Acousmatrix VII - Berio/Maderna (2004)

In 1955 Luciano Berio and Bruno Maderna founded the Studio di Fonologia at a Milan radio station; it was the first electronic music studio in Italy. Berio became very active there, organizing concerts and also publishing a new music journal, both under the name Incontri Musicali. Berio explored the frontiers of sound, particularly vocal sound.

Among Berio's three contributions here, his Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) is the most memorable. Words come up from the ether in English, Italian, and French, merging and causing one another to erupt with new meaning and sonic resonance as they collude, combine, and resist their electronic counterparts. Maderna's two works, La Rire and Invenzione su una Voce, are both extreme exercises in splicing techniques. The voice and the taped sounds are so distorted, removed from their centre of gravity and context, that they become mere sonic elements in a collage of rhythm, sound, and dynamic. Indeed, the scratching techniques used by DJs today were taken to extreme territories in 1960.

Luciano Berio - Momenti, for tape - 7:15
Luciano Berio - Thema (Homage to Joyce), for tape - 6:20
Luciano Berio - Visage, for tape - 21:07
Bruno Maderna - Le Rire, for tape - 16:02
Bruno Maderna -Dimensioni II-Invenzione su una Voce - 16:02


booklet here!

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