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Inside Luciano Berio's Serialism
Author(s): CHRISTOPH NEIDHÖFER

Source: Music Analysis, Vol. 28, No. 2/3 (July-October 2009), pp. 301-348
Published by: Wiley
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DOI: 10.1 1 1 l/j.1468-2249.201 1.00275.x
CHRISTOPH NEIDHOFER
Inside Luciano Berio's Serialism
Like many other composers who later distanced themselves from s

Luciano Berio (1925-2003) embraced the technique for a number of year
1950s. His ultimate rejection of serialism notwithstanding, Berio credit
significant source of inspiration during a period of his life in which, as h
it, eI really made up for all the time I'd lost in the provinces, especially
war, and in Milan immediately after the war' (Berio 1985 [1981], p. 63).
aligning himself too closely with any particular school of serial though
long, Berio adopted and developed the techniques he encountered in
of his contemporaries - especially Luigi Dallapiccola, Henri Pousse
Goeyvaerts, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bruno Maderna - before rel
serialism altogether by 1958. Despite Berio's eventual rejection of the t
the serial experience of those years continued to have a strong imp
development as a composer into the 1960s and beyond.
Ex. 1 lists the serial works from 1951 to 1958, spanning the time
early twelve-note composition Due pezzi for violin and piano to the
prior to the flute Sequenza. The first six works listed, up to Nones , emp
orthodox serial procedures where the pitch rows are generally recog
the musical surface, with serial principles eventually extending into pa
other than pitch (in Nones). In the remaining works listed, written bet
and 1958, Berio subjects his serial materials to more elaborate proc
transformation which are much more difficult to decipher. Although
ciples of Berio's early serialism from 1951 to 1954 are well known, his
techniques from 1955 to 1958 are still little understood.1 There are thr
for this: first, in his writings and interviews Berio provided only limi
mation on his serial works;2 second, it is nearly impossible to dec
composer's later, complex serial techniques from the published scores a
third, only one sketch survives for the works listed from 1955-8, for A
making this the only one of these serial compositions whose serial stru
be determined with certainty.
This article examines Berio's compositional techniques in three ser
from his serial period: Nones (1954), Quartetto per archi (1955-6) and A
(1955-6). The aim of this study is threefold, namely to show which
materials Berio used, how he employed them, and why he used them in
he did. I have chosen these pieces not only because of their chrono
proximity and shared compositional aesthetic, but also because they are
advanced serial works from the composer's oeuvre for which a number of
helpful, if incomplete, sources exist. These include Berio's own comments on
Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) 301

© 201 1 The Author.
Music Analysis © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
and 350 Main Street, Maiden, MA 02148, USA
302 CHRISTOPH NEIDHOFER
Ex. 1 Berio's major serial works of 1951-8
Due pezzi for violin and piano (1951, rev. 196

Study for string quartet (1952, rev. 1985)
Cinque variazioni for piano ( 1952-3, rev. 19
Chamber Music for female voice, cello, clarin
Variazioni for chamber orchestra (1953-4)
Nones for orchestra ( 1 954)
Quartetto per archi (1955-6)
Allelujah I for six instrumental groups (1955-
Serenata I for flute and fourteen instruments
Allelujah II for five instrumental groups (195
Allelujah I'm his 1956 article 'Aspetti di a

Craft'), two pages of analytical notes o
Allelujah /, program notes for Nones an
serialism in his writings and interviews.
nevertheless, valuable information on its
on Berio by Piero Santi, published in Die
extant primary sources, I shall demon
onwards is best understood from a histo
explored: the influence of Bruno Mad
close collaborator at the Studio di fono
Since first-hand information on why a
Berio employed serial techniques can b
his thoughts on serial composition wil
Nones and shows how the integral serialis
dynamics and modes of attack), while su
with considerable flexibility in his comp
serial materials in the Quartetto in comp
written a year earlier, whose manuscrip
er's analytical markings, Berio owned.
serial techniques with a flexibility of
which appealed greatly to Berio. Part I
serialism employed in Allelujah / throug
the work (as incomplete, from a technic
be) in conjunction with an analysis of
commentators, possibly misled by Berio'
work's principal structure is only partia
structure is in fact serialised throughou
process in Allelujah I - where Berio recom
rials with considerable freedom - clearly
I. Berio's Views on Serialism
Berio expressed his thoughts on serialism in largely critical terms. A

excerpts from his writings and interviews illustrating what he saw as
© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

Music Analysis © 20 1 1 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Inside Luciano Berio's Serialism 303
and pitfalls of serial composition can help us b

composer adopted serialism in the 1950s, and
influenced his entire compositional career. A cl
in conjunction with an examination of his com
selected works, will confirm that his famous a
from 1968, did not represent a change in his at
with this attack he pointed precisely at the kin
had recognised and already overcome a decad
Berio saw serialism as, at its best, a powerful
territories; at its worst, however, it was too vu
devoid of musical substance. The latter point li
I would go as far as to say (as my anger comes bac

musical reality into a kind of imitation grammar
associated with the Twelve-Tone System) is a brand o
Fascism and racism the tendency to reduce live pr
objects, the tendency to deal with formalities rat
why I am very much against the formalistic and e
composition. In losing himself in the manipulation
runs the risk of forgetting that these notes are simp
in addition, end up ignoring what sound really is.
For Berio, at the heart of the problem lies a c

relationship between analysis-turned-theory an
A composer can give a descriptive analysis of his ow

the analytical tools from past musical experience.
piece of music cannot, however, account for the mea
placed in a historical continuity. By the same toke
analysis can never legitimately be used as a tool for
do this betray an idea of musical language based s
bining elements, which is, to say the least, irreleva
music. (Berio 1968, pp. 169-70)
And Berio concludes:
A theory cannot substitute for meaning and idea; a discrete analytical tool can
never be turned to creation by dint of polishing and perfecting it. It is poetics
which guide discovery and not procedural attitudes; it is idea and not
style .... This basic fact has been missed by those who insist on trying to create
a twelve-tone Utopia of 'twelve-tone coherence' by forcing on us the dubious
gift of twelve-tone melodies in which, as someone has written, 'the twelve-tone
rhythmic structuralization is totally identical (sic) with the structuralization of the
twelve tones'.3 Alas, this industrialized twelve-tone horse, dull on the outside and
empty inside, constantly being perfected and dragged to a new Troy in shadow
of an ideological war long since fought and won by responsible minds like
Schoenberg, with neither systems nor scholarship for armor! (Berio 1968,
p. 171)
Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Music Analysis © 201 1 Blackwell Publishing
Although Berio briefly embraced integra

in 'excessive interchangeability between acoustic parameters' (Berio 1985
[1981]., p. 65). Separating out musical parameters made sense to him only
insofar as he could be certain that these came out of, and would ultimately be
reintegrated back into, a meaningful whole. Looking back in 1981, he explained:
As everybody knows, one of the most important and symptomatic aspects of the
serialist experience was the separation of musical 'parameters' .... When this
dividing up of 'parameters' was applied scholastically, for analytical purposes, to
musical pieces where the solidarity between intervals, durations, instrumental
timbre, intensity and register was organically implicit in the expressive and struc-
tural design of the piece, then the operation had, and still has, a meaning. It was
rather like examining the separate pieces of a motor while knowing that the
elementary sum of these parts didn't constitute the motor (our perception always
plays such tricks on us). The problems started when, inevitably, people began going
in the opposite direction, taking unattached pieces, separate 'parameters', and
putting them together under the indifferent and uniform light of abstract propor-
tions, and the waiting for the unveiling of the piece (or the non-piece - which is after
all the same thing because, as you know, by night all cats are grey).4 (Berio 1985
[1981], pp. 68-9)
In order for a structure to be meaningful, Berio believed, it must thus be

conceived as an entity, as a concrete musical object which makes sense, rather
than as an assembly of disparate components (as integrated as the compilation of
the parameters may be from a serial point of view).5 At the centre of Berio's serial
practices lies the design of such concrete musical objects which in turn are
subjected to various processes of transformation, serial or otherwise. In Nones ,
the basic materials are pitch series with characteristic rhythmic and dynamic
profiles which are transformed according to a rule regulating the possible choices
of durations, dynamics and articulation. The Quartetto consists of different
readings of a basic sound material which freely omit (and possibly add) pitches,
change rhythms and registers, and vary timbre and instrumentation.6 And in
Allelujah I Berio established an initial material, fully worked out in terms of pitch,
rhythm and (provisional) register, whose internal serial pitch layers are then
reread by projecting them onto different rhythmic planes and then superimpos-
ing and re-orchestrating the resulting structures. The three works to be discussed
here are serial in the sense that their initial sound materials (whose pitch and
rhythmic dimensions, at least, are fully worked out) are built from one or several
pitch series. The transformations of these materials may be guided by serial rules
(as in the choices of parameter values in Nones or the rhythmic projections in
Allelujah 7), or may be free. Whatever the principles of transformation, however,
Berio's aim was to create coherence and musical sense that transcended the
serial machinery. He had a clear vision of, and maintained full control over, ho
the music would ultimately sound. In Piero Santi's words:
Never during the entire creative process [in Nones] does Berio forget what is to be
its end-product. Here is the basis of his artistic freedom and his excellence as a

Music Analysis © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
craftsman. These are still more clearly manifest in t

tions tying them to the basic scheme, though less dir
clear within the musical coherence of the whole wo
that I have already mentioned. In his most recent
shows, more clearly than before, that he relies no
provided by an abstract, cerebral scheme, but on h
fantasy does indeed always create a plan, but this
limits, to vary it without invalidating it, to enrich
a mass of dovetailings and superstructures. His fan
kind demanded by the artistic tradition to which
1960 [1958], pp. 101-2)
II. Nones
Berio composed Nones in 1953-4., after he first attended the Darmst

