''Sequenza X'' is a composition for

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

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 ...

, the tenth in his series of pieces with this title. The work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Thomas Stevens, and premiered by him on November 19, 1984. The piece is dedicated to Ernest Fleischmann, managing director of the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

from 1969 to 1997, who convinced Berio to write a Sequenza for trumpet, despite years of resistance to the idea. Stevens received the music only nine days before the premiere."Sequenza X Comes Full Circle". International Trumpet Guild. Feb. 17, 2008. http://old.trumpetguild.org/news/08/0813cassoneberio.html. ''Sequenza X'' is for trumpet and piano, however the piano is only used as a resonator. Berio requires the pianist to depress the keys on the piano without sounding the instrument. By playing the trumpet into the piano, the strings are made to sympathetically resonate. The effect is so subtle that the piano must be amplified for it to be heard in the auditorium. Berio prescribes a contact microphone solution in his score, whereby the microphones are secured to the underside of the sound board. ''Sequenza X'' requires the trumpeter to employ a variety of extended techniques, including

flutter tonguing Flutter-tonguing is a wind instrument tonguing technique in which performers flutter their tongue to make a characteristic "FrrrrrFrrrrr" sound. The effect varies according to the instrument and at what volume it is played, ranging from cooing soun ...

pedal tones Pedal tones (or pedals) are special low notes in the harmonic series of brass instruments. A pedal tone has the pitch of its harmonic series' fundamental tone. Its name comes from the foot pedal keyboard pedals of a pipe organ, which are used ...

, and valve

tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...

s. Much of the musical material focuses on transmuting the timbre of the instrument, often on a single pitch. Techniques such as

double tonguing Tonguing is a technique used with wind instruments to enunciate notes using the tongue on the palate or the reed or mouthpiece. A silent "tee" is made when the tongue strikes the reed or roof of the mouth causing a slight breach in the air fl ...

and doodle tonguing are interchanged rapidly and often paired with valve tremolos and hand stops. Like much of the extended technique for brass, Berio's incorporation of doodle tonguing was inspired by jazz trumpeter

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

. However, he misunderstood the method, which produces a very

legato In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French ''lié''; German ''gebunden'') indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, the player makes a transition from note to note wit ...

, almost drunken-sounding articulation. He repeatedly asked Stevens in rehearsals for a more

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...

sounding doodle tongue, eventually acquiescing when he realized it was impossible. The range of the piece creates an endurance problem for any trumpeter. Though the tessitura is almost entirely in the standard trumpet range, the piece spans over three octaves, and notoriously requires 17 high C's to be played by the trumpeter on the final page. Though the score's lowest note is a C-sharp, Berio had originally wanted a pedal C. Stevens could not produce a pedal C at the volume Berio desired; so, the note was raised a half-step. Both Stevens and Berio agreed that the printed score should include the pedal C, but the change was never made. The piece has become a standard in the contemporary trumpet repertoire, and has been recorded numerous times, most notably under supervision of the composer by trumpet soloist

Gabriele Cassone Gabriele is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Surname *Al Gabriele, American comic book artist *Angel Gabriele (1956–2016), American comic book artist * Corrado Gabriele (born 1966), Italian polit ...

. ''Sequenza X'' is the basis for Berio's '' Kol-Od'' (also called ''Chemins VI'') which adds a small ensemble to accompany the solo trumpet part. '' Kol-Od'' was premiered by Gabriele Cassone with the Ensemble InterContemporain,

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

conducting, on April 27, 1996 in Basel, Switzerland.

List of Techniques

Fluttertonguing Flutter-tonguing is a wind instrument tonguing technique in which performers flutter their tongue to make a characteristic "FrrrrrFrrrrr" sound. The effect varies according to the instrument and at what volume it is played, ranging from cooing soun ...

- The first notes of the piece are fluttertongued, and Berio makes extensive use of the technique throughout. *Doodle tonguing - Used extensively throughout the piece, it is often interchanged rapidly with fluttertonguing. *Hand stopping - The trumpeter must produce the notated pitch, which requires a compensation due to the tendency for stopping to change the pitch. The technique is used extensively throughout the piece, and is often paired with a tremolo effect, creating a wah-wah effect. *Valve tremolo - Used most often in rapid switches from fluttertonguing and back again. * Pedal tone - There are 2 pedal C-sharps in the piece, only a fourth below the standard trumpet range. *Shake - A very fast lip trill (sometimes aided by use of 'shaking' the trumpet) between two adjacent partials. This is only used once in this piece.

Discography

* Marco Blaauw, ''Hot: Trumpet Solo'' (BVHaast) * Gabriele Cassone, ''Sequenzas'' (Deutsche Grammophon) * Guy Few, ''Sequenzas I-XIV For Solo Instruments'' (Naxos) * William Forman, ''The Complete Sequenzas, Alternate Sequenzas & Works for Solo Instruments'' (Mode) *

Reinhold Friedrich Reinhold Friedrich (born 14 July 1958) is a German trumpeter and university lecturer in Karlsruhe. Career Born in Weingarten, Friedrich was from 1983 to 1999 Solo trumpeter at the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt. In 1986 he was awarded a pr ...

, ''Nobody Knows de Trouble I See'' (Capriccio) *Graham Ashton, ''Baroque and Contemporary Trumpet'' (Virgin classics)

List of Techniques

Discography

References

External links