Product Code Database
Sequenza XIV is a 2002 composition for solo cello by Luciano Berio. It is the last of the , a series of works for solo instruments that he began in 1958 with Sequenza I. Sequenza XIV was inspired by the playing of the cellist Rohan de Saram and the geta bera, a traditional drum he learned to play during his childhood in Ceylon.
From 1979 to 2005, Rohan de Saram was the cellist of the Arditti Quartet, whose repertoire focuses on contemporary music. He played the solo in Berio's Il ritorno degli snovidenia for cello and orchestra in its UK premiere. Berio received a tape of the performance and wrote a letter of appreciation to the cellist. De Saram made an arrangement for cello of Sequenza VI for viola for his own studies. The cellist and the composer then met in 1990, and Berio was so impressed that he requested de Saram to send this arrangement to his publisher, Universal Edition. De Saram played the arrangement in concerts of Sequenza, and also played repeated performances of Il ritorno degli snovidenia, sometimes with Berio conducting.
Sequenza XIV for cello solo was inspired by de Saram's cello playing, as well as his skill with the geta bera, a traditional drum he learned during his childhood. Berio who was interested in the folk instruments and music of other cultures asked de Saram about music from his homeland, requested recordings and help with notations. Sequenza XIV took years to be completed.
De Saram played the premiere in a first version at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik in April 2002. He played a second version in Milan in November that year, and the third and final version in Los Angeles in February 2003. It was published by Universal Edition (UE) in 2002, dedicated to de Saram. He recorded it in 2006.
Stefano Scodanibbio reworked the piece for his instrument as Sequenza XIVb, in 2004, which was also published by UE. He recorded it in 2006.
The melodic sections of the piece use the cello as "a lyrical singing instrument, with almost vocal flexibility and range of expression". Long melodies in a wide range of dynamics and timbres are interspersed with ornamented passages and Bartók pizzicato. In the end, a two-note motif played glissando, marked "ffff, violente & aggressive", alternates with distant extremely soft notes. Service described them as "phrases of achingly lyrical music, dreams of romantic warmth and intimacy", complementing the "energy of the percussive sections".
Sequenza XIV is different from the openly virtuoso pieces in the series for other string instruments, Sequenza VIII for violin and the Sequenza for viola, but it features extended techniques and demands a player of "imaginative perception".
|
|
