L. Berio/S. Rattle & CBSO: Sinfonia. III Scherzo (i)

This is the first part of the complex scherzo of this sinfonia, which is based on the scherzo movement of Gustav Mahler's symphony nº2, known as Resurrection.
This movement is famous for the musical quotations that Berio used in its construction: * Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra, fourth movement (violent opening scale played by the brass) * A brief quotation of Mahler's Symphony No. 4 (Mahler) just before..... * Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, third movement (the only quotation that is ongoing) * Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, flute solo from the Pantomime * Berlioz's idée fixe from the Symphonie Fantastique (played by the clarinets) * Ravel's La Valse (orchestra plays octave motif with piccolo playing a chromatic scale) * Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps (the "Dance of the Earth" sequence at the end of the first tableux) * Stravinsky's Agon (upper oboe part from the "Double pas de quatre") * Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (one of the waltzes composed for the opera) * a chorale by Johann Sebastian Bach * Alban Berg's Wozzeck (the drowning scene late in the third act) * Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony, second movement (melody stated with the clarinets) * (Schoenberg segment quoted again) * Debussy's La Mer, second movement "Jeux de vagues" * Boulez's Pli Selon Pli, very first chord of the entire piece from the first movement ("Don") * Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen for three orchestras (during the introductions of the vocalists near the end)
Berio also used texts by Samuel Beckett, James Joyce and from street graffitti.

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[dp7653]

@coolguy9610 "I have a present for you" refers directly to the Boulez quote, which is is the first movement of Boulez' "Pli Selon Pli," based on Mallarme's poem, "Don," which in English means "Gift." The reference is humorous, but to be kissing the ass of "Modernism" Berio, as one of the great modernist composers, would have to be in a very uncomfortable and impossible position."

[MjoEm32]

There's Webern too - the violin solo v near the end comes from - I *think* the second cantata

[coolguy9610]

@charkiman It's because it embraces older music and conveys emotion and humor. It's not trying to be elusive - everything is there to see. Like when they say, "I have a present for you" and then play a quote from Boulez. It's hilarious and making fun of modernism, as opposed to kissing its ass. It's a lovely piece.

[ClassicHolic]

what are they talking about?

[mchlcooper]

@charkiman Vielen Dank für die Frage. Die Sinfonia – allenfalls der 3. Satz – ist meiner Meinung nach als “postmoderne” zu verstehen, indem der Begriff Postmodernismus vor allem die radikale Instabilität von Sinn und Bedeutung bekräftigt, so daß Komponente und Äußerungen, die historisch betrachtet ohne sinnvolle Zusammenhang existieren, im Rahmen eines neues Kunstwerkes ohne jegliche Erklärung bzw. Versinnlichung zusammengefügt werden können.

[charkiman]

@mchlcooper There is something I cant understand, why is this "Sinfonia" of Berio postmodern?, why should it be clasified as a postmodern musical composition?. Witch are the reasons for that?

[mchlcooper]

This is a wonderful example, I think, of how postmodernism can engage with the phenomenon of conversation. Here, the scaffolding is of course the Scherzo from Mahler's Second Symphony. The dense web of verbal quotations engages in complex polyphony with an equally dense web of musical quotations, and all are in conversation with the Mahler scaffolding. But no two listeners are likely to construct the same dialog out of this series -- each creates his/her own conversation!