Nones (Berio)
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''Nones'' (1954) is a
composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
by
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 ...
scored for
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
. The piece is named for the poem, "
Nones Nones may refer to: * ''Nones'' (Auden), a 1951 book of poems by W. H. Auden * ''Nones'' (Berio), a 1954 orchestral composition by Luciano Berio *Nones (calendar), or ''Nonae'', days of the Roman Calendar *None (liturgy) Nones (), also known as N ...
", by
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, and was originally intended to be an
oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...
, inspired by the poem, representing not only the
Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...
, but also the agony of modern man. The purely instrumental piece is predominantly punctual in texture and formally consists of an approximate arch created by "theme" and
variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individua ...
. The
tone row In music, a tone row or note row (german: Reihe or '), also series or set, is a non-repetitive ordering of a set of pitch-classes, typically of the twelve notes in musical set theory of the chromatic scale, though both larger and smaller sets ...
used was nontraditional in construction in several respects including number of pitches and consistent emphasis on intervals of major and
minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
s. A note in Berio's sketches confirms that he consciously derived it from the trichordal cell of
Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...
's Concerto, Op. 24, which it strongly resembles. Its combination of major and minor thirds is also prevalent in Stravinsky, who had been a strong influence on Berio up to this time. Berio's row is symmetrical around the central A, and each
trichord In music theory, a trichord () is a group of three different pitch classes found within a larger group. A trichord is a contiguous three-note set from a musical scale or a twelve-tone row. In musical set theory there are twelve trichords give ...
al segment of the hexachords flanking that central note contains both the minor and major third. The row in fact includes four of the six possible permutations of this core trichord, guaranteeing a permanent atonal equilibrium.


References

Sources * * *


Further reading

* Berio, Luciano. 1985
981 Year 981 ( CMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events Births * Abu'l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi, Arab statesman (d. 1027) * Giovanni Orseolo, Venetian ...
''Two Interviews with Rossana Dalmonte and Bálint András Varga'', translated by David Osmond-Smith. New York: Marion Boyars. * Maderna, Bruno. 1978. "Un inedito di Bruno Maderna". ''Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana'' 12, no. 4:517–520. * Probasco, Robert C. 1968. "A Study of Some Performance Problems in Contemporary Music: An Oboist's View of Berio,
Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...
, and
Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...
". M.A. Thesis. Lincoln: University of Nebraska. Compositions by Luciano Berio Compositions for symphony orchestra Serial compositions Variations {{composition-stub