Sequenza IX for Clarinet: Text, Pre-Text, Con-Text

Analysing Sequenza IX, one point immediately stands out when comparing it with other works from Luciano Berio’s catalogue: not only are there no dedicatees or signs of collaboration with a specific performer, but there are also no recognizable gestures or musical events within the text bearing explicit extra-textual references. At first glance it would seem to be one of the most abstract of the Sequenza series, as it is centred on only melodic and syntactic construction. However, if we take into account Berio’s concurrent output, it becomes apparent that this is part of a constellation of works which share materials and musical issues. In fact, between 1977 and 1983 Berio wrote four linked pieces: ‘Chemins V’ (1979–80, later withdrawn) for clarinet and real-time digital filters, ¹ Sequenza IXa (1980) for clarinet, Sequenza IXb (1981) for alto saxophone, and La vera storia (1977–81). In addition to these, in 1996 he returned to the same materials and used them as the basis of a new work, Récit (Chemins VII) for alto saxophone and orchestra. All of these pieces develop the same musical structures on which Sequenza IX is based in different but complementary directions, thus adding the extra-textual dimension which is missing in the Sequenza itself. The object of this essay is to investigate the relationships existing between these works, in order to illustrate how the same materials have been endowed with new meaning in the different configurations they have taken on. To contain the discussion within reasonable boundaries, only three of them will be examined, namely ‘Chemins V’, Sequenza IXa and La vera storia, which make up the core of that constellation. Among other things, this will let us look into one of the most important features of Berio’s compositional thought: that is the constant process of revisiting the musical past, be it historic memory or – as in this case – his own works. However, this practice took on quite unusual traits in the compositions that are being considered here, as will be demonstrated.