Circles (Berio)
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Circles (Berio)
''Circles'' is a composition for female voice, harp and two percussionists by the Italian composer Luciano Berio. Written in 1960 ''Circles'' is a setting of three poems by E. E. Cummings,''Circles'', Luciano Berio
, by Jeffrey Oliver (Retrieved 4 May 2016)
including the poems "Stinging", "Riverly Is a Flower", and "N(o)w".


Context of the composition

''Circles'' was written for Berio's wife, the American mezzo-soprano

Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. Italy is also considered part of Western Europe, and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione. Italy covers an area of , with a population of over 60 million. It is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area. Italy's capital and largest city is Rome. Italy was the native place of many civilizations such as the Italic peoples and the Etruscans, while due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, the country has also historically been home ...
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Composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Definition The term is descended from Latin, ''compōnō''; literally "one who puts together". The earliest use of the term in a musical context given by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is from Thomas Morley's 1597 ''A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music'', where he says "Some wil be good descanters ..and yet wil be but bad composers". 'Composer' is a loose term that generally refers to any person who writes music. More specifically, it is often used to denote people who are composers by occupation, or those who in the tradition of Western classical music. Writers of exclusively or primarily songs may be called composers, but since the 20th century the terms 'songwriter' or ' singer-songwriter' are more often used, particularl ...
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Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work in electronic music. His early work was influenced by Igor Stravinsky and experiments with serial and electronic techniques, while his later works explore indeterminacy and the use of spoken texts as the basic material for composition. Biography Berio was born in Oneglia (now part of Imperia), on the Ligurian coast of Italy. He was taught piano by his father and grandfather, who were both organists. During World War II, he was conscripted into the army, but on his first day, he injured his hand while learning how a gun worked and spent time in a military hospital. Following the war, Berio studied at the Milan Conservatory under Giulio Cesare Paribeni and Giorgio Federico Ghedini. He was unable to continue studying the piano because of ...
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Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. History While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include the title role in Bizet's '' Carmen'', Angelina (Cinderella) in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'', and Rosina in Rossini's ''Barber of Seville'' (all of which are also sung by sopranos and contraltos). Many 19th-century French-language operas give the leading female role to mezzos, includin ...
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Cathy Berberian
Catherine Anahid Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6, 1983) was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy. She worked closely with many contemporary avant-garde music composers, including Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, and Igor Stravinsky. She also interpreted works by Claudio Monteverdi, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Kurt Weill, Philipp zu Eulenburg and others. As a recital curator, she presented several vocal genres in a classical context, including arrangements of songs by The Beatles by Louis Andriessen as well as folk songs from several countries and cultures. As a composer, she wrote ''Stripsody'' (1966), in which she exploits her vocal technique using comic book sounds (onomatopoeia), and ''Morsicat(h)y'' (1969), a composition for the keyboard (with the right hand only) based on Morse code. Biography Cathy Berberian was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts to Armenian parents, Yervant and L ...
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Thema (Omaggio A Joyce)
''Thema (Omaggio a Joyce)'' is an electroacoustic composition by Luciano Berio, for voice and tape. Composed between 1958 and 1959, it is based on the interpretative reading of the poem "Sirens" from chapter 11 of the novel ''Ulysses'' by James Joyce by Cathy Berberian and on the elaboration of her recorded voice by technological means. History and context of the composition According to the definitive piece published in 1995 (CD BMG 09026-68302-2), the text and the interpretation of it by Berberian can be heard in the first part (1 minute and 56 seconds), while the electroacoustic elaboration of it can be heard in the second part (6 minutes and 13 seconds); the complete length of the definitive composition is 8 minutes and 9 seconds. The piece was originally composed to be part of a never broadcast radio program by Luciano Berio and Umberto Eco titled ''Omaggio a Joyce. Documenti sulla qualità onomatopeica del linguaggio poetico.'' Subsequently, the piece, conceived for four ch ...
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Arch Form
