An exploration and systematic approach to the temporal and compositional structures in Berio's Sequenza VII oboe

Abstract

Berio’s Sequenza VII is the most famous piece in the modern repertoire for solo oboe, written in 1969 for the renowned Swiss oboist Heinz Holliger, it retains pole position in sales and performances in its genre. It is a challenging piece to approach, comprehend and perform; not so much because of the technical difficulties involved but more because of the overall form and structure of the composition. Indeed, it mixes two concepts: conventional musical notation, which is easily grasped even if riddled with local micro technical challenges, and large sections in proportional writing. These sections in a different musical notation pose a problem as to the approach needed. There seems to be a tendency, when comparing contemporary and well-established recordings to be rather liberal with the sections that are written in freer notation. Berio gives the interpreter a grid that contains freedom to a limited extent; the freedom lies within the expression of the musical material contained in each bar, but the macro-structure seems set and almost immutable. Immutable in the sense that 1.8 seconds is 1.8 seconds but what happens within can be subject to interpretation, debate or discussion. This study will take as a starting point this idea of an immutable structure and will discuss the micro events within this structure to the finest observational and analytical capabilities. Will be discussed means to arrive at a more than convincing performance/interpretation and derived considerations. The way to reach this goal is through a systematic and indeed systemic approach of the musical text, finding and naming beacons of reference, a somehow hermeneutic approach to the text where taking apart and reassembling in an iterative process yields repetitive insight into the teleology of Berio’s composition. This is a living work that will continue to be performed, so all this research is carried through with this central beacon never out of sight: how to interpret Berio’s Sequenza VII being as close as possible to the composer’s intent, where knowledge gained is knowledge applied as a performer and offered to others, be it to an audience or to a fellow oboist grappling with the same difficulties that have led me to devise this method.