Courses.7 Whereas the previous works leading up to the Variazioni w
on the serial counterpoint of the Second Viennese School and Lu
ccola, with whom the composer had studied atTanglewood in 195
Berio's first (and possibly only) integrally serial work in which seri
mation is applied to four distinct parameters. The choice of the fou
- pitch or pitch class, duration, dynamics and mode of attack - was
developments which took place at Darmstadt in the four years pr
arrival: Olivier Messiaen had defined these parameters, although wit
ing them serially, in his piano etude Mode de valeurs et d'intensites , w
Darmstadt courses in 1949. 8 Soon thereafter, Karel Goeyvaerts (
for Two Pianos, 1950-1), Karlheinz Stockhausen (in Kreuzspiel , 1951)
Boulez (in Structure la , 1951-2), among others, began to subject
four parameters to serial permutation.9 In the years which followed
of parameters was expanded to include more dimensions, such as
number of attacks per time unit and the number of pitches per
others), tempo, register, and so on.10 Beginning in 1952, Stockha
what he would later come to call group composition ( Gruppenkom
technique dedicated to producing an agglomeration of sound.11 B
absorbed what he encountered in Darmstadt and soon went beyon
terising Nones as his 'first reaction to Darmstadt', he subjected
classical four parameters of pitch class, duration, dynamics and mod
to a permutational procedure that was based on a clearly defined rul
at the same time gave him a welcome degree of choice.12
Ex. 2 presents a translation of an analytical note for Nones in
explains how numerical values were assigned to the four paramet
combined.13 The choice of parameters followed the rule stated at th
the note: for any event, the numerical values of the four parameters
add up to nine or more; if the sum exceeds nine, the event will have to be
followed by a quaver rest. The series, shown at the top of the example, is

Music Analysis © 20 1 1 Blackwell Publishing
Ex. 2 Translation of Berio's analytical note

page)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [6] [5] [4] [3] [2] [1]
| I -3-1 | I |
durations + [a] [J pm" r !
! choice ;
M I P' f
dynamics + [a] p mf f ff gffk all values beyond 9 become a quaver rest
[b] pp ppp
' ' [a] trill

mode of attack + [a] free legato [b]frull[ato]
[= no ind.] [c] tremolo
[b] tenuto stacc.
The pitches will be realised always keeping in mind that the sum of the individual elements reaches and also surpasses 9
- every unit exceeding 9 is worth a quaver rest.
RI-symmetrical and contains thirteen elements, duplicating pitch class D in the

second- and penultimate-order positions. The members of the series are num-
bered from 1 to 13, but in the compositional process Berio used the numbering
added below in square brackets. 14 The durations are assigned values 1 to 4, with
a choice of two durations for each of values 2 to 4. (The second choices consist
of durations shorter than a quaver, the first choices of durations longer than a
quaver.) The dynamics are listed with values 1 to 5, with two choices each for
values 1 and 2. (The second choices present the softest dynamics.) The modes of
attack are assigned values of 1, 2 or 3, with multiple choices for each of them.15
Berio's rule stated at the bottom is modelled after the 'synthetic number'
pioneered by Goeyvaerts in his Sonata for Two Pianos. In the central two
movements of this work, pitch classes, durations, dynamics and modes of attack
are assigned numerical values ranging from 0 to 4; every pitch in the score is
assigned a duration, dynamic level and mode of attack such that the numerical
values sum to exactly 7. 16 Berio's 'synthetic number' is 9, a reference to the title
of the poem by W. H. Auden which inspired Nones.17
As in Goeyvaerts's work, Berio's preparatory materials and governing rule
define a type of integral serialism which permits the composer a good deal of
freedom. Not only are there multiple ways of balancing the numerical values
among the four parameters, but there are frequently multiple choices for a
particular value.18 This allows Berio to influence the outcome of his serial

processes more directly and to a degree unav

tures. For example, the composer may decide t
(between a semiquaver and a quaver) or mainly
a quaver and a crotchet) within the full rang
choose to use only soft dynamics, balancing th
in the other parameters accordingly. Ex. 3 repr
the work, where four serial layers (P5, Pio a
layer is extracted in Ex. 4a (the harp and alt
summarises Berio's choices for each of the four
entries in Ex. 4b to the corresponding numeric
each of the thirteen events. 19 The sums are eit
a palindrome,20 a property not imposed by any
chooses to stretch the succession of thirteen pi
following every odd-numbered event except th
vertical arrows in Ex. 4a. The option of inser
Berio's rule positioned at the bottom of Ex.
higher for the addition of such a rest. The cho
(above 9) and location within the series is free,
As is evident from Ex. 4c, the fact that all su
counterbalance the gradual numerical increas
(given by the pitch-class series) elsewhere in th
gradually decreasing and increasing the numeri
dynamics on the second and third line (althoug
on the fourth line are mainly set to the smalle
indications given.21
The flexibility built into Berio's rule allows him
differing characteristics and to create a kind
beyond the abstract serial structure. At the begi
all four serial layers start out with predominant
to primarily softer dynamics in bars 4-7 befor
loud in bars 7-12. This clear overall dynamic
layers participate, contributes - in tandem wit
sense of direction and cohesion. As is typical for
bars combine pointillist attacks with melodic g
in the clarinet in bars 2-3 and similar leaps in
violin (bar 5) and contrabassoon (bar 6). The s
generates direction; not only does the clarinet c
anticipate a consequent event - an expectation w
bar 3 - but the entire clarinet gesture in bars 2
the ensuing expressive leaps in the other instru
these gestures are not isolated events, but r
corresponding elements. And this is why the ge
function beyond their individual appearance. (T
as throughout Nones , owes much to Webern in

Music Analysis © 2011 Blackwell Publishing
Ex. 3 Nones , bars 1-12, with serial analys
72-76 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
^ ^ P ^ ~
sord. I - 3 - I nontroppof
✓ '
Tamb milit'
2 Tam-Tam II g 1 ?p - f p - *
" h ' 'T
Har f f p
^1^ 3^
^PSBL
ff f f -
^ P P(0: Bb Db P A F#
P5 : F/Ab/E Db Bb AD G
P7 : G Bb F# Eb C B E A Ab
P10: Bb Db A F# Eb D G
P , l : B D Bb G E D# Ab Db C
[B?]
© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis 3 28/ii-iii (2009)

Ex. 3 Continued
r i ~ i ~ i ~ i ~ ir ppp = - i ppp = -
™ 1 " " ~
PPP-=Z
Tamb. -H
^^5
^
Vlas |g - = - ~ = ~ ~
vlc- y - = = - =
p if pp
(P10:) Eb D G C B G# F(etc.)
(P5 0 F# [Eb] C G# B
(P7 :) F [Bb?] D Bb Db
(P10:) [Bb?] C B Ab F Db E
(P„ 0 A F# D F
(P3 :) Eb F# D B(etc.)

Ex. 4 Analysis of Nones, Pn layer, bars 1-

(a) Pn layer
(b) Parameters of Pn layer
(c) Analysis of numeric values of the four
(a)
1 2 3 4 ^5 6 7
| ^ j/""^ ,
f f P
6 5 4 3 2 1
|^^^^^
(b)
pes: B D Bb G E Eb Ab Db C A F# D F
r-3-ir-H r-?n r-H r-H
durations : «h J) J Ah? f J> «h J

dynamics: f f f ™f P P PP P PP *f f '_PP' *f
modes of attack: no attack indication
(C)
pes: 1234567654321
durations : 4b 3a 3b 2a 3b 1 1 1 3b 2a 3b 4a 4b
dynamics: 3 3 3 2a la la lb la lb 2a 3 £l] 2a
modes of attack: la la lb la la la la la la la la 2a 2b
sums: 9 9 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 9 9
The rule guiding the com

the composer to make dec
to sound like, since the ch
respect to all of the other
be greater than 9 leading
provides further options
the expected sonic outcom
(via the same serial rule)
gestures against a backgro
as non-pitched percussion

Ex. 5 Nones , bars 40-48, with serial analysis
« * =_ m , H- eco) ,
I _ I _ , (suono^d H- eco) , [- ^ ^
^ PPP
PPP pp
» ppp pp
G.c H-g
Cymbals
|S PPP
Tamb. 4f-| - Jiy y
ppp I
T T- s
s
"I PPP
f P - - -PPP
I - - ^ I VP
- - - - - I
^ PPP % pp PPP
.j- I
i! mp 1Solo ~ " rr=- pp ' ppppp
i - 3 - i pjzz. L» arco
r r=--fi,
ppp rr =-
rr PPP =£= =- PPPY
PPPY irnvV irnvV
y 0 pizz PP
div.
^ pl vzz pp "p- Q r Pi ™ pp arco r

PPP =~
I0 : C A C# EG Ab Eb Bb B D F A F#
I5(l^) F D Gb A
Pn(l-4) B D Bb G
1 5 (1-5) F D F# A C
p5 (1-5) F Ab E C# Bb
assigned to the main series Io in the

fragments.) The low values for the d
attack (1 and 2 for tenuto, legato, st
counterbalance the gradually incre
classes with overall decreasing and in
to keep the sums within a narrow
choice of two note values, Berio alwa
a semiquaver for 4, a dotted quaver
generally prefers the shorter dura
which is ultimately distorted by the

