Luciano Berio

Luciano Berio (1925–2003) born in Oneglia (Italy), he studied with Giulio Paribeni and Gior-gio Ghedini at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan. In 1953, together with Bruno Maderna, he founded the Studio di Fonologia Musicale della rai in Milan and was its head until 1961. In 1956 he set up the Incontri Musicali magazine and until 1960 was in charge of concerts under the same name. He taught composition in the United States at Tangle-wood (1960, 1982), Mills College, Oakland (1962), and Harvard Uni-versity, and in Europe at Darmstadt, Cologne, and the Dartington Summer School of Music (1961, 1962).
From 1965 to 1972 he was a member of the composition faculty at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He founded the Julliard Ensemble. In 1974–1979 he collaborated with Pierre Boulez at ircam in Paris. In 1987 he founded the Centro Tempo Reale di Firenze. In 1980 he was given an honorary doctorate from the City University of London. During the latter years of his life, he was showered with awards and distinctions, including the Ernst von Siemens Award (1989), the Award of the Wolf Foundation in Jerusalem (1991), the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale (1995), honorary doctorates from the Universities in Siena (1995) and Turin (1999) and the Praemium Imperiale of the Japanese Arts Association (1996). In 2000 he was appointed President and Artistic Director of the famous Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. A year later he was Artistic Director of a wide-ranging European project ‘L'Arte della Fuga’, which comprised concerts in Spoleto, The Hague, Lyon and London. His honours also include the Premio Internazionale ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ in Caserta.
Luciano Berio was also active as a conductor, appearing with leading symphony orchestras in the United States and Europe.

Selected works (since 1984): Voci for viola and two instrumental groups (1984), Brahms/Berio: Opus 120 Nr. 1 for clarinet or viola and orchestra (1984–86), Naturale, ballet (1985–86), Ricorrenze for wind quintet (1985–87), String Quartet (1986–90), Formazioni for orchestra (1986), Sequenze i–xi for various instruments and solo voice (1958–88), Concerto ii (Echoing Curves) for piano and two instrumental groups (1988), Ofanim for two instrumental groups, two children’s choirs, female voice and real time computer music system (1988), Canticum Novissimi Testamenti (Ballata) for a cappella mixed choir (1988; 2nd section for four solo voi-ces, four clarinets and saxophone quartet – 1989), Continuo for orchestra (1989–91), Schubert/Berio: Rendering for orchestra (1989), psy for double bass (1989), Verdi/Berio: 8 Romanze for tenor and orchestra (1990), Leaf for piano (1990), Brin for piano (1990), Notturno (Quartetto iii) for string quartet (1993; version for string orchestra – 1995), Compass, ballet (1995), Sequenza xii for bassoon (1995), Sequenza xiii for bassoon (1995), kol-od (Chemins vi) for trumpet and chamber orchestra (1996), Outis, opera (1996), Récit (Chemins vii) for alto sax and orchestra (1996), Ekphrasis (Continuo ii) for orchestra (1997), Alternatim, double concerto for clarinet, viola and orchestra (1997), Glosse for string quartet (1997), Korót for eight cellos (1998), Cronaca del Luogo, music campaign (1998–1999), Solo for trombone and orchestra (1999), Stanze for baritone, three male choirs and orchestra (2003).

Sequenza XIV was commissioned by Westdeutscher Rudfunk in Cologne, the Fundaćčo Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon and Societą del Quartetto in Milan. It was premiered by Rohan de Saram at the Wittener Tage Festival on 28 April, 2002.
Duration: 13’