like the opera "Outis", the Schubert completion "Rendering", and his last work "Stanze". And there's a need for more information on Berio's life itself, such as his involvement in the Italian television series "C'e musica e musica" and what students he inspired. At least Osmond-Smith has also written PLAYING ON WORDS a full-length guide to the wonder that is Berio's "Sinfonia", which fans should also seek out as well. | ||