Ex. 6 Nones , parameters for bars 40-48

(a) Parameters for I0 (solo violin)
(b) Parameters for I5/P11 (fragments) in ba
(c) Parameters for I5/P5 (fragments) in bar
(a)
pes: 1234567654321
durations : 4b 4b 4b 2b 2b 3a 1 3a 2b 2b 4b 4b 4b
dynamics: 2b 2b 2b lb lb la lb lb lb lb lb lb 2b
modes of attack: 2a 2a 2b la la lb la lb la 2a 2b 2b 2b
sums: 9 10 11 8(!) 9 11 10 11 9 9 10 9 9
(b)
pes: 12 3 4
durations : 4a 3b + 1 3a
dynamics: 2b 2b lb 2b
modes of attack: 2* 2** 2b*** la
sums: 9 9 7(!) 10
(* legato/staccato in percussion, ** ' legato ' in guitar, *** p
(C)
pes: 1 2 3 4 5
durations : 4a 3b + 1 3 a 4b
dynamics: 2b 2b lb 2b lb
modes of attack: 2a 2a 2a 2a 2b
sums: 9 9 7(!) 11 12
c analyse the parameter values assign

Ex. 5. Here, Berio tends to realise dura
values (for example, value 4 in Ex. 6b
semiquaver in the double basses of Ex. 5) in order to create the sustained
sonorities which contrast with the faster violin gestures.25 In 1981 Berio
described his experience in Nones :
My first reaction to Darmstadt and to Bruno's beneficial influence, in other words

my first exorcism [,] was Nones for orchestra which has nothing of Darmstadt or
Maderna in it, but which develops what was for me the main focus of research and
musical excitement during those years: the possibility of thinking musically in
terms of process and not of form [that is, form types] or procedure.26 (Berio (1985
[1981]), p. 62)
By combining twelve-note serialism in the pitch domain with a kind of multiple-

choice integral serialism involving the other parameters (see again Ex. 2), Berio
provided himself with a framework which pushed his imagination towards dis-
covering new musical avenues that would otherwise have remained unexplored.

And it is in this sense that integral serialism

termed 'an objective enlargement of musical
larger musical terrain' (Berio 1985 [1981], p.
III. Quartetto per archi
Transformation of the parameters assigned to pitch material - as in the Nones

series - remained a central feature of Berio's serial music. But given the absence
of sketches for most of the works from the 1950s, determining the transforma-
tion processes and the structures to which they were applied is no easy task. For
the serial Quartetto per archi , written in 1955-6, no sketches survive which would
document the compositional procedures, nor has the manuscript fair copy been
preserved. The only source of analytical information - which probably goes back
to the composer himself - can be found in Piero Santi's article of 1958. Santi
explains, without providing score examples:
In the String Quartet there is less inner dependence [than in Nones ] between
material and the scheme of construction, on one side, and, on the other, the way
they are carried through in music. The Quartet is built up wholly on permutations
of pitch-series, which recur in each sequence, and on sequence-permutations
which recur in each structure, because of the use of six different durations and a
particular intensity for each sequence. [In footnote:] Each structure consists of six
series of six sequences each. All the durations in these six series of six sequences,
i.e., 36 durations, are multiples of one of six basic values: semiquaver, demisemi-
quaver, triplet semiquaver, quintuplet semiquaver, triplet demisemiquaver, and
quintuplet demisemiquaver. Thus for example in the first structure the durations in
each of the six series of sequences are multiples of 1 , 3, 5, 7, 9 or 1 1 This means that
each duration in the first sequence-series is one of the six fundamental values, while
in the second sequence-series each duration corresponds to one of the fundamental
values multiplied by three; in the third series the fundamental value is multiplied by
five, in the fourth by seven, etc. Sequences, sequence-series and structures follow
each other exactly according to the scheme, in order then to achieve a synthesis in
the free articulation of the quartet-texture. [Continued in main text:] Thus it is a
matter of six different 'readings' of the same material.27 (Santi 1960 [1958]), p. 100)
Ex. 7a-c reproduce three excerpts from the one-movement work, each of which
likely corresponds to what Santi calls a sequence. Each passage is built from the
same pitch-class materials, the two chromatic hexachords A and B. In Ex. 7a-c,
the solid circles mark the members of hexachord A (A-Bl^B-C-Q-D), and the
dotted circles contain its complement, hexachord B.The segmentation into these
complementary hexachords is suggested by the rhythmic values used in Ex. 7a, to
be discussed shortly. With one exception, each statement of hexachord A in
Ex. 7a-c presents the six pitch classes in a different ordering.28 Likewise, hexa-
chord B is reordered each time it recurs. Some statements are fragmented, such as
in bars 150 (Ex. 7b) and 224-228 (Ex. 7c). The three excerpts present different
readings of the same hexachords. Santi describes Berio's rereading practice as
follows:

Ex. 7 a Berioy Quartette, opening
Ex. 7b Berio , Quartetto 3 bars 145-150
Ex. 7c Berio, Quartetto , bars 224-228
I ^ ^ x

But Berio makes the rigid skeleton of the structur

and also a certain coherence within his material. Here he moves with unrestricted
freedom; he may leave out notes and durations or add some, he divides up
durations into periodically beaten rhythms, chooses registers with complete
freedom, and in all this he adheres by and large to the prescribed dynamics, within
the limits of his own taste, exploiting effects of timbre and instrumentation very
delicately. It would be interesting to follow from bar to bar the onward course and
the melting-down of the elements, while keeping the basic scheme before one. It
is typical of Berio that he lingers a short time over each of the individual elements,
till these take on a figurative shape within the resulting overall picture - they do
this less as pointillistic formations than as a collective agglomerate. (Santi 1960
[1958], p. 100)
The three passages in Ex. 7a-c give us a good idea of how this works. In
Ex. 7a Berio creates coherence by means of two timbral strata. Percussive,
irregular pizzicato attacks are pitted against sharp arco gestures of single or
double attacks, most of them played downbow. The two timbres chase each
other, creating forward momentum. Only the central register of the quartet is
used here, making the four instruments sound alike (all four parts here could in
fact be played by violins) and leaving the high and low ranges for later explora-
tion. The distribution of timbres {pizzicato versus arco) cuts across the hexa-
chordal structure. This also holds for Ex. 7b, where a third type of attack is
added, col legno battuto. Unlike the beginning of the work, the texture here is
widely spaced and the mood calm; the passage ends with a stark dynamic
contrast in the last bar. In Ex. 7c different types of attack again frequently cut
across the two hexachords. This passage too is quiet in character, this time
contrasting short arco and pizzicato gestures with longer sustained notes, the last
two played as ethereal harmonics. The semiquaver leaps which succeed each
other in the first, second and fourth bars (first violin, viola and cello), together
with the sustained pitches, provide gestural coherence.
But what is the 'rigid skeleton of the structures' or 'basic scheme', mentioned
by Santi, which is being reread and transformed? Santi's description suggests
that pitch (or pitch-class) structure, durations and possibly dynamics are part of
this scheme, while other dimensions such as register, timbre and instrumentation
are not prescribed by a particular plan. Since we have no documentation of the
'basic scheme', it is perhaps appropriate to turn to a historical source which does
provide a plausible context for Berio's serial techniques, namely Bruno Mader-
na's Quartetto per archi in due tempi from 1955. Maderna dedicated his Quartet
to Berio; Berio returned the favour the following year, dedicating his own
Quartetto to Maderna, at a time when the two composers were in very close
contact.29 Maderna's Quartet is in two movements, with the second presenting
an altered reading of the retrograde of the first, freely filtering out pitches and
changing rhythms, dynamics, register and instrumentation. In 1981 Berio dis-
cussed the relationship between the first and second movements of Maderna's
Quartet:

Ex. 8a Bruno Maderna, Quartetto per archi in
P v z^==-pp ,
T :(piZZ-} , 1- j- i - ~1 1- - i
p pp pp
1 n 5
PP (V) pp (NV)
^ ^ IP N
t n ^
^ ^ ^ "^PPP
pp^y PPP NV T *
T pizz. 5 5 r
pp
[Mader
a strict
first. B
elimina
that ha
quality
Ex. 8a
the se
Ex. 8a,
values
second
bracke
version of Maderna's Quartet, but also the latter's short-score draft with its
analytical annotations. This manuscript, a brief excerpt from which is transcribed
in Ex. 9, was in Berio's possession.30 The dotted line in the second bar indicates

Ex. 8b Maderna, Quartetto, beginning of second m

square brackets)
J*"112™™ metiarco
^ 4, ' ^
c +T t ^ ^ ^ : Jj
^ X Tvy
jf
^ [G
rib I I
ff^=~P ""n ^ " 3 '
^ ^ legno
P PP ===- ^
[G,A,C#] [D, F] [G' [Eb] [C#]
the juncture between the two

runs backwards. As the sketc
rhythmic strata. The one on t
quintuplet semiquavers and cro
Berio's Quartetto makes simila
first six bars into the three dis
separate stave (demisemiquave
and quintuplet demisemiquav
rhythmic layer articulates its o
statements of hexachord A, a
second occasion. The third la
order and with C# omitted. By
the complementary hexachord
Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 2011 The Author.