In music, arch form is a sectional structure for a piece of music based on repetition, in reverse order, of all or most musical sections such that the overall form is symmetric, most often around a central movement. The sections need not be repeated verbatim but must at least share thematic material. It creates interest through interplay among "memory, variation, and progression". Though the form appears to be static and to deny progress, the pairs of movements create an "undirectional process" with the center, and the form "actually engenders specific expressive possibilities that would otherwise be unavailable for the work as a whole".Wilson, Paul (1992). ''The Music of Béla Bartók''. . p. 32. Béla Bartók is noted for his use of arch form, e.g., in his fourth and fifth string quartets, Concerto for Orchestra, ''Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta'', second piano concerto, and, to a lesser extent, in his second violin concerto. Samuel Barber's ''Adagio for Strings ...
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Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is constant. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius. Usually, the radius is required to be a positive number. A circle with r=0 (a single point) is a degenerate case. This article is about circles in Euclidean geometry, and, in particular, the Euclidean plane, except where otherwise noted. Specifically, a circle is a simple closed curve that divides the plane into two regions: an interior and an exterior. In everyday use, the term "circle" may be used interchangeably to refer to either the boundary of the figure, or to the whole figure including its interior; in strict technical usage, the circle is only the boundary and the whole figure is called a '' disc''. A circle may also be defined as a special ki ...
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Finger Cymbals
Zills or zils (from Turkish 'cymbals'), also called finger cymbals, are small metallic cymbals used in belly dancing and similar performances. They are called () in Egypt. They are similar to Tibetan tingsha bells. In Western music, several pairs can be set in a frame to make a tambourine. Names in other languages include ''nuqaisāt'' (after the ''naqus'') in Arabic and used among Berbers, ''ṣunnūj ṣaghīra'' in Arabic, ''Zang-e sarangoshti'' (Persian, possibly related to the '' zang''), sanj angshati (سنج انگشتی) (Persian, related to Sanj), ''çeng'' in Turkish, ''p'eng chung'' in Chinese. History Zills, or finger cymbals, are part of a family of musical instruments known as ''clappers''. Clappers are musical instruments made of wood, bone, metal, and other substances that are played by being struck against each other. Clappers come in pairs and are often held in the hands, fastened together, or strapped to the performer's fingers. The clapper family also inc ...
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Claves
Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony or grenadilla) many modern manufacturers offer claves made of fiberglass or plastic. When struck, claves produce a bright, penetrating clicking noise. This makes them useful when playing in large dance bands. Claves are sometimes hollow and carved in the middle to amplify the sound. History Claves have been very important in the development Afro-Cuban music, such as the son and guaguancó. They are often used to play an ostinato, or repeating rhythmic figure, throughout a piece known as the clave. Many examples of clave-like instruments can be found around the world. Technique The basic principle when playing claves is to allow at least one of them to resonate. The usual technique is to hold one lightly with the thumb and fingerti ...
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Wind Chime
Wind chimes are a type of percussion instrument constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells or other objects that are often made of metal or wood. The tubes or rods are suspended along with some type of weight or surface which the tubes or rods can strike when they or another wind-catching surface are blown by the natural movement of air outside. They are usually hung outside of a building or residence as a visual and aural garden ornament. Since the percussion instruments are struck according to the random effects of the wind blowing the chimes, wind chimes have been considered an example of chance-based music. The tubes or rods may sound either indistinct pitches, or fairly distinct pitches. Wind chimes that sound fairly distinct pitches can, through the chance movement of air, create simple songs or broken chords. __TOC__ History Ancient Rome Roman wind chimes, usually made of bronze, were called ''tintinnabulum'' and were hung in gardens, courtyards, and porticoes where ...
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List Of Compositions By Luciano Berio
List of works by the Italian composer Luciano Berio. 1930s *''Pastorale'' for piano (1937) *''Toccata'' for piano (1939) 1940s *''Preludio a una festa marina'' for string orchestra (1944) *''L'annunciazione'' for soprano and chamber orchestra (1946) *''Due cori popolari'' for chorus (1946) *''Tre liriche greche'' for voice and piano (1946) *''O bone Jesu'' for chorus (1946) *''Due liriche'' for voice and orchestra (1947) *''Tre canzoni popolari'' for voice and piano (1947); in 1952 a fourth song is added, changing the title to ''Quattro canzoni popolari''; arrangements of two songs, "Ballo" and "La donna ideale", are incorporated into ''Folk Songs'' (1964) *''Tre pezzi'' for three clarinets (1947) *''Petite suite'' for piano (1947); published with compositions by Adolfo Berio and Ernesto Berio as ''Family Album'' (1947) *''Quintetto'' for wind quintet (1948) *''Trio'' for string trio (1948) *''Ad Hermes'' for voice and piano (1948) *''Suite'' for piano (1948) *''Due pezzi sacri' ...
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