Music Analysis © 20 1 1 Blackwell Publishin
Ex. 9 Maderna, Quartetto , excerpt from th

tion, Luciano Berio Collection)
b ^
Ex. 10 Pitch-
Berio 's Quart
bars: 1 2 3 4 5 6
; I
[C#]
C# (at **). As will become clear, the latter two pitch classes are migrants from the
first and third layers (D is missing once from the first layer and Ctt once from the
third).32
A partial rereading of the same pitch-class material occurs in the excerpt
shown in Ex. 11a (from the third section of the work) .The analysis of Ex. lib illu-
strates how the pitch-class succession of the first layer is slightly rearranged
(compared to Ex. 10), with A omitted on the second occasion and an additional
fragment C-Bl> added at the end. This layer is realised in Ex. 11a mainly with
durations of a crotchet or five semiquavers, often subdivided into repeated notes
or tremoli , or shortened by rests (in bars 127-128), similar to the example est-
ablished in Maderna's Quartet. The second layer in Ex. lib remains incomplete.
The segmentation into the distinct pitch-class layers shown in Exs. 10 and 1 lb is

Ex. 11a Berio, Quartette, bars 120-128

= 96
120 n - =====
^ 9 =
^ ^ I
ff PPP
124 I
" '} JJ
JJ ~ | *,WPP
. i'+ WPP |j,
■ Um
- j, ^ -
^ ^ ^ 7 ^"""J
i
«■ i
Ex. lib Pitch-class material of the two layers in bars 120-128
2 ^ from hexachord B
suggested by Berio's rhythmic structure, which in turn is most likely m
the rhythmic layering found in Maderna's Quartet. But Berio does
realise the different pitch-class layers as rhythmically distinct un
reproduces the full score of the beginning of the third section (b
Ex. 12b presents a 'distributional analysis' of the pitch-class material u
excerpt and illustrates how Berio again combines the two chromatic he
A and B.33 (Members of hexachord A are stemmed upwards, those of h
B downwards.) The pitch-class succession of the entire excerpt is show
large segments (bars 92-94, 95-97 and 97-99), aligned in the example to
how each segment starts with the same pitch-class orderings. Bars 92-
spond to bars 95-96 and bar 97; other occasional correspondences oc

Ex. 12a Berio., Quartetto , bars 92-99
9^^ 72 circa
legno b!
^ 7 IMP ^ 7 7 sord.pp ^
95
* *f>PP .
i ^ ^rd .
•* «f ^ pppp pppp^E^d^ ,
tf> PP £P^"== - 7 ^
arco r~~~~-----
®r ^ pppp
__
pppp **
© 2011 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

Ex. 12b Analysis of pitch-class materials

bars: 92 93 94
b c a
fragm.
95 96 fragm. 97
b of c
fragm.
97 cont'd 98 99
a [F] fraSm-
well. The pitch class

statements, some of
segment, as indicate
lower-case letters id
in Exs. 10 and 1 lb).
The foregoing exam
article and through
Berio's Quartetto is
from 'permutations
consists of six larg
('sequences'). Each of
starts with duration
lowed by subsectio
multiples of these
large sections (sectio
whereas Ex. 11a rep
quintuples of semi
alongside shorter va
According to Sant
terns. They range
attacks to patterns
listed by Santi.37 Sm
as the two demisem

Ex. 13 Rhythmic cells mentioned by Santi (1960 [1958], pp. 100-1)
(a) two attacks in a row
y ; 1 y ; f y ? ; r /> etc-
(b) cells of '3 + rest + 1 '
r /? r ? p- ; f jy f p ; tJJ i p * ; i Cr r / * p ? etc-
(c) cell of '4 + rest + 1 '
iWs$
Ex. 14a Analysis of rhythmic cells assigned in bars 1-6 (compare with Ex. 10)
bar: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Ex. 14b Analy

bar: 92 93 94
5 5 3 3 1 5 1 j
of (b), and the tw

of (b). Some of t
analysis of Ex. 14a
and cells of doub
classes from the s
marked with an a
across the hexach
attacks and patte

attacks also occur (Ex. 14b).38 Not all pitche

equally prominent in the texture, however,
(. sordino ), col legno battuto and pizzicato timbres.
Berio's work with rhythmic cells parallels sim
of other Darmstadt composers at the time. In p
the influence of Olivier Messiaen's rhythmic techniques and his own (and
presumably Messiaen's) analysis of The Rite of Spring - designed various proce-
dures to synthesise a handful of basic rhythmic cells into larger patterns, as found
in works such as Polyphonie X (1950-1, withdrawn) and Le marteau sans maitre
(1953-5, rev. 1957). 39 Maderna's and Luigi Nono's early serial works often
employed rhythmic cells as well, many of them abstracted from popular music
and political songs.40
In the fourth section of the Quartette, Berio combines rhythmic cells with
another technique which at the time was frequently associated with serialism:
canon. The opening of this section is reproduced in Ex. 15a, with the first three
canonic entries signalled by arrows (bars 161, 168 and 175). The successive
events in each canonic voice, including rests, are numbered. The order numbers
for statement 2 are shown in square brackets, those for statement 3 in italics.
Ex. 15b analyses the canonic theme, reduced here to its succession of pitch
classes and rests (the latter indicated generically by crotchet rests).41 As the
beamed groups illustrate, the pitch-class material again arises from a combina-
tion of the two complementary hexachords A and B, this time combined to form
a single canonic voice. The first ordering of hexachord A corresponds to permu-
tation ca' (see again Ex. 10, bars 1-2, with D omitted, and Ex. 12b, bars 94 at 'a'
and 97-98 at 'a'). The other orderings of the hexachords in Ex. 15b introduce
new permutations.
Berio's canon is a proportion canon: the first entry of the theme moves in
dotted crotchets, followed by the second entry in minims and the third again in
dotted crotchets.42 Irregularities, such as shortened or lengthened events, attest
to the flexibility with which Berio handles his materials.43 This canon presents a
contrapuntal technique that is not used anywhere else in the Quartetto , but that
ties in nicely with Berio's general approach to serialism: like the other sections of
the Quartetto , the canon of section 4 consists of different readings of the same
pitch-class material, in this case a fixed succession of 32 events, read at different
speeds in contrapuntal imitation. In each reading Berio freely omits and adds
pitch classes, freely alters rhythms and freely rearranges register, articulation and
(probably) dynamics. In addition, the canonic theme itself is a rereading of
pitch-class combinations used elsewhere in the work, constructed from permu-
tations of the two chromatic hexachords A and B. Many of the gestures in the
canon use rhythmic cells found throughout the other sections of the work in
augmentation.44
This investigation into the serial materials of the Quartetto per archi necessarily
remains speculative. Although the excerpts discussed here confirm 'permutations
of pitch-series' by reorderings of the two chromatic hexachords, in the end it is

Ex. 15a Berio, Quartetto , beginning of fo

voices marked
6 7 8 9
^ ^ ^ | _ i S°r<^ ^ ^ A ^via sord.

J?P ppp z=-
SV ^pont
1 2 10
ppp
no. 1
X61 " ~
S ppp ^ - l==Lr v ...

d d 1 |J] PI jU-
[no. 2]"' ^_===^ Zf-'==^PP f =~P iS"
■v
[12]
" 'F J wHi '

mjr ^ mf == - pp z=~
^ ^ " ^ [9] via sord. 27 28

jp" " **f ~=i
!9 20 nm 0/1 ^ r
^sordord. ^ ^ 7 7 j ^
= & *fr tfP "
^
no. 3 ffp ^
1

Ex. 15b Theme of the canon in bars 161-214
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
a [D]
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
impossible to be sure that Berio in

exact hexachords, as strong as th
principle of permutation remains
serial practices at the time, one m
pitch-series' may have followed a
magic and other squares in orde
documentation of the composition
Santi states that Berio 4move[d] w
materials ('he may leave out note
scheme remains hidden in the final version.
IV. Allelujah I
As the following examination of the draft score for Allelujah I shows,46 Berio
developed the basic materials for the work from strict serial procedures. As in the
Quartetto , these materials were then subjected to multiple readings. Berio
describes the process in his early article 'Aspetti di artigianato formale', which
appeared in the first issue of his journal Incontri musicali in 1956. He explains
that Allelujah I (then still titled Allelujah ) is based on a continually recurring
material, first presented in the opening 21 bars, which Berio calls the 'matrix for
the entire piece' (Berio 1956, pp. 56-7). More specifically, he states:
In Allelujah , the initial structure (first group) was conceived from the outset as a
single and, in certain aspects, intuitive whole where the vertical pitch relationships
were not the consequence of a horizontal pitch succession (or vice versa), where
the distribution and disposition of the instruments was [szc] not a direct conse-
quence of [predetermined] registral zones, and where the succession of durations
was not analysable as a series of note values ... [b]ut where, on the contrary, all
sonorous aspects were chosen and given unequivocally because they had to be
chosen and given thus, and not otherwise; and where, finally, the sonorities of this
first 'formal object' [the first 21 bars] could successively provide materials to be
broken down ['elements of analysis'] and for the formal structure, whenever taken
deliberately in their 'concrete' sense.47

Ex. 16a Allelujah /, bars 1-4
J> = 132ca.
^ 7 MP ^ ^ ^ ^3^^
y ' EEE y ^ 7 7^1=
I ^ ^ jf J?kp^
^ _ ~ ^ ^
l> > ^ '

^ l> ^ 7
^ ^ 7 **«*
1 7*J t
Ex. 16a reproduces the opening of the work. Each tim

lished in the first 21 bars reappears - Ex. 16b and c show
second and third sections - the pitch-class structure is
rhythms are varied to a limited degree, and register, orc
attack are changed more drastically.48 For instance, most
Ex. 16a are reassigned new registers and completely di
22-23 (Ex. 16b) and 61-62 (Ex. 16c).49 In addition, Ber
alignment. The two simultaneities from bar 1 (C-G an
pulled apart in bars 22-23 (Ex. 16b) and 61-62 (Ex. 16c)
Ex. 16a fall on a quaver beat or semiquaver offbeat, Ex
new triplet and quintuplet subdivisions of the beat, oblit
audible in Ex. 16a.
Allelujah I is built from different readings of the first 21 bars and from differe
combinations of such readings, such as the superimposition of one versio

Ex. 16b Allelujah /, bars 22-26
r». •> - I - Ifl-'ii |»1 ilp

•> PP PP P
c" PPP ^ iji 8

wtf PPP
^ ^ Jj J 5 v - 3 - JJ
p pp~" PPP l~~~3p~^3~>
pppp
n T
p "
pizz.t
Cb. *):jj == " g ~ = jjj ~ 8ybJ^y

L ls *
hi Ijn ■ i ■ I - lli S
the retrograde of another. Berio's strategy of generating new textu

pletely recasting the attributes of his chosen material arose, in the
own words, from 'the conviction, that to render unrecognisable, or b
continuously the acoustic characteristics of the same sonorous m
equally (in relation to a formal design) to produce a new sonorous m
how did he construct the basic material of the first 21 bars in the
Berio's draft housed at the Paul Sacher Foundation presents th
and rhythmic structure in short score (31 pages), to be worked out f
final version. The draft contains only a few analytical annotations,
listings of two series in letter notation, one twelve-note (on p
eleven-note repeating one pitch class (on p. 27). No other series a
however. Berio's discussion of the work in 'Aspetti di artigianato fo
not clarify to what extent, or even whether, he used pitch-class ser
out how various readings and recombinations of such readings of the
enabled him to create widely different textures, Berio writes:

Music Analysis © 201 1 Blackwell Publishin
Ex. 16c Allelujah I , bars 61-65
^ ^
PP |
s ^ 7 v
V ^ ^ 7 7 _ 7 7 j-2: * 7 ^
PP u J
✓ a sord. scura
Tpts
1 ✓
PP
4* a • r
PPP +
IV Hns (
^ ^ ^
mf-^ppp
Cymbals II §
PPPP ^
N PPP
Tamb. mil. N -|f-g
r^Jw' P ar|C°l'^^1? .l-l _ 111 _ pizz.

YJ 30* f
via sord. I 3 I I 5
€
l
The interest I have put into cancellin

material of the first group of pitche
itself. Nothing, indeed, could have p
[that is, the different sections of th
permuting and transposing its elemen

the formal suggestions derived from the 'destructio

inversely, to discover which material would have
overcoming, that is, the concept of interval and pit
In order to understand what is meant here, we need to examine Berio's

commentary alongside his draft score. Transcribed at the top of Ex. 17 are the
first 8 bars of the draft (at I).52 Below this, at II, appears a transcription of the
corresponding bars 22-35 of the second section, aligned here with I so as to show
the shared pitch-class material. The bottom of the example, at III, presents a
transcription of the corresponding bars 54-65 from the third section, again
aligned in order to show how this section rereads the same pitch-class materials.
It soon becomes evident that section I opens with the successive entries of five
different twelve-note series, as labelled in bars 1-5. 53 In section II these five series
are realigned temporally. Series 4 enters earlier. Series 2 starts slightly sooner and
unfolds somewhat faster than in bars 1-5. In section III, the five series are slightly
shifted once again.54
Of these five series, the second is the one later listed in the draft in letter
notation.55 Although none of the others are identified by Berio, their identities
become evident once we compare the rhythmic profiles of I with those of II and
III. Series 1, 3 and 5 appear in II with the same note values and rests as in I.
Series 2 and 4 retain the same note values but shorten all rests by one-third.
Series 2 and 5 occur in III with the same durations as in I. Series 1 and 4 keep
the same note values (quavers) but shorten the rests by one-third, while series 3
expands the note values to quintuplet dotted quavers and shortens all rests by
one-fifth (with some exceptions). The layering of different series with distinct
rhythmic profiles resembles what we have already seen in Maderna's and Berio's
String Quartets. Once we recognise this general principle in the draft for Allelujah
/, it is possible to determine - via a distributional analysis which takes into
account Berio's rhythmic transformations - that the entire first section of 21 bars
is in fact constructed serially. The result of this analysis is shown in Ex. 18a-c.
Ex. 18a demonstrates that section I (bars 1-21) is constructed from twelve
different twelve-tone series, none of which relates to any of the others via
canonical twelve-tone operations. Each pitch class is assigned a duration of one
quaver. All rests are multiples of quavers or semiquavers.56 Ex. 18b shows that
section II (bars 22-53) is built from exactly the same twelve pitch-class series.
The odd-numbered series retain the same rhythmic profile as in Ex. 18a; all
even-numbered series preserve the durations assigned to the pitch classes (always
a quaver) but shorten the rests by one-third, including the rests which precede
the first pitch class to enter.57 As a result, the temporal relationships among the
odd-numbered series remain the same, while those involving the even-numbered
series change. The latter unfold more quickly in section II than in section I.
As Ex. 18c demonstrates, section III (bars 54-80 of the draft, bars 61-87 of
the final version) is again built from the same twelve twelve-note series, two-
thirds of which is subjected to rhythmic diminution of the kind seen in Ex. 18b.

Music Analysis © 20 1 1 Blackwell Publishing
Ex. 17 Allelujah I , beginnings of sections

superimposed (Paul Sacher Foundation, Col
* t j } } f t t f i rn n~r
[seriesl]
^ 1 ? ^
^ '1/| '' ? i= 7 7
r 17 'fr ^G» ^ 7 i"==
^ ^ [ae^es 4] 7 ®
[series 3] ^
^ [series 1] ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
J -i I H h 1 hH 1 ""I
II f1"3 - r
[ser
[series 4]
[series 11 8~ '
54r r-j- g - 3 - 3 - #e § Y I
-✓Q hp. r-j- i 55 :=

Ex. 17 Continued
[series 6] 8~ I
/V ^
1/ ■ ' , : w'
V
[senes 5] - - b_ 1- ■ -I - - -
^ [sCTies5]^^ ^ ^ ^
^ ^ ^- _ {
^ [series 7] 1
' - ^ ■" i- 1 1 - 3 - 1 t~^~~i

11 [ji2T " ^
Music Analysis 3 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Ex. 18a Allelujah /, the twelve twelve-not

section I
In series 1, 4, 7 and 10 of Ex. 18c Berio retains the note values (always a quaver)
and shortens the rests by one-third compared to Ex. 18a. The rests in series 3, 6,
9 and 12 of Ex. 18c are shortened by one-fifth. The durations of the pitch classes
increase in series 3 and 6 to a quintuplet dotted quaver, while in series 9 and 1 2
the durations are changed irregularly. Since series 1 1 remains mostly unaltered
in Ex. 18a-c and enters in approximately the same place in all three sections
(after a rest of 109 or 108 semiquavers respectively) , and since series 12 always
ends before series 11, all three sections have approximately the same length in
the draft (section II is one semiquaver shorter and section III two semiquavers
shorter than section I).58
As Ex. 18a-c prove, the temporal realignment of the pitch-class material in
sections I- III follows strict transformational procedures; sections II and III are not
simply free rhythmic rereadings of the same pitch-class material. Berio's
comment, cited above, that in section I 'the vertical pitch relationships were not

Music Analysis © 201 1 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Ex. 18b Allelujah I , the twelve series and their
* * * *
* * *
the
cryp
twe
succ
align
Beri
reco
tran
emp
seem

Ex. 18c Allelujah /, the twelve series and th
...... ... ^ ^ durations
process of compo
a complete larger
conceived as a 'sin
perhaps surprisin
of interval and p
In a letter to Lu
regarding Maderna's String Quartet and his own music - that in 'the latest
developments of serial music ... the series, as such, is dead and buried: it only
serves to prepare a material over which the music is invented! .61 In Allelujah /,
sections II and III - and the rest of the work - are 'invented' by rereading the first

2 1 bars, each time completely recasting the reg

and orchestration.62 Key to this process was the
the first 21 bars of his draft which he considere
of possible compositional realisations. Thus it
what would become a central element in the
notion of openness. In the article of 1956, Berio
the music of Allelujah /, with respect to the
process of listening. For Berio, the basic materia
was 'multi-polar' in that it availed itself of a wi
sations. Furthermore, Berio scored this materia
a manner that the resulting textures, and with
ambiguous in the sense that each listener would
in his or her own way:
In short, I wished to grant each aspect of the compos

'equivocal' and to provide a multiplicity of resoluti
sonorous and structural aspects of the work, but al
functional that concern the habits of listening; in or
active part in the realisation of the work.63
For Berio, the physical location of the sounds i

role in the listening process. The six groups ('zon
stage as far apart from each other as possible.64
the same pitch (or pitch-class) material (varying
but distributes it differently among the orchestr
the pitch materials move differently in spac
somewhat different for each listener depending
work is thus multi-polar not only in the sense th
the complex textures in a different way (focusing o
also in that the sounds move differently in spac
is positioned.66 Ultimately, however, Berio was d
distribution of the six orchestral groups on sta
composition into an expanded version for five or
the audience. In his program note for this n
addressed the function of space and its role in t
In 1955, when I composed Allelujah for six orches

Karlheinz Stockhausen and first performed in that sa
Michael Gielen conducting), I was interested in an
concentrated development of a simple initial stateme
orchestral groups on a conventional concert stage w
This is why, in 1957-1958, 1 wrote Allelujah II for fi
further developed that same initial statement, in se
and coherence between the acoustic and spatial dim
the musical dimension on the other .... The five orc
are no longer crowded together on the stage: they ar

to surround the audience. The purpose, given

help the audience approach the work from d
become more involved with the musical deve
expansion.67
In his next instrumental work Berio extended the notion of openness beyond
the compositional means and the listening process to include the act of perfor-
mance itself. In the flute Sequenza (1958) the realisation of the rhythms is flexible
in that Berio's notation no longer fixes the exact note values. The performer
makes the specific rhythmic choices according to the distribution of the pitches
within the time units marked in the score.68 Although it uses some serial ele-
ments3 Sequenza I is no longer serial in any strict sense.69
Berio recognised early the dangers of using serialism in dogmatic and inflexible
ways. The examples from the mid-1950s examined here show clearly the ways in
which Berio evaded 'the formalistic and escapist attitude of twelve-tone compo-
sition' in his own serial music. Looking back in 1968, he wrote: 'To me ... it is
essential that the composer be able to prove the relative nature of musical
processes: their structural models., based on past experience, generate not only
rules but also the transformation and the destruction of those very rules' (Berio
1968., p. 1 69) . Although Berio had abandoned serialism by 1 9583 thinking in terms
of musical parameters and serial ordering processes would remain characteristic
of his musical aesthetic. Traces of serial thinking can be found throughout his later
oeuvre3 and in this sense serialism shaped the rest of his compositional career.
NOTES
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2005 Annual Meetin
for Music Theory. I wish to thank Talia Pecker Berio for sharing her exten
of Berio's music and writings with me, and for her comments and suggesti
of this article. All primary sources are quoted and reproduced here with
Research visits to the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel were supported
McGill University and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Counci
My thanks go to the scholars and staff at the Paul Sacher Foundation for t
My transcriptions of Berio's and Maderna's sketches are reprinted by perm
Foundation. Berio's note for Nones is translated in Ex. 2 with permission
Boyars Publishers, London. Excerpts from Berio's Nones, Alleluj ah I and th
archi and from Maderna's Quartetto per archi in due tempi are reproduced b
Sugarmusic S.p.A. - Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, Milan. Ex. 13 is cited by p
Universal Edition A.G., Vienna. An excerpt from a letter from Berio to L
quoted by permission of the Luigi Nono Archive, Venice. Its president, N
Nono, and artistic director, Claudia Vincis, gave much helpful advice during
I am grateful to Federico Andreoni for his help with my translations.
1 . The serialism of Duepezzi is analysed in Borio (1997), pp. 383-6. Se

12, discusses the general features of Study. The work is analysed in He
Cinque variazioni and Chamber Music are briefly discussed in Allen (1
Excerpts from these two works are also analysed in Osmond-Smith (1

Santi (1960 [1958]), p. 101, addresses selected features of Variazioni. The most
frequently discussed work from this period is the integrally serial Nones ; see Santi
1960 [1958]), pp. 99-100; Smith Brindle (1958), pp. 96-101; Allen (1974), pp.
24-30; Stoianova (1985), pp. 379-82; Hicks (1989); Osmond-Smith (1991), pp.
16-19; and Carone (2007-8), pp. 28-46. Score excerpts from Allelujah I are
discussed in Berio (1956), Osmond-Smith (1991), pp. 19-21, and Fein (2001), pp.
251-63. No extensive analyses of Allelujah /, Quartetto or Serenata I have been
published to this date. The earliest and most specific analytical information on the
Quartetto is found in Santi ( 1 960 [ 1 958] , pp. 1 00-1 ) . Excerpts from this work are also
discussed in Allen (1974), pp. 30-3; Fein (2001), pp. 263-8; and Hermann (2009).
Allelujah II is examined in detail in Carone (2007-8).
2. Quartette, Serenata /, Allelujah I and Allelujah II are mentioned (but not discussed in
any detail) in Berio (1985 [1981]), pp. 63, 65, 90 and 154. Allelujah I is discussed
in Berio (1956). Additional brief comments by Berio on Serenata I are reproduced
in Stoianova (1985), pp. 383-5.
3. Berio must be quoting Milton Babbitt here, who in his review of Rene Leibowitz's
Schoenberg et son ecole and Qu'est-ce que la musique de douze sons? from 1950 discussed
the possibility of applying twelve-note principles in both rhythmic and pitch domains.
Babbitt's exact wording is: 'Thus there arises the reality of a rhythmic structuraliza-
tion totally identical with the tonal structuralization, the two elements integrating
with each other without harm to the individuality of either one' (Babbitt 1 950, p. 1 4) .
Babbitt clearly uses the term 'tonal' here to mean 'pitch' in the context of twelve-tone
composition. The paragraph from Babbitt's review which contains this sentence had
been cited three years prior to Berio's article in Peter Westergaard's critique of
Babbitt's procedures in 'Some Problems Raised by the Rhythmic Procedures in
Milton Babbitt's Composition for Twelve Instruments'. Westergaard's article
appeared in what was at the time the journal of the American serialists, Perspectives of
New Music (Westergaard 1965).
4. Berio here paraphrases Hegel's 'to give out its [knowledge's] Absolute as the night
in which, as we say, all cows are black - that is the very naivete of emptiness of
knowledge' (Hegel 1964, p. 79). In his first Norton lecture, given in 1993, Berio
likewise emphasises 'solidarity among musical elements' (Berio 2006, p. 11).
5. As an example of what constitutes a meaningful whole, Berio recalls: 'As I pointed
out to Pousseur myself, the processes that generate melody cannot be manufactured
from one day to the next - melodies are born spontaneously within collective groups
or in a stylistic frame when all the "parameters" of music are at peace, and start
"singing" together' (Berio 1985 [1981], p. 79).
6. See Santi (1960 [1958]), p. 100.
7. See Berio (1985 [1981]), pp. 51 and 62. Whether Berio first attended Darmstadt in
1953 or 1954 remains uncertain, however. See Carone (2007-8), p. 29.
8. Messiaen was probably not aware of Milton Babbitt's work at the time. Babbitt's
Three Compositions for Piano (1947), with their individual treatment of the param-
eters pitch, rhythm, dynamics and articulation pre-date Mode de valeurs et d'intensites
by two years. See also Mead (1994), pp. 23-5.
9. Stockhausen wrote Kreuzspiel under the influence of Goeyvaerts's Sonata for Two
Pianos after the two composers first met in Darmstadt in the summer of 1951

(Goeyvaerts 1994, p. 45). Also predating K

Fano's Sonata for Two Pianos (1951), whi
class, rhythm and dynamics, but not th
pp. 164-9.
10. See for example Pousseur (1959), especially pp. 67-88.
11. See Stockhausen (1963). The article was written in 1955.
12. See Berio (1985 [1981]), p. 62.
13. Ex. 2 is a translation of the second of the two pages of this note. On the first
page Berio explains the intervallic properties and symmetries of the thirteen-
note series and mentions the use of harmonies ranging from the interval of an
octave to the total chromatic. A facsimile of this note appears in Berio (1985),
plate 4 (n.p.). All translations of sources in Italian, unless indicated otherwise, are
mine.
14. This is mentioned in Hicks (1989), p. 255.
15. Added information which does not appear in Berio's original note is shown in
square brackets in the example. I have identified multiple choices with [a], [b] and
[c] for later reference.
16. Goeyvaerts assigns the values 0, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1,0, 1, 2, 3, 2 and 1 to the twelve pitch
classes from E> through to D, values 3, 2, 1,0, 1,2 and 3 to seven durations (ranging
from a quaver to nine quavers), values 1-4 to four dynamics (pp, p, mf and f) and
values 1 and 2 to four different modes of attack. See Sabbe (1981), pp. 9-10, and
(1994), p. 55.
17. The title refers to the ninth canonical hour. Berio had originally planned Nones as
'a great secular oratorio with solos, chorus and orchestra', but the length and
complexity of Auden's poem stalled the ambitious project. The final version of
Nones assembles 'five orchestral episodes' from the original uncompleted project
(Berio 1985 [1981], pp. 62-3).
18. In addition, unlike Goeyvaerts, Berio allows his sums to exceed the 'synthetic
number', adding even more flexibility to his choices.
19. The suffixes 'a' and 'b' denote the specific choices made where Berio would have
had multiple options.
20. See also Hicks (1989), p. 267.
21. Similar tendencies in the numerical distribution are apparent in the remaining
three serial layers which open the work, although the sums do not form
palindromic patterns and, mistakenly, occasionally even fall below 9. As in
layer Pn, the values for the durations and dynamics in the remaining three
layers largely decrease from either end towards the centre (again, there are
exceptions):

P5 layer
pes: 1234567654321
durations : 4a 4a 4a 1 3b 2b 2b 3a 2b 1 3a 3b 4b
dynamics: 2a 2a 2a 3 5 la la lb 2a la la 2a 3
modes of attack: 2a 2a 2a la lb 2a lb la la 2a la 2a 2b
sums: 9 10 11 9 14 11 11 11 10 8(!) 8(!) 9 10
P7 layer
pes: 1234567654321
durations : 4a 3b 3a 2b 2b 4b 1 1 3a 2b 2b 4a 4a
dynamics: la 3 2a la lb la la la lb la 2a la 2a
modes of attack: 3c lb la 2a 2a la 2a la la lb lb 2a 3c
sums: 9 9 9 9 10 12 11 9 10 8(!) 8(!) 9 10
Pio layer
pes: 1234567654321
durations : 3b 4a 4a 3b 3b 1 3a 3a 2b 2b 4b 3b 4b
dynamics: 4 la 2a la lb la lb la la 2a lb 2a 2a
modes of attack: lb 2a 2a la 2a 2a la la la la la 2a 2a
sums: 9 9 119 11 10 12 11 9 9 9 9 9
Berio does not always add

otherwise required by the r
Bruno Maderna analysed the
cal values) in his lecture n
reproduced in Berio (1985)
22. Not all of the leaps are eq
their surroundings. The for
scendo and/or glissando is i
saxophone in bars 9-10 and
23. As before, sum 8 does n
24. The exception is 3, whic
possible values.
25. Again, the sums smaller than 9 in Ex. 6b and c are inconsistent with Berio's
rule. Berio also follows only partially the stipulation that any event whose
sum is larger than 9 be followed by a quaver rest. David Osmond-Smith (1991),
pp. 17-18, with reference to Bergian practice, analyses the lower strings and
timpani in bars 40-42 as the first half of a derived series which reads Pn from
both ends to the centre (B-F-D- [D] -B^-Ft, and so on). This reading corresponds
closely to the analysis shown in Ex. 5, as I5 and Pn are literal retrogrades of
each other. Osmond-Smith interprets what I have analysed as the superpo-
sition of the beginning of I5 and P5 in bars 43-48 as a partial statement of P8
('P9' in his terminology), reading the pes in the order 7-1-13-4-10-5-9-6-8.
An analysis of the sums based on Osmond-Smith's reading also leads to
values occasionally smaller than 9. I have no explanation for the timpani in
bar 45.

26. Berio uses the term 'form' here in the sen

in the sense of a preestablished, convention
thinking in terms of 'process' (or 'formation
by Edgard Varese, among others; see Vare
analysis of Berio's concepts of form and formation in the broader intellectual
context of the 1950s and beyond, see Carone (2007-8).
27. The authors who wrote for Die Reihe were either the composers themselves or
authors close to them (Grant 2001, p. 223). In addition to the Quartette, Santi's
article also discusses Nones and Variazioni and briefly mentions Cinque variazioni ,
Chamber Music and Mimusique No. 2. The two musical diagrams in Santi's article
pertaining to Nones and his description of the properties of the thirteen-note series
for the work are virtually identical with what appears on the first page of Berio's
own analytical note (the second page of which was seen in Ex. 2), pointing to the
composer as the source of information.
28. The exception is the ordering of hexachord A in bars 2-5 (Ex. 7a) and bars 224-6
(Ex. 7c).
29. 'I was very close to him [Maderna] for a number of years: from 1953 to 1959 it was
almost as if we were living together' (Berio 1985 [1981], p. 52).
30. It is now held in the Collection Luciano Berio at the Paul Sacher Foundation.
31. Space does not permit me to go into the complex serial structure of Maderna's
Quartet, analysed in Fein (2001), pp. 133-83, Borio (2003), pp. 107-11 and
Neidhofer (2009). Maderna subjects the twelve-note series of the work to an
elaborate and strict permutational procedure which regroups the pitch classes into
successions of single pitch classes, dyads, trichords and rests. Ex. 9 shows the
different permutations of the series labelled by Maderna with lowercase letters.
Each distinct permutation is realised with one of the twelve basic note values used
in the work (ranging from septuplet demisemiquavers to crotchets). Maderna's
sketches suggest that aside from the pitch-class structure and rhythms, no other
aspects were serially determined.
32. Allen (1974), pp. 30-3, demonstrates how the ordered set C-Bl^B-Q, canonical
transformations thereof and unordered sets of set class 3-3 [0, 1, 4] from the
opening of the work recur in later sections. As the present analysis shows, these and
other sets are part of a larger transformational structure characterised by the use of
the two complementary hexachords.
33. The term 'distributional analysis' was coined by David Lidov (1992), pp. 67-8. The
method was first introduced, as 'paradigmatic analysis', by Nicolas Ruwet (1966)
and later integrated into a semiological model by Jean-Jacques Nattiez (1990).
34. Berio's work with chromatic sets such as the two complementary hexachords A and
B may have been influenced by his study of the music of Anton Webern and by the
discussions ofWebern's music which had taken place at Darmstadt, especially after
1953. Particularly influential at the time was Henri Pousseur's analysis 'Webern's
Organic Chromaticism', which eventually appeared in the second volume of Die
Reihe in 1955 (Pousseur 1958).
35. As mentioned by Santi (1960 [1958]), p. 100, in the first section Berio multiplies
the six basic note values by factors of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 1 1 respectively.

36. The six large sections of the work, according t

span bars 1-57, 58-91, 92-160, 161-223, 224-249 and 250-287. See also Fein
(2001), pp. 264-7.
37. See Santi (1960 [1958]), pp. 100-1.
38. Other analytical interpretations would be possible too. Each of the rhythmic cells
shown in Ex. 14b uses one or two of the six basic note values. It is likely that Berio
thought of these small cells as forming larger ones. Santi states, for instance, that the
cell shown in Ex. 13c 'returns in different forms at the beginning of each structure
[i.e. section]' (Santi 1960 [1958], p. 100). This longer cell is a compound of two
double attacks followed by a rest and a single attack. The compound could be
shown at the beginning of Ex. 14b, which reduces the opening of the third section,
by grouping together the first five attacks, including the rest between the fourth and
fifth attack.
39. The technique is explained in Boulez (1991b), pp. 121-6. Boulez's analysis of The
Rite of Spring (completed in 1951) appears in Boulez (1991a), pp. 55-110. Messi-
aen's analysis of the same work was published posthumously in Messiaen (1995),
pp. 93-147.
40. For a discussion of Nono's early serial rhythmic techniques and a comparison
with Boulez's practice, see Borio (2003). Maderna's use of rhythmic cells is dis-
cussed in Borio (1990), pp. 32-3, Fearn (1990), p. 14 and Borio (1997), pp.
375-81.
41. This canon has been analysed in part previously by Fein (2001), pp. 266-7. My
reconstruction of the theme differs from his in a few places, making it possible to
account for more of the pitch material. In particular, events 12, 14 and 22-32 of the
theme (shown in Ex. 15b) are not included in Fein's reconstruction. Allen (1974),
pp. 31-2A, identifies the first five events of the theme (called 'motive') in bars
161-163 and their restatement in bars 168-171, 175-178 and 194-197. He also
shows various recurrences between bars 174 and 216 of the first four pitch classes
of the motive or twelve-note transformations thereof.
42. A fourth and last thematic statement (not shown in the example) in mostly dotted
crotchets starts in bar 194 and ends in bar 214.
43. As marked (underlined), events 12 and 14 in bars 167-170 double the note value
(dotted minim instead of dotted crotchet). Events 6 and 10 of the second statement
of the theme in bars 172 (dotted crotchet rest in the second violin) and 175
(crotchet G in the viola) shorten the regular note value (minim). Event 12 of the
same statement in bars 176-178 (C in the first violin) is extended and subdivided
into repeated quaver attacks.
44. See, for instance, the two-note gestures in the cello and viola, followed by a single
attack in the second violin at the beginning of Ex. 15a.
45. For a discussion of Maderna's use of such squares, see for example Rizzardi (2003).
46. The draft is housed in the Collection Luciano Berio at the Paul Sacher Foundation.
The published score of Allelujah /, issued under the title Allelujah by Suvini Zerbo
in 1957, was copied by Juan Hidalgo in December 1956, as indicated on the l
page of the score. The work was probably composed after the Quartetto per arc

because Santi's article does not mention

Berio's 'most recent work' (Santi 1960 [1
47. 'In "Allelujah", la struttura iniziale (pr
come un tutto unico e, per certi aspetti, i
frequenze non fossero la conseguenza di un
viceversa), ove la distribuzione e la disposi
una conseguenza delle zone di registro e ov
analizzabile come serie di durate .... Ma, in
inequivocabilmente scelti e dati perche cosi dovevano essere scelti e dati, e non
altrimenti; e ove, infine, i dati sonori di questo primo "oggetto formale" potessero
fornire successivamente gli elementi di analisi e di struttura formale, qualora delib-
eratamente presi nella loro accezione "concreta" ' (Berio 1956, p. 64).
48. Berio (1956), p. 57.
49. The opening of Ex. 16a uses only the middle to high register, whereas Ex. 16b and
c immediately include the low (but not yet the lowest) range of the orchestra.
50. 'Questo principio generale della composizione mi e stato suggerito dalla persua-
sione che, anche nella musica strumentale, il rendere irriconoscibile, o meglio, il
variare continuamente le caratteristiche acustiche di uno stesso materiale sonoro
vuole anche dire (in rapporto a un disegno formale) produrre un nuovo materiale
sonoro' (Berio 1956, pp. 56-7; italics in the original).
51. 'L'interesse che ho posto nell'annullare i segni della presenza continua del
materiale del primo gruppo di frequenze non era fine a se stesso. Nulla, infatti,
avrebbe potuto impedirmi di ricostituire i gruppi sulla base di una serie di 12
suoni, permutando e trasportando gli elementi di essa. Quello che mi interessava
era di assecondare i suggerimenti formali derivati dalla "distruzione" di quel
materiale iniziale e, inversamente, scoprire quale materiale avrebbe soddisfatto
quei suggerimenti, superando cioe il concetto di serie di intervalli e di altezze'
(Berio 1956, p. 62).
52. My transcription omits Berio's circle around the first three bars, labeled 'DOPO!'
(later), and the indication above bar 1 of ' SEMPRE DIVISI'. The opening must
thus originally have been intended for strings. From bar 9 onwards, Berio reuses
selected materials from bars 1-3 (and beyond). He highlights certain pitches by
labeling them (fa in bar 1, sol in bar 4, and dd in bar 5). I have omitted these labels
in the transcription. They select pitches which project one of the twelve-note series
(series 2) to be discussed.
53. In the transcription, any information added by the present author, such as the
identifications of these series, is shown in square brackets.
54. The five series and their rhythmic profiles were previously identified by Fein. He
states, however, that beyond these five series the rest of the first section until bar 2 1
is not serial (Fein 2001, pp. 254-5). My analysis will show that this is not the case.
55. See page 12 of the draft. Berio does not assign a number to this series. The other
(non-twelve-note) series shown in letter notation on p. 27 summarises the pitch
classes prolonged in bars 233-247 of the draft.
56. Berio adds additional pitch materials to the structure of the 12 twelve-note series
from bar 9 onwards. The added pitches are notated in red in the draft. Fein (2001,

p. 255), suggests that these were added later, res

from bars 1-9. Berio's selection appears to have b
chose a group of from three to five pitch classes
groups, in chronological order, to bars 9-12.
57. Irregularities are marked with an asterisk (*) in the example. Berio mentions
the rhythmic transformations, in very general terms, in his 1956 article: 'The
variations in the durational relationships in the second and third group [section]
take place through gradual and proportional interpolation of irrational values,
yet without perceptively influencing the vertical pitch relationships already
determined in the first group [section]' (Le variazioni nei rapporti di durata
nel secondo e terzo gruppo awengono per graduale e proporzionata inter-
polazione di valori irrazionali, senza tuttavia influire sensibilmente sui rap-
porti verticali delle frequenze gia determinati nel primo gruppo [Berio 1956,
p. 57]).
58. The near-equal length of sections I- III is abandoned in the final version, in which
Berio extends section II by seven measures of 4/8.
59. In his 1956 article Berio emphasises the holistic conception of the first 21 bars:
'Whereas once it seemed logical - at the time of "contrapuntal" purification that
by now has born its fruits in the unity of method and intuition in the composi-
tional process - to search for a series of durations, dynamic values and timbres
that could coincide "a priori" with a pitch series, via systematic procedures often
"external" to the composer, it is possible today to carry out a simultaneous and
unified choice of the sound properties by grasping the totality of their reciprocal
formal predispositions' ('Mentre un tempo sembrava logico - quel tempo della
purificazione "contrappuntistica" che ormai ha dato i suoi frutti nell'unita di
metodo e di intuizione nel lavoro di composizione - cercare che una serie di
durate, di intensita e di qualita timbriche potesse coincidere "a priori" con una
serie di frequenze, attraverso procedimenti sistematici spesso "esterni" al com-
positore, oggi e possibile operare una scelta simultanea e unificata dei valori
sonori, cogliendo la totalita delle loro reciproche predisposizioni formali' [Berio
1956, p. 63]).
60. In the first Norton lecture (1993), Berio returned to the relationship between
subtractive and additive procedure: 'Carl Dalhaus pointed out a similar idea
regarding the relationship between material and matter: "The brick is the form of
the piece of clay, the house is the form of the bricks, the village is the form of the
house". I would like to bring this quotation closer to my own point of view,
inverting the order of the images to fit a subtractive rather than additive perspec-
tive: "The village is the form of the house, the house is the form of the brick, the
brick is the form of the piece of clay" ... . In other words, the elaboration of the
cell with additive criteria can be temporarily suspended, and the path that leads
to musical sense may move in an opposite direction, calling upon subtractive
criteria to a heterogeneous, even chaotic whole of acoustical data. Like the sculp-
tor who extracts the sculpture, a forza di levare (as Michelangelo said), from the
block of marble. Such criteria may lead to the discovery of a specific figure: the
generating cell' (Berio 2006, pp. 19-20).
61. It is conceivable that the twelve pitch-class series reconstructed in Ex. 1 8a-c were
generated through a single permutational procedure, as was common in Maderna's

and Nono's serial music at the time using

the absence of any detailed sketches, I
whether Berio in fact used any such perm
Maderna's and Nono's procedures in wha
have termed the 'tecnica degli spostame
(2003), pp. 31-54.
62. 'Penso che se tu devi parlare degli "ultimi sviluppi della musica seriale" devi
stabilire il fatto che la serie, in quanto tale, e morta e sepolta: serve solo a preparare
un materiale su cui viene inventata la musica'. The original of this letter from Berio
to Nono is conserved in the Luigi Nono Archive, Venice.
63. 'Insomma, disederavo dare ad ogni aspetto della composizione una possibility di
"equivoco" e una molteplicita di risoluzioni che riguardasse non solo gli aspetti
sonori e strutturali del lavoro ma anche quelli strettamente pratici e funzionali che
riguardano le consuetudini dell'ascolto; per dare anche all'ascoltatore una parte
attiva nella realizzazione dell' opera' (Berio 1956, p. 65). My analysis of the draft
score indicates that Berio used the three readings in sections I- III to construct the
rest of the work, as shown in the list below. In the left column, the bar numbers from
the draft are followed, in parentheses, by those from the final version. Rereadings of
sections I- III may be re-rhythmicised and may omit pitch classes and add other
materials. In addition, in the final version Berio may add, omit and conflate material
(not indicated here).
Bars in draft (yfinal version) Readings
1-21 (1-21) 1
22-53 (22-53) 11
54-80(61-87) III
80-94 (87-101 ) IV: superposes retrograde of first half of II over second half of II
95-1 15 (102-1 12+) V: superposes I over retrograde of III
1 16-154 VI: bars 1 16- 35 superpose I over its own retrograde; bars 135-154
reread III; in addition, a prolonged version of series 2 (with selected
partials from the harmonic series added to its individual pitches) is
superposed in bars 1 16-154
154-174(138-159) I
154-178 (138-162) III
170-188 (154-172) II
174ff adds V
1 89 empty bar in draft (worked out as a transition in bars 1 73-1 78 of final
version)
190-209(179-192+) V
191-212 (180-1 92+ ) prolonged version of series 2 (without first three pitch classes; th
are contained, as part of V, in bar 190)
213-232 (2057-208) I
227-246 (2057-222) I; bars 233-247 add prolonged series of eleven pitch classes
( G # -E-F-B b -C- A-D-E b -B-C # -D # -F # )
248-286 (224-278) II
64. 'Compatibilmente con lo spazio disponibile le 6 "zone" in cui e divisa l'orchestra

devono essere distanziate il piu possibile' (preface to the score, Edizioni Suvini
Zerboni 5372).
65. Generally, Berio has the 12 twelve-tone series move back and forth among different
orchestral groups, thus obliterating the original serial counterpoint of his draft
score.
66. The movement of sound in space was explored by many composers at the time,
especially in connection with electronic composition. Stockhausen's Gesang der
Jiinglinge , whose sounds move in space through five loudspeakers located through-
out the audience, was premiered on 30 May 1956, at which time Berio was working

on Allelujah I. Berio (1985 [1981]), p. 65, mention

the 'pieces that affected me most during those y
on Gruppen , for three orchestras (1955-7), at the time, and it is he to whom
Allelujah I is dedicated. For a discussion of the role Berio assigns to the listener in
the perception of formal processes see Carone (2007-8), especially pp. 101-2.
67. I am grateful to Talia Pecker Berio for providing me with this programme note.
68. Owing to this feature Umberto Eco cites Sequenza I as an example of an open work
(Eco 1989, pp. 1-19). In his fourth Norton lecture, Berio presents a critical
assessment of composition with open forms, rejecting those approaches in which
(just as in the case of certain serial practices) composers were led 'not to assume all
of their perceptive responsibilities' (Berio 2006, p. 85).
69. For an analysis of the influence of twelve-tone technique on Sequenza I and a survey
of the analytical literature on this work, see Priore (2007).
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ABSTRACT
Like many other composers who later distanced themselves f

Luciano Berio (1925-2003) embraced its principles in the 1950s
While Berio's early serial techniques from the Due pezzi of 19
1954 are well known, his subsequent serial practice is still little
three principal reasons: in his writings and interviews Berio
limited information on his serial works; it is very difficult to d
later complex serial techniques from the published scores alon
sketch survives for any of his serial works from 1951 to 1958 (f
1955-6).

Following a brief examination of the

principles have been known for some tim
the present study investigates the serial
archi (1955-6) and Allelujah I. Berio's seri
help of distributional analyses and from
explored thus far: the influence of Brun
and close collaborator at the Studio di


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Inside Luciano Berio's Serialism

Author(s): CHRISTOPH NEIDHÖFER

Inside Luciano Berio's Serialism

Like many other composers who later distanced themselves from s

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) 301

Ex. 1 Berio's major serial works of 1951-8

Due pezzi for violin and piano (1951, rev. 196

Allelujah I'm his 1956 article 'Aspetti di a

I. Berio's Views on Serialism

Berio expressed his thoughts on serialism in largely critical terms. A

© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

and pitfalls of serial composition can help us b

I would go as far as to say (as my anger comes bac

For Berio, at the heart of the problem lies a c

A composer can give a descriptive analysis of his ow

And Berio concludes:

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Although Berio briefly embraced integra

In order for a structure to be meaningful, Berio believed, it must thus be

© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

craftsman. These are still more clearly manifest in t

Berio composed Nones in 1953-4., after he first attended the Darmst

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Ex. 2 Translation of Berio's analytical note

' ' [a] trill

RI-symmetrical and contains thirteen elements, duplicating pitch class D in the

© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

processes more directly and to a degree unav

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Ex. 3 Nones , bars 1-12, with serial analys

" h ' 'T

© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis 3 28/ii-iii (2009)

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Ex. 4 Analysis of Nones, Pn layer, bars 1-

durations : «h J) J Ah? f J> «h J

The rule guiding the com

© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

Ex. 5 Nones , bars 40-48, with serial analysis

^ pl vzz pp "p- Q r Pi ™ pp arco r

assigned to the main series Io in the

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Ex. 6 Nones , parameters for bars 40-48

modes of attack: 2* 2** 2b*** la

(* legato/staccato in percussion, ** ' legato ' in guitar, *** p

c analyse the parameter values assign

My first reaction to Darmstadt and to Bruno's beneficial influence, in other words

By combining twelve-note serialism in the pitch domain with a kind of multiple-

© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

And it is in this sense that integral serialism

III. Quartetto per archi

Transformation of the parameters assigned to pitch material - as in the Nones

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

Ex. 7 a Berioy Quartette, opening

Ex. 7b Berio , Quartetto 3 bars 145-150

Ex. 7c Berio, Quartetto , bars 224-228

© 201 1 The Author. Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009)

But Berio makes the rigid skeleton of the structur

Music Analysis , 28/ii-iii (2009) © 201 1 The Author.

modes of attack: 2* 2 2b* la

(* legato/staccato in percussion, ' legato ' in guitar